It's All the Same to Him

Even the darkness is not dark to You, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You. Psalm 139:12 (New American Standard Bible)

A number of years ago, this verse changed my walking patterns. I use to never walk after dark, but the idea that God’s vision is not limited by darkness gave me the courage and freedom to do so. What I needed to know was that walking after dark was the same as broad daylight to God. I would envision the whole area lit up profusely! I came to love the canopy of stars that were displayed over my head. It has been a while since I have been able to take a walk in the moonlight but if given the chance I would do it again in a heartbeat.

God’s Word is so multi-layered. He not only wanted me to see this verse in light of evening strolls, but He wanted me to see that the circumstances of my life are the same as well. Whether my days are filled with dark moments or brilliant light moments, God is still not limited in His vision and watch care over me. Storms do not throw Him. Clouds do not block Him. Torrential down pours do not fill Him with uncertainties. And He wants it to be the same for me. He speaks peace in the midst of the storms and at the right moment calms them.

Not only are my light and dark circumstances all the same to God, but so are my various moods. I use to be concerned if I was not on a continual “high” of emotions. I did not want the low times or the even kilter times. Those always spelled danger to me as I frantically searched for something or someone to lift me up. What I am learning is to relax and rest. To picture Jesus right there with me whether I am on a mountain top or in the depths of a pit of despair. He never walks away and simply waits for me at the end of my tunnel, valley, or gulf. He holds and upholds me the entire way. That has helped me to see that the moods will pass. The down days of darkness will always give way to light. I am learning to believe that and anticipate it.

In my times of dark circumstances or moods, I am learning to lift my eyes to my Father and say, “Abba Father, I am Yours, and You always take care of Your own. You formed me in my mother’s womb and You have carried me ever since. I am inscribed on the palms of Your hands as well as on Your heart. I rest in You.” These are not just words to Him or me. They are words that shift my internal world and shelter me. Tears still flow and fears still surface, but eventually they give way to hope and healing. I am no longer left with a feeling of being stuck with no means for escape.

Father, thank you for the storms that have caused me to seek shelter in You. May I continue to see light and darkness as the same because of who You are! Amen.

Draw Me Close to You - Hillsong
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FB1yDv9_N1k&feature=related

Getting into God's Word and letting God's Word get into me one truth at a time.

Tears and Joy

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. James 1:2, 3 (New American Standard Bible)

James penned these precious words to believers who were facing extreme persecution in the early days of the church. They knew the taste of trials in their life. Persecution, separation from loved ones, imprisonment, even death. What could possibly be the joy in that? Some would say joy in the trials but James is pointing toward the result of the trials…the development of endurance. So too for us. Each circumstance of our life, each difficulty we face, each trial that comes upon us, as believers, become the seeds for the fruit that will be produced later on. THAT is what we can joy in as the tears fall, as our heart breaks, as the questions persist, and as our minds race.

Many today wake with pillows soaked from tears that have fallen in the night. The Bible has 175 verses that speak of weeping, crying, and tears. One of those verses is John 11:35 which simply says, “Jesus wept.” It was his response to the tears of Mary and other Jews at the death of Lazarus. He wept even though He knew there was to be a resurrection. He wept even though He knew the end of the story. Rather than condemn Mary’s tears, he mingled them with His. He knew that her tears were a matter of her emotions, broken heart, desperate situation, confusion, and unanswered questions.

For those of you who read this devotional today with tear stained faces and broken hearts, I hand to you two support beams of comfort. Beam #1, God has things He is producing through your trial, trouble, or temptation. It is not in vain that you are facing whatever you are facing. It is not a dead end street. It is not for nothing. What God does with it all is yet to be seen, but please know that the production of endurance and strength is part of what will take place in your life because of it.

Beam #2, God mingles His tears with yours. He knows your sadness. He knows your questions. He knows your ache. He sees it for the emotion that it is…not a lack of faith but rather an appropriate response to your plight. He has not forgotten you. He has not abandoned you. He is not condemning you. He is not waiting for you to “get your act together.” Like in the case of Mary, He is right there with you in the midst of what feels like death. He will give beauty for your ashes, joy for your sorrow, and praise for you heaviness of heart. (Isaiah 61:3) In that you can joy. Even when the tears fall with His.

Father, for each person who hurts today, I pray for Your strength to be upon in. Thank you for what will come of their trial and thank you for Your tears that fall with theirs. Amen.

With All I Am - Hillsong
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMrAafe7Mns&feature=PlayList&p=2FB126D48DF4B086&index=80

Getting into God's Word and letting God's Word get into me one truth at a time.

A Shift in the Right Direction

He caused the storm to be still, so that the waves of the sea were hushed. Psalm 107:29 (New American Standard Bible)

The disciples knew what it was like to be in the midst of a storm at sea. A storm that seemed to threaten their very lives and send them into a state of fear and panic. Their assumption was that Jesus didn’t care and wouldn’t help. But all of that changed when He stood and calmed the storm with the mere sound of His voice. They also knew the effects of having their internal storms calmed with His words of “Peace be still.” Whether it is a literal storm at sea or a storm in the midst of our internal world, we long for peace to come and “waves” to be hushed.

The most powerful storms I face in life are those of an emotional nature. I know when one is about to hit because I experience a shift in my moods, feelings, and thoughts. It may not even be a huge experience that brings the shift on but the effects are felt and I know too well the storm that will follow…one of darkness and distress. It is a pattern that I have grown use to but never comfortable with. I don’t like the spiraling. I don’t like the shift. The mere sense of one sends me into a state of foreboding because I don’t know how bad it will get or how long it will last.

Last night was no exception. The fresh realization that a severed relationship would most likely not be restored in this life caused the shift. It followed a few days of what seemed like clear sailing and I really didn’t want to experience another storm. What I didn’t realize was how God would show me something that would actually turn the tide. In the midst of a spiral He brought this thought to mind….if something or someone can shift me in a negative direction, He can certainly shift me in a positive direction. He who calmed the storms at sea could just as easily calm my storm. So I asked Him to do that for me and He did! Within moments the pull downward was stopped and I definitely felt a calm.

To say I was astounded would be an understatement. It was a turning point for me. As one who has known only how to ride out storms I am now seeing an alternative I failed to grasp before. I have no doubt that God will faithfully settle my heart when shifts happen and hush the waves of emotions when they come. The circumstances may not always change but my internal world will as I look to Him to shift me in the right direction.

Father, I have never known such calming. I look to You to do in me what I cannot do without You. Thank you for the stillness that comes from You. Amen.

Praise You in the Storm - Casting Crowns
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHdcyue0bSw

Getting into God's Word and letting God's Word get into me one truth at a time. 　

My Distinguishing Mark

Your sail was of fine embroidered linen from Egypt so that it became your distinguishing mark. Ezekiel 27:7 (New American Standard Bible)

Ezekiel 27 describes the city of Tyre as a majestic ship and gushes with elaborate details. The best wood, the best material, the best workmanship, the best….everything. Its presence commanded respect and its distinction was borne out of the exquisite embroidered linen with which its sails were made. As my eyes landed on this verse I was struck by the phrase, “it became your distinguishing mark.” I have spent the last couple of hours pondering what my distinguishing mark is. What is it that sets me apart with distinction and uniqueness?

I know what I often try to make my distinguishing mark. While it may vary from time to time it is usually found within the scope of abilities, relationships, personality, and successes. The truth of the matter is that none of those things actually are my distinguishing mark. My distinction comes from my relationship with God through Jesus Christ and His work in me. He and He alone gives me my worth, value, and significance. He and He alone has stamped out a unique plan and purpose for my life. As a master Potter, He is molding and transforming me into a one of a kind image of His own Son.

The fact that He is faithfully doing that astounds me but the way He goes about it at times pains me. Lately it seems that His technique involves exposing the worst parts of me to myself. He shows me what has to go and that is when I begin to cringe and squirm. Be it an attitude, a perception, an emotional rut, or a mindset, I often put up a fight before finally opening my closed fist (and mind) to His persistent pleading. The most recent “episode” took about 24 hours!

The truths that are so easy to share via devotionals are often the most difficult to live out and appropriate to my life. I take comfort in the fact that while I am so far from where I want to be, I am at least farther than I use to be. I am grateful for the friends who will come along side me during the dark times but even more grateful for a God who knows me thoroughly and still loves me. Even in the times when I cannot bring myself to confide in another person the deepest thoughts and hardest struggles, He remains my faithful Counselor and Comforter. I praise Him and need Him.

Father, the storm is subsiding and Your peace is returning. In the stillness of this moment I worship You! Amen.

Who am I - Casting Crowns
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGU76is9BuY

He is wooing you from the jaws of distress to a spacious place free from restriction, to the comfort of your table laden with choice food. Job 36:16

After the Storm

Their life shall be like a watered garden….For I will turn their mourning into joy and will comfort them and make them rejoice after their sorrow….My people will be satisfied with My goodness, says the Lord. Jeremiah 31:12-14 (Amplified Bible)

Today’s verse was not my experience yesterday but it is this morning. I have long ago given up the notion that in this life I will only have good days and always have a smile on my face. Some days are just plain hard and yet God wants me to know on other days I will be like a watered garden and will experience joy, comfort, and satisfaction. My individual trials and troubles are not the end of the story. They are simply difficult moments within a realm of many precious moments.

It has become my practice after I have walked through a particular valley to glean what treasures I can from that valley. I look for the lessons to be learned and truths to be embraced. I may not necessarily see them when the tears are falling and my heart is grieving, but afterwards, when the storm has passed, I am able to view things from a different perspective. God’s voice is usually clearer to me and my heart is usually more receptive to what He has to say. Sometimes the lesson entails seeing an aspect about myself that wasn’t evident to me at the time. Skewed thinking, misplaced expectations, impaired vision, and wrong focus can become huge boulders in my path that must be recognized and removed.

This morning’s meditation over yesterday’s difficulties brought much to light. When people become my source for significance, identity, value, purpose, and worth I am standing on shaky ground. Mainly because God is the only true Source for those things. Besides, people come and go in my life. Putting such high expectations on temporary relationships sets me up for a continual sense of being unsettled and unstable. Jesus alone is my Rock and sturdy foundation. Because He does not change, what I derive from relationship with Him does not change.

The satisfaction God offers me is often disrupted because of discontentment. Wanting something I don’t have. Wanting life to be the way it use to be in certain areas. Thinking that because things have changed I will now be missing out. Once again, I have to see Who my source for life really is. If it is tied up in relationship with certain people I will definitely live with a sense of unhappiness, incompleteness, and emptiness. But when my relationship with God is the central point of my life I am able to be that well watered garden full of joy, comfort, and satisfaction. It is not a pie-in-the-sky thought. It is real life!

Father, any time I see You as my Source for all things I am able to experience the abundant life You promised. Keep that truth alive in me. Amen.

What To Do Next Time

Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10 (New American Standard Bible)

Although this verse is underlined in my Bible, it has not been one that readily came to mind when I have walked through difficult, painful moments. It has not flowed from my mouth or been reviewed in my mind at times when it would have been beneficial and strengthening to do so. I wish it had! When I faced the darkest valley of my life, I wish I had started each day reading this verse and then reviewing it throughout the day. I believe it would have had a profound effect on me and that it would have weakened the effect of the darkness.

I cannot go back and change the past but I can definitely decide to make this verse a part of my future trials, testings, and tragedies. As I do that, several things will happen. My focus will be directed back toward my Father rather than remaining on my present circumstance. What I choose to look at and dwell on has huge ramifications for either good or bad. When I am consumed with pain, loss, and sorrow it drains me physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Better to have my mind fixed and focused on the One who speaks these words to me. When I feel that the road I am on has become quick sand and my sense of security is gone, this verse will infuse me with strength, confidence, and hope. When I am tempted to think I am all alone and forgotten, this verse will reacquaint me with the truth that God is with me and passionately involved in every aspect of my life. When I want another person to come along side me for support, this verse will remind me that HE is my God and HE will strengthen, help, and uphold me! I need not look any further than at the face, hand, and heart of my Creator, Sustainer, and Abba Father.

I recoil at bumper-sticker phrases that are often given out so glibly. Isaiah 41:10 is the kind of truth I need for hard times. It is filled with promises and assurances. It is imperative that above the roar of approaching storms, the sound of broken hearts and subsequent tears, and the deafening effects of anguish that I keep my ears attentive to the sound of God’s voice as He speaks His Word to me. I am presently walking out of my “valley of tears” but have made up my mind this verse will be a part of my next one when it comes…..and it will come.

Father, may the sound of Your voice be heard loud and clear when I face my next over whelming circumstance. Amen.

He Still Knows What it is Like

He was despised and rejected and forsaken by men, a Man of sorrows and pains, and acquainted with grief and sickness; and like One from Whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we did not appreciate His worth or have any esteem for Him. Isaiah 53:3 (Amplified Bible)

What is it you take to Jesus today? Is it ever feelings of being seen as worthless and contemptible by others? Rejection and physical or mental pain? Grief and sickness of soul? Feelings of being forgotten, forsaken, and unthought of? We live in a fallen world in the midst of fallen people. Their negative words and actions toward us can often shape the view we have of ourselves and leave us feeling deeply hurt and in pain. If that is you this morning, Jesus has a message for you from today’s verse.

He wants you to know that He experienced the same thing when He walked on this earth and although it was to a greater extent, it does not minimize in His eyes the depth of what you are feeling. He does not let you know of His painful experiences in order to down play or down size your own, but rather to let you know He understands more than any one the full extent of your grief, pain, and difficulty. He, more than anyone, enters into your situation and stays with you. From Him you will never receive unattentiveness, disinterest, or distraction. He gives to you what no person was fully able to give to Him…undivided attention and a full knowledge of where and why you are hurting.

He also wants you to know the words of Isaiah 53:3 not only describe what He experienced here on earth over two centuries ago, but it is what He still experiences from mankind even in the present. He is still despised and rejected by the very ones He reaches out to. He is still fully acquainted with grief and sorrow of heart. He still has people who turn away from him, lack appreciation for Him, and think little of Him. And He feels the way we feel when it happens to us. So when you pour your heart out to Him and share the sorrow with Him, He knows and is filled with compassion for you.

He knows that in this world we have trouble. He knows that we respond to the things we hear, see, feel, and taste of this life. He knows how fragile our internal world is. He knows we lack the ability to see beyond our present circumstances. That is why this morning, I can picture a hurting person being held by Jesus. Gently rocked and tenderly spoken to like a mother with a small child. Held closely and being told, “Precious child of Mine, I hurt with you and I speak My peace and compassion over you.” If we let Him, He will speak the words we need to hear. They will be like balm to our soul. Words of healing and wholeness. Words of understanding. He is a personal God who knows us intimately and takes in every detail of our life.

Jesus, I lift up hurting individuals to You. Convey to them the full meaning of my words this morning. Speak to them as only You can. Amen.

Proven to be Storm - Proofed

He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. Psalm 40:2 (King James Version)

To understand the completeness of God’s work in your life is to walk in its truth and see it result in victory in areas that use to send you reeling. Once God has brought you through a place of hardship, He wants to help you see that He has done a permanent work in you. Just as a house is not proven storm-proofed until it has weathered a storm, we are often taken through a “storm” to show that we are truly out of the pit and established in our goings. I found myself in one such moment of “proving” recently.

During the coarse of a recent lunch date, I was sharing with an individual how God had been setting me free in a particular area. The conversation turned to a discussion of the very thing God had delivered me from and as things were shared I could tell my “moment of truth” was about to be revealed. What she shared with me would have at one time sent me into an emotional tail spin of great proportion. I listened with baited breath as she let me know some things I had not been aware of regarding a mutual acquaintance. I knew I was in territory that would either bring me down or prove my deliverance. I wanted to hear what she was saying but at the same time I didn’t want any negative effects to come from it. What resulted was a time of sharing that didn’t lead to a negative consequence.

However, once the conversation was over I could tell the enemy was lurking in the shadows waiting to use against me what was said. That uneasy feeling began to be felt and I decided it was time to put into practice the very things I had been learning. I acknowledged the work of the enemy, renounced his interpretation of things, and proclaimed the truth. What was precious is that as I was voicing the truth, God began to bring Scripture to my mind that assured me He had in fact brought me up and established my goings. He had firmly set my feet on a rock and I was secure, fixed, and stable in Him. He had not only established my way, He had established me!

I cannot fully express what it means to me to embrace the magnitude of His work. After so many times of proclaiming early victories which were followed by failures that revealed the victories really hadn’t transpired, I find it hard to relax and rest in what He has now done. He understands my gun shy tendencies. He knows with each test I gain confidence in what He has done. I lift my hands in praise to the God who has never let go of me.

Father, I am at a place where I still need Your reminders that You really have freed me in this area. As often as the enemy brings the doubts You are bringing the truth! My uncertainties are giving way to amazement. Amen.

A Different Battle Tactic

For in the day of trouble He will hide me in His shelter; in the secret place of His tent will He hide me; He will set me high upon a rock. Psalm 27:5 (Amplified Bible)

Ask anyone who has been a Christian for any length of time and they will testify to the fact that we are in a battle. Whether it is in the spiritual, physical, or emotional realm of life we are often engaged in battle daily with either the world, the flesh, or the devil. Realizing this truth does not necessarily make it easy but at least it allows us to know who we are fighting against. But that is only half the story. Not only are we in a battle but we have weapons to use while fighting. Ephesians 6 lists the armor we are to put on daily….armor that is both offensive and defensive. There is also the power found in learning to pray Scripture and along with that learning to use our God-given authority. The list goes on and on. It boils down to warfare praying and warfare living.

So I was taken back yesterday when in the midst of what I knew to be an attack, God revealed another aspect that was new for me. As thoughts became dark and emotions ran wild, I sensed His invitation to hide in Him until the storm passed. Rather than a time to fight it became a time to rest. I will be honest with you, I didn’t know that was ever an option. And it worked! In the midst of the battlefield, He became my hiding place and shelter. And within that shelter, He exposed issues of my heart that needed to be addressed. Rather than fight the external forces, He was leading me to deal with some internal forces. And what were they? Fears, disappointments, loneliness, discomfort, wounds. Unless confronted and dealt with they would fester. God in His wisdom removed this soldier from the fight just as a wounded soldier would be removed from the battlefield.

For the entire day I stayed hidden. And when the night fell, the words of honesty poured from my mouth just as the tears fell from my eyes. As the depths of my heart were exposed, His healing balm was applied. What followed was a good night’s rest and a sense of refreshment when I woke. My internal world feels like the calm after the storm. I can almost smell the rain. When my eyes landed on today’s verse I KNEW that was what God had done and I am in awe of Him!

I am always amazed when I turn a spiritual corner and learn a new aspect of God and how He works. He is definitely a God of variety and victory. And I take that truth with me into a new day.

Father, there is so much about You that I still do not know. Thank you for the intentional ways You reveal yourself to me. Amen.

Locked Up But Not Limited

Herod also added this to them all; he locked John up in prison. Luke 3:20

I wish a journal had been published of John the Baptist’s imprisonment. It occurred to me this morning that there are three prison accounts given in Scripture but John’s is the only one that does not give a lot of detail. I am reminded of Joseph in the Old Testament and Paul later on in the New Testament. In all three cases we are given the reasons for their imprisonments. Joseph was put in prison because of false accusations made against him. But both John and Paul were put in prison because of their boldness to speak the truth! We are never told how long the prison terms lasted. We do know that Joseph eventually was released from prison and promoted to second in command of Egypt. But both John and Paul saw the end of their earthly lives there. Joseph had charge of other prisoners and Paul wrote some of his epistles from prison. But the only prison mention of John was when he grew discouraged and had his disciples ask Jesus if He was really the One they had been looking for. Jesus’ answer included a very positive summation of John’s life.

For all three of these men I would guess that prison could feel like the bottom had fallen out from underneath them. Like life itself had come apart. It would be easy to feel like they were at the mercy of people. So what is it I can learn from their experiences?

Joseph teaches me that even in the most difficult circumstances in my life God is able to bring people across my path with whom I can minister. If I will but take my eyes off myself and my circumstances and look to Him, He will in turn open my eyes to the people around me and reveal where I can be of help to them.

Paul teaches me that writing and speaking for Christ can be done at any place in my life. May the things I go through never silence me or bring my hands to a stand still. God’s character and the truths of His Word stand firmly no matter what happens in my life.

John teaches me that even if others misunderstand, God knows the truth about me and will one day allow that truth to be seen. I rest in that fact daily.

Father, prisons can either confine me or allow You to be uplifted. May I praise You in the midst of any storm, trial, or difficulty. You live! Amen!

When Others Experience the Storms

For I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you. Jonah 1:12

It is a difficult thing to face the storms in our life. Consequences for choices we have made can be painful at times. That is the case when we choose to sin and sometimes that is the case when we are striving to do what is right. Jonah was running from God and yet he was not the only one to experience the storm at sea. When confronted with the question as to what they should do, he told his ship companions to throw him into the sea and he gave voice to the bottom line of their predicament. The trouble they were experiencing was on account of him! The price of his choice to disobey God’s command was being paid by himself as well as others.

I think of the many Bible characters who faced hardship because they chose to follow God. The storms of persecution came not only upon them but upon their friends and family members as well. If a father was put in prison for his faith, his family suffered the loss of his presence, protection, and provision. The enemy would be quick to condemn his choices because of the suffering others were experiencing on account of him. In many countries today there is still persecution abounding. What is it like for the one whose passion for Christ has a cost to not only himself but for his family as well? If they do not live under the grace and mercy of a loving heavenly Father, they will very easily second guess their decisions. Watching others suffer because of our personal choices can add extra pain to what we are already experiencing.

This has been the story of my life for the past seven months or so. My husband is facing the darkest and most difficult days of his life as a direct result of choices I made in relationship to my walk with God. It was easier when I was the only one paying the price for my decisions. It is much harder to see him in the midst of the storm. I have no doubt God will bring us out on the other side in complete victory. But I also know the enemy will use every thing he can to get us discouraged, doubtful, and disheartened. Every day I have two choices. I can choose to let God define this time for me or I can choose to let Satan do the defining. I choose what God says!

Father, You are the only Anchor in the midst of this storm. Help us to hold on to You like never before. We seek Your glory, Your honor, and Your deliverance. Amen.

Staying in the Battle

He arose and struck the Philistines until his hand was weary and clung to the sword, and the LORD brought about a great victory that day, and the people returned after him only to strip the slain. 2 Samuel 23:10

I love this one-verse story. In the midst of a battle, Eleazar’s comrades desert him but onward he is compelled to go. He rises to the occasion, sticks it out, grows weary, clings to His sword, and God gives him the victory. The whole thing is squeezed into one little verse! Talk about a concentrated capsule. We are not told the number of the Philistines, the length of the battle, or any further details. But as I read this verse my heart races with the strength and power of the story. I appreciate the intensity of Eleazar’s fight.

This morning I am reminded of battles we each must fight. Sometimes we are surrounded by fellow believers and we share in the conflict. There is strength in number and comfort in knowing we are not alone. But more times than not it seems we have our Eleazar moments. The people in our life have withdrawn or just aren’t aware of our personal battle. It could be a loss, a habit, an attack, or any number of enemies.

There was a time my list was long for who I could call during hard times. I gleaned counsel and prayer support from numerous sources. Eventually the list was intentionally being reduced by a loving heavenly Father who wanted me to learn to go to Him. Lately, I am finding a desire to make Him my refuge to whom I run. The sword I cling to is His Word --- knowing He will bring the victory.

It is not always fun, comfortable, or understandable but is it definitely worth it. Each incident strengthens my spiritual muscles and draws me into closer relationship with Him.

Father, when I am battle weary, strengthen me for the fight. Continue to help me cling to You and Your Word. Amen.