Tag Archives: Pray

Day Forty-Four: Because of His Repentance

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READ: 1 Kings 21:20-29 or see the Expanded Passage of 1 Kings 20-21

 

(20-22) Ahab answered Elijah, “My enemy!  So, you’ve run me down!”

     “Yes, I’ve found you out,” said Elijah.  “And because you’ve bought into the business of the evil, defying God. ‘I will most certainly bring doom upon you, make mincemeat of your descendants, kill of every sorry male wretch who’s even remotely connected with the name Ahab.  And I’ll bring down on you the same fate that fell on Jeroboam son of Nebat and Baasha son of Ahijah–you’ve made me that angry by making Israel sin.'”

(23-24) As for Jezebel, God said, “Dogs will fight over the flesh of Jezebel all over Jezreel.  Anyone tainted by Ahab who dies in the city will be eaten by stray dogs; corpses in the country will be eaten by carrion crows.”

(25-26) Ahab, pushed by his wife Jezebel and in open defiance of God, set an all-time record in making big business of evil.  He indulged in outrageous obscenities in the world of idols, copying the Amorites whom God had earlier kicked out of Israelite territory.

(27) When Ahab heard what Elijah had to say, he ripped his clothes to shreds, dressed in penitential rough burlap, and fasted.  He even slept in coarse burlap pajamas.  He tiptoed around, quiet as a mouse.

(28-29) Then God spoke to Elijah the Tishbite:  “Do you see how penitently submissive Ahab has become to me?  Because of his repentance I’ll not bring the doom during his lifetime; Ahab’s son, though, will get it.”

 

THINK:  Imagine yourself as Elijah, noticing what you think and feel throughout this tale.  (See the expanded passage for more details.)  Read the passage again until you reach God’s words to Ahab and Jezebel, and the description of what they have done to defy him.  Pause there.

 

PRAY:  As you picture yourself speaking God’s words of judgment to Ahab, listen to what you are saying.  What does God’s anger toward this enemy make you feel?  Do you feel the same anger God does over injustice?  If not, what does Ahab’s sin make you feel?  When you picture the three of you there–Ahab, God, and you–what position is your inclined to take toward each of them?  Talk to God about your response.

 

LIVE:  Meditate on the following prayer from the Book of Common Prayer (1979):  “The Lord is full of compassion and mercy:  O come, let us adore him,” Notice what your response is.  If there is something you need to repent of today, go to God and receive his mercy.  If you want to adore him for his compassion, spend time doing so.  If you don’t want to adore God, take time to open yourself to the reality that he is praiseworthy.  Don’t force yourself to feel things you don’t feel or say things you don’t mean, but do consider the reality acknowledged in the prayer.

 

As I sit here thinking about this lesson and what I want to say in response to the reading and the questions, Signature of Divine (Yahweh) by Needtobreathe is on my Pandora “Needtobbreathe” station.  For some reason, their songs, and other more alternative groups like these help me to think and focus.  I think it’s because they are so alternative that I have to pay more attention to understand what they are saying in parts, or to understand what they are meaning.  I’m not sure what it is, but I know that hearing about Yahweh going before me is good for my soul as I think about what I want to type. 

 

Yahweh is so high above me that it is difficult to imagine, as the song says, that we truly are the signature of the Divine.  How can it be that The Holy Trinity would pour so much into mankind that would turn their backs on the gift?  How can it be that God would send His Only Son to act as propitiation for the sins of men who would never come to know or accept the gift of His Life?  Of Eternal Life? 

 

How could it be that God would send His Only Son for a man like Ahab?  How could God possibly show such mercy to a man who didn’t seem to care one lick for the rules of the God who led the Israelites out of Egypt to give them the Promised Land?  To clarify:  that is not a statement of judgment upon Ahab, regarding his sins as any worse than any of mine.  To God, there is no difference between Ahab’s sins and mine.  God has shown me easily as much mercy as Ahab’s whether I’ve realized it fully or not.  The question is more about why, in the world, God would do such a thing in the first place. 

 

Of course, the answer is:  because He is willing that none should perish, but that all would repent and make Jesus Lord of their lives so that we could spend eternity with our Creator.   That’s it.  It feels like there ought to be a “but” here.  But there isn’t.  It’s just that simple.  He wants us.  And He wants us to want Him back.  That’s it.  That is the heart of compassion, true compassion, that only a Creator can show His creation.  And with that, I will close.

 

Dear Heavenly Father,

You are Lord of all.  All things were created by you for your good pleasure.  Even the unlikeliest of sinners can be redeemed and fulfill the purpose for which You created them, if only they accept that Christ is Your Son, they repent and receive Him into their hearts as Lord and Savior.  Nobody is too far gone that they can escape Your Hand of Grace and Mercy.  Though we run to the ends of the Universe, there is nowhere we can go to get away from you, for you created it all with just a word, and all of creation obeys your voice.  All of creation will bow to your will sooner or later.  Lord, I pray that, tonight, for anyone reading this who may be lost, thinking that they’ve gone so far away from you that they have to make their way back to you, you would reassure them, that you are there.  Wherever that is, you are there.  If there is anyone reading this who has an ache in their souls, an emptiness they’ve been trying to fill with sex or money or drugs or work or pornography or gambling, show them that there is only one place that emptiness can be filled and that is at the well of living waters, Jesus Christ, who satisfies eternally so that they no longer have to thirst after things that always leaving them feeling more and more empty.  May they be like Ahab, penitent to the point of tearing their clothes and crying out to you desperately for mercy.  Meet them where they are tonight, Lord.  Meet each one us right where we are.  There is not a one of us who can make it through our next hour without you.  And for some others of us, we need you for our next minute, our next second. 

          For those of us who have already answered your call, help us to walk obediently in that calling.  Help us to be Jesus with skin on, and help us to glorify your name.  Where there is hurting, help us to be a comfort.  Where there is darkness, help us to be a light.

          For the people who sit in prisons all over the world, for your name’s sake, please offer them solace and a person to witness to.  Strengthen their spirits, Lord.  Meet their needs in such a way that their jailers cannot help but know that the Lord of All Creation is at work.

          Though we do not deserve it, Lord, be merciful unto us.  We need you more than we can possibly understand.

In Your Son’s Precious and Holy Name I pray, Amen.

 

 

Go here to check out the lyrics:  http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/needtobreathe/signatureofdivineyahweh.html

Go here to check out a YouTube video of the song, that shows the lyrics while the song plays in the background:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWDRRuM9z1Q

 

Day Forty-Three: When Trusting God is a Handful

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READ:  1 Kings 17:7-16.  Read this slowly.

 

(7-9) Eventually the brook dried up because of the drought.  Then God spoke to him (Elijah):  “Get up and go to Zarephath in Sidon and live there.  I’ve instructed a woman who lives there, a widow, to feed you”

(10-11) So he got up and went to Zarephath.  As he came to the entrance of the village, he met a woman, a widow, fathering firewood.  He asked her, “Please, would you bring me a little water in a jug?  I need a drink.”  As she went to get it, he called out, “And while you’re at it, would you bring me something to eat?”

(12) She said, “I swear, as surely as your God lives, I don’t have so much as a biscuit.  I have a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a bottle; you found me scratching together just enough firewood to make a last meal for my son and me.  After we eat it, we’ll die.”

(13-14) Elijah said to her, “Don’t worry about a thing.  Go ahead and do what you’ve said.  But first make a small biscuit for me and bring it back here.  Then go ahead and make a meal from what’s left for you and your son.  This is the word of the God of Israel: “The jar of flour will not run out and the bottle of oil will not become empty before God sends rain on the land and ends this drought.”

(15-16) And she went right off and did it, did just as Elijah asked.  And it turned out as he said–daily food for her and her family.  The jar of meal didn’t run out and the bottle of oil will not become empty:  God’s promise fulfilled to the letter, exactly as Elijah had delivered it!

 

THINK:  Read the passage slowly again.  This time notice the repetitive phrases and words that seem to shimmer.  Are there any in this passage that you sense God saying directly to you?

(1) How do you resemble Elijah, the loner who was perhaps content by the solitary brook but now has to venture into Palestinian territory and ask a widow for her last dime?

(2) How do you identify with the widow and feel that Elijah is asking too much?  How difficult is it for you to give up the last handful of flour?  How difficult is it for you to give up the last handful of flour?  Hold out your hand in front of you.  Open and close it.  Imagine that the amount of flour your hand could hold is all that stands between you and death.

(3) How do you think the widow felt every time she put her hand in the jar and there was another handful of flour?

 

This is one of those devotionals that I sit in front of and stare at for hours, walk away from, ponder, come back, and still, do not want to tackle.  Have you ever read something that you needed to interact with, felt it calling to you, urging you to learn the lesson it is trying to deliver, but you just don’t want to?  Lessons like this make me want to just take the day off, skip this devotional, and move on.  Why would I decide to blog my way through a devotional that would most definitely challenge me to up my game?  And in front of people, too.  So far, dear readers, none of my followers are people that I encounter every day, but I know my friends and family read them.  And by putting down what I feel this lesson is trying to teach me, I am putting myself in the position of being challenged about putting feet to my faith.  And wouldn’t you know….I’ve never been one who agreed with the sentiment:  “Those who can’t do, teach.”  I can’t just “teach” this lesson.  I have to do it too.  And after all this, I can’t not share what’s been shown to me through this passage. 

 

As for #1 – there have been many times in my life when I have been quite content to sit by the brook, literally and figuratively.  But, one cannot merely sit and while one’s life away.  Eventually God asks for movement.  Indeed, he requires it.  In the case of Elijah, eventually the brook dried up because of the drought.  Guess it was time to move.  In my case, he allowed my husband to go to jail.

 

As for #2 – When I read the passage, one of my first thoughts is always: how presumptuous.  I know the passage says that God has instructed the woman, so she must be prepared.  But how she was prepared we are not told.  We don’t know what God told her.  All we know is that Elijah is asking her to feed him out of what is supposed to be her last meal.  I imagine that the whole time she is preparing the meal for Elijah, she is probably praying, hoping that she is not sentencing herself and her son to death for feeding a stranger, holding out hope that this God of Elijah’s is going to make good on his promise.

 

As for #3 – If this were me, I would be holding my breath every time I put my hand in the jar, and breathing a sigh of relief every time I found there was more flour there, enough flour there for today.

 

PRAY:  Ask God what might be your jar of flour today–something that needs filling up.  It’s okay to tell God he’s asking too much.  At first, the widow did just that.  Trusting God is a process.

 

Dear Heavenly Father, you know the jars of flour you need to be filling for me, in my life right now, as do I.  Every time you ask me to have a little more faith, to trust you just a little bit more, I wonder if this time is going to be the time you let me fall.  Well, you’ve not let me fall yet.  But, often I wonder if you might be asking too much.  Some days are easier than others.  I like those days.  But some days, trusting you is hard and I don’t want to have to trust you with any more.  Please be with me on those days.  Help me to be an example to my children who are watching every step I make.  Help me to show them that, no matter how hard today is, you hold all our tomorrows in your hands.  You have already prepared those days for us and, today, you are preparing us for them.  The strength we gain from remaining steadfast today, will help us to remain steadfast tomorrow.  And the little bit further that you push us tomorrow will make us stronger for the day after that, until, before we know it, we have managed to walk through whatever it is you have lead us to, and had strength enough for the journey.  Thank you for the easy days, too.  The days when we can sit and rest and not work on strength-training.  Rest is refreshing and we need it; so thank you for the days that are not hard.  Thank you for remembering that we are just dust, and for occasionally requiring just a little less of us than you do on other days.

 

LIVE:  Consider how it would feel to trust God this much.  How would your life be different if you trusted God with just a little more every single morning, as the widow did?

 

I have to be honest.  RIGHT NOW, I do not want to think about what my life would look like if I had to trust God with just a little more every single morning.  Perhaps because, most days, I feel like I’m living this.  I’ve had to have more faith this past 18 months than ever in my life.  It’s scary and exhilarating – like a roller coaster with its slow ups and fast downs, twists and turns that flip you upside down, this way and that, only it doesn’t end in 30 seconds.  So, for now, my faith is mostly wrapped up in the fact that I’ve not gotten off the roller coaster yet, in choosing to ride it all the way to the end, regardless of when or where it stops.

 

How about you? 

 

 

 

Day Forty-Two: Reflections on Week 6 – Grapes, Wine & Christianity

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It’s hard for me to believe that I’ve been doing this 6 weeks.  I know, actually, that it’s been longer than 6 weeks, but this is the longest that I’ve spent time really trying to be so diligent about doing just about anything, except for carrying a child.

 

Today, want share something that is not really a reflection on how God has met me this week, but rather it’s a few things I figured out from a road trip that led me to a winery, where I took a tour of their operation.

 

Our tour guide shared several facts about wine and grapes that parallel some things about Christianity that I would like to share with you.

 

Before a vintner ever plants a grape, he will send a soil sample away to have it tested.  He will get a profile page (or pages) back that tell him what type of soil it is, what nutrients it has, and what it needs.  He will examine his land to see where would be a good place to plant the grapes.  All crops need a specific type of moisture; grapes are no exception.  All these things must be taken into consideration before a grape vine ever goes into the ground if the vintner is to have a good crop.

The kind of wine you want to produce will be dictated by the type of grape you plant.  But a Merlot in Maryland will taste different from a Merlot from California or France.  Even more specifically, a Merlot from one county in Maryland will taste different from a Merlot from another county in Maryland.  The reason:  different types of soil produce different flavor profiles in the grapes, which changes the flavor of the wine.  Also, different nutrients in the soil will change the flavor of the wine.  The vintner chooses which grapes he will plant in which soil.  Some soil is rocky; some is sandy, and some is shale-y.  But grapes will grow in each kind.  A good vintner will only plant grapes where they will thrive because he wants a good return on his investment.  After that, where the grapes are cultivated determines their flavor.

However, how the vintner treats the grapes will also dictate how the wine turns out, even to the point of whether the grape becomes wine or just grape juice.

Among vintners, there is a saying:  “What’s good for corn is bad for grapes.”  When grape vines are matured, the roots extend as deep as 40 feet into the ground and spread out as far as 50 feet.  This is what makes the root stock so important.  Corn doesn’t do this.  It needs much more moisture because the roots stay so close to the surface that the moisture evaporates sooner.  For grapes, with a root system that extends so far into the ground, they can hold onto the water for much longer.  They don’t need copious amounts of rain to thrive.  In fact, copious amounts of rain is bad for grapes.  To put an even finer point on it:  drought conditions are actually good for grapes.  According to our tour guide, drought conditions are good for wine because, though fewer and smaller grapes are produced, the resulting flavor is more intense because it is more concentrated within the grape.  The wine that comes from these grapes is often called “Reserve” because of the conditions.

Before wine can ever be pressed, indeed before a grape is ever picked, the vines must be pruned.  Yesterday, the tour guide informed us that, after a new vine is planted, for the first few years, the vine will produce no usable fruit.  That is not to say that the vine does not bear fruit.  It does.  However, because the vine is still new and not strong enough to produce fruit suitable to wine-making, the fruit is cut off and left on the ground to decompose and enrich the soil.  Unfruitful branches are cut away as well.  They must be.  Sap dedicated to the maturation of the vine shall not be wasted on a branch that does not produce fruit.  Beyond that, even fruitful branches are pruned so that they will produce better and sweeter fruit.  Finally, the canopy of the vines is also cut back so that the vintner can ensure the grapes that have been trained to grow on the bottom wire of the frame can get the maximum amount of sun.  Without enough sun, the grapes will mold before they ripen.

The type of oak used to make the barrels used to ferment the wine will add to the wine’s flavor profile, as well.  Furthermore, the insides of the barrels can be toasted.  There are three degrees of toasting used on the barrels at the vineyard I visited.  Low-toast, medium-toast, and high toast.  The higher the toasting on the inside of the barrel, the less of the oaky flavor imparted to the wine.  After the grape is grown and pressed, and the juice is squeezed, it is set aside a while to ferment in yet another place that will change its flavor before the vintner decides it is ready to serve.

White wines are made from grapes whose skins have been removed, whether the skins on the initial grapes were red, purple, or white.  Then it is filtered and filtered and filtered, until the wine is crystal clear and bright.  Red wines have all the skins, and are filtered less so that the skins and the tannins are not removed; as a result, red wines are also cloudier than whites.  A good vintner decides if he wants to produce red wine or white wine, and puts the wine through the appropriate processes to get the product he wants.

Some pretty striking parallels, if you look for them.  Beginning with the Vintner.

A good vintner, or vine-dresser, is educated:  he knows about his land, his soil, and the weather it gets.  He knows about grapes.  He knows about wine.  He educates himself as much as possible before ever planting a vine.  He knows which soil will produce the best quality grapes and, hence, the best quality wines.  He chooses the grape for the soil.  There is no accident.  He knew the soil and the grapes before he put them together.  Just like God.  He knew us before He formed us in our mothers’ wombs.  Not only did He know who we would be; he also knew the family to whom we would be given.  It was no accident I had the mother I did, who had the mother she did, who had the mother she did, and so on, and so on.  I am precisely where I am supposed to be because God designed it so, and He is not done.  What I realize now is:  Where God places you to grow you up is going to determine the flavor you present to the world.  Some people can better withstand the influences around them without taking too much of it into themselves.  Others cannot.

I’ve been around for several years.  I’ve had years of producing fruit.  I’ve had years of not producing fruit.  I’ve had things trimmed off of me that were painful to lose, but I can see now that they had to go.  Otherwise, I’d have never produced the kind of fruit that God wants me to produce, and I know He’s not done with me yet.

I have sat on the vine for years.  I have wished for action, wanting something to happen, to one day become wine that everyone could appreciate, but still I’ve been left on the vine.  Then…when I finally got picked, I found that I had to be stomped and squeezed and pressed, and sometimes skinned, before I’d ever become wine.  So, not only was I impatient on the vine, I was now in pain over the process.  I found myself wondering how it could be that I had wished for this thing that would cause me so much pain.  Who in the world would sign on for this?  Then, finally, I was juice.  But still, I was not done.

Then, I was placed on a shelf, left alone, stewing, sometimes for months or years, until it was time to be released.  In fact, I feel like that now.  There have been times over this past 18 months when I’ve felt like I would just explode if I wasn’t released.  But, the Vintner has come along and released some of the pressure that has built up, or it has evaporated, dissipating over time, and I’ve simmered down, content that I could make it another day.

I’ve had times of drought, too.  There have been times when I’ve cried out for relief and it has never come, and I’ve felt like I would just shrivel up and die.  Then, when it was over, I found that my walk with the Lord and my relationships with the people who walked with me through that time was sweeter and deeper than ever I could have imagined.

I remember, years ago, hearing a commercial for a winery (or a line of wines) that had the slogan:  “We will sell no wine before it’s time.”  A good vintner tests and tests the wine while it is fermenting so that he can tell when it is mature enough to be released to the world.  He knows the recipe he used and all the steps that would be involved in getting the wine to just the right flavor and mouth feel.  And only the vintner can make the ultimate decision on when it’s time to bottle the wine and release its blessing onto the world.  I don’t know how long God is going to have me and my family where we are.  I wish I did.  But one thing I do know is that God is not going to release me until He’s done with me.

Here’s another interesting fact I learned yesterday.  Upon entering the vineyard grounds, I noticed that, at the end of each row of grapes at this winery, grew a small rose bush.  Vintners grow rose bushes at the end of their rows because roses and grapes need similar soils, moisture levels and nutrients.  As the rose grows, so grow the grapes.  If the rose gets a blight or a disease, the vintner knows that he better treat the grapes in order to protect the crop from that same blight or disease.

As I was thinking about this point, I was trying to figure out if there is anything in my life that serves as an early-warning system for other areas in my life that may need some work.  That’s when something my pastor said from the pulpit, years ago, came flooding back to me.  He said, “if you are a pastor, standing up here, trying to lead your flock and your family life isn’t squared away, you need to step down and get that in order first.  If you let that fall apart, nothing else will matter.”  Often, God gives us children to help us to see what, inside us, he wants to work on or weed out because, inevitably, our children will exhibit those qualities about ourselves that we find most distasteful.  They are our mini barometers.  And if you don’t have a family, the thing you can use as a clue to what God wants to work on is what quality in your fellow man that you “hate” the most.  What is that one thing that you absolutely cannot stand about people?  What is that one character flaw that most annoys you or drives you crazy?  Most times, THAT THING is the very thing God is trying to work on in you.  You see it because you recognize it, because you look for it, because you are often guilty of that very thing.  (Yes, I know this is a blanket statement, but it seems to have played out in my life and in the lives of nearly everyone I’ve shared this with.)

One final thing before I wrap this up:  Wineries do not just pop up out of the ground.  A grape plant here or there may spring up because a bird eats some grapes and drops the seeds wherever.  But row upon row of grapes will not spring up out of the ground in nice, neat orderly rows.  Order does not JUST HAPPEN.  Order has to be designed.  Furthermore, wine also does not just happen.  There is a whole process that must happen in order for the juice from inside the grape to become wine.  A person with a passion for grapes and wine and the know-how to make one become the other has to impose his will upon nature and make it happen.  There is no accidental, coincidental wine.

 

 

Day Forty-One: Idol Factories

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READ:  1 Kings 12:27-33 Focus on the sentence:  “This was blatant sin.”

 

(27) “As soon as these people resume worship at The Temple of God in Jerusalem, they’ll start thinking of Rehoboam king of Judah as their ruler.  They’ll then kill me and go back to King Rehoboam.”

(28-30) So the king came up with a plan:  He made two golden calves.  Then he announced, “It’s too much trouble for you to go to Jerusalem to worship.  Look at these–the gods who brought you out of Egypt!”  he put one calf in Bethel; the other he placed in Dan.  This was blatant sin.  Think of it – people traveling all the way to Dan to worship a calf!

(31-33) And that wasn’t the end of it.  Jeroboam built forbidden shrines all over the place and recruited priests from wherever he could find them, regardless of whether they were fit for the job or not.  To top it off, he created a holy New Year festival to be held on the fifteenth day of the eighth month to replace the one in Judah, complete with worship offered on the Altar at Bethel and sacrificing before the calves he had set up there.  He staffed Bethel with priests from the local shrines he had made.  This was strictly his own idea to compete with the feast in Judah; and he carried it off with flair, a festival exclusively for Israel, Jeroboam himself leading the worship at the Altar.

 

THINK:  Israel at this time was split into two sections:  the northern and the southern kingdoms.  Jeroboam was ruling in the northern kingdom.  He erected two golden calves (as Aaron had at Sinai in Exodus).  In addition to calves, he erected forbidden shrines and created a sacred holiday.

          Instead of placing his entire trust in Yahweh, Jeroboam chose to erect idols  to be the center of worship for the people in his kingdom.  Under his leadership, the significance of worshiping the Lord God was lessened and eventually lost.

          Sneering at such blatant disrespect of the living God is easy for us.  But even though we don’t erect golden calves, our focus on certain things eclipses our worship of God.  John Calvin said that our hearts are idol factories.

          Meditate on some of the golden calves in your life that eclipse your worship of God.  These could be reputation, power, wealth, identity, fame, church, relationships–anything that takes your eyes of God.

 

PRAY:  Spend time confessing your golden calves.  Ask the Holy Spirit to pinch you each time you turn to them.

 

LIVE:  Be aware that your heart is an idol factory.  Recognize that idols come in all shapes and sizes.  When you find yourself bowing a knee to them, return to the Lord in humility

 

Since April 2011, God has been showing me just where my golden calves are.  For a good while, I chose to ignore Him, thinking that I was okay; maybe I was being too hard on myself for something (I didn’t know what).  But over the course of my marriage of almost-21-years, I’ve been shown many idols:  my relatives; my reputation; my kids; my spouse; my comfort; my convenience; my dream; my wishes; my plans.  Having these pruned from my life has been painful.  Sadly, I can’t say that all the cutting away of those things is done yet.  I think that’s something we can’t know for sure unless and until the pruning starts again.  That being said, it is not fair to say that these things are not from the Lord.  What is not from the Lord, however, is the importance that I place on them when they have priority over God in my life. 

 

Think about it for a minute or two.  Have you ever chosen the path of least resistance when God called you to step out in faith?  Have you ever chosen to keep quiet when you should’ve spoken up?  Have you ever spoken up when you should’ve kept quiet?  What was your motivation?  If obedience to God was not the motivation, then it’s possible what prompted the disobedient choice has its root in something that is an idol in your life.  For instance, I don’t like tension in my house.  I have done many things to keep the peace in my house.  Many of those things have been at my own personal expense just to keep from rocking the boat.  What has eventually happened in some instances – not all – is that I’ve compromised so much of myself away that I found myself smack dab in the middle of a situation that I could not stand, and had nobody to blame but myself for letting things get so far out of hand.  Then, I’ve had to reclaim the ground that God had given me to stand on that I sacrificed in the name of “keeping the peace”.  However, what I had really done was placed the idol of my immediate comfort in a place of greater importance than God’s will for my life. 

 

How about this one?  Have you ever just jumped right into your routine when you know the Lord was beckoning to you to spend time with Him?  When I was away at Liberty, with the television off, I had “plenty of time” to do this devotional every day and really hear from God.  But, when I got home, I found that I had settled into a routine in my new life.  I’ve never been much of one for watching the news, but I have been for the last 18 months or so.  That’s become my new morning routine.  I get up, pour my coffee, and go watch the morning news until the early program ends at 9.  I start my day.  When I was away at school, I didn’t do that.  As a result, I had plenty of time to get my devotional done and to really ponder it, throughout the day, and while I was just hanging out in my room.  Devotional time was how I started and ended my day, apart from reading to my kids before they went to bed.  It was the best thing I could’ve done for myself.  But now, I’m back at home, and that morning “coffee-news” routine has sucked me back in so far that, now, my devotionals are sometimes a day late (or two).  Taking into consideration that I can be, very much, an “all-or-nothing” person, posting these entries every other day is still better than what I was doing this time last year.  Also, posting this everyday can, just as easily, come to take the place of God in my life if I am just doing it because I want to accumulate posts in my blog.  I started this because I needed a way to make sure that I was going to do this everyday.  I knew if I didn’t blog my way through it, if I only journaled it on my computer or in my notebook, it would be too easy to give it up because there’d be nobody to read it and ask me about why I had stopped posting.  So…why don’t I just get up a little bit earlier in the morning and take care of this before I go watch the news?  Well, that’s another set of idols:  the idol of my comfortable bed added to the idol of my entertainment (staying up too late the night before, not going to bed on time to want to get up earlier in the morning). 

 

I have no way of knowing what your idols are but, I figure, since your human, yours look pretty much the same way mine do.  If not, if your’s is something else, fine.  But we all have them, and God means for us to be mastered by nobody or nothing but Him.  So, rest assured, He will begin working on that idol in you in due time.  It’s just what He does.  If you don’t know what your idols are, ask.  God will show you. 

Day Forty: Pay Attention to My Prayers

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READ:  1 Kings 8:22-30

 

(22-25) Before the entire congregation of Israel, Solomon took a position before the Altar, spread his hands out before heaven, and prayed,

O God, God of Israel, there is no God like you in the skies above or on the earth below who unswervingly keeps covenant with his servants and relentlessly loves them as they sincerely live in obedience to your way.  You kept your word to David my father, your personal word.  You did exactly what you promised–every detail.  The proof is before us today!

     Keep it up, God, O God of Israel!  Continue to keep the promises you made to David my father when you said, “You’ll always have a descendant to represent my rule on Israel’s throne, on the condition that your sons are as careful to live obediently in my presence as you have.”

(26) O God of Israel, let all this happen; confirm and establish it!

(27-30) Can it be that God will actually move into our neighborhood?  Why, the cosmos itself isn’t large enough to give you breathing room, let alone this Temple I’ve built.  Even so, I’m bold to ask:  Pay attention to these my prayers, both intercessory and personal, O God, my God.  Listen to my prayers, energetic and devout, that I’m setting before you right now.  Keep your eyes open to this Temple night and day, this place of which you said, “My name will be honored there,” and listen to the prayers that I pray at this place.

 

THINK:  What’s your immediate reaction to Solomon’s candid prayer to God?  Think about the statements Solomon makes and the things he asks God to do.  Are they things you could let yourself ask of God?  Or do they indicate a belief in qualities of God that you have not encountered or experienced?  Which qualities?

 

I’m a sucker for adverbs; so, immediately, I latched on to the words unswervingly and relentlessly and sincerely.  God unswervingly keeps covenant with those who sincerely obey him and he loves them relentlessly.  When I read that, I wonder:  “Really?  What does that look like?”  This time a year ago, I would’ve asked the same questions but they would’ve been asked rhetorically and sarcastically (see, 2 more adverbs). Now…I just want to see.  We did sincerely obey God in our current situation.  If the word of God says that God keeps unswervingly to the covenant He made and that He relentlessly loves those who are sincerely obedient, then why are we in this position?  What covenant is He keeping when He lets injustice prevail?  Of course, I realize that this is where the relentless love part comes into play.  Because God loves us so relentlessly, He will not give up on us until we are perfected until the day of Christ Jesus.  Everything is working toward that end, to include this situation we are in.  I also know that the covenant He made, that He is keeping unswervingly, is the one that says that we will get to be with Him in paradise so long as we are sincerely obedient to His Way.  Other than that, we are also guaranteed to suffer as Christ suffered because the world will hate us as it hated (and still hates) Him.  And, he’s doing a pretty good job of keeping His end of the bargain on that one too. 

 

Finally, the only other promise I know that God has made us, regarding our current situation He made to my mother and that had to do with taking care of me during this ordeal.  Well…we’ve been cared for.  Immensely!  Even if it hasn’t looked like I wanted it to or prayed it would. 

 

 

PRAY:  Read Solomon’s prayer again, this time listening for what stands out to you as representing the lack of belief you noticed in yourself when you read the passage the first time.  Explore your reaction more deeply, paying attention to what it tells you about yourself.  Maybe you feel that you can bring to God only desires that are completely selfless, or perhaps you don’t trust that he “relentlessly loves” you.  Share with God what you uncover.

 

Dear Heavenly Father, in a day and age when so much love we receive is conditional, it is often hard to believe that there is anyone out there who would love us just because.  It is even harder to believe that someone would give their lives in return for what could be nothing.  Your love is easy to doubt because we just don’t see it these days.  Fathers leave.  Marriages break apart.  Nothing is permanent anymore.  I know this is not the way you designed the world to be, but that’s how it is and it makes coming to you, in faith, very difficult.  It’s much easier to believe a person we can see loves us because they are there to demonstrate it visibly and tangibly.  So much of your love for us seems to be based on faith and sometimes we just want “proof” – and no, because we woke up today is often not proof enough.  Because the sun rose in the east and set in the west, and there’s no real reason why is not proof enough.  I realize that means that there are many things we take for granted, Lord.  So many things.  And yet…here we are.  And unless Jesus returns in the middle of the night, I imagine that today is going to go pretty much like every other day in my life, with or without the bumps and bruises.  With all this, it’s hard to feel like, or believe, that you would answer a prayer that is not completely selfless because we know that we have done nothing to deserve you answering any of our prayers.  It’s much easier to have faith in your answering a prayer that is selfless than it is to believe you will answer a prayer that only seems to benefit ourselves because you don’t want your children to be self-seeking.  So, Lord, my prayer, tonight, is that you would help us with our insecurities that drive us to feel like we have to justify everything we ask for that is just for ourselves.  We will have what you give us, but, as a Father, as a Good Parent, you want your children to also ask for the things they want, as well as for the things they need.  Help us to step out in faith and pray for those things, trusting that you will hear us and that you want to hear those prayers.  Help us to ask and keep asking; to seek and keep seeking; and to knock and keep knocking.  Lastly, Lord, please, pay attention to our prayers. 

          In Your Son’s Precious and Holy Name, I pray…Amen.

 

LIVE:  Ignatius of Loyola once said, “Everything that one turns in the direction of God is prayer.”  No matter what has arisen in you during this time – irritation, fear, desire, disinterest, lack of trust in God – it can all be prayer when shared with him; it’s all part of your conversation with God.  Notice how Solomon lets his anxiety and insecurity spill into his prayer to God, and allow yourself to do the same.

Day Forty: Pay Attention to My Prayers

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READ:  1 Kings 8:22-30

 

(22-25) Before the entire congregation of Israel, Solomon took a position before the Altar, spread his hands out before heaven, and prayed,

O God, God of Israel, there is no God like you in the skies above or on the earth below who unswervingly keeps covenant with his servants and relentlessly loves them as they sincerely live in obedience to your way.  You kept your word to David my father, your personal word.  You did exactly what you promised–every detail.  The proof is before us today!

     Keep it up, God, O God of Israel!  Continue to keep the promises you made to David my father when you said, “You’ll always have a descendant to represent my rule on Israel’s throne, on the condition that your sons are as careful to live obediently in my presence as you have.”

(26) O God of Israel, let all this happen; confirm and establish it!

(27-30) Can it be that God will actually move into our neighborhood?  Why, the cosmos itself isn’t large enough to give you breathing room, let alone this Temple I’ve built.  Even so, I’m bold to ask:  Pay attention to these my prayers, both intercessory and personal, O God, my God.  Listen to my prayers, energetic and devout, that I’m setting before you right now.  Keep your eyes open to this Temple night and day, this place of which you said, “My name will be honored there,” and listen to the prayers that I pray at this place.

 

THINK:  What’s your immediate reaction to Solomon’s candid prayer to God?  Think about the statements Solomon makes and the things he asks God to do.  Are they things you could let yourself ask of God?  Or do they indicate a belief in qualities of God that you have not encountered or experienced?  Which qualities?

 

I’m a sucker for adverbs; so, immediately, I latched on to the words unswervingly and relentlessly and sincerely.  God unswervingly keeps covenant with those who sincerely obey him and he loves them relentlessly.  When I read that, I wonder:  “Really?  What does that look like?”  This time a year ago, I would’ve asked the same questions but they would’ve been asked rhetorically and sarcastically (see, 2 more adverbs). Now…I just want to see.  We did sincerely obey God in our current situation.  If the word of God says that God keeps unswervingly to the covenant He made and that He relentlessly loves those who are sincerely obedient, then why are we in this position?  What covenant is He keeping when He lets injustice prevail?  Of course, I realize that this is where the relentless love part comes into play.  Because God loves us so relentlessly, He will not give up on us until we are perfected until the day of Christ Jesus.  Everything is working toward that end, to include this situation we are in.  I also know that the covenant He made, that He is keeping unswervingly, is the one that says that we will get to be with Him in paradise so long as we are sincerely obedient to His Way.  Other than that, we are also guaranteed to suffer as Christ suffered because the world will hate us as it hated (and still hates) Him.  And, he’s doing a pretty good job of keeping His end of the bargain on that one too. 

 

Finally, the only other promise I know that God has made us, regarding our current situation He made to my mother and that had to do with taking care of me during this ordeal.  Well…we’ve been cared for.  Immensely!  Even if it hasn’t looked like I wanted it to or prayed it would. 

 

 

PRAY:  Read Solomon’s prayer again, this time listening for what stands out to you as representing the lack of belief you noticed in yourself when you read the passage the first time.  Explore your reaction more deeply, paying attention to what it tells you about yourself.  Maybe you feel that you can bring to God only desires that are completely selfless, or perhaps you don’t trust that he “relentlessly loves” you.  Share with God what you uncover.

 

Dear Heavenly Father, in a day and age when so much love we receive is conditional, it is often hard to believe that there is anyone out there who would love us just because.  It is even harder to believe that someone would give their lives in return for what could be nothing.  Your love is easy to doubt because we just don’t see it these days.  Fathers leave.  Marriages break apart.  Nothing is permanent anymore.  I know this is not the way you designed the world to be, but that’s how it is and it makes coming to you, in faith, very difficult.  It’s much easier to believe a person we can see loves us because they are there to demonstrate it visibly and tangibly.  So much of your love for us seems to be based on faith and sometimes we just want “proof” – and no, because we woke up today is often not proof enough.  Because the sun rose in the east and set in the west, and there’s no real reason why is not proof enough.  I realize that means that there are many things we take for granted, Lord.  So many things.  And yet…here we are.  And unless Jesus returns in the middle of the night, I imagine that today is going to go pretty much like every other day in my life, with or without the bumps and bruises.  With all this, it’s hard to feel like, or believe, that you would answer a prayer that is not completely selfless because we know that we have done nothing to deserve you answering any of our prayers.  It’s much easier to have faith in your answering a prayer that is selfless than it is to believe you will answer a prayer that only seems to benefit ourselves because you don’t want your children to be self-seeking.  So, Lord, my prayer, tonight, is that you would help us with our insecurities that drive us to feel like we have to justify everything we ask for that is just for ourselves.  We will have what you give us, but, as a Father, as a Good Parent, you want your children to also ask for the things they want, as well as for the things they need.  Help us to step out in faith and pray for those things, trusting that you will hear us and that you want to hear those prayers.  Help us to ask and keep asking; to seek and keep seeking; and to knock and keep knocking.  Lastly, Lord, please, pay attention to our prayers. 

          In Your Son’s Precious and Holy Name, I pray…Amen.

 

LIVE:  Ignatius of Loyola once said, “Everything that one turns in the direction of God is prayer.”  No matter what has arisen in you during this time – irritation, fear, desire, disinterest, lack of trust in God – it can all be prayer when shared with him; it’s all part of your conversation with God.  Notice how Solomon lets his anxiety and insecurity spill into his prayer to God, and allow yourself to do the same.

Day Thirty-Nine: A Dream Fulfilled

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READ:  1 Kings 5:1-5

 

(1-4) Hiram king of Tyre sent ambassadors to Solomon when he heard that he had been crowned king in David’s place.  Hiram had loved David his whole life.  Solomon responded, saying, “You know that David my father was not able to build a temple in honor of God because of the wars he had to fight on all sides, until God finally put them down.  But now God has provided peace all around–no one against us, nothing at odds with us.

(5) “Now here is what I want to do:  Build a temple in honor of God, my God, following the promise that God gave to David my father, namely ‘Your son whom I will provide to succeed you as king, he will build a house in my honor.'”

 

THINK:  Read the passage aloud slowly again, especially verses 3-5.

  1. Listen for the words or phrases that stand out to you–perhaps one of these
    1. “build a temple in honor of God”
    2. “wars he had to fight on all sides, until God finally put them down”
    3. “God has provided peace all around–no one against us, nothing at odds with us”
    4. “here is what I want to do…in honor of God, my God, following the promise that God gave”

 

These phrases indicate that David lived an interactive life with God and that Solomon is attempting to do the same.  They also refer to David and Solomon’s dream coming true.  David had wisely let go of his dream of building the temple, while Solomon was now taking the next step by implementing the dream.

  1. What dreams have you had?
  2. What dreams have you let go of or picked up?

 

I’ve had several dreams over the years.  For instance, in high school, I wanted to be a test pilot.  Then, I realized that it would be impossible because I had poor eyesight.  That was fine.  I gave that dream up.  Another dream that I had – when I was in 4th grade or so – was that, one day, I would marry someone who had a dark complexion, dark hair, and dark eyes.  That dream came true.  I’ve been married to that man for going-on-21-years.  Some dreams have come true; others have fallen by the wayside.  But, I am of the opinion that there is a difference between having a dream and just dreaming.  But, I also believe that either one can take the place of God in a person’s life and, if that happens, then God has this uncanny way of making sure you know that if it’s a dream from Him, it will happen in His timing, and if it isn’t, it won’t happen.  Of the dreams I’ve had (and still have) I don’t know if I can tell you which ones are from God and which ones are not.  I figure, if it’s from God, then it’ll happen because nothing can subvert the will of God.  If it isn’t, it won’t happen. 

 

Perhaps this is why the verse of the 4 passages above that speaks to me is the last one.  I can honestly say that my goals have not all been so honorable as to only desire to honor God.  Some of my dreams have only been about bringing honor to myself.  But, at this time in my life, I’m learning that if it isn’t about God first, it isn’t going to work out.  He won’t allow it.  As for following any specific promise, I’ve only felt like I’ve ever been given one promise (the promise of our third child), and that one has been fulfilled.  Other than that, I know we are promised Heaven and that God will never leave us nor forsake us.  These days, that’s just about all I feel like I can hold on to without running the risk of latching onto a false hope and having it dashed on the rocks by a wave of disappointment.  And…I’m learning to be okay with that. 

 

Don’t get me wrong.  I still pray and ask for what I want, but after being told “no” and “wait” so many times this past 3 years, I’m learning to trust that I’m going to get what God wants me to have when He wants me to have it or whenever He has adequately prepared me for it, and it for me.  He has to do it that way because, otherwise, I’d be running headlong after the gift instead of the Giver.

 

PRAY:  Talk to God about the phrases in the passage that hint at dreams you have.  Ask God to give you wisdom about whether you need to let go of these dreams or pick them up.  Ask God for vision and power to take your next step.

 

Abba Father, you have made each of us with our own special set of appetites and dreams and desires and wishes.  Only you can deliver unto each of us those things you desire us to have or those things that we need to help us grow into the people you want us to be in order to fulfill the purpose for which you designed us. Though it will be painful, strip away those things that do not conform to Your Will and Your Purpose for our lives.  Help us to see that there is nothing wrong with mourning the loss of a dream because You created us to be emotional beings.  But, help us, also, to see that we are led by faith and not by feelings, so we do not have to be tossed about on waves of indecision and fickle emotions and appetites, and we can bring our wills into submission to Yours despite how we feel.  Grant us an extra measure of grace to accept on faith those things we cannot yet understand and are not yet ready to see.  Remember that we are just dust and we are going to fall, and please be patient with us as we are all fallible, but we are trying. 

 

For the person out there tonight who feels like you have turned their back, I pray for peace.  Lord, you did not lead the Israelites out of Egypt and into the desert to die, but you did it to prove to them that YOU were all they needed.  Help them to see that it is because You love your people that you lead them into places where they have to rely on You and You Alone, otherwise we never learn that You are all we need.

 

For people who feel like you are always saying WAIT and that their dreams are always being put on hold, I pray that you would strengthen their spirits.  They that wait on the Lord will renew their strength and they will mount up with wings as eagles because Your Word says so and Your Word does not return to You void.  That means, if you said it, it has as much as happened.  But you exist outside of time and space and sometimes it is hard to be so eternally minded when we live in such a microwave world.  Lord, we believe, only help our unbelief.

 

Thank you, Lord, for your LONG-SUFFERING.  You are forever having to be patient with us, and yet, you desire that none should perish but that all should come to you.  Thank you for not giving up on us when we are ready to throw in the towel on ourselves.  Thank you that we do not have to live in the past and thank you that tomorrow does not have to be like today because your mercies are new every morning and you will give us THIS DAY our daily bread.

 

In Jesus’ Name, I pray…….Amen.

 

LIVE:  Relish the peace that God gives, knowing that dreams don’t have to be realized today.  Maybe ponder and pursue your next step.  Put on the idea of readiness and see if it fits.

Day Thirty-Nine: A Dream Fulfilled

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READ:  1 Kings 5:1-5

 

(1-4) Hiram king of Tyre sent ambassadors to Solomon when he heard that he had been crowned king in David’s place.  Hiram had loved David his whole life.  Solomon responded, saying, “You know that David my father was not able to build a temple in honor of God because of the wars he had to fight on all sides, until God finally put them down.  But now God has provided peace all around–no one against us, nothing at odds with us.

(5) “Now here is what I want to do:  Build a temple in honor of God, my God, following the promise that God gave to David my father, namely ‘Your son whom I will provide to succeed you as king, he will build a house in my honor.'”

 

THINK:  Read the passage aloud slowly again, especially verses 3-5.

  1. Listen for the words or phrases that stand out to you–perhaps one of these
    1. “build a temple in honor of God”
    2. “wars he had to fight on all sides, until God finally put them down”
    3. “God has provided peace all around–no one against us, nothing at odds with us”
    4. “here is what I want to do…in honor of God, my God, following the promise that God gave”

 

These phrases indicate that David lived an interactive life with God and that Solomon is attempting to do the same.  They also refer to David and Solomon’s dream coming true.  David had wisely let go of his dream of building the temple, while Solomon was now taking the next step by implementing the dream.

  1. What dreams have you had?
  2. What dreams have you let go of or picked up?

 

I’ve had several dreams over the years.  For instance, in high school, I wanted to be a test pilot.  Then, I realized that it would be impossible because I had poor eyesight.  That was fine.  I gave that dream up.  Another dream that I had – when I was in 4th grade or so – was that, one day, I would marry someone who had a dark complexion, dark hair, and dark eyes.  That dream came true.  I’ve been married to that man for going-on-21-years.  Some dreams have come true; others have fallen by the wayside.  But, I am of the opinion that there is a difference between having a dream and just dreaming.  But, I also believe that either one can take the place of God in a person’s life and, if that happens, then God has this uncanny way of making sure you know that if it’s a dream from Him, it will happen in His timing, and if it isn’t, it won’t happen.  Of the dreams I’ve had (and still have) I don’t know if I can tell you which ones are from God and which ones are not.  I figure, if it’s from God, then it’ll happen because nothing can subvert the will of God.  If it isn’t, it won’t happen. 

 

Perhaps this is why the verse of the 4 passages above that speaks to me is the last one.  I can honestly say that my goals have not all been so honorable as to only desire to honor God.  Some of my dreams have only been about bringing honor to myself.  But, at this time in my life, I’m learning that if it isn’t about God first, it isn’t going to work out.  He won’t allow it.  As for following any specific promise, I’ve only felt like I’ve ever been given one promise (the promise of our third child), and that one has been fulfilled.  Other than that, I know we are promised Heaven and that God will never leave us nor forsake us.  These days, that’s just about all I feel like I can hold on to without running the risk of latching onto a false hope and having it dashed on the rocks by a wave of disappointment.  And…I’m learning to be okay with that. 

 

Don’t get me wrong.  I still pray and ask for what I want, but after being told “no” and “wait” so many times this past 3 years, I’m learning to trust that I’m going to get what God wants me to have when He wants me to have it or whenever He has adequately prepared me for it, and it for me.  He has to do it that way because, otherwise, I’d be running headlong after the gift instead of the Giver.

 

PRAY:  Talk to God about the phrases in the passage that hint at dreams you have.  Ask God to give you wisdom about whether you need to let go of these dreams or pick them up.  Ask God for vision and power to take your next step.

 

Abba Father, you have made each of us with our own special set of appetites and dreams and desires and wishes.  Only you can deliver unto each of us those things you desire us to have or those things that we need to help us grow into the people you want us to be in order to fulfill the purpose for which you designed us. Though it will be painful, strip away those things that do not conform to Your Will and Your Purpose for our lives.  Help us to see that there is nothing wrong with mourning the loss of a dream because You created us to be emotional beings.  But, help us, also, to see that we are led by faith and not by feelings, so we do not have to be tossed about on waves of indecision and fickle emotions and appetites, and we can bring our wills into submission to Yours despite how we feel.  Grant us an extra measure of grace to accept on faith those things we cannot yet understand and are not yet ready to see.  Remember that we are just dust and we are going to fall, and please be patient with us as we are all fallible, but we are trying. 

 

For the person out there tonight who feels like you have turned their back, I pray for peace.  Lord, you did not lead the Israelites out of Egypt and into the desert to die, but you did it to prove to them that YOU were all they needed.  Help them to see that it is because You love your people that you lead them into places where they have to rely on You and You Alone, otherwise we never learn that You are all we need.

 

For people who feel like you are always saying WAIT and that their dreams are always being put on hold, I pray that you would strengthen their spirits.  They that wait on the Lord will renew their strength and they will mount up with wings as eagles because Your Word says so and Your Word does not return to You void.  That means, if you said it, it has as much as happened.  But you exist outside of time and space and sometimes it is hard to be so eternally minded when we live in such a microwave world.  Lord, we believe, only help our unbelief.

 

Thank you, Lord, for your LONG-SUFFERING.  You are forever having to be patient with us, and yet, you desire that none should perish but that all should come to you.  Thank you for not giving up on us when we are ready to throw in the towel on ourselves.  Thank you that we do not have to live in the past and thank you that tomorrow does not have to be like today because your mercies are new every morning and you will give us THIS DAY our daily bread.

 

In Jesus’ Name, I pray…….Amen.

 

LIVE:  Relish the peace that God gives, knowing that dreams don’t have to be realized today.  Maybe ponder and pursue your next step.  Put on the idea of readiness and see if it fits.

Day Thirty-Eight: God Feels the Pain

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THE PASSAGE:  2 Samuel 24:13-17, 25 (EXPANDED PASSAGE:  2 SAMUEL 24)

 

(13) Gad came to deliver the message:  “Do you want three years of famine in the land, or three months of running from your enemies while they chase you down, or three days of an epidemic on the country?  Think it over and make up your mind.  What shall I tell the one who sent me?”

(14) David told Gad, “They’re all terrible!  But I’d rather be punished by God, whose mercy is great, than fall into human hands.”

(15-16) So God let loose an epidemic from morning until suppertime.  From Dan to Beersheba seventy thousand people died.  But when the angel reached out over Jerusalem to destroy it, God felt the pain of the terror and told the angel who was spreading death among the people, “Enough’s enough!  Pull back!”

          The angel of God had just reached the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.  Davie looked up and saw the angel hovering between earth and sky, sword drawn and about to strike Jerusalem.  David and the elders bowed in prayer and covered themselves with rough burlap.

(17) When David saw the angel about to destroy the people, he prayed, “Please!  I’m the one who sinned; I, the shepherd, did the wrong.  But these sheep, what did they do wrong?  Punish me and my family, not them.”…

(25) He built an altar to God there and sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings.  God was moved by the prayers and that was the end of the disaster

 

READ:  Skim the expanded passage.  Now read the excerpt three times carefully.

 

THINK/PRAY:  Set the text aside and imaginatively replay the story, inserting yourself as a character in it.  Perhaps you will be one of David’s elders, or David himself.

          What do you think and feel as you hear God’s words of discipline?  What do you experience as you walk through this tension-filled and tragic day?  What do you see?  Hear?  Smell?  What questions do you have for God?  Are you angry?  Afraid?  Talk to him.

          As the end of the day approaches and you see God’s interaction with the angel, what is that like for you?  When God’s heart is changed by David’s prayers, what thoughts and feelings bubble up in you?  Express them to God.

 

LIVE:  C. S. Lewis wrote, “[Each sinful act leaves a mark] on that tiny central self which no one sees in this life but which each of us will have to endure–or enjoy–for ever.  One man may be so placed that his anger sheds the blood of thousands, and another so placed that, however angry he gets, he will only be laughed at.  But the little mark on the soul may be much the same in both.”  Are there any “little marks” on your soul that you haven’t talked about with God?  Explore recent experiences, reactions, thoughts, and feelings you’ve had.  What do they tell you about what’s inside your heart?  Talk to God about this, and make note of any action that you feel he is leading you to.

 

So…I don’t really want to do the activity suggested by this week’s reading.  Furthermore, even if I did do the activity (or rather, when I do the activity), I don’t know that it’s necessary I share with you what my “little marks” are for you to benefit from this blog.  Call it an effort to practice discretion in whether or not to participate in full disclosure or fear, but I’m not going to share all my little marks (though, admittedly, I’ve shared quite a few already).   But, I will share what has struck me about this passage.

 

God felt their pain.  God felt their pain, and David’s prayer for deliverance or mercy was enough for God to stay His hand (or the angel’s hand).  I don’t mind saying that hearing that David’s prayers for mercy being answered while mine weren’t would’ve been grounds for me to throw a fit this time a year ago.  If God really felt our pain, why didn’t he deliver us from our circumstances?  That would’ve been my prayer a year ago.  Honestly, that probably would’ve been my prayer as recently as 6 months ago, too.  Because, you see, when I feel pain, my first reaction is to recoil.  When I see others feeling pain, I want to rush in and alleviate it, if I can.  I realize that this is not always a smart move.  Sometimes people need to live in their pain because they need to know what the consequences are.  Sometimes people don’t have a choice but to live in their pain because God refuses to move them until His purposes have been fulfilled. 

 

But there’s one thing I’ve come to believe about suffering.  It doesn’t matter the cause of the suffering.  It doesn’t matter the delivery method of said suffering.  Anybody who is suffering – everybody who is suffering – has to deal with God over that suffering.  Some press in and draw closer to Him.  Some jerk their hand out of his and try to take back control of their lives.  Others turn their backs on Him.  Regardless, we all have to decide where we go from here (wherever our “here” is when the suffering starts). 

 

Maybe you are like me and wondering where God was when you were crying out for your deliverance from the injustice in the world.  Maybe you just wanted to catch a break just this once because all your life you’ve felt like you’ve always gotten the short end of the stick.  Maybe you are just tired of the “bad guys” always winning while the “good guys” always seem to come in second.  I don’t know where you are in life right now, but I bet there’s a good chance that you’ve wondered how God let it get where it is.  And if your life is just fine right now, I bet you can remember a time when you felt that way.  But…if you’ve neither been in either position, let me tell you – it’s coming.  The question is:  what are you going to do with your suffering?  Are you going to let it make you bitter and dried up on the inside?  Or…are you going to let it do its transformative work, making you look more and more like Christ as time goes by?  Will you throw in the towel?  Or will you get up, dust yourself off, pick your gloves back up, and fight for another day?

 

My prayer is that you will fight.  His mercies really are new every morning.  And you only need strength for the day you are on.  You can hold on to yesterday’s victories and you can’t borrow from tomorrow.  You have to do the best you can with the measure of grace you’ve been given today. 

 

Dear Heavenly Father, if there is anyone out there right now thinking about quitting in whatever form that may look like for them (suicide, divorce, back-sliding), I pray that you would send someone their way to encourage them to hold on just a little while longer.  I pray that you would intervene supernaturally in such a way that they have no doubt that you have visited them tonight and they would be strengthened and comforted by the thought that “this too shall pass.”  Show them that you do feel their pain, that you are intimately touched when they are suffering.  Show them that this was never your plan for your Creation, that you long to be in communion and relationship with us, and show them that you have made a way for them to come back into the fold.  I pray for anyone who is reading this who may be hurting and needs comforting.  You alone, O Lord, are the Great Comforter.  To who else can we turn when things have gone wrong.  You are the creator of the universe.  You knew us before we were formed in our mothers’ wombs and you know every single hair on our heads.  You alone know exactly what it is we need when we are hurting.  Meet the needs of those who may be hurting tonight, Dear Lord, as only you can. 

 

I pray all these things in Your Son’s Precious and Holy Name, the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Day Thirty-Seven: Loving Those in the Here and Now

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READ: 2 Samuel 19:1-8  Read the passage aloud slowly.  Absalom had rebelled against his father, David, and took over Israel.  As David mourns Absalom, the people who defended him and brought him back with honor are listening.

 

          (1-4) Joab was told that David was weeping and lamenting over Absalom.  The day’s victory turned into a day of mourning as word passed through the army, “David is grieving over his son.”  The army straggled back to the city that day demoralized, dragging their tails.  And the king held his face in his hands and lamented loudly,

          O my son Absalom,

          Absalom my dear, dear son!

          (5-7) But in private Joab rebuked the king: ” Now you’ve done it–knocked the wind out of your loyal servants who have just saved your life, to say nothing of the lives of your sons and daughters, wives and concubines.  What is this–loving those who hate you and hating those who love you?  Your actions give a clear message:  officers and soldiers mean nothing to you.  You know that if Absalom were alive right now, we’d all be dead – would that make you happy?  Get hold of yourself; get out there and put some heart into your servants!  I swear to God that if you don’t go to the  they’ll desert; not a soldier will be left here by nightfall.  And that will be the worst thing that has happened yet.”

           (8) So the king came out and took his place at the city gate.  Soon everyone knew: “Oh, look!  The king has come out to receive us.”  And his whole army came and presented itself to the king.  But the Israelites had fled the field of battle and gone home.

 

THINK:  Read the passage aloud slowly again.  David did what we often do.  He lived in regret.  He wanted what he used to have and what he couldn’t now have.  As a result, he undervalued and discouraged the people who had stood by him and helped him.

  1. Who do you identify with more: David or the army?
  2. Consider their feelings: David living in regret; the army feeling ignored and discarded.
  3. Consider their next steps: David turning his heart to the people around him who loved him; the army speaking up and stating their needs to a hurting person.

 

If I am to be honest, I’ve spent a lot of time this past year-and-a-half moping and whining about what I don’t have.  I’ve tried not to send the message that I thought I was the only person going through this.  I know that I am not.  But I am not sure if I have done a good job of making sure the people who love me know that I know what this has cost them.  I would say it.  But then, I would continue with my complaining and my pity party.  People have been kind.  Most people close to me cannot imagine what it would be like to be in my shoes.  And, to be fair, most of them are going through things I do not want to experience either.  But, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that because I am in a somewhat “needy” position, I do not have resources to meet the needs of others.  Or, even easier than that, to fall into the trap the Enemy would set that would say that because I am in a needy position, I have the right to wallow in my pity.  Or, to check out of life because I didn’t get my way.  To pack up my toys and go home until God lets me have my way. 

 

HOW RIDICULOUS!

 

PRAY:  Pray for yourself and others, especially that they’ll see and implement any possible next steps (for example, moving out of regret and valuing the people in front of them, or speaking up to someone who is devaluing others).

 

Dear Heavenly Father, help us to remember that, every day, we need you.  You are Sovereign and nothing can thwart Your Will being done in the lives of those who are called by You for Your Purposes.  When times get hard, and they most certainly will, help us to rest in the knowledge that all things do work together for the good of those who love You.  And help us to be patient and steadfast when what is good for us is not comfortable or when it is downright painful.  Show us those people standing with us whom we may have overlooked or slighted by our complaining and whining, and show us ways that we can be a blessing to those who have blessed us in our hard times.  Show us the reserves we have stored up, out of which we can bless others.  Help us not to be stingy with our gifts (spiritual, physical, emotional, or financial); trusting that you will take care of those who you have called to be generous.  And, help us to be good stewards of those gifts: not throwing them around aimlessly, but using them the way you would have us to use them, to bless others and to glorify your name. 

In Your Son’s Precious and Holy Name, the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

 

LIVE:  Let your mind rest in glad appreciation for those who stand by you.  Ask God for opportunities to bless them.  Then in the dailiness of life, look for those opportunities.