I myself am God, your God: Keep my statutes and live by my laws. Keep my Sabbaths as holy rest days, signposts between me and you, signaling that I am God, your God. Ezekiel 20:19-20, MSG*
As Christians, we live under grace. It’s not about trying to earn our salvation or to appease God so He won’t zap us.
But God is a holy God, and our behaviour matters to Him. We can please Him, or we can offend Him. With all He’s done to save us, isn’t the best response a life that honours and obeys Him? A life lived in loving trust?
That’s the kind of life that keeps us close to God instead of putting up spiritual barriers. And in a culture that has little use for God’s statutes, laws or Sabbaths, it’s a life that shows others that our God is different. He is good. He’s worth following.
Holy God, we could never earn Your approval, but Jesus does, and as believers we stand clothed in Him. Thank You. Please free us from any lingering doubt of Your acceptance, and give us hearts that long to please Your heart—in our words and in our actions. May others catch glimpses of Your character in our lives.
The Lord will work out his plans for my life—
for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever. Psalm 138:8, NLT*
Don’t we forget this, sometimes?
Bad news piles up. Globally. Locally. Personally. Even if we’re physically untouched, the sheer weight of what goes on around us can be soul-crushing.
And let’s face it, even when life is really good, there are elements that we don’t like. That could be better.
If we’re not careful, fear, discouragement, discontent and others can pull our focus away from our Lord’s sufficiency. We know the truth of God’s promises, but we forget. (Click to tweet this.)
I find that embarrassing. Every time.
These days, we have “stuff” going on at church. I don’t understand it, I don’t like it, and I do not want to go around this tree again. Been there, done that a long time ago.
Yet where is God speaking to me? In church. First, He told me to be quiet. Hmm. Then He challenged me to accept His timing when I think it’s too slow.
He reminded me that adversity is part of life. It’s often the part that makes for the best growth. And it’ll happen whether I want it to or not.
For me, it’s meant repenting of an attitude of discontent. Reminding myself that it’s not about what I want. Recommitting myself to live in a way that honours and trusts in God.
God our Maker and Sustainer, somehow You will work all the messes of life into something beautiful. Forgive our grumbling and our discontent—and our fear—when we don’t like what we see. You don’t like it either, but You can work with it. Help us trust You. Help us work with You to be part of Your solution instead of being part of the negativity.
∞
I love this song from Robin Mark: “All is Well.” Take a few minutes to let it bless you.
An idol is nothing but a tree chopped down,
then shaped by a woodsman’s ax. Jeremiah 10:3b, MSG*
In 21st century North America, the idea of calling an inanimate object “god” sounds foolish. We’re so far advanced from that primitive idea. We know a statue has no power.
We’d never worship something like that. Not in the sense of offering sacrifices to it, or of praying for its help.
But what if an idol is anything that takes first place in our lives, anything that replaces or reduces our adoration of our Saviour?
Maybe we’ve just build more sophisticated ones. Not out of wood or metal, but out of our wants and needs. Cars, houses, technology. Mates, children, pets.
Everyone has wants and needs. God knows that. But He wants us to “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33, NIV**)
We can’t claim “He will give us all things” literally—as evidenced by the lack of a red Corvette in my driveway—and more seriously as evidenced by the many hungry and oppressed Christians around the world.
But God deserves first place in our hearts, minds and spirits. When we align under His authority, we can rest in His sufficiency and His presence. With Him, we can pass through the hard times and come out the other side, even if that other side isn’t until we die.
It all comes back to trusting God. Putting him first. Checking our other affections to be sure they haven’t begun to crowd Him out. Restoring our perspective wherever it’s needed.
Holy God, You alone are worthy of our worship, praise and adoration. You’re the giver of all good things. Forgive us for the times we’ve allowed good things to usurp Your place in our hearts. Help us to appreciate Your gifts but to worship the Giver.
I’ll make a list of God’s gracious dealings,
all the things God has done that need praising. Isaiah 63:7a, MSG*
I confess I’ve lost track of counting God’s blessings. Even if I hadn’t, it would only touch a small sample of what He does and has done.
My gratitude journal has mostly entries of things that blessed me personally, like seeing a pheasant or a sparkly ceiling. Or bubbles. Small gifts from God to make me smile.
He gives so much more.
He gave His Son to save us. He gave us life and breath. He designed this beautiful planet and the cosmos. Gave us imagination. Invited us to work with Him in growing His Kingdom.
He draws us into relationship with Him, to worship and to flourish.
These days, world and local news makes it look like God is silent. Or absent. I think He’s waiting. Which means my job is to wait with Him, but to wait in trust. That can only happen when I remind myself of His ways and His unchanging nature.
I need to pick up that journal again. Record those evidences of His care. I need to keep reading the Bible. See the evidences of His intervention in the lives of His people. Remind myself that He’s got this.
Sovereign Lord of creation, we see so much pain and devastation. We confess that human choice has caused much of it. We confess how easily we can get discouraged or frightened by the circumstances. Remind us of Your love and power. Of Your justice. Help our unbelief, and help us to anchor our spirits in who You are. Open our eyes and help us to see what You have done and what You’re doing now. Help us trust what You’ll do in the future.
The fear of human opinion disables;
trusting in God protects you from that. Proverbs 29:25, MSG*
“Disable” is a strong word. Even though many levels of disability don’t incapacitate a person, they do affect and interfere in some way with that person’s ability to function. And some disabilities increase over time.
We all know how fear of others’ opinions can cause us to self-censor, to put up walls or wear masks, to hide our true thoughts and feelings. In contrast, certain people make us feel safe to be ourselves.
No matter what people say or think about us, whether they misunderstand us or see the truth, God loves us. In His eyes, we have such great value that Jesus came to rescue us from life (and death) cut off from relationship with God.
We can trust His love. We can trust the things He says in the Bible. Things like “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9, NIV**) And “I am with you always.” (Matthew 28:20, NIV**)
Even if everyone else rejects us, God delights in us. We’re His favourite part of creation. Don’t believe me? Take time to read Alisha Gratehouse’s post, “The Lord Delights in You” and Carolyn Watts’ post, “God’s Favourite Part of Creation.” You may have to pray about these truths for a while to let them sink in.
Rejection, snide remarks and misunderstanding from others will always hurt. But security in God’s love can keep us from being disabled by the fear of human opinion. Our best defence is to get closer to Him.
God our gentle Shepherd, You understand the pain of rejection. You know our fears. When others hurt us, help us to anchor in Your deep love. Help us remember—and believe—what You say about us. Help us pay more attention to Your opinion of us than to those of the people around us. Help us live confidently in Your care.
∞
A good song for this and for the other stresses we may face: Geoff Moore‘s “I Believe”
If people can’t see what God is doing,
they stumble all over themselves;
But when they attend to what he reveals,
they are most blessed. Proverbs 29:18, MSG*
One thing I brought home from Write Canada this year was the challenge to see. As I shared recently (Bubbles in Bratislava), that message needed reinforcing within a few short weeks.
We see so much with our natural eyes, and we “see” our perspectives and interpretations, and all of this gets in the way of our discerning what God is doing—and what God sees.
In ourselves: “Search me, oh God, and know my heart…” (Ps. 139:23a, NIV) is a key prayer. God already knows us. Do we know ourselves? I love it that we can ask Him this in trust. He won’t overwhelm us by showing us everything He wants to fix, but He’ll let us see what He wants to work on now. And it’s never to diminish us, but always as an invitation to let Him work.
In others: It’s so easy to justify why we do the things we do, yet to make assumptions about the motivations of others—especially when they irritate us. Unless we take time to know them, we have no idea what’s happening under the surface of their lives.
In the world: We hear bits and pieces, often slanted by the media or by individual opinion. Again, even if we get the unbiased truth it’s still surface information. God knows the details, and He knows His plans.
Seeing what God is doing helps us to pray. It also helps us live confidently in Him despite the circumstances. It’s true: when we attend to what He reveals—when we see, hear, pay attention and adjust our actions accordingly—we are most blessed. Because then we’re closest to His heart.
In the words of a blind man who met Jesus, “Lord, I want to see.” (Luke 18:41, MSG) And when we can’t see, God help us to trust Him in the dark.
God our great Shepherd, our King and Sustainer, open our eyes to the many ways You touch our lives. Forgive us when we get discouraged by what we see in the natural, and help us see what You see and what You’re doing. Forgive us also for not looking past the surface of the people we meet and the events we watch. Your Spirit is always in us. Give us Your vision, so we can better serve and reflect You in our lives.
They do not fear bad news;
they confidently trust the Lord to care for them. Psalm 112:7, NLT*
There’s an article in the current issue of Reader’s Digest that suggests the fear of future scarcity can affect our daily wellbeing. (“Can’t Get No Satisfaction,” by Rosie Ifould, August 2014)
We can end up living in tension, on alert, ready for something bad to happen, whether it’s financial, physical or relational. I’ve seen it in my own life; you likely have as well.
Fear of lack. Fear of loss. It creates an underlying anxiety that leaches away our joy and strength. It diminishes our daily quality of life.
If our vague fear doesn’t materialize, we’ve carried the burden for nothing. And if it does, our strength is too depleted to face it well.
God often allows pain struggles, and we can rarely see why. He’s also the One with the power and desire to carry us through such times. If we can rely on Him, we’ll have stories to tell of the difference He made, of how He met our needs. Of His faithfulness.
Things happen, despite our best care. Other things don’t, either because God intervened or because they were only fear-whispers from the enemy of our souls.
Our best defense is to position ourselves securely in the care of our God and Refuge. We need to draw close to Him and stay close. As we get to know Him, we develop confidence in His character and power, and we learn to delight in living His way.
It’s a life-long process, but the more we do this, the easier it is to do. We see evidence of God’s care and it grows our faith. In those moments when our faith is shaky, we can go back to one of my favourite prayers in the New Testament: “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.” (Mark 9:24)
God our Shelter in the storms of life, You know our needs and You know the plans You have to work for good in all things. As a shepherd cares for the sheep, please care for us. Help us to recognize Your voice and to trust Your care. When we waver, help our unbelief.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him and praise his name. Psalm 100:4, NLT*
The psalms we most often hear in church, and many of our Christian hymns and worship songs, ring with praise and gratitude to God. It’s a big part of how we respond to Him, and rightly so.
That’s how I usually interpret verses like the one above, but this time it reminded me of something else as well. When the Israelites went to the Temple, they brought sacrifices: animals, birds, grain, oil, wine.
They were giving back to God through a variety of offerings. We bring our financial gifts and sometimes ministry gifts. We bring our hearts. But our thanksgiving to God, our praise of His character and His deeds, are acceptable sacrifices as well.
Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name. (Hebrews 13:15, NLT)
A continual sacrifice… not just when we go to church.
Just like the animal sacrifices were to be pure and without blemish, we need to offer God our best praise, our best thanksgiving. That means spending time with Him in prayer, reading the Bible and keeping our eyes open to spot the good things He does in our lives.
It means offering the sacrifice when life is easy, and when life is hard. Not that we pretend everything’s rosy, but that we’re honest about the pain while continuing to declare God’s unchanging nature and His unfailing love.
David did this, in many of his psalms. It’s a “required” sacrifice, but not to stoke God’s ego. It’s required for our sakes—as an antidote to how quickly we let the blessings or trials block our sight of the One who loves us. Praise and thanksgiving ground us, restore our focus and our perspective.
Jennifer Slattery offers some excellent suggestions in her blog post, Cultivating a Thankful Heart. And if you haven’t yet read Ann Voskamp’s excellent book, One Thousand Gifts, it’s an excellent jump-start in the spiritual practice of gratitude to God.
God our Creator, Saviour and Sustainer, we could never thank You enough for all You’ve done, and there aren’t enough words to tell how great You are. Please move our hearts to praise and gratitude as part of our worship. Remind us this isn’t optional, and we thank You for the benefits we’ll receive in our spirits as we draw nearer to You in obedience.
Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
he’s the one who will keep you on track.
Don’t assume that you know it all. Proverbs 3:6-7a, MSG*
In the big things, the scary things, the God-sized things, it’s easy to remember to rely on God’s strength. We pray, we listen, we don’t dare risk moving ahead on our own.
What about the little things? The daily routines, small decisions, mundane chores. They’re the ones we often handle solo, using the skill and common sense that God gave us.
The problem is, these minor duties (including our day jobs) can fill our time and our thoughts until they’re all we see. We miss what else God might want to do through, with or for us.
Or we begin to own responsibility for the little things, but not in a good way. We decide what’s good enough or how to allocate our time among various tasks. We’re in charge of this corner of the Kingdom.
The Kingdom. God’s in charge, and He’s interested in it all. We’re to work at whatever we do as if serving Him directly. (Colossians 3:23)
There’s not enough time to do everything we want, or to achieve perfection in all that we do. Finding the balance in how to spend our time, how much attention to put on any one of our many little responsibilities, needs prayer. It takes prayer to know when to step away from our agendas, and to recognize the difference between a distraction and God’s redirection.
I can spend my day going in circles, anxious and unproductive, spending too much time on one thing and forgetting another. I know I’m not doing a good job, and it makes me feel bad. But when I commit my day to the Lord, and remember to check in with Him regularly, it’s a different experience.
For me, it comes back to remembering who’s the Boss. And that He’s a good one, with good plans for me. I also need to remember that my small writer/homemaker corner is part of His Kingdom, with all the privileges and responsibilities that entails.
Holy and magnificent God, forgive us for the ways we complicate life and make it more difficult and less joyful than You intend. You know our weakness and yet You love us. Give us clear perspective of Your sovereignty and of our places in Your Kingdom. Help us serve You with willing hearts, glad in the knowledge that You’re in charge and not we ourselves.
Finish what you started in me, God.
Your love is eternal—don’t quit on me now. Psalm 138:8, MSG*
Wouldn’t this be a great prayer to memorize? To print out and stick on the bathroom mirror, on the car dashboard or somewhere else you’d see it every day?
I love the trust in these words. David knows that God has started a work in him.
God has started the work. God has started the work. David can count on it, and so can we, as believers in Jesus.
God’s love is eternal. That includes His patience, His wisdom and His creativity. We often lament that we’re slow learners with God. Let’s draw closer to Him in trusting surrender, so that He can work unhindered, but let’s also relax and rejoice in the knowledge that His timing is perfect.
God never quits. He finishes what He starts. We have His promise. As we pray “don’t quit on me now” what we’re really expressing is the confidence that He won’t quit on us—now or ever.
Wonderful and all-powerful God, because of Your great love You’ve begun a work in each of Your children. We praise You that You finish what You start, and that Your love is eternal. We rejoice in Your promise to never leave nor forsake us. Help us to cooperate with You in the renovation of who we are—because of Whose we are.
