So the Lord said to him, “Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying . . . Then Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. “And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.” (Acts 9:11, 13-14, NKJV) The Bible does not tell us much about the man named Ananias that we meet in Acts chapter 9. We do know he was a resident…
Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 9:3-4, ESV) Some people are just too evil to be saved. Oh, we may not actually say those words, but sometimes our actions (or lack of action) imply those inner thoughts. How could God ever reach someone so sinful, so evil, and fill them with His spirit? Impossible! I once met a very sweet, godly lady who shared that no one had invited her and her husband to church because they were “just too sinful to be saved.” But, by God’s mercy, there she stood—transformed into a new creation in Christ. Listening to her story, I wondered how often we consciously or unconsciously judge a person as beyond salvation. Their life is just too messed up for God to change them. SAUL, THE MAN FROM TARSUS Saul, the man we now know as the apostle Paul, was such a man. He is first mentioned in Acts 7 as he stood watching the stoning of Stephen. “. . . And the witnesses laid…
“But you, God, break out laughing; you treat the godless nations like jokes. Strong God, I’m watching you do it, I can always count on you. God in dependable love shows up on time, shows me my enemies in ruin.” Psalm 59:8-10 MSG In moments of suffering and struggle, it can be challenging to declare that we see God working it out, but that is exactly what faith requires of us. Trusting in God won’t always feel like we are on the mountaintop, admiring the view of victory. Rather, we are more often than not trudging through the mundane and looking up from the valley, desperately searching for a glimmer of hope. Beauty can be found in our desperation, though, and we can take heart in the requirement of gazing up from the valley floor. Psalms 121:1 gives us some great advice: “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.” You go where you look. So look up today, set your gaze and mind on things above. You can proclaim, even if you don’t necessarily feel the emotion behind it, that God is strong and He is working on your behalf. We can always count…
“So David and his men went on the road, while Shimei went along on the hillside opposite him and cursed as he went and threw stones at him and flung dust. And the king, and all the people who were with him, arrived weary at the Jordan. And there he refreshed himself.” 2 Samuel 16:13-14 ESV I admire people who hold to their convictions and stand up for what they believe in. Shimei was one of those people, I think. He does appear to be having a hard time letting go of the past and accepting David as king. While David…
“But I trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you have rescued me.” Psalm 13:5 NLT When my daughter was younger, she learned the power of yelling “help” when she needed me. As a mother, my first instinct when I heard her desperate plea was panic. The thought of her needing help would make me move faster than I normally could. When I would finally reach her, she was usually in a box she couldn’t get out of, or she had fallen over on her trike and needed help getting up. The fact is, she knew to yell “help” when she was in need. She is fiercely independent, so I immediately recognize that she needs me when she calls. I think of myself in situations where I have reached the end of my rope, and there is nothing more I can do. Is my first response to give it to God, or do I try too hard to make it work on my own? In moments of intense anxiety, I have cried out to God, “Please rescue me, please heal me, please steady my heart,” and He has shown up every single time. I’ve learned throughout my life…
“When the humble see it they will be glad; you who seek God, let your hearts revive.” Psalms 69:32 ESV Have you ever felt tired? I have two daughters, both of whom have been terrible sleepers since birth. They were most needy during the night, waking up anywhere from 5 to 6 times for a bottle, diaper change, or just some snuggles. At first, you are kind of okay with the lack of sleep because you’re surviving on the new baby high, but eventually, it catches up to you, and you crash—hard. Something similar can happen in our spiritual lives as well. If we aren’t regularly going to the well to be filled, we will run dry. Exhaustion will set in, and the journey will no longer look exciting and promising, but rather impossible and hopeless. We must always pursue God and the things of God. Seeking requires patience and diligence, but our hearts will be revived. The Bible is filled with stories of ordinary people who went to great lengths to find what had been lost. In that moment, nothing else mattered but the retrieval of the missing item. In our daily lives, nothing else must matter more than…