March 26, 2014 · 5:56 AM

Let Go Of Fear, Be Used By God

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We started our fourth day in Myan. We picked up right where we left off. One team went back in to keep painting and the other team went to finish staining the bed rails in the girl’s rooms. A group of freshly hired nannies showed up for orientation. They started with prayer and a beautiful song. While they met and others painted in the same room, I began cleaning paint off the floor with a few others. As I scrubbed, I began to think how my own sins have stained my life. I’ve tried to wash them off on my own with limited results. Nothing I do can ever erase them, but God’s love, like the paint thinner we were using, can wipe away the stains.

As the day progressed, it got hotter. The wind wasn’t blowing either which made for a tough day. When we got through painting the walls and the others were through staining, we met outside to play with the kids. Everyone stayed on the porch in the shade. As I walked around, I saw three small children taking a nap on a blue carpet outside of their room. They were so peaceful. When I got on another porch, I found more orphans asleep on the chests of our team members. I thought of the rest we get when we trust God fully in our lives. When the fires come and life gets hot, we can rest assured that God will take care of us. We just need to crawl up on His chest to rest in the assurance of who He is.

In the early afternoon, we came back to the guest house to grab a sand which, grab things for the Gonaives orphanage and to get some reprieve from the heat. Not long after arriving at the orphanage, the kids, orphans and locals, all came running. We sat them on a hill and one of our students told them the parable of the Lost Sheep. She told them that wherever they went in life, no matter what happened, Jesus would always be looking for them. We then played Marco Polo on the soccer field to illustrate the point. It wasn’t long until Marco Polo turned into a soccer match.

In the evening, we came back to the guest house, cleaned up and ate my favorite meal here, roasted goat. We met on the balcony for service. God spoke during that time and challenged us to let go of the fear that keeps us from true worship. He wanted us to let go of the fear of what others might think and to let to of the fear that keeps us from talking about him. The students began to share what God laid on their hearts. They began to share why they came and what they wanted God to do. One said she was afraid she’d be a nobody in life, but found that no one who serves God will ever be a nobody. We are heirs to the King of Kings, princes and princesses.

We all struggle with sharing our faith at times. If we can’t share with other believers, how can we ever share with the world? We should be so full of Jesus that He leaks out of us wherever we go. We have to learn to let go of the fear of what others will think of us, push past that feeling like we’re going to explode and just speak. God will do the rest. It’s not our words that change people’s lives. It’s His love and His spirit that draws them in. We are merely vessels used by Him. We only work when we’re full of Him, are willing to open up and are poured out. Don’t be afraid. Let Him use you today.

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March 25, 2014 · 6:06 AM

Jesus Is In The Details

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We got up early yesterday ready for a day full of work. We loaded the trucks and headed for the white, dirt road that leads to Myan. It’s a slow, bumpy ride that takes us out of the city, over the mountain side and into the quiet life of the country. As we got closer to the orphanage in Myan, my heart began to beat faster. On my first trip here, the foundation was being poured. On my second trip here, we stained and varnished beds as well as built shelving units. But on this trip, I’d get to see the first children who were brought in last week. I could hardly wait.

As is the custom when we get to Myan, we get out of the trucks, meet the locals who followed us and head up Prayer Mountain. When we got to the top, for the first time there were orphans running around on the property. We then heard all of the miracles that have taken place over the last 2 years that made this orphanage possible. We tried to balance the poverty we saw against the beauty of the country side. Your mind wants to figure out how you can be surrounded by such beauty, yet have so many who survive on less than $2 a day. We began to pray over the orphanage, the community of Myan, the staff, future children and the stewards of Coreluv.org.

We made our way down the hillside hand in hand with the local children who followed us up. As we approached the gates to the orphanage, Epoli opened them to us with a smile on his face. The girls went to the girls house and the boys went to the boys house. We looked through the rooms and began playing with the kids. It didn’t take long for most of these newly orphaned children to put down their defenses and to allow this team of American students to embrace them. Laughter begs to fill the air. Games of chase started up. Kids were being kids.

We brought the kids into the cafeteria and sat them on benches. Courtney, one of our students, had prepared Vacation Bible School for the kids. When she finished, a pastor from Port au Prince came and shared a message with the kids too. We’ll repeat that each day as part of giving our students the opportunity to minister and so we can plant the seeds of God’s love in the hearts of children. They will know what true love is by the time they’re grown up because we believe in loving them unconditionally and because they will know their Father in Heaven loves them as well.

After the lessons, we broke into three teams. One team set up the medical cabinets at the orphanage and prepared it to have a pharmacy in the future. Another team went room to room on the boy’s side and stained the newly installed bed rails. The third team painted the cafeteria a pastel green. We had someone use a paint gun, some used rollers and some cut the edges where rollers and paint guns can’t get. It took all afternoon and we only got about half way done.

As I helped paint the baseboards, ceiling crease and corners, I couldn’t help but think that God is in the details. We like to try to find him in the broad strokes of a roller. Those are quick, easy and cover a lot of ground. While He is there too, I found that He does His work in our lives in the creases and in the slow, tedious details. He is patient and kind with us. He takes His time and does the work the right way because He knows it’s when you take care of the details, the larger things are possible.

We capped off our day with a soccer game at the Gonaives orphanage. Many of our team members were among the crowd of kids running back and forth on the dirt field. The rest were loving on orphans and kids from the community. There is great ministry in just loving on people. When you give love, you give more than just your time and talents. You give a piece of your heart and that’s what changes lives.

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March 24, 2014 · 6:06 AM

Haiti Makes Me Happy

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This week I’m in Haiti with students from Lifestyle Christian School and will be sharing what we are doing and learning. Our first two days have been full of travel, but also full of rewards. After two flights, we arrived in Port au Prince Saturday evening. When we got in the back of the coreluv.org trucks and headed through the city, I took a deep breath to breathe in the Haitian air. The noise of motorcycles whizzing by, the smell of burning trash, the blaring horns of semi trucks, the music coming from stores and people walking everywhere reminded me of the times I’ve come before.

I looked at the group of mostly first timers and exclaimed, “Haiti makes me happy!” They’re learning first hand this week how it makes them happy. When we walked through the door of our guest house, we were greeted with the smell of fried chicken. We sat down, ate and then retreated to the balcony for our first service. We sang worship songs accapella. We shared about our first impressions of Haiti. Then the missionary here told the group to be thinking of three questions this week:

Where did you see Jesus today?
What makes you sad? Mad? Glad?
What do you see that you are not OK with

On Sunday morning, we went to a Haitian church service. We didn’t recognize any of the songs. We didn’t understand any of the language either. There was no air conditioning on a 90+ degree day in that building. Even though it wasn’t like a church any of us were used to, we experienced the same God we would have at home. I noticed several times when our group had their hands raised in worship, had their head bowed in prayer joined in the corporate worship. It was amazing to see and experience. There are many nations, many languages, many denominations that serve the same God.

They asked if one of us would like to preach. Jeremiah threw his hand up without hesitation. He later said, “I don’t know why I did that!” I know it was because the Holy Spirit was upon him. He preached through an interpreter a convicting message about Jesus overturning the tables in the temple. He pointed out that Paul referred to our bodies as the temple of the Holy Spirit. He asked, “Since when did we start thinking it was ok to put thing into our lives, our temples, that God is not ok with?” I pray that we give God permission to come overturn the tables of our hearts and turn our lives into houses of prayer.

We left church and went to visit a woman whose husband and father to her children is a witch doctor. They are very poor and can’t care for their children. They are considering giving up the children to the orphanage. If they are able to come, imagine the course change for that family. Children who were born to a witch doctor would typically become witch doctors themselves. Children who live in these orphanages grow up to follow Christ. Before leaving, our group joined in prayer for that neighborhood. We prayed that God would liberate them from idolatry and shine His light in such a dark place.

From there, we went to “Faith, Hope, Love”, an infant rescue center. In this orphanage are children with HIV, AIDS, lymphoma, HPV, brittle bone disease and so many other life threatening things. Their parents can’t afford the medical care they need so they drop them off here. We went in and began loving on these children, playing with them, putting them on our shoulders and marching around. Laughter filled the air as these kids without hope had students who weren’t afraid of their disease and touched their hearts.

We left Port au Prince and took the slow drive to Gonaives. We stopped at the mass grave site where over 100,000 bodies are buried in a field. Survivors of the earthquake shared their horrific first hand accounts of what happened and what life was like. We drove through tent city where so many in Port au Prince still live since that fateful day in 2010. We followed the coast northwest and stopped at a resort to let the team cool down in the Caribbean waters. They learned to catch jellyfish without getting stung. After leaving there, we drove through the farm land of Haiti to make our way to the guest house in Gonaives.

After an amazing dinner, we joined together on a balcony and began to worship God. We talked about what it means to give up everything you have for God. We also talked about the widow in II Kings 4 whose husband had died and she couldn’t afford his debts. Elisha asked her what she had in her house. All she had left was a jar of oil. He told her to get jars from everyone she knew, fill them with oil and sell them. When she did, she didn’t just have enough to pay the debt. She had enough for the rest of her life. God always goes above and beyond what we ask. He simply requires us to use what’s in our house.

Today, we’re going to work at one orphanage most of the day and visit another one later to play with kids. I’ll update you tomorrow.

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March 21, 2014 · 7:47 AM

How To Be A Better Spouse

It’s Free Friday! Today is the day you let go of the things in your life that keep you down or hold you back. To celebrate, I’m giving away a copy of “The Power of a Praying Husband” by Stormie Omartian. Keep reading to find out how to enter.

“If I ever get the chance again, I’m going to put my wife first. I’m going to be the spiritual head of my household. I’m not going to take her for granted. I’m going to be the husband she needs me to be. I’m not going to fight her over things that don’t matter. I’m going to put her needs above my own. I’m going to pray for her daily.” These were promises I made to myself over ten years ago after my ex-wife walked out. I knew the mistakes I had made as a husband and the fruit that it bore was more than I could handle.

I learned a painful lesson in 2003. Afterwards, I had a lot of time to think about how the previous four years had gone, where our relationship turned, things I could have done to avoid where we ended up and what I should have done. I can tell you that could haves and should haves don’t repair broken relationships. As I laid there in that empty bed each night, I replaced the could haves and should haves with promises of what I would do in the future. I mapped out what I needed to do to be a better husband next time. I spent time learning what Paul meant when he said, “Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the Church.”

Ultimately, it boils down to putting your spouse’s needs above your own. You have to sacrifice yourself (what you want) for what’s best for the relationship. Christ could have stayed in Heaven and left us in a broken relationship. He could have divorced us, gone to another planet and started over. He didn’t. He wasn’t content with the way things were. If He had it to do over, He would come down to us, show us the love He’s always wanted to show us and do what was necessary to mend the relationship.

He put aside His pride of being the King of Kings. He laid aside the fact that He was Lord of Lords. He became a helpless human, walked in our shoes, humbled Himself and sacrificed everything for us. He did what’s required of us in any relationship that’s going to work. He put the needs of the relationship above His own needs. He became our advocate and our intercessor. He prays daily to the Father for you and me. In the same way, we have to humble ourselves enough to honor the other person in the relationship. We have to lift them up in prayer daily.

I used to pray that God would change my wife to fit my needs. Now, my prayer is, “Lord, change me and help me to be the husband she needs.” I’ve discovered that when I’m the person my wife needs me to be, she wants to be the wife I need her to be. If the two are ever to become one, they both have to move into the person that the other needs. They have to make decisions based on what’s best for the couple, not the individual. Otherwise, they will always be just two separate individuals who are stick together trying to go in different directions. That won’t work. Trust me, I know.

If you would like to win “The Power of a Praying Husband” by Stormie Omartian, all you have to do is go to my Facebook page here and “like” it. I will randomly pick one person tomorrow (March 22, 2014) who has liked my page. If you have already liked my page and enjoy reading these daily devotionals, you are already entered. Please invite your friends to like my page so they can receive encouragement from God’s Word too.

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March 20, 2014 · 7:12 AM

Preparing For Whatever

Each time I go on a trip, whether it’s for work, missions or vacation, I like to sit down and plan things out. I make sure I have packed everything I need, I check in for my flight 24 hours in advance, I get to the airport well in advance, I try not to check a bag and I like to pick my seat on the plane with easy access to the exit. I like to make sure I’m prepared so that my traveling experience is as easy as possible. It bothers me when others haven’t prepared and are in a state of panic. They have to ask everyone else who did plan and prepare to make exceptions for them.

No matter what changes we face in life, there’s usually a period of time before it where we are to prepare. God gives us time to prepare for what’s next, but many of us use that time to take a breather instead of preparing. Life becomes more like an emotional roller coaster when that happens. It’s feels like we get hit with one storm after another with no chance to breathe. The truth is that there is time to breathe between them and those are the times when we’re to prepare for the next one.

I’m in a time of preparation now. God spoke to me over a year ago and just said, “Prepare.” I asked, “Prepare for what?” All I heard back was, “Prepare.” I thought, “At least Noah knew what he was preparing for. David knew he was heading to a battlefield when he prepared. Jacob knew he was about to meet his brother when he prepared. Why can’t I know what’s coming?” I struggled with how to prepare for a while. Then I started think how I could prepare for whatever. I thought of the parable Jesus told of the wise man and the foolish man. Only one prepared for the rains.

If you’re unsure how you need to prepare for what’s coming next in your life, you can’t go wrong with building a strong foundation that will stand no matter what life throws at you. You build a good foundation by putting God’s word in your heart and mind. You take time to go beyond reading it, and find ways to understand it. You spend time searching through it for pearls of wisdom versus reading a chapter and closing it until the next day. You spend time thinking about a particular verse, truth or story for hours until you get different insight into it. You ask others what they see in it as well.

Preparation isn’t something you have to do alone. It’s just something you have to do in advance of whatever comes. Ephesians 6 tells us to have our feet shod with the preparation of the a Gospel of peace so we can be sure footed when the enemy comes. If you haven’t prepared, you’ll lose your footing when under attack. You’ll slip and fall when temptation comes. But if you’ve prepared, you won’t be knocked off your game. Ben Franklin said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Do what matters now so you’ll be strong when changes come.

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March 19, 2014 · 7:42 AM

A Prayer For Trust

Lord Jesus,

I come to you today knowing that you are in control of my life, my country and my world. You are the God who spoke into darkness and created light. You spoke and the world took shape. In fact, the words you spoke back then are still creating today as the universe continues to expand and birth new galaxies. Your word is powerful beyond anything I can imagine. It creates rivers in the desert, life in dry bones and hope in impossible situations. I honor you for who you are and because you take an active interest in my life.

I confess I don’t have everything figured out. I try to create things using my own power and wisdom instead of relying on yours. I constantly make a mess of things and then ask you to come clean it up. I often act as though I’m independent as if I don’t need you. I think I’m helping you out when I don’t see how your plan can come to pass and I try to figure it out on my own. I know that the closer I get to you, the more dependent I should become, but my selfish nature wants to prove to you and others that I can do things on my own. Somehow I lose sight of my role in our relationship.

I thank you that you forgive me when I’m selfish and try to do your job. You are always right on time when you come in and pick up the pieces from the mess I’ve made. I’m in awe when I watch you put them back together again in a fashion that is more complete and greater than I could have ever imagined. Thank you that you don’t get tired of me making a mess so often. Thank you that no matter what I do, you still love me and call me your child. I’m honored that you do and I don’t want to take it lightly. You sacrificed everything to give me that honor and in return, I sacrifice myself daily for you.

I ask that you would help me to become more dependent on you each day. Teach me to trust in you and your plan. I don’t know why things happen the way they do, but I know you are in control. Give me peace when I look at everything around me and I can’t see the way from point A to point B. Help me to stay still when you ask me to. Give me courage to move and step out when there’s no dry land around. Teach me to be patient when I don’t understand why things happen. Remind me that you’ll show up in time like you always do so I won’t worry. I want to do my part and let you do your part.

Give me strength to face today and peace that you have tomorrow under control. Put people in my path who I can speak life into and who can in return encourage me. Help me to build relationships with people who will help me accomplish more for you than I ever dreamed. Stir up the gifts you’ve placed in me so that they are active and are ready to be used by you at a moment’s notice. You are my God and my king. I owe my life to you. Let me live that way today and show others who you are by my actions, by my faith and by my trust in you. I love you with all my heart.

In Jesus’ name I pray,
Amen.

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March 18, 2014 · 7:45 AM

Times Of Transition

Transitions in life are hard. They mean that one part of your life’s story is over and a new one is about to begin. They are the space between where faith is tested and fear fights to creep in. They are a temporary no man’s land that we have to walk through in order to grow. As we walk through them, it’s hard to see what’s coming next. The territory is so unknown to is that we put our attention and focus on the transition rather than on where we’re being transitioned to. We question God’s providence in our situation during these times.

I remember one of the first lessons I learned working in a child care center was with transitions. Kids hated transitions as much as adults. I learned that if I told them we were going to be making a change in activities in a few minutes, it would give them time to finish what they were doing and to prepare mentally for what was coming next. Now, when I talk to sales reps, I talk to them about transitions in the sale. It’s important for the buyer to know where they are in the sale and what’s coming next. I even encourage them to share with the buyer the why behind the transition.

As I’ve thought about all of that, I started wishing God would give us the warnings about transitions approaching in our lives and the why’s behind them. As I prayed about it, God reminded me how many times Jesus told the disciples what was going to happen to Him in Jerusalem and why. They never heard a word of it and were shocked in the Garden of Gethsemane. They entered a time of transition between having Jesus walk with them daily and having the Holy Spirit coming as their guide. Like us, they were confused, frightened and wondered where God was in the transition.

God speaks to each of us daily. He says things we ignore or don’t want to hear so we block Him. We use our selective hearing when He speaks of things that scare us. The disciples heard Jesus tell them about the transition, but they weren’t listening. Even when we know a transition is coming, it’s still natural to be scared. We’re afraid of change. The last few years have taught me that change is necessary for growth. When we fight it, we fight growing, we fight the future God had for us and we fight God’s will. Our times of transition help prepare us for the change. They grow our faith and trust in God’s plan for our life. It’s something we can only see when we take the time to look back.

Imagine if Peter and the others had stayed locked up in their house and never went to the upper room. Out of 500 people whom Jesus told to go and wait, only 120 made it through the transition. They were tough enough to stick it out and trusted that God had something more on the other side of the transition. As He did for them, so He does for you. God has something greater for you on the other side of this time of transition. It may take longer than you expected, but hang on. The reward will be worth it. The growth you will experience will be like no other time in your life. Don’t give up in the time of transition. Hold strong to your faith and trust God to see you through.

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March 17, 2014 · 7:39 AM

Who Was Saint Patrick Anyway?

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Not many of us know who Saint Patrick was, but we’re more than willing to join in the celebrations of Saint Patrick’s Day. Unlike most holidays named after a person, this holiday is on the date of his death rather than birth. He was raised in a Christian home, but refused to accept the faith of his parents. When he was 16 years old, he was kidnapped, taken to Ireland and sold as a slave. During his time as a slave, he became a Christian and became a man of prayer. After seven years, he escaped and returned home. Once home, he felt God call him into ministry and to be a missionary to those who enslaved him.

There are a lot of myths and legends about him that have grown over the years, but these are the things that everyone seems to agree on. One of the first things that stood out to me was that we celebrate him on the date of his death. As I like to look at it, we celebrate on the first day of his real life. The day he walked through Heaven’s doors is the best way to remember anyone. We focus so much on the date of their death and our loss that we forget, that’s the day Christians really celebrate life.

Another thing about his life that stood out to me was that he didn’t accept his parents faith. Many of us have experienced that in our own lives or we have kids who have wandered from the faith we’ve tried to hand down. I’m sure his mother and father prayed for him daily after he was kidnapped. I’m sure they were just as concerned on getting him home to Heaven as they were to their earthly home. I’ve learned that parent’s prayers are powerful. They are effective and touch the heart of God. We don’t always see immediate results, but God is working in your child’s life.

It was in his time of distress, in his time of trouble that he realized he needed a savior. He remembered the teachings of his parents and those at church. He called out to God and God answered him. I’ve learned that for some of us, myself included, we have to endure hardship and pain before God becomes real in our lives. We have to be tested before we know that God truly is the answer. Once we find that peace and security in Him, the rest of our lives and world around us will be changed.

The last thing I love about his life is that he went back to those who oppressed him to reach them with the Gospel. He wasn’t content to let those who had done him wrong to go to hell. I’m sure his flesh cried out like Jonah did and didn’t want to take a salvation message to others whom he disliked. However, he went and God rewarded his obedience. He saw many people come to The Lord and changed an entire culture. His obedience has left a legacy of faith in a land where there was very little.

What will our legacy of faith be? Will we be obedient to anything that God asks us to do? Will we swallow our pride and see that the people who have done us wrong need Jesus too? Will we be able to show them love when all we’ve received from them is evil? It all comes down to being obedient to what God asks you to do. You may not change the world, a country or a state, but you will change the world of those you reach. You will create a new culture in the lives of those you lead to Christ and start a chain reaction that will continue. It starts with being obedient.

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March 14, 2014 · 7:54 AM

Free To Pray Boldly

It’s Free Friday! Today is the day you let go of the things in your life that keep you down or hold you back. To celebrate, I’m giving away a copy of “The Circle Maker” by Mark Batterson. Keep reading to find out how to enter.

There’s a video that has gone viral of a toddler trying to convince his mom to give him a cupcake. He’s not shy about what he wants and is very determined to get it. A few years down the road, he’ll change his tune and try to butter up his mother for what he wants. A few years after that, he’ll begin to feel like he’s bothering her if he wants something. Not long after that, he will be embarrassed to ask anything of her because he’ll think he shouldn’t need her help anymore. That’s how life goes. The older we get, the less likely we are to ask for something we need.

I’m taken back to Jesus’ words when He encouraged us to have the faith of a child. When you watch the video of that child arguing with his mother, he has no doubt he’s going to get the cupcakes. The doubt I do have is that the mother can hold out and not give him what he wants. His persistence and determination are what we need when we go to God in prayer. He wasn’t willing to take no for an answer. He knew what he wanted and he wasn’t going to stop until he got it. If you have kids, you know this is true!

Jesus told a parable in Luke 11:5-13 about prayer. He used the example of a neighbor who had a friend show up in the middle of the night unexpectedly. He wasn’t prepared to feed his friend so he went to his neighbor’s house. The neighbor told him to go away because they were sleeping. Finally, because of his persistence, the neighbor got up and gave him food. Verse 10 really hits home. It says, “Don’t bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need.” Instead of hinting around to God at what you need, be direct. Instead of being embarrassed that you need something, be bold.

Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God.” We need to be like that kid with our prayers. We need to be like that neighbor who won’t give up when praying. Just because you don’t see an immediate answer, it doesn’t mean that God isn’t working on it (see Daniel 10:12-13). We can’t give up on our prayers when we don’t see an immediate answer. We can’t quit knocking just because the door hasn’t opened yet. We can quit seeking because we haven’t found it yet. James 5:16 says, “The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available.”

Today, I want each of us to have the faith of a child again. I want us to be free to shed the things that hold back boldness in our prayers. I want us to be like that neighbor and never give up on our requests to God. He hears each prayer and begins to work on our behalf the moment your prayers enter the Throne Room. Be earnest in your prayers. Keep them heartfelt and continue to bring them to His attention. I am confident that when we do, He’ll have no choice but to answer us. Keep asking. Keep seeking. Keep knocking. Your answer is on its way.

If you would like to win “The Circle Maker” by Mark Batterson, all you have to do is go to my Facebook page here and “like” it. I will randomly pick one person tomorrow (March 15, 2014) who has liked my page. If you have already liked my page and enjoy reading these daily devotionals, you are already entered. Please invite your friends to like my page so they can receive encouragement from God’s Word too.

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March 13, 2014 · 7:38 AM

Out Of Control

I have a confession to make. I’m a bit of a control freak. I love being in control of what’s happening in my life, where I’m going and how things are going to happen. I like to think through every possible scenario before any situation so that I’m prepared for whatever happens. I don’t like it when other people are in control of my situation. There are too many variables. I don’t like it when I don’t know what’s coming next or how to prepare. It can be overwhelming when I’m not in control of my destiny or immediate future.

Brian Tracy, a sales minded motivational speaker, teaches that we feel good about ourselves to the degree to which we are in control of our lives. When we have everything under control, we feel great. When our lives are spinning out of control, we feel horrible. Each one of us have something different that we associate with control. For some, it’s money. When we have it, we feel freedom and in control. When we don’t, we feel helpless and out of control. We tie our self worth to control.

That’s not how God wants us to love though. I’d like to change it up a bit. I think as Christians we feel good about ourselves to the degree to which we allow God to have control in our lives. Each of us choose how much we trust God and how much control He has in our lives. Some of us only trust Him with our problems. Our prayers only go up when life comes down on us. Some of us trust Him with our money. We can’t take it with us so we might as well invest as much as we can in His kingdom so He can multiply it. Some of us trust Him with our whole lives. We look at everything that happens as an opportunity to grow.

When we trust in money, relationships, our parenting skills, our possessions or anything other than God, we are putting ourselves on an emotional roller coaster. We are putting our happiness in things that we can’t control. When we have money, others pay attention to us, the kids are behaving or we have lots of things, we feel great. But when our bank account is empty, others take us for granted, the kids won’t listen and we don’t have much, life gets pretty overwhelming. We feel about an inch tall and our lives seem out of control.

Don’t put your hope, happiness and self esteem in the hands of anyone but God. Ultimately, He’s the one who is in control in a chaotic world. He’s got a plan for your life if you’ll just give Him control to enact it. Your self worth shouldn’t be tied to your bank account, how others treat you, how your kids treat you, how productive you feel or what you have. Your self worth comes from God and when He looks at you, He doesn’t see a mess. He sees His child whom He loves. He sees His precious creation whom He designed to need Him and not to do things on their own.

He wants you to know that He’ll take care of whatever is eating at you today if you’ll just give it to Him. Whatever you’re holding onto today, so that you can feel in control, is what’s making you feel the way you do. The more you give control of your life to God, the better you will feel about your self and your situation. I Peter 5:7 says, “Casting the whole of your care (all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns) once and for all on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.” God sees how you’ve allowed other things to control how you feel about yourself and wants you to give control to Him. You’ll feel better about yourself, your situation and your life.

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