2023-01-29
1 Peter 5:7 NLT
Doug Coldiron writes: “I’m a trucker, and my Jack Russell Terrier, Dee Dee, rides shotgun on my road trips. We were playing fetch outside Atlanta when something caught her eye and she shot into the woods. I paced the perimeter calling her name. I alerted other truckers and searched until it was pitch black. Nothing. Eventually the others left; some said, ‘I’ll pray for you.’ I wasn’t so sure God was listening. I’d already been praying for hours. Next morning, I had to get on the road, and when I opened my laptop and pulled up my Facebook page, it was filled with postings: ‘We’re praying for you.’ ‘Hang in there.’ ‘Trust God.’ I felt comforted; someone besides me was worried about my dog. If only I could get back to Atlanta soon! I thought about praying, ‘Lord, get me an assignment in Atlanta… NOW!’
I knew that could take weeks, but when I clicked on my company website to check the destination for my next job… it was Atlanta! Could prayer be working? Next morning my cell phone woke me. It was Russ, the maintenance supervisor. ‘I saw your dog on my way to work.’ I couldn’t believe my ears. I had to get to Atlanta! From the truck center, Russ drove me to where he had seen Dee Dee. After searching for hours, I glanced over my shoulder… and there she sat on the doorstep of a house. She bolted over, and as I picked her up, I prayed, ‘Thank you, God.'”
The Bible says, “Give all your worries… to God, for he cares about you” (v. 7 NLT). Coldiron adds, “Who knows what goes on in a dog’s mind? One thing I know is we’re never alone. God always answers prayer.”
Soul food: Phil 2:1-13; Exo 14:5-31
2022-09-14
Psalm 42:6 NLT
Max Lucado says: “When God doesn’t do what we want it’s not easy; it never has been, and it never will be. Faith is the conviction that God knows more than us… and he’ll get us through. Disappointment is caused by unmet expectations… and it’s cured by revamped expectations… Don’t panic… don’t give up… be patient… God’s in control. It ain’t over till it’s over.”
So, when you’re disappointed: (1) Look inward. David asked, “Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad?” (v. 5 NLT). Admit how you feel. You can’t deal with what you don’t acknowledge. Ask God to show you the root of the problem. Is it pent-up anger? Envy? Unforgiveness? Pride? Lust? Physical and mental fatigue? Be open to what He reveals.
(2) Look upward. David said, “I will… hope in God! I will praise him” (v. 5 NLT). Instead of focusing on your discouragement, focus on the One who knows the way out.
(3) Remember God’s past faithfulness. David said, “I am… discouraged, but I will remember you.” Through every trial Joseph clung to the assurance that God still controlled his destiny. Recalling God’s faithfulness builds your confidence that He’ll continue to provide.
(4) Remember, you don’t have to understand. Just because you can’t figure out what God’s doing right now, doesn’t mean it won’t make sense later. He “causes all things to work together for good to those who love [Him]” (Romans 8:28 NAS).
(5) Don’t give in to bitterness. When your hopes are dashed, resentment can set in. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (v. 31 NKJV). Regardless of how deep the pit may seem, God is on your side!
Soul food: Ezek 27:25-30:26; Mark 12:28-44; Ps 78:32-39; Prov 20:20-21
2022-08-11
Exodus 2:25 NLT
“The Israelites continued to groan under their burden of slavery. They cried out for help, and their cry rose up to God. God heard their groaning, and he remembered his covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He looked down on the people of Israel and knew it was time to act” (vv. 23-25 NLT). Just when the Israelites thought life couldn’t get worse, Pharaoh withdrew their straw and ordered them to produce the same daily quota of bricks. That’s when they reached their breaking point!
Is that where you are today? If so, here are three things you need to know: (1) Sometimes it helps to share your feelings. Especially when you do it at the right time, in the right way, to the right people. It can be therapeutic and healing. But often the help you need cannot be found in people, so…
(2) There comes a time when you must cry out to God. God saw them struggling to get through another day. But since they talked to everybody but Him, nothing changed. Question: Have you prayed about it? Prayer must be your first option, not your last resort. David said, “I called on the Lord in distress; The Lord answered me and set me in a broad place” (Psalm 118:5-6 NKJV). David’s prayers got him out of a tight spot and into God’s spot.
(3) God will always keep His promise. “He remembered His covenant promise… and knew it was time to act.” God works according to His plan, not ours. He has a set schedule for answering your prayer and delivering you, so keep praying and believing Him.
Soul food: Deut 25-27; Mark 4:13-25; Ps 119:25-32; Prov 17:11-15
2022-08-06
Psalm 112:4 NIV
Faith is like film; it’s developed in the dark. Dark days make you lean on God. The truth is, if your faith was never tested, you wouldn’t be motivated to draw closer to Him. Hymnist Edward Mote wrote: “When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace… When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay. On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; all other ground is sinking sand.”
It’s easy to praise God when your health is good and your bills are paid. But it’s during the dark days that you discover what your faith is made of and where your trust truly lies: in yourself, in others, or in God. When your days feel as dark as your nights, here is a Scripture you can stand on: “Let the one who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on their God” (Isaiah 50:10 NIV).
Job lived an exemplary life, yet he lost everything. Troubled and perplexed, he cried, “He has blocked my way so I cannot pass; he has shrouded my paths in darkness” (Job 19:8 NIV). Job could see no way through or around the situation. Then he discovered that when you can’t find the reason, you can trust the relationship. “My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you” (Job 42:5 NIV). When he made that discovery, everything changed: “The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part” (Job 42:12 NIV). What God did for Job – He will do for you.
Soul food: Deut 11-13; Mark 2:23-3:6; Ps 78:65-72; Prov 17:1-2
2022-06-24
Genesis 22:16-17 NKJV
God won’t ask us for what we don’t have, but sometimes He will ask for the one thing we really want to keep. It reveals if there’s anything we value or depend on more than Him. Abraham was tested like nobody else in history. But he passed the test and was blessed like very few others in history. Imagine God saying to you, ‘Take now your son, your only son… whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you’ (v.2 NKJV).
So many questions would swirl through your mind. But Abraham trusted God. In fact, his faith was so strong that he would be described as ‘the friend of God’ (James 2:23 NKJV) and ‘the father of all them that believe’ (Romans 4:11 KJV). When the test was over (and Isaac wasn’t sacrificed), God said this to Abraham: ‘Because you have done this thing, and have not withheld… your only son… I will bless you, and… multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore… In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice’ (Genesis 22:16-18 NKJV).
So now the question is: what’s God asking of you? Are you struggling with giving it? Are you withholding what He wants, or are you handing it over confidently? Isaac was the hardest seed Abraham ever had to sow, but that seed produced a harvest of blessing greater than anything Abraham ever dreamed of or thought possible. What’s God asking you to do today? When you say yes to Him, you’ll get to see the amazing things He can do and just how far His blessing can reach.
Hosea 1-5; Matt 21:1-17; Ps 144:9-15; Pro 14:5-8
