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I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD. Psalm 27:13-14 (NASB)
What is it that keeps the Olympic athletes training day in and day out for months and years? What power drives the author to spend hours a day writing on that novel? What driving force pushes the cancer patient to live through the pain or the accident victim to beat all the odds in order to walk again? What motivates the fire fighter to enter a burning building to rescue a little girl’s kitten, risking his own life in the process?
Every day we hear stories about heroes performing extraordinary feats to win honors, save lives or keep their own. One factor in all of these stories is the vision these people have that says “life is worth it!” They are able to look through the gloom and doom, evaluate the possibilities and reach down inside themselves and conjure up a plan that enables them to reach their goal.
Not everyone wins the dream of course. Many gallant men and women lose athletic contests, never get that book published or lose the battle to illness or tragedy. Even so, they believed in themselves enough to try and that in and of itself are worth merit.
As Christ followers we can know what that inner drive is. It’s spelled J-E-S-U-S! It is because of Him we have our essence. It’s believing that scripture says about who we are in Him and realizing in a practical, experiential way that God loves us and that we are His own very special creation. He has given us the gifts, the power and the wisdom to accomplish all that He has in store for us.
In Psalm 27, David writes about the utter despair that he would have had if it weren’t for his faith in almighty God. It was David’s focus on the finish line that kept him sane in the dark mountain fields at night. It was his focus on what God could do that enabled him to pick up those five stones, patiently wait for the throne, and defeat all of Israel’s enemies. It was his belief in the promise of the Messiah that allowed him to be at peace with himself even after he sinned greatly against God, his family and his nation.
Each of us can do exactly as David did. We focus on that God can do through us, as His special creations. We can trust Him to deliver us and empower us to work through the pain and frustrations of live. We can look back at what God provided us through Jesus (forgiveness and His Holy Spirit to guide and motivate) and forward to real life with Him now and forevermore.
Never give up on God. Never give up on yourself. He can work in your life to help you change your world!
PRAYER: Father God, as I think of the many ways people have beat the odds and accomplished great things I’m in awe of your power. I confess to you that sometimes I really don’t believe you have great things in store for me. I get so encumbered with my present and my past that I forget to see your future. Help me to use the power you’ve given me through your Holy Spirit to be the person you want me to be and to change my world for you. Amen
But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. Genesis 6:8
Imagine what it would be like to live in a society where you felt you were the only one living for God. All around you people looked at you as though your religion was outdated, irrelevant and harsh. Some may even accuse you of being intolerant.
You try your best to live for God and take a stand for Him, but people scoff and laugh. Marriage and family are no longer important. In fact the very definition of marriage is under scrutiny. The idea of absolute Truth is a thing of the past. ‘Right’ is what you make it.
If you can imagine that kind of world then you will have a pretty good idea of what Noah went through during his days on earth. Things got so bad that God Himself looked down from heaven and regretted that he even made man.
In the midst of the chaos, God saw one bright light, a man named Noah. The Bible refers to Noah as a righteous man and as one that found favor with God. That doesn’t mean that Noah was perfect. He had issues like any other man. What it did mean is that in the midst of the chaos of his day, Noah followed after God as best he could and God looked upon him with favor (the early Hebrew word means Grace).
God had a special task for Noah to accomplish on earth. It was a task that would take 120 years to complete and would result in every animal on earth being rescued from a great and mighty flood. Imagine what it must have been like for Noah to build on this great boat under the watchful eyes of his neighbors who, most likely, thought Noah had gone completely off his rocker.
God asked Noah to do something that had never been done before. He asked him to stand strong against adversity, trust Him for the strength to accomplish the task, and follow the directions that He’d given Noah. If Noah would follow the path God had for him, he would meet with success and the world would be saved.
We know how the story of Noah turned out. He listened to God. He followed God’s directions. He showed great courage in trying something completely new, and the world was saved!
God isn’t likely to call any of us to change our careers and become boat builders any time soon. Our Father is looking for followers who are willing to stand strong in the face of adversity and work to change their part of the world. It appears from scripture that not only did Noah find favor in God’s eyes; he found favor in the eyes of men as well. Noah lived a life contrary to those around him. Even so, He was accepted in spite of his different beliefs.
Live your life in such a way that others will see you are different. Stand strong on the moral commands that God has given us. At the same time live in such a way that you are accepted. Paul says to live grace-fully, to live at peace with all men (even those who are wrong!) as much as it depends on you.
PRAYER: Father God, sometimes I feel like Noah. Everything around me seems to be falling apart. People seem to have forgotten you. I pray that you will help me be like Noah. Help me to follow your commands in the face of adversity and be willing to step out and try new things because of your power working through me. I want to change my world! Amen.
You gave me life and showed me kindness, and in your providence watched over my spirit. Job 10:12 (NIV)
There are few stories in the Bible that are more intriguing than the story of Job. The drama played behind the scenes between Satan and God helps us understand, somewhat, the huge part the ‘spirit world’ plays in our everyday lives. Don’t think for a moment that Satan doesn’t still approach the throne and make some pretty hefty accusations against God’s own. If he had the tenacity to go after the very Son of God, nothing will stop him from going after frail mortals.
Even more amazing is Job’s reaction to the devastation that he was forced to endure with no warning, no explanation and no support from his friends or family. Even in the midst of all this he maintained a faith that most of us could only hope for. While there are many lessons we can learn from the life of Job, there are three that stand out.
First of all, Job never lost sight of who God was and never doubted His character. He questioned God’s actions. He begged (demanded?) some sort of explanation. He expressed deep mourning and pain (who wouldn’t in situations far less horrendous!). But Job never questioned God’s sovereignty and character. Job 10:12 speaks of God’s kindness and providence. Providence is defined as a ‘divine power that guides our very lives and destiny’. Job knew who was in control.
Secondly, Job never lost sight of who he was. Everyone near and dear to Job was either dead or intent on telling him that he should give up and admit that he was guilty and deserving of everything God had handed him. In the midst of physical pain, emotional despair and spiritual confusion, Job stayed true to himself. Being true to yourself in the midst of adversity is a character trait that, more than anything else, will see us through the tough times.
Lastly, Job never seemed to let go of the ability to see God in the world around him. ‘God activity’ was a natural occurrence in his life. The events that brought Job’s world crashing down were not a result of fate, bad luck or coincidence. God was at the center of everything that happened in Job’s life. He didn’t always understand. He didn’t always agree. But He knew who held the keys to life and his faith would not be shaken.
During the darkest times of our lives our Heavenly Father is not shaken, surprised or caught unaware when things go ‘horribly wrong’. He brings things into our lives to draw us to Himself and make us aware of His presence. Use the events of your life as opportunities to see God’s handiwork in action.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I have to confess to you today that when adversity comes I’d far rather react that to rest in You. There are so many times in my life when I’ve doubted You and questioned why. I’ve lost faith in myself, lost faith in You and quit looking for things in my daily existence that show your work. Help me today to actively acknowledge your fingerprints on everything I do and every event that takes place in my life. Amen.
When we were at Mount Sinai, the Lord our God said to us, ‘You have stayed at this mountain long enough. It is time to break camp and move on…Look, I am giving all this land to you! Go in and occupy it…” Deuteronomy 1:6-8 (NLT)
The Israelites were on their way to the Promised Land! After years of captivity they were going to finally receive the land that God had promised Abraham, Isaac and Joseph. It wasn’t an easy journey. The people grew tired of setting up and taking down camp. They missed the comfort of Egypt, even though they forgot about the abusive pain that they endured while there.
Soon they came to Mount Sinai and things got better. They had food provided to them daily, the Lord kept them in the shade of His cloud by day and they had the pillar of fire to keep them warm on the cool desert evenings. For two years, although they were surrounded by wilderness, they lived in comfort on the mountain.
Soon the word of the Lord came to them. You’ve stayed here long enough. This mountain-top experience has to end so that you can receive the real promise, the ultimate blessing of the land I have prepared for you. Pull up stakes. Head into the Wilderness so that you can receive something much better than you have now.
The message is much the same for us today. We have dreams. We have things we’d like to do. But we grow comfortable in our surroundings and don’t want to venture out. After all, who’d choose to be in a wilderness when we can enjoy the mountains.
If we want to receive all that God has for us it is impossible to stay in our comfort zone. But often it is easier to stay where we are. We don’t like hardship. We want to be comfortable and experience all the good things of life and God. But growing doesn’t come when we are comfortable. Growth, true Spiritual Growth, comes during those wilderness experiences when God teaches us to trust in Him.
Our Heavenly Father uses the hard times of life to teach us lessons we must learn to glorify Him. His goal is, and always will be, to give us the things we desire, to show us His good and perfect will. Until we are ready to leave our comfort zone and venture into the wilderness we will never experience the promises God has for us.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father. I confess to you that I far rather prefer comfort and mountain top experiences than I do the hardship of the wilderness. I know that I need to travel through the wilderness in order to receive all you have for me. Please give me the courage to step out, to get off my mountain and follow you. Strengthen me as I go through the wilderness and help me trust in You. Amen.
Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1
There aren’t very many things that we can count on any more. Relationships fail; jobs go away, friends and family members move, or worse yet die. Change happens more and more frequently. Faith tells us that we can be sure of the hopes and dreams we have. All we have ever wanted can come true if we just have the faith. That all sounds good, but is it really true?
But in the real world ‘dreams’ don’t always come true. So is God wrong? Is faith worth it? Was this verse put in these pages just to mess with our minds? Why don’t dreams come true?
There are a lot of reasons our dreams don’t come true. We lose faith in ourselves. We stop believing in ourselves when failure follows failure. We set goals for ourselves and fail to meet them. Soon the wounds overtake us and we give up. We lose faith in others when relationships go sour and love dies. We lose faith in God when our prayers go unanswered and it seems like disaster follows disaster. We lose faith when we listen to the lies of those around us.
Having faith means we believe in the unbelievable, we trust what we can’t see, we accept what we can’t change.
Faith is only as strong as the item we put our faith in. That’s why we often get discouraged. We put our faith in finite, mortal things such as money, other people or ourselves. When those things fail despair sets in. There are no options.
Just saying we put our faith in God isn’t enough. Faith in God depends on our concept of God. If we see God as being some aloof, uncaring old man, and trouble comes what good is our faith. If we see God as being a weak wishy-washy coward and we are attacked where will he be then? If we see God as a vengeful, angry father we cower in fear when we think we may have displeased him. When we see God as a jolly, old Santa Clause type God we expect to get all of our dreams and wishes fulfilled whether they are really best for us or not.
But if we see God as a loving, caring, all-powerful daddy we realize that He will be exactly what we need at the time. That means that when we need to be challenged he’ll bring situations into our lives to make us strong. When we need to be comforted he sends healing. When we are lonely he reminds us that he is always there. He has given us the gifts we need to accomplish all He has intended.
Never, ever stop believing in the God of the Bible.
PRAYER: Dear Heavenly Father. There are so many times when I struggle with this thing called faith. I desperately want to believe in you. I want to believe in myself and to believe that you have great things planned for me. Help me to see you for who you are so that I can pursue the dreams you have given me. Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 