“He appointed singers unto the Lord, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the Lord; for his mercy endureth for ever.” (II Chronicles 20:21) What do you do when you are under attack and greatly outnumbered by the enemy? King Jehoshaphat found himself and the people of Judah in just such a situation. They were outnumbered and he knew it. Worse still, he had no answer. He called for the entire nation to come together and fast as he did the only thing possible—seek God. “For we have…
And He said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. (Mark 6:31, NKJV) A friend is going through a stressful time right now. While dealing with her own health issues, she is also the primary caregiver for another family member. She is stressed and struggling. Sometimes there is no easy solution. Since we don’t live close and I can only offer encouragement from afar, I keep reminding her that self-care is important. A couple I know is carrying a heavy load in their ministry. They live in a very unstable and dangerous part of the world. Caring for the people they serve and trying to keep everyone safe weighs heavily upon them. Although they realized they needed rest, they felt guilty about taking time away. Then God spoke to them and said, “If you do not come apart, you will fall apart.” Stress. None of us live without it, but we each face different circumstances. We may experience change (relocation, marriage, employment), loss (death, finances, broken relationships), or uncertainties about the future. Even happy events, such as…
But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62, NKJV) When I see someone who has turned back from serving God—taken their “hand off the plow”—I always want to ask: What happened? Why did you return to things you once left behind? What distracted you, enticed you, or pulled you back? How did you allow this to happen? We’ve seen it happen to friends and perhaps even within our own family. We worshiped with them and worked together in various ministries of the church. Then one day they chose to leave it all behind. It grieves us and drives us to our knees. That’s what happened when Demas deserted the apostle Paul and his other co-laborers in the gospel. After all they had shared together and endured together, why did Demas leave? Paul tells us his love changed from the things of God to things of this temporal world. His values had shifted. “For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica.” (II Timothy 4:10, ESV) Reading about Demas causes me to wonder. Could this happen to…
“Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed.” (Matthew 8:8, ESV) Matthew 8 tells the story of a Roman centurion with a big request for Jesus. The man’s beloved servant was extremely ill. Having heard about Jesus, he believed the Teacher could heal his servant. In the eyes of society, the centurion was “higher up” than Jesus. After all, he…
“But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the LORD. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the LORD by sailing to Tarshish.” (Jonah 1:3, NLT) God chose Jonah for a special assignment, but the result was one very unhappy prophet. We know little about the man except his name and his father’s name, but we are all familiar with his story. It’s a favorite of children, but the lessons within this short four-chapter book of the Bible are definitely for adults too. God instructed Jonah to go to Nineveh and give them a special message from the Lord. Nineveh (near modern-day Mosul, Iraq) was large, affluent, and wicked. Cruelly wicked. This was not a place the prophet would choose to intentionally visit. The Assyrians were Israel’s enemy. east . . . or west? God said go east (approximately 500 miles from his homeland). Instead, Jonah quickly turned west and determined to go as far as possible in that direction. He ran from God’s mission. But bad decisions often come with bad consequences. In…
“In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul.” (Psalm 94:19, NKJV) Fear, worry, anxiety. What a gloomy trio. We live in an unsettled world, and it’s easy to fall prey to these negative thoughts. After all, there are so many things in life that we can worry about—so many “what ifs” to fill our minds and torment us. What if . . . the economy crashes? I lose my job? my health fails or I’m in a terrible accident? my child gets involved with the wrong crowd? my old car breaks down? I don’t have enough money to pay my bills? Finances, relationships, health issues, major life changes can all bring on worry, anxiety, and fear. Our imagination runs wild as our list of what ifs grows longer and longer. Have you ever been there? As you may have discovered, these thoughts clamor loudest in the middle of the night as we toss and turn, unable to sleep. There’s something about the darkness of early morning hours that magnifies every worry. The Bible has much to say about the fears, anxieties, and worries that try to consume us. In fact, as we delve into…