Devotions
It’s a New Year, and I have an important question for you? “Do you know what will happen over the next 12 months?” I must confess that I don’t know what will happen, and it does not really matter that I don’t, because I know the one who does. He is the Almighty, the One that promised to give his people, Israel, a “hope and a future”, and now extends the same promise to those who believe in Him.
I heard a story about a pastor from Colorado Springs who lives at the foot of Pike’s Peak with his family. Now Pike’s Peak stands majestically along the front range of the Rocky Mountains. The Peak is nearly always visible but there are days when the clouds hang low, and the majestic peak is hidden. One day, the pastor’s young son ventured outside and could not see The Peak. He turned to his father and said,
Recently, I was listening to a comedian who said in one of his sets, that a few years ago, ”Elmo” (a beloved character in children’s television) had asked a simple question on a social media platform. The question was: “How are you all doing?” Poor “Elmo” was unprepared for the onslaught of responses from across the country, responses that ran the gamut of every human emotion: rage, disgust, horror, confusion, sadness, disillusionment, revenge, you name it, it was there. Elmo received 180 million responses.
A few months ago, my son began his driving lessons. It has been quite an experience in trusting. I must admit that while it is easy for me to trust God whom I have not seen, I have yet to master the art of trusting that my son (whom I have seen) knows what he is doing at the wheel. My son is a pretty good driver and yet, sitting in the passenger seat on pins and needles, has made me a formidable prayer warrior. It has taught me what it means to trust in God’s protection. Every time we pull up safely into the driveway, I give thanks to God in heaven.
Have you ever attempted the “trust fall?” This is purportedly a trust-building game where one person deliberately allows themselves to fall backwards, trusting that other members of the group will catch them. I must admit that this would be an extremely challenging exercise for me. Just thinking about it causes my spine to tense up. Sometimes this is how it is between us and God. We blithely say we trust God, but when we begin to fall, fear kicks in and we instinctively grasp at other earthly things to steady ourselves, ultimately proving that we only trust ourselves.
The disciples had been fishing all night but had caught nothing. The next morning, Jesus enters the picture and asks them to throw their net on the right side of the boat. Even though they do not recognize him, they do as he instructs them to do, and they end up with a large haul of fish (vs. 13), and just like that they recognize who he is. It is the Lord.
What are you afraid of today? What fears invade your thoughts in the dark hours of the night? Almost daily we experience fear in some way. Whether it is fear of the unknown, fear of heights, fear of failure, fear of rejection or of the opinion of others. Anyone who lives long enough will encounter some kind of fear.
Peace. It is the one thing we all crave. Lately, it seems we cannot get away from uncertainty. The news is filled with stories about the never-ending pandemic, devastating fires, tsunami’s, political and social unrest, inflation…name it and you will find it. Many are anxious and filled with endless worry, depression and a sense of hopelessness and helplessness. How can we find peace in these chaotic times?
The storming of the Capitol building in Washington DC, this past week was shocking. It caused the whole world to pause and take notice. Many people understood that if this could happen in America, then it could happen anywhere. Following the rampage, you may be experiencing a lot of mixed emotions. Perhaps, you feel bewildered, disoriented, lost, sad, unclear, uncertain, and even afraid. The foundations we thought would hold firm have crumbled and fear has come to roost.
It has been quite a while since the COVID-19 pandemic descended on our world, wreaking untold upheaval upon humanity. Perhaps you have been personally impacted by the death of a loved one, the loss of income, the onset of depression due to prolonged isolation, or in some other negative way. In times, like these, it can be difficult to see the goodness of God.
As I reminisce about my childhood, I am reminded of that warm comforting feeling I got every time I leaned on my mother’s chest. I would listen to her heartbeat, and something about that steady LUBB and DUB sound made me feel completely at ease. No matter what else might have been going on, in that moment of leaning I experienced love, protection, serenity, and certainty. As our world continues to spin faster and faster with distressing headlines and protests and riots and hardships, I have found myself longing for that deep sense of certainty and maybe you have too. But who will you lean on when everyone is in the same boat?
By now, we’ve all got the corona drill down pat: Wash your hands; Don’t touch your face; Stay at home; If you must go out, keep a safe distance from others; Cough away from people or into your elbow; If you have symptoms, wear a mask, quarantine yourself, then call your doctor. But how many of us are listening to what God is saying?
Have you ever felt inadequate, less than, not enough? I think that many people feel this way at some point in their lives. I remember my own sense of inadequacy when the Lord called me to establish Esther’s Hope Ministries. I balked. The voice inside my head kept reminding me, that I was not enough. I was not experienced enough, educated enough or talented enough to establish and manage a ministry. After much struggle and resistance to the Lord’s bidding, the LORD revealed to me two distinct truths:
Where do you turn to in times of trouble? It’s quite a revelation to watch little children interact with their parents. Whenever a little child is in distress, that child will turn towards a parent and look up with lifted arms, expectantly waiting to be picked up and comforted. In such a case, the parent’s most eloquent response is to bend down, pick the child up and hold them close to reassure them. It’s a beautiful picture of God’s love.
While visiting Kenya recently, I stopped by a local shopping center in the western part of the country. As I looked around the shops, I observed a woman emerging from a tiny kiosk with a young girl, about five years old, carrying a book bag on her back. As I watched them, the woman bent down and whispered something in the girl’s ear, simultaneously pointing towards a building which was about half a mile down the road. With that, the little girl began to run. I stood there glued to the scene, fascinated to see such a tiny child running such a long distance on her own. I watched her frame grow smaller and smaller as the distance between her and her mother increased. Occasionally, this precious child would slow down and begin to walk and her mother, who kept her eyes on her the whole time, would shout encouragingly, “Keep running, you’re almost there.” With every shout, the young girl who never once looked back, would once again break into a jog. Finally, she made it! As she turned into the building that her mother had pointed out to her earlier, the woman went back into her kiosk to serve her customers.
Rev. John Hagee, the Senior Pastor of Cornerstone Church, San Antonio, Texas once said, great faith is the product of great fights. One does not have great faith unless, you have engaged the spiritual enemy over and over and won the victory. Great faith is borne on the battlefield of life when your very existence spiritually and physically is threatened. Great faith does not demand miracles; it produces miracles. It is the kind of faith that starts out without knowing how things will turn out.
Over the last few months, I’ve heard a certain phrase used repeatedly, “You do you!” It is often stated with such emphasis as though to convince the hearer of its ultimate wisdom and truth. On the one hand, God created you to be unique, no one else is like you, so go ahead and be you. However, the modern take on this phrase goes further, it gives one the license to be a free spirit, no matter where that spirit takes one. In other words, in this modern era, people are free to be and do whatever pleases them. Whatever feels good to you, go ahead and do it. However you want to show up in the world, go ahead and be it. No one has a right to an opinion concerning your lifestyle because it is your life. On the surface, this is a tempting proposition.
Our current world is fraught with danger; fraught with pettiness and rumors; fraught with worry and all manner of ugliness and confusion. I would even dare say; a perfect storm is brewing. It is easy to get carried away by the sludge; it is easy to get immune to the wickedness. It is easy to want to withdraw from it all and pretend, it will all go away quietly. It is quite easy to normalize this corrosive, oppressive, unsound and ungodly environment. In fact this is what the devil hopes we will do. But God is looking for those who will be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer (Romans 12:12) in spite of the storm.
