daily devotional

by

Even though …

This passage from Habakkuk is both beautiful and astonishing. It’s astonishing because we see a life filled with disaster, a life we might think is bleak and hopeless—yet the passage positively shines with hope and strength.

Even though the fig trees have no blossoms,
and there are no grapes on the vines;
even though the olive crop fails,
and the fields lie empty and barren;
even though the flocks die in the fields,
and the cattle barns are empty,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD!
I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!
The Sovereign LORD is my strength!
He makes me as surefooted as a deer,
able to tread upon the heights (Habakkuk 3:17-19).

Read these verses again, slowly and maybe even aloud, and don’t miss some key words.

Even though. Even though the check book is depleted or the savings are gone or the job disappears. Even though the diagnosis is cancer. Even though I have wasted all those years. Even though I struggle with depression or live with chronic pain. Even though I am a single woman alone. Even though I’m being ridiculed for living as a follower of Jesus. Even though my best friend dies. Even though my husband leaves me. Even though I cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Even though …

You can finish a few more of those sentences, I’m sure.

Even though all looks like disaster …

Yet. Yet I will rejoice that God rescues me. Salvation is a difficult word to make concrete in our world. When I learned that it meant rescue, then many Scriptures took on new meaning for me. Even though disaster falls in every area of my life, yet I will rejoice in the God who rescues me. I remember that He has in the past and know He will in the future. No matter what situation I’m in today or what battles are raging, I know He is my rescue. In that, I will find my peace and joy.

Sovereign. He is sovereign! He rules supreme, and as Sovereign, He holds my life in His hands. What better place to find refuge? My strength comes from His. My resources come from Him. He is my Shepherd, and He sees to it that I do not lack anything I need. The Lord of the universe has claimed me as His child!

He makes me… I have no stability, no joy, no strength, no security of my own making. All of my strength comes from Him. I depend totally on Him for courage and endurance. He is the One who makes me able to scramble up the mountainside, no matter how steep or high. He keeps me from slipping and places me on solid ground even when the path leads through the valley of disaster or I am under siege by the enemies of my soul. Even though my clay is fragile, He makes me strong and firm, courageous and steadfast.

In the middle of disaster, hope can yet trust the Sovereign Lord who rescues and gives strength.

As a writer, I wish I could write words this beautiful and powerful. As a child of God, I want my life to sing these lyrics.

.

.

 

by

On Waiting for God

I’ve been impatient about many things lately. No, more accurately, I’ve been impatient all my life. God’s timing often seems much too slow for me. I know His time is not my time, but still … Why not do this now, Lord? Why not judge this now? Why not fix this now? Why not bestow the blessing or the joy or the answer now? Why not show me this now?

I wrote recently about one particular blessing in waiting. But my usual attitude is, What’s the point of waiting?

This morning, I timed my walk perfectly. Deep rose, crimson, and purple on the eastern horizon heralded the rising sun:

 Morning glory

I turned my back for only a few minutes to climb a hill (lots of those around here), and when I turned again toward the east, the sky was gray with heavy clouds muffling all but a trace of color.

 Morning Sky

 

Isn’t this the rhythm of our spiritual days? Sometimes our days blaze with God’s glory, full and spectacular. We can’t miss it. We fall at His feet in reverence and awe and praise and worship and thankfulness. But at other times clouds block our view of the glory. We see darker skies, portents of rain or storm, and we lose sight of the intensity and glory.

Yet I know the sun came up today. The day is already growing lighter and warmer. The sun will march across the sky and nothing will prevent the morning from turning into noon and then evening.

Our God is even more unstoppable and persistent than the sun.

My sister remarked recently that there are so many Scriptures full of promises to those who wait on God. Wait. Wait. Wait through cloudy days and wait through the glorious, light-filled days. We must wait on God, and we will see His glory.

Of course, my first impulse was to not even wait for the Scriptures—I took out my phone to call my sis and ask her to send me a list of those verses ASAP so I could write this post. Nope, did not want to wait to do the searching myself (even though I know what a blessing comes with that searching).

But I did not dial. I will wait upon God as I look, myself, for His promises about waiting.

I’ll get back to you and share what I’ve found … but you may have to wait a few days.

In the meantime, you could start searching for those promises yourself. And I am so certain of God’s dependability and steadfastness that I can promise you’ll catch some of God’s fantastic glory in the process. 

I’m sure of it.

.

by

Good Things from Hard Places

Their youngest son went for a walk one day and never came back. The only trace of him that was found was a piece of clothing belonging to the boy—smeared with blood.

Can you imagine a harder place? The boy’s parents had no clue as to what had happened to their child, but the bloody coat suggested violence. Yet a body was never found, nor was a perpetrator of the crime ever suspected, accused, or punished. They spent many years grieving and wondering.

And I’m sure the father, especially, had many questions for God. His life up to that point had been anything but peaceful. He knew God’s promises, but his life’s path had been through many deep valleys. Why had God allowed this to happen now? Had he not already suffered enough? This tragedy was too much to bear. It was such a staggering blow that he lived in constant and deep mourning.

I wept when I read the end of the story. I had read and heard it many times before. Because this is the story of Joseph and his father, Jacob. Yet this time, reading it through, it touched me like it never had before. Could you imagine a harder place for a parent to be? Can you imagine the prayers, the tears, the questions, the sadness?

But as I read the end of the story, I wept not in sadness, but in relief and thankfulness.

Many, many years later we see that God has had a hand in Joseph’s life all along—and in Jacob’s. In Jacob’s old age, his entire family is in peril of death, and Joseph—the child Jacob has spent decades mourning—is alive and in a position of power to save them all.

But oh! the hard places Jacob had to walk through! And yet at the end of the story, we hear Joseph saying, “God has gone ahead of all of us, setting the stage so that I can save us all.” And God Himself comes to the old man Jacob and says, “Don’t be afraid. I will go with you to Egypt and I will bring you back again.”

There are so many Scriptures that tell us that God holds the lives of His children. He not only walks through everything with us, He goes before us. He has a purpose and a plan. He holds our times in His hands. So many Scriptures! You probably have your favorites. Hold on to them in the hard times!

I just want to pull out two today that always speak peace to me. They are taken from two very different contexts. One is written to people who are in the middle of terrible suffering. The other addresses people on the verge of a wonderful new life.

…trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you. (1 Peter 4:19)

For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land of flowing streams and pools of water…a land where food is plentiful and nothing is lacking. (Deuteronomy 8:7, 9)

In the good times and the very hard times, our lives are safe in His hands and He is bringing us to the place He promised us.

Praise the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!

p.s. Will you share your favorite promises in the Comments section?
If you have trouble entering a comment, just shoot me an email with your Scripture, and I’ll enter the Comment for you.
Send it to elainestarner@gmail.com
Thanks for the encouragement it will bring to all of us.

.

.

by

Hearts turned in awe

Today a friend in the blogosphere writes of our hearts being turned toward God. Turning our hearts to look for His hand in our lives. Turning to Him for everything we need today so that our lives become a beacon and a signpost pointing others toward the hope of God’s promises. This expanded my prayer of the last few days: I’ve been asking to be filled with awe.

All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing meals (including the Lord’s Supper) and to prayer. A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved (Acts 2:42-43, 47).

I had never before noticed or thought about one clause in these verses; most of the time when we read through this account of the early church, we’re focusing on their fellowship, the many people being saved, and the apostles’ miracles.

But there it is, and it struck a longing in me this week: A deep sense of awe came over them all.

I want to be filled with awe.

I think they were filled with awe at what God was doing daily. Not just the miraculous signs and wonders, but the amazing things the Holy Spirit was doing in each of their lives. I think they looked forward every day to getting together with other believers and to recalling Jesus’ words that might not have made sense just a few months before; now they understand! I think they looked back even further, to the prophecies of the Scriptures that they might have studied since they were children; now God is keeping His promises! Let me tell you what happened today…  I’ll bet there were no quiet meals, and I’ll bet that many of them talked about these things all day, too, whenever they got a chance.

They were filled with a deep sense of awe at what God was doing. The Almighty’s presence in their days was as real and unmistakable as the pillar of fire and the cloud that led the Israelites in the wilderness.

We look back at the history of the children of Israel. God chose them, He chose them out of all other nations, to be His special people. He promised blessings and special favor; He promised to provide and care for them. We read their stories and think, “How could they have missed so much of this? How could they blow it like they did time and again?”

Wake up, chosen people of God! Those who come to Christ to be rescued are now the new people of God! (See Galatians 6:15-16). We are His new creation. We are right in the middle of the new thing He is doing on this earth. He keeps His promises. Everything He says He will do, He will do. He lives on this earth through us. He has a special mission for us here. Our lives are His life, pointing the way for people to come back to God. And His presence with His people is just as sure as the pillar of fire.

That may sound like boasting, but it’s really awe and amazement, bursting out… I have nothing to give Him — in all honesty, I have to admit that too often I am instead a hindrance to His work in my corner of the world. I drag my feet and mumble excuses or I do it all wrong because I like to do things my own way. Even so, He has adopted me and calls me His child and says I am His ambassador in this world. He’s changing me into His own likeness (He created once in His likeness, now He is doing it anew!) I can depend on Him to keep all His promises.

And yet I feel as though I’ve only just begun to glimpse it all…the length and breadth and depth of this relationship the Almighty God has with the people He loves. I’ve only had a sip of that deep awe.

I’d like more, please, Lord. Turn my heart in awe.

.

.

 

by

“Let all who are helpless take heart”

What do we do when we are up against a wall? We are so programmed to be self-reliant, strong, assertive, empowered—we know all the buzz words that today’s self-help culture throws at us. Yet every one of us will see times when we are helpless—totally powerless to make a difference in a situation or circumstance.

That’s real life.

Psalm 34 is real life too.

I will praise the LORD at all times.
I will constantly speak his praises.
I will boast only in the LORD;
let all who are helpless take heart.

I prayed to the LORD, and he answered me.
He freed me from all my fears.

Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy;
no shadow of shame will darken their faces.

In my desperation I prayed, and the LORD listened;
he saved me from all my troubles.
For the angel of the LORD is a guard;
he surrounds and defends all who fear him.

Taste and see that the LORD is good.
Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!

Fear the LORD, you his godly people,
for those who fear him will have all they need.
Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry,
but those who trust in the LORD will lack no good thing.

The LORD hears his people when they call to him for help.
He rescues them from all their troubles.

The righteous person faces many troubles,
but the LORD comes to the rescue each time.
Psalm 34:1-10,17, 19 NLT

Psalm 34 is real life. There’s a lot of talk of helplessness, trouble, and fear—things we face every day. We find ourselves helpless in the face of a diagnosis or the conflicts in a relationship. Economic uncertainty creates anxiety. We walk in a world filled with evil, and we are not immune to all that brings pain and tears.

David wrote this psalm, and he suffered through more trouble than many of us will ever see. A rebellious son who wanted to kill him. Family turmoil. Wars against his kingdom. Conflict and opposition from powerful people. A heavy burden of guilt. And even a feeling of alienation from the God he loved so much.

But in Psalm 34 we also find joy and praise and gladness, side by side with helplessness. David knew what it meant to be kept safe in the care of the Shepherd.

That’s the real life I want!

When we are helpless, we can take heart because we are not without help. The Lord rescues all who come to Him for help. In the midst of pain and tears, our hope knows that the Lord’s eyes and ears are open to His people and He is good. He will answer!

I wonder if we miss the joy because we are trying to be so self-sufficient. We look only at the difficulty of our situation and do not even think of the goodness and greatness of our Shepherd. Look again at the verses that mention joy. Those who look to Him for help and those who take refuge in Him are the ones who find radiant joy. Are we looking to the wrong places for our help? Is that why we do not find joy in the midst of our troubles? Is that how the words hopeless and helpless creep into the thinking and the vocabulary of the children of God?

David sets the example: constantly praise the Lord. Tell of everything He has done. Even boasting in the Lord is in order. When we are helpless, when there is absolutely nothing we can do, this psalm reminds us over and over again: We are not helpless. Remember who the Lord is and what He has done. Remember that He comes to rescue us and will also bring us good things even in the midst of trouble.

Tell of the Lord’s goodness. Thinking about and speaking the greatness of our Father will be the antidote for the feeling of helplessness.

“Let the helpless take heart” reminds me of Christ’s words: “In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart. I have overcome the world. I’m not going to leave you alone. My power will work in you, and my power is greater than any power in the world.”

What better place to go for help than to the One who defeats and disables every power of this world? With the Spirit of Christ living within, the helpless are never without help. Jesus says this is a fact of our lives as children of God. We are kept safe in His care. Will we believe-live it?

Yes, this psalm is real life. Ripples of small troubles upset our days. Monster tidal waves sweep over our lives and we fear we are drowning. But in every thing, the Lord is good and will rescue His children. The Shepherd surrounds and defends those who belong to Him. We can take heart. Joy comes even when we are helpless.

It’s putting all our eggs in one basket —  and it is never a risk! Going to our God for help is never fruitless, and it’s the only way to joy that survives even the most frightening storms.

.

.