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The Right First Response (Lessons from the OT 1)
The Old Testament is filled with fascinating stories that offer valuable lessons for our lives. In the upcoming devotions, I’ll be highlighting some of these lessons. It’s crucial to learn from the past to avoid repeating the same mistakes in the future. While you could learn the hard way, why go through all that trouble when you can benefit from the wisdom of those who came before us?
Let me set the scene for today’s lesson. The Israelites have been delivered from Egypt by God’s power. They miraculously crossed the Red Sea and worshiped the Lord on the other side. So, what happens next? Despite their attitude of praise and the recent miracle, they find themselves in a desert. For three days, they traveled without finding any water. When they finally did find water, it was bitter and undrinkable. According to scripture, the people grumbled. What did the Lord do? He instructed Moses to put a piece of wood in the water, making it drinkable. Then, God provided them with manna to eat after they complained about the lack of food. He literally sent food from the sky every day to meet their needs. When they complained about only having manna, He sent quail as well. Once again, the whole community set out from the desert, traveling from place to place, and found themselves without water. Their response? Predictably, they reacted the same way they always did when in need. Every time the Israelites faced a need, they complained, grumbled, and demanded. They argued with each other and were discontent. They failed to do the one thing that could change everything.
It’s important to remember that needing something, especially essentials for life, is not wrong. We can’t live without water, so their need was indeed significant. The same applies to food; it’s a basic necessity for survival. The issue wasn’t the need itself but their response to it. The Israelites didn’t seem to understand how to properly address their needs. They would argue among themselves, complain to Moses, or openly grumble. When they faced a water shortage for the second time, they confronted Moses, asking, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt to let us and our children and livestock die of thirst?” This was surprising because God had already provided clean water from bitter water once before. They knew God could miraculously provide for them, having seen Him rain manna and quail from the sky. Despite witnessing these miracles, they lacked faith that God would meet their needs again. They didn’t ask God or ask Moses to ask God on their behalf for provision and assistance; their first reaction was to complain about their thirst.
You might argue that their reactive behavior was understandable given their legitimate need. They had every right to voice their concerns. However, the manner in which they expressed themselves was entirely inappropriate and unjustified. There was no reason to complain and act as if God didn’t care. God had already demonstrated that they were His people and had promised to provide for them, but they needed to ask.
When you lack something or need something, grumbling should not be your response. It’s ineffective and solves nothing. Complaining merely states the problem or situation without taking any action towards a resolution. It’s wallowing in your misery and often inviting others to join you. The Israelites were not wrong for needing something essential. Their mistake was in complaining, grumbling, demanding, and accusing, while forgetting to ask for what God would have willingly provided. The Bible says they tested God with their negative grumbling and argumentative behavior. It wasn’t their need that was offensive or wrong, but their response.
To learn from the mistakes of the Israelites in this scripture passage, we must understand the importance of responding appropriately to a need. When faced with a need, we should ask God for help. The Israelites should have recognized that the same God who provided food from the sky every morning could also provide water, as He had done before. They should have trusted that the God who delivered them from the Egyptians could also sustain and protect them in the desert. Although it may be challenging, we must choose to ask for help rather than complain in difficult circumstances. We don’t need to grumble because we can turn to God, who can act on our behalf. If the Israelites had asked God, He would have provided for them.
When we are uncomfortable or have unmet needs, our natural instinct is to complain. From childhood, we’ve learned to fuss and exaggerate our feelings because we dislike discomfort. We want our needs met and we want them met now. When essential needs are unmet, it feels like we’re facing certain death, leading to loud and earnest lamenting. We rage against the need and those we perceive as failing to provide for us. This instinctive response is not the right one. If the need persists, our human reaction worsens, and we start blaming others, much like the Israelites accusing Moses of bringing them to the desert to kill them with thirst.
If our natural human response to unmet needs is to complain, then as believers, what should our response be? How does our relationship with the Lord influence our reaction to needs? It transforms our response entirely. Our reaction should be one of faith and trust. We should have faith that God, who promised to sustain us and provide everything we need for life and godliness, will fulfill His promises. We should ask Him for help and request what we lack. As children of God, we have the privilege to approach Him with our needs and ask for provision. God is our provider. Although I have not witnessed God parting an entire sea with my own eyes, I have seen Him work mightily in the lives of those around me, providing, sustaining, and protecting. By reflecting on His past faithfulness to me and others, I can trust in His continued care in the present moment. Instead of complaining, we can choose to believe and trust God. We can choose to seek His assistance rather than accuse Him of not caring. It is our choice how we approach Him, and we decide our response when we have a need.
Do you have a need right now? How are you responding to it? I encourage you to take a different approach than the Israelites did long ago. Choose faith over complaining and demanding. Fight your human nature that would have you point fingers to assign blame, argue amongst yourselves, complain, or even demand. We can trust that even before we ask God for what we lack, He already knows our needs and has a plan for our provision. There’s a saying, “You have not because you ask not,” and I believe people often don’t ask because they are too busy grumbling and accusing. Let’s avoid making the same mistake. Let’s learn this valuable lesson from God’s word. When you have a need, come to God and ask Him to provide what you lack. Approach Him with full confidence, knowing that He is able to provide. Let’s be true believers, not complainers or accusers.
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Finding in God What we Need: Overcoming Life’s Challenges
Today at the end of the day I felt myself in desperate need of some time with the Lord. So many thoughts and feelings, anxieties, and the heaviness of life had been bombarding me. I guess I get mad at myself sometimes or disappointed in myself because I am affected by the heaviness of life. As if, because I know so many wonderful truths about the Lord, have been so greatly blessed by God, and continue to remain in his love, that I shouldn’t be affected or feel overwhelmed by life at times. As if God was some kind of magical umbrella keeping me completely dry and protected, untouched by the rain that is the many and varied difficult circumstances in life. He doesn’t keep the rain from touching us, he doesn’t stop us from experiencing challenges, but he does stay with us so we’re not alone. He stands with us in the rain, no matter how heavy the downpour. We’re sheltered by his presence which is a buffer of sorts. However, it doesn’t stop the weather.
Previously I wrote a devotion about how God is our rock. That we stand rooted in him. We will not fall or be destroyed. We will be challenged, we will be tried, we will be pressed, and we will find ourselves weathering all kinds of storms even when we stand on the rock. So, the idea that we wouldn’t feel the weight of these pressures and challenges is ridiculous. It’s not realistic. It’s not what God expects of us, to be strong in faith always and to never feel fear or be discouragement. He knows we will feel it all, but he is there with us showing us truth and comforting us.
He helps us believe. Faith is belief when you can’t see what you are actually hoping for. It’s believing in the waiting and in the not knowing. The very definition of who we are, people of faith, would imply that we’re going to be challenged. We don’t receive everything we have faith for when we want it and how we want it. Literally, our eyes will not see what we hope for at times, because it’s not here yet, but our hearts believe. The road of faith is not easy and does not always feel good. We will all feel moments when we wonder if we can hold on to hope because just for a few moments we might look through our own eyes. Reality can deceive us and cause doubts. We have to remember to look through God’s eyes and to look through the eyes of faith, believing for what is unseen. When we doubt, which all of us will at some point, then we should ask God to help us believe.
It takes courage and faith in our walk with the Lord. God helps us have courage too. Courage is action in spite of fear. Yet sometimes anxiety can be overwhelming and the giant you are facing can seem entirely undefeatable. Maybe you want to run and hide, maybe this time you want the giant to just leave because you don’t see how you will ever win. We all have moments when we are more like the Israelites who watched Goliath for 40 days and did nothing, rather than being like David and bravely challenging the giant. The truth is we can face the giants, because of our faith in God who does the impossible and provides us his strength to sustain us. We can face the giants if we rely on the Lord and believe as David did “The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this philistine.” We can believe that God has been faithful before and he will faithfully rescue us again. We can also believe as David did when he declared, “all those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.” We can face the giant and his entire army bravely because we understand who the battle belongs to and who gives us the victory.
I know, wouldn’t it just be easier if we didn’t have to face giants in our life. Unfortunately, the truth isn’t that he saved us from all trouble. No, it’s that he stands with us and fights for us in the midst of it. That the battles that we face belong to the Lord. So, in those moments when we feel genuine fear and anxiety because what we’re facing really is terrifying, we can go to the Lord and draw on his courage. He will help us, but we have to ask. We can acknowledge our limitations but recognize his limitlessness. God will be strength in our weakness. He will go before us and uphold us. We will not fight any of our battles alone or by the strength of our own hand. He will lend us his courage and we will find it when we stand in faith.
Here’s the issue. All of these things I know to be true, and I believe them. Yet I found myself tonight realizing that you can know truth, but you can still need God to give you faith to believe. Sometimes, you can’t find it in yourself. That courageous warrior woman or man of God is really just a scared kid, tired and worn. Isn’t it good to know that you can still borrow courage from the Lord and his word. What relief to find that you can know that he will fight the battle for you, that he’s your defender, but even greater than that, he is your father, comforter and friend. He wants nothing more than for you to come to him with all of your doubts, fears, and cares and find rest in him.
We can go to God and tell him that in our humanness we are feeling very overwhelmed by life. No matter how long you’ve stood strong, that’s not how you have to be with him. He’s not disappointed by your humanness, it doesn’t surprise him or make him love you less. We just have to go to him as we are.
When I go to him, I can look at the Lord while I shelter under his wings and tell him the truth of what I am feeling: that I don’t like how this thing anxiety that’s coming against me feels, that the giant I’m facing terrifies me and I don’t know how I can face it, that I’m having a very hard time believing even though I know that he’s proven himself before but this time it’s just so very hard to believe, or that I really wish he would take away all the struggles. I can tell him exactly, in a very raw and honest way how I feel, and what I desperately need from him. The amazing thing is, he will still love me just the same. He doesn’t love us only when we are “strong”, “righteous”, “fearless”, and “bold”. He loves us at all times and in all ways – when we are like David or when we are more like the other Israelites that day so long ago.
We need to give ourselves permission as believers to be real with God. He already knows how you feel so it doesn’t do any good to candy coat what you’re feeling, lie to yourself or God. It’s better to just go to him and say here’s my weaknesses Lord. Here is what I am wrestling with. God, here is where I need you to help me. We can be confident that he is with us, and that he will provide whatever we lack in that moment: strength, courage, faith, peace, love, rest, or anything we need.
Come as you are and keep coming that way. He knows life is hard, remember Jesus walked here just like you and me. This is exactly why the scripture exists that says come all of you who are heavy laden and burdened, and I will give you rest. There’s no one else to go to that will bring true relief. There’s nowhere else to go to unburden your soul, to leave all your cares and your woes, your doubts and your fears, and your pains and all your struggles that offers the path to true freedom and help. We should go to the Lord. Take it all to him. In honesty and in our humanness. Trusting in his love for us and in his promise to provide what we need, if we would only ask.
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True Faith
Too many people who are believers have a misunderstanding about what it means to truly be a believer. Have you ever had anyone tell you that the life of a believer is easy? Have they ever told you that it only means prosperity, joy, rainbows and a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? I know I’m mixing up stories and fables but that is a fairy tale for sure.
The truth is, in the word of God it says, “in this world you will have trouble” but that you should take heart because Christ overcame the world. Clearly, the life of a believer is not easy. There’s another scripture that says wide is the road that leads to destruction. It’s the easy path, kind of like the paved Interstate. However, the path to God is narrow. It’s no easy road. Our walk with the Lord takes effort and struggle but why? Why can’t it be easy? Isn’t our God loving? Does God loving us mean that he makes everything feel good and be effortless for us? Does it mean he removes all troubles and pain? No, it does not.
You see that “loving” God that many people believe in. You know the one that makes life easy, who always does things the way you want them to be done, and who is the God that you can demand things from or determine his will, that’s not who God is.
God works with wisdom. His thoughts are so far above what we can really understand. Here’s some of the wisdom that’s godly wisdom. In order for your faith to grow, it has to be tested or tried. That the trials of life are really the proving of our faith. Faith is very much like a muscle. How do your muscles grow stronger? Only through resistance, effort, or work. The more we walk in faith, the more we struggle and preserve, the stronger our faith can become.
Let me give you a real-life example from my own life. I have faced many challenges when it comes to work over the years. As a single mother needing to provide for my family I see God as my sole sufficiency. Sometimes the way he provides isn’t the way that I expected or anticipated. When I had to transition from my original career and had no idea what I was going to go into, that was the first big challenge of my faith in God as my provider. The day after I got my final paycheck and didn’t know where the next would come from, I received word that I had gotten a job. It was just exactly what I needed. I knew that my need was growing so I prayed for God too provide in the future. Again, God opened a door to an opportunity for more resources and provision.
The path was not easy, and I could not have predicted how God would come through, but he did. In this new opportunity there would be multiple times where my faith was challenged again. You see it was project work. The thing about projects is that they only last for short periods of time. In order to continue to have employment every time a project would end, I would have to bring my need to the Lord, believe he would answer, wait on him to move, trust in his faithfulness, and finally, hope and pray for God to come through again. Now I know the truth is even if I had one job that was completely “stable,” I would still have to depend on God because there’s nothing certain in this world and nothing lasts forever here. Only God is eternal. Still though having my livelihood regularly depend on the opportunities being provided by God has shown me again and again how God comes through. Every time that muscle of my faith was tried, it became stronger.
The reality is my faith wasn’t dependent on God answering how I wanted him to answer. I recognized and realized that there might be a time when God might choose a whole different way than what I thought or expected. I was thankful for the giver, God, not what he gave me. My point though is that this trying of my faith is what caused it to increase. I began to see that there was nothing that God could not do or had not already provided for. I begin to believe that he would give me manna for the day. I might not have more than I need or all my desires. Still God made sure that I had enough. Everything I need for life and godliness as his word promises.
The walk of faith is challenging when you are a believer. Between finances, physical ailments, loss, emotional struggles, life itself, and relationships there is constant struggle and opportunities to have to depend on God. You know that old hymn “Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus.”
“Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him, how I’ve proved him over and over. Jesus, Jesus, Precious Jesus, O for grace to trust you more.”
Our prayer shouldn’t be for all the trouble and struggles to end, because that is not how the story goes in this life. Not how it was promised to be. Our prayer should instead be for the grace to trust God more no matter what. For faith that can look at the mountain and say be moved and know that God can throw it into the sea. Yet still believe when God chooses not to sometimes. You don’t get to that kind of faith without a great deal of proving him over and over and opportunities to strengthen your faith muscle.
Maybe you have had great faith as a believer, and you’ve spoken to the mountain, and it didn’t move. Maybe you’ve lost faith, and you started to see the mountains as bigger or greater than God. We have to understand that God doesn’t always move the mountains, sometimes he carries us over them, walks with us over them, or moves us. We have to have the faith that says that I believe in God’s goodness even when he doesn’t feel good. Even when he doesn’t move as I want him to. Even though I don’t understand in this moment, O for grace to trust him more.
This is too much that he’s asking of us you might say. I’d rather just go on the wide road, because the narrow one is hard. It doesn’t feel good to be the clay being slapped down on the wheel and worked by the hand of our Savior even if it is a loving hand. But I would say to you today His promise of joy is true even in those moments, the difficult ones. You see the joy he gives rises above the struggle and it’s still there for you no matter your circumstances. I would say to you that you can still be at peace because his peace surpasses all understanding and exists not because everything is right in this world but because God is good even when other things aren’t. You can rest in the boat in the storm, he is good no matter what you are facing and he is with you always. I would say to you that our temporary sufferings are not worthy to be compared to the glory that is to come. That as the Bible says, “No eye has ever seen, no ear has ever heard, no mind has ever imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”
Our faith is not in a trouble-free existence. Our faith is not in an easy road. Our faith is in God, the rock, that is so firm and strong that no matter the category of the hurricane that life barrels at us, we will not fall. We will not be destroyed. What is your faith built on?
Have you built your hope or your faith on the lie that God is here to make life easy for you? Have you falsely believed that God exists to give you all of your desires, selfish or otherwise? Have you mistakenly thought you could have it you way in life and order life from God as you wish it to be? Have you completely missed the point of having a relationship with God and what that relationship looks like? He is the Potter, and you are the clay. Broken, melted, molded, worked, designed, crafted at his pleasure and by his grace. Worked by his hands that know when to do each of those things. Loved by a heart that loves us so much that he wouldn’t give us less or make us less than he knows we could be.
I pray today that you see yourself clearly there on his wheel and that you allow yourself to be moldable clay in his hands even when it doesn’t feel good. That you will walk on the narrow road because you know it leads to life, even though it’s not an easy road. Finally, that your faith will be in the goodness and faithfulness of God, not in your circumstances or what you hope your life will be. True faith in a truly wise God who is lovingly and patiently waiting for you to choose to be the moldable clay in his hands. Today, I pray for you, Grace to trust him more and a life of true faith.
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Do you Hear Him? Are you listening?
Stories, books, movies, TV shows, music, so much noise. Every day it seems that every moment we are bombarded with distractions and noise. Sometimes we choose the noise and even enjoy it. It’s more familiar than the quiet.
Recently, I went on the Walk to Emmaus retreat as an Angel serving. When you go on the walk you remove your watch and put away your cell phone. For four days, you get tucked away in this place where the outside noise is silenced or greatly lessened. That doesn’t mean it’s not fun or entertaining, it doesn’t mean that it’s always quiet but the distractions from your life and daily existence are buffered and away. In that place you can begin to hear, maybe things that were there but you couldn’t hear before.
Have you ever gone outside and when you first go out there’s no sound. All the animals stop scurrying about and making noise because you were there. They heard you arrive, and they don’t know if you might be a danger to them. If you stand really still and give it just a few moments the birds will start to sing again. The squirrels and other critters will begin to scamper about. If you don’t have your earbuds in playing music, you can hear the sound of nature alive and vibrant. But you will only hear it if you stop. That’s kind of what it’s like there. You turn it all off and you stop. You don’t have the outside noise bombarding you and you have the opportunity to rest. If you choose to embrace it and breathe that moment in, if you quiet your soul you’ll begin to hear the natural noise of life around you. You will hear things that you don’t usually hear because they’re pushed away or drowned out by the other sounds.
Now I know what you’re thinking. What does this have anything to do with our life as a believer? It has a lot to do with our life as a believer actually. Recently I wrote about how being like Jesus means resting. It’s more than just resting though. Jesus demonstrated to us what this rest looks like. Jesus would separate himself and be alone. Getting away from the crowd and the noise. Away from the distractions and the other people. He would steal away.
That’s what I love about Emmaus, it gives you the opportunity to steal away. Now when you work as an Angel there are a lot less moments then when you’re a Pilgrim there but still the opportunity will present itself. I’ve been able to just sit and watch the wind blow through, spinning the little windmills and moving the branches of the trees. Moments to breathe in the presence and the peace of God. Moments where you realize how very small and temporary you are but at the same time how greatly valued and treasured.
We don’t steal away enough. In our modern fast-paced world it’s all about filling every single moment. As if by not filling it, it’s somehow less. I would argue though that filling a moment with silent and peaceful contemplation is restorative. Those moments are healing. Those moments are the moments we can hear the quiet whisper of our Savior. We’ll never have those moments unless we stop, unless we turn it off or put it away or even step away.
I challenge you to learn God in a new way. Let him be your hiding place. Steal away under his wings, find rest there. Listen as he whispers his love and grace and hope and life over your weary soul. His wings are held wide just waiting for you to tuck yourself underneath them and find rest. His words of life are ready to pour quietly from his mouth and he just waits for you to silence the other sound so he can speak, and you can finally hear him.
We have to learn to do as Jesus did. To take moments to separate ourselves, to be still and begin to know that he is God in a whole new way. In a way that we’ll never understand if we don’t stop, turn it off, quiet the noise, and listen for him.
Don’t wait for a retreat or a weekend away. Don’t wait until you’re so burned out that’s you’re desperate. Don’t wait any longer. Choose the wise way, quiet your soul and listen. Do you hear him? He’s speaking.
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Live Like Jesus… (Know when to Rest)
Previously I spent time writing about what it meant to be like Jesus. After all we’re called Christians which means Christ like, so what does Christlike mean? What was Jesus really like?
I investigated several aspects of Jesus life: How he was an example of studying and knowing the word of God, how he used the word of God actively as a part of his ministry, how he loved and valued not only the significant but every single person, significant and insignificant alike and he treated them the same. How his approach to both groups demonstrated that there is no difference in Christ eyes, he loved them all. How Christ was an example of humility. Although he had every reason to be proud and receive acclaim, he didn’t seek it. Instead, he sought to bring glory to his father.
As amazing as these lessons are there’s still much more to learn from Christ. Today I went to look at one more thing that we should learn from Jesus. Jesus knew that we needed to rest.
As much as Christ promoted ministry and serving others, he also demonstrated to all of us that the wellspring from which we pour from has to be refilled. It’s important to take time to retreat or rest, times to pray and meditate on God. There were nine different times in scripture that Jesus retreated away, and it was called out. When he went in the desert to fast and pray for 40 days before beginning his ministry. Rest for preparation.
In Mark 1 after an exhausting day of ministering to so many Jesus got up early and left the house to go find a solitary place where he could pray. In Luke it says, “then Jesus ordered him, ‘don’t tell anyone but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.’ Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Or in mark 1:45 “instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.”
When Jesus went about healing people and ministering, he became popular. Almost a celebrity at least in those villages. People desperately seeking healing and seeing Jesus as the source begin to become a drain. Christ didn’t resent them for it. He understood they had needs. However, Christ had a need too. He needed to rest. He needed to be away from the crowds. Remember he was humble if he was seeking his own glory he would have just went and walked about in the towns seeking attention and even profiting from the healings however he withdrew away. He wasn’t filled up by people’s admiration of him, he was refueled by time with God. He demonstrated to us the importance of humility and quietly resting/retreating away from the attention of others.
He understood that in order to continue to minister, he would have to take the time away to refuel and rest and honestly to keep perspective. This happened again and again throughout his ministry. For example, when the 12 returned, before he fed the 5000, after he fed the 5000, and after healing many.
As believers we are called to serve others, yet Christ showed us the proper way to serve. You fill up and are restored with times of refreshing from God, then you go out and share that love, and then you retreat and refuel again. This is the proper cycle of worship and serve as a Child of God. Our rest is also an act of worship and just as important as our service.
Christ not only rested to connect to the vine and refuel between ministry opportunities and serving, but he also retreated away to grieve. After Jesus heard that John the Baptist was beheaded, he withdrew by boat away privately to a solitary place. Recently a friend of mine told me that their work gave them three days for bereavement leave. I was floored that that was all that would be provided. You can’t grieve and process the death of someone so close to you in just three short days. Most of the time that’s barely enough time to arrange services or gather loved ones to come to the service. Here we see that in Jesus’s life he had loss that he experienced, the loss of people he loved. He demonstrates that during times of grieving that you should rush to rest, process, and receive comfort from God. You take time away from ministering and service to not only shore up your strength in situations where you are getting tired but also to receive healing and comfort in times of distress and loss. We don’t just rest from work, sometimes we rest from grief, pain, and struggle. God can be that place for us just like Christ demonstrated.
There was one more time that Jesus went to be alone although this time he went with friends. In preparation for what was to come, the cross, Christ went to the garden to pray. This was Christ taking rest in order to prepare for what was to come. In the same way when we know that there are times that are going to be difficult to walk through or painful even, we can do the same. We can rest and retreat to God in preparation for those moments as Christ demonstrated for us.
So, we can rest before, or we can rest after. We can even rest during. Christ showed us all of these. He demonstrated the importance of taking that time away to alone and connect with God. He modeled how to receive relief, spiritual refreshing, healing, and strength in God’s presence, in the quiet and stillness and alone.
Do you prioritize stealing away to a quiet place? Do you realize that as a believer you should? If you don’t already, I challenge you again today to be like Jesus. To choose to rest. To rest in preparation, to receive refreshing, to find comfort, to shore up your soul for what’s to come. I challenge you to run into the loving arms of your heavenly father who is waiting to enfold you in his love with comfort and peace if you would just still away and find time to be with him. There is a God who loves you as a beautiful worship song declares. He does long to wrap you in his arms. And in that place, in his arms we are changed and healed and restored. Yet we cannot be renewed and refreshed, and he cannot wrap us in his arms if we do not stop and draw close to him. Retreat, walk away from everything for times of rest with God.
Why do you think Jesus was so strong? He stayed connected, he stayed rested when he needed to, he sought the source to be renewed, and you can be like him and do that too. There are times of refreshing and healing waiting for you, you just have to take them.
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In Deed(More than words)
When you have bad news often enough your mind becomes numb to it. You are no longer are shocked by the horrors, the numbers dead, or those that are in need. You just don’t see it anymore. It seems in America we are all inundated with bad news. We hear it so often that we don’t hear it anymore.
The only time tragedy that really hurts us is a tragedy that hits close to home. Otherwise, we go about our self-absorbed existence, blissfully unaware or unfeeling of the pain and suffering of others. We might even give money to a cause to help those in need but even that requires all too little of us. The cries of the suffering fall on deaf ears.
In the movie Hotel Rwanda, there was a line that shook me to my soul. A man was saying that it was good that the media got the news out about the horrors that had happened, that now people would help because people would see. Surely, if they saw they would do something. This man was an idealist who thought better of the world he lived in. He wanted to believe in other people’s compassion to act when they see others hurt unjustly, to defend them or just to send help. Yet in the movie another more realistic man responded with the comment that people would look up from what they were doing for a moment, say or think how sad, and go back to the normal life. But it was his belief that they would do nothing. The second man was right.
In just 100 days in Rwanda 562,000 to 662,000 people were slaughtered just for being in the wrong group. That is no small number, yet how many of us in the world watching really gave more than a passing thought to the horrors that occurred there that are recorded for all to see. Why is this? How can we be so callous?
I think one of the major reasons is because of how common these tragedies are. They seem to happen all the time, and so far away from us. We watch so much violence, so much bad news that we are unfazed by anything anymore. I know this is true because I see it happening every day. I even feel myself slipping into this apathetic mindset, into the numbness. The Romans didn’t begin watching people and animals die for sport overnight. It became accepted as the norm the more they became numb to what was happening. This is the enemy’s trick, it’s what the enemy wants. A world that doesn’t care about others that are suffering, lost, and in need. A world that doesn’t bother to reach out to help them, that doesn’t make any effort to not only observe their pain but seek to remedy it in some way. That isn’t willing to leave their comfort zones to meet the needs and the needy where they are.
The greatest tragedy is that after having endured so much suffering here in this life, many only endure more in eternity if we don’t do something to let them know that there is a God who loves them. Remember in scripture it says in 1 John 3:17 “but if anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and truth.” Or in James 2:14-17 “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also, faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”
Wow, talk about scripture calling out the believers. If you say you believe your actions will show it, compassionate action not just words. Even Christ himself specifically addressed the same idea about a true believer having faith displayed in action when he was speaking in Matthew about the final judgement. He said that when the Son of Man comes in all his glory, the sheep will be separated from the goats. Some receive the message “For I was hungry, and you gave me food, I was thirsty, and you gave me drink, I was a stranger, and you welcomed me, I was naked, and you clothed me, I was sick, and you visited me, I was in prison, and you came to me. The righteous will say, “Lord when were you hungry, thirsty, a stranger, naked, sick or in prison.” And the king will say “Whatever you do to the least of these you do unto me.”
I know it is a hard truth to hear but apathy and inaction are not what God has called believers to. You all are not called to minister to the same areas or in the same ways, but we are called to not only speak God’s words of life and love but live in a way that demonstrates it. We are literally Christ’s hands and feet on this earth, and we need to remember that.
We cannot let tragedy pass and not find a way to minister to others who are in need. Yes, pray and wish others well, but put action behind the words when you are able. Find ways to meet the needs of the suffering. There are so many ways. We need to be a light that shows we serve a God who wants to save them not just their body but their soul. We must wake up, feel, see others through God’s eyes, for he has given us life and light to reach, to heal, and to comfort. We were saved to share and love in word and deed. We just have to see the need and meet it. We are the ones who are called, we are the army of dry bones who he has given life to. We must rise up in his name. How else will they know the truth unless we show them? Don’t let the enemy tempt you into apathy and inaction, open your eyes to the unmet needs of those around you, and love them with more than just words.
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The Prayer Jar
I have a jar I painted at a pottery place. A prayer jar. I know there’s lots of people who have them in their home. I guess it is popular for believers. On my prayer jar I wrote “place it, leave it, rest in his hands.” The idea behind the jar was that when I would have a prayer request, I would write it and put it in the jar. I would do what the scripture says pray and not be anxious but bring my request to God. This was a jar for unanswered prayers or prayers that I was making to God. My thought this morning though is where do the answered prayers go? I had not accounted for that. Thinking about it now though I think I should consider it.
When you read of the nation of Isreal in scripture you find they often remembered and recounted all that God did. They testified and celebrated the blessings of God through various festivals and holy days. Why should we not do the same? Let me explain.
I should have made two jars. One for the prayers that I’m still praying and one for answered prayers. On the answered prayer jar I would write testimonies, praises, and share moments of God’s faithfulness. I don’t just want to come to God to ask for things I require. I want to come to him and praise for all that he has done. To bring to mind and remember his faithfulness to me and know that just as he has moved before, he can and will move again.
Perhaps for you it is not 2 jars. Maybe you put up prayers in your prayer closet on the wall. Do you have a wall of praise reports and answer prayers? Just like in the movie war room where her wall out in the open for everyone to see. We need to know that we can come with our needs and our requests to the Lord, yet we also know just as confidently that God deserves to be glorified and praised for what he has done. For all that he has done before, all of the answered prayers, all of the faithfulness to us and generations before us. We should remember him.
The truth is only when we grab a hold of his faithfulness, only then do we really trust enough to truly place and leave our needs in his hands. We learn to not be anxious for anything because of our confidence due to God’s faithfulness. The knowledge of his sovereignty and provision is the peace that guards our hearts and our minds. The knowledge that we are blessed beyond the curse for his promises endure is sustaining. The knowledge that He holds us steady in every situation shows us we can trust and rest when we place ourselves and our lives in his hands. We have literally proved God over and over through the challenges we faced, so it is time to enjoy the sweetness of trusting in him.
My challenge for you today is simple really. Whether you have jars or walls or lists or journals, however you want to record it, count your blessings and remember the answered prayers. Praise for all that has been met and done in in your life and the lives of those around you. Hope and believe for all that he has yet to do in your life. Praise him because we can have confidence. Confidence that God is faithful, and he will be forever. Rest in the knowledge and the truth that God has you. Celebrate the victories even when you can’t see them yet. Live confident in God’s provision and care of you and let that fuel everything in your life! Because he lives, I can face tomorrow! So go ahead mark the prayer as you pray and celebrate the answers that have been given. You’ll find unending reasons to praise God because he has done so many things and there is so much more he has yet to do!
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What’s the Point?
What is the point? No one sees or notices me or what I do. This is a big lie that the enemy uses to try to get us off our path, to feel worthless, or to decided we have missed our purpose as believers. What is our purpose? What is the point of it all for us as believers? That’s the truth I would like to bring to light today.
I was raised in an Assembly of God church, so I hadn’t read or heard of the catechism till I was an adult. If you had asked me as a kid what is the point of the Christian life or what is the chief end of man (the first question in the catechism), I would have answered it with my opinion because I hadn’t been taught that specific principal. I don’t even know if I understood what the phrase “chief end of man” meant. Basically, the chief end means the highest purpose or the thing most valued and of itself. In other words, it’s the point of it all. Therefore, when somebody asks what the chief end of man is they’re asking what the point of man’s existence, or our highest purpose.
As as a child or a young teenager, I would have told you that it was to be a witness and to change the world for God. Only the things people saw or that I did to effect change in our world would I have considered as my purpose. I thought it was my highest purpose to spread the gospel and see the world changed because of my actions. Now I know that is completely wrong. Why is that? Doesn’t God want us to be witness? Doesn’t he want us to change the world? Kind of, but I would argue that those two things are not the true purpose God has for us as believer. So I know you are thinking, “if the chief end of man is not to go, do, and save the world for God what is it?”
The Westminster catechism explains that the chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. Now I know that the catechism is not scripture, but it is based on scripture. There are verses that prove that the point of man’s existence is to glorify God and worship him forever. For example, 1 Corinthians 10:31 declares “whatever you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” So, what we do brings glory to God, it’s one of the ways we glorify him through our action. By going and doing we can bring glory to God, but the point is the glory going to God, not our going and doing.
Second Corinthians 4 declares that we are jars of clay created to be filled with God’s glory in order to show that the all surpassing power is from God and not from man. This scripture clearly demonstrates that the glory shown through us is God’s glory and his alone. We were designed to display and bring glory to God, not to ourselves through our life. We show his glory, and he receives the glory for it. He’s the one people should notice.
In Psalms 138 David declared “I will praise you Lord with all my heart; before the “gods” I will sing your praise. I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your unfailing love and your faithfulness, for you have so exalted your solemn decree that it surpasses your fame. When I called, you answered me; You greatly emboldened me.” We are emboldened by God to display his glory. In our praise, vocally we declare what he’s decreed and what he’s done. By showing his love and who he is we glorify him with our life. Also, whatever we do, our actions, we do as unto God to honor and glorify him. We do it all for him, this is our highest praise and purpose as believers. It does not matter if it is noticed by anyone else, if the entire world is changed by our actions, or just a few are impacted by what we do. It also doesn’t matter if we feel what have done is significant enough. It only matters that we do everything– live, love, give, go, and exist to bring glory to God and enjoy him.
Too many of us live our life asking what’s the point or feeling like we have completely missed it, but have we? Perhaps we are putting on ourselves expectations that God has not put on us. He simply asks us to glorify him with our life, not to save the whole world. He does the saving and changing. He doesn’t require us to be someone else or operate in other people’s giftings. No, he just asked for you to be as you are, living and doing everything that you do for his glory. This is enough and that is the point of it all. We need to be careful not to diminish ourselves or our purpose. Our chief end is bringing God glory and that is enough for him. It should be enough for us as well. Even if no one notices us but God alone. It’s enough. It is God’s job to change the world, it is ours to bring him glory forever and enjoy him. Don’t believe the lie that you have somehow missed your calling or purpose. Don’t get distracted or discouraged and miss the point. Simply glorify him! That really is the point of it all!
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Location Matters
A little while ago I was given a plant. The person who gave me the aloe plant said that they had it growing in abundance in their backyard. That it had spread in such large amounts that they were potting it and giving it away. Basically, I was given a very healthy and vibrant aloe plant. It was beautiful.
I was thinking that because I was told it was such a hearty and healthy plant that if I just put it right outside my front door it would just flourish. Turns out I was wrong. What actually happened within a very short period of time was I noticed that the plant became more and more unhealthy. It began to slowly die. I even tried to water it but not too much water because I know that isn’t good for that kind of plant. Yet no matter what I did the plant seemed to be on its way to a quick death.
About that time that the plant was dying I had to relocate. When I moved, I almost left the plant because honestly it looked like a pot with a dead plant in it. So why would I bother to take it with me. However, I decided that I would go ahead and take it because I could use the pot for something at least. When I got it to my new place, I put it out front just like I had at my last place. However, the front of my new place is a little different then where I lived before. It wasn’t under a shaded area per se. It did have some shade from a tree, but it was in the thriving flower bed right in front of the house. I noticed after a few months at the house that the plant was actually coming back. I didn’t do anything to it, yet is began to grow and look healthy. By the time I lived at the house six months it looked like the cactus plant that my friend had given me and now it has grown even more.
I’m all about life lessons from practical things so I started thinking about this plant. It occurred to me that where the plant is placed can determine the health of the plant. Do you see the lesson? Location matters. It matters for the health and the vibrancy of any plant. You have to know the right amount of light it needs or the right amount of shade. You have to know the right amount of moisture that the plant needs. With all those things in mind, you have to put it in a place where it will receive what it requires. There is a place that offers that perfect environment for it to thrive and that is true for every different kind of plant.
We as people are much like plants in this way. The same person in a different environment with the right energy and care being poured into them will flourish, whereas in other situations that don’t provide what they need they will become unhealthy and diminished. If you’re in a place and you’re not flourishing it might not be that something is actually wrong with you. Your environment could be either lack something you need or it could be toxic. Understand that even if chose to put yourself in that situation, that doesn’t mean you have remain in it.
Our environments feed into us. It’s very important to be careful about where you plant yourself. Consider if it is an environment that has what you need before you permanently transplant yourself there. Know that if you find yourself in a bad place because the environment you are in is toxic and negative, you can move yourself. You don’t have to stay. If you plant yourself somewhere else, you’ll have a different result, but change does take courage. The alternative is to stay and wither and that should never be a choice you make.
It’s important to know where you are planting yourself in life. Are you taking care to ensure that it’s a place where you’ll receive the things that you need? When there are toxic things that are coming into that environment are you addressing them and removing them? Are you moving away from them? Or are you remaining and letting them infect you and slowly kill you? I have good news for you, if you have found yourself in an environment not conducive to allowing you to thrive and you chose to transplant yourself somewhere else, people can come back just like my plant. Just take care not to wait too long and understand that it will take time to heal and begin to thrive again. But your vibrancy will return.
I hope this lesson is clear, that our lives can if in the right environment flourish and we can thrive, but toxic, abusive, and excessively negative environments can harm and diminish us. Literally your environment affects you. Consider where you are planted. Maybe it’s time for a change.
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Unchanging!
I remember as a little girl being so excited to get to weigh myself at the Publix Grocery store when my mom would take us. We just loved to see how we were growing. I could tell you that now when I walked by that scale at Publix, I do not step on it any longer as an adult. My perspective and point of view has been changed.
As a child in elementary school, Valentine’s Day was such a treat. You would make your little Valentine mailbox or envelope and then everyone put all the Valentine’s with the candy and the happy thoughts in your box. It was such a great day and one I look forward to every year in elementary school. As a single lady currently, I don’t really have much use for Valentine’s Day. It passes by unobserved, no longer the exciting event that I once looked forward to. I can’t even enjoy the candy because of the scale. You see things have changed in my life and in my body as I have grown. That is the way of our human existence.
We cannot think that everything we just love in that moment we’ll continue to be something that we look forward to in the future. Scientists have proven that your taste buds change every seven years and it’s not just our taste buds that change, it’s our preference for activities and events.
All of these things though, these everyday items I look forward to or no longer look forward to are all temporary. They’re not eternal. Yes, there are oh so many temporary things that change over the course of our life. Some of it is due to aging. Some of it is caused by our experiences. Also, some of the changes are because of exposure. Finally, some of the changes are just because our taste buds change (our preferences). That’s the beauty of human life. This can make you think that nothing will stay the same. This consistent change is an indicator that the world is changing around you and you are growing and changing in it. However, it is not an indicator that everything is changing. I propose that there is one thing that doesn’t change, One being really. That’s God.
In the past when I had read that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever it didn’t occur to me why this was such a powerful thing. Why should this comfort us that God is unchanging? Why does it matter in the life of a believer? I contemplate God’s steadiness in our ever moving and changing reality, and I had a powerful realization. I see the comfort that can be found in knowing God is steady.
We need a rock to stand on that we know is not going to move. We need a target to aim for that isn’t shifting as we’re trying to focus our gaze and take our shot. Because we serve an unchanging God, we can know exactly what we stand for, exactly who we believe in, and exactly whose heart we’re aiming for. Not only can we know exactly who God is, but we can also know what God wants. Unlike us as humans who might want the Valentine’s Day when we’re young but then when we’re older not really care. Or love the scale until it becomes our enemy. What God wants doesn’t change. So, if you’ve read in his word about who God is and what he desires you can trust in his word. That’s not something we can trust anywhere else in our reality and in our world. Everything else around us except God shifts and moves and adapts and adjusts, but not God. He is who he is. Remember when he declared to Moses I am. That’s it, I am. And as He is, He will always be. So powerful when you think about it.
Further still, God is unchanging in our pursuit of him, and we can actually move closer to him. He’s not moving, and he shows us how to move closer to him. Now think of this, if you’re aiming at a moving target and it’s getting further and further away. Or perhaps it’s going here and there making the distance between you and the target constantly changing. You’re never really going to be able to set your aim, because how can you hit a moving target. Not easily. How frustrating? Have you ever felt like that before? Like you were chasing a moving target. I have in life and relationships.
Another way to look at it is that it would be like running a marathon, but the course keeps changing after you have already started. It wouldn’t make sense and that’s why marathons like that don’t exist. A runner has to know where they’re heading in order to go in the right direction. An archer taking aim has to know what the target is. So, a benefit of our God’s unchanging nature is that as we can pursue him with confidence. He’s not moving further away from us. He is not saying “I’m here, Nope, now I’m here, nope now I’m over there”. This isn’t some weird hide and seek game that you’re never going to win. Instead, he’s there unchanging and we know what direction to move in to get closer to his heart. We know the charted race and the finish line. We can live and move confidently because we know where the end is going to be.
Our God, unlike our preferences, our situations, the people in our life, or where we are, never changes. Our God is a rock! He is our steady. He is a target we can aim for with certainty. In our ever-changing world this should bring us peace and hope. Things change, God won’t. Stand firm on God, our rock today!
Devotions For Real Life
God moments, lessons learned, and hope for the journey
Look for a new post every Sunday. My hope is you find encouragement, wisdom for real life moments, and share them with others who may benefit from any of the posts.
Devotions For Real Life 