Tag Archives: trusting God

October 10, 2024 · 5:30 AM

Life In The Desert

In the mid 1990’s, I moved to Cairo, Egypt. As the plane landed, I looked out the window. I was shocked to see that there wasn’t any grass on the medians between the runway. On the drive to my new home, I was overwhelmed by the sea of monochromatic tan all around me. The Sahara Desert was my first culture shock having lived in a lush green area of East Texas my whole life. However, over time, I grew used to living in the desert and the lack of green vegetation. Then, early the year after I moved there, I decided to take a bus to Israel. We drove for hours through the desert until we came to the border. As I got out to walk across, I saw the strangest thing ever. All along the border there was a line of grass and flowers in the middle of this desert and it extended into Israel. It was an incredible sight to see life growing in the middle of a barren land.

The reason deserts lack life is because they lack water. Over 90% of Egyptians live along the Nile river because that’s the on,y way they can sustain life. Sure, there are people who live in the desert, but life is better and more easily sustained where there is water. Even along the Nile, I hadn’t seen what I saw at the border that day. Things were thriving at the border. It reminded me that God is able to do the impossible. He can grow life in the middle of nowhere and in the harshest environments. He is able to take our roughest, driest patches in life and spring up new life. He is able to take what looks like an end and create a new beginning. The desert we’re temporarily living in has the potential for life.

In Isaiah 43:18-19 God says, “Do not remember the former things, Or ponder the things of the past. Listen carefully, I am about to do a new thing, Now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it? I will even put a road in the wilderness, Rivers in the desert” (AMP). I believe God is still speaking to us through these verses. The desert you’ve been in is about to burst forth with life. It starts with us forgetting the things of the past that led us into the desert. We need to focus our attention on what God is doing right now in this dry season. He’s creating a pathway forward for you and bringing a river of life to your situation. What has been a barren time for you is about to be teeming with life. God does not abandon us in the desert and He’s able to make a way where there seems to be no way. Trust in Him, don’t lean on your own understanding, acknowledge what He’s doing and He will direct your path through this time (Proverbs 3:5-6).

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Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word.

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September 30, 2024 · 5:45 AM

Controlling Everything

How do you handle it when everything is going wrong? There are times and seasons of disappointment that we all go through. For some of us, we start trying to control everything when things start spinning out of control. The truth is that we can’t really control anything except our response and our attitude. I’m not a person that is constantly worried about things, but in these seasons, worry tries to creep in. My sleep gets disrupted, my appetite goes away and I get quiet because I’m trying to handle it and solve it on my own. Doing all those things is still simply masking the fact that I’m trying to control the situation rather than my response. Ultimately I have to realize that only God can control my circumstances.

In Esther 3, Haman had been promoted to second in command. The king ordered that he be given the same treatment and respect as if he were king. People were told to bow when he went by them. Everyone obeyed the edict except Mordecai. Haman was infuriated and decided not to simply attack Mordecai. His response was to eradicate all Jews. He convinced the king to sign a law that gave people in every province of the kingdom to kill Jews and take their possessions. In chapter four, Mordecai read the decree and began crying and wailing. He put on mourning clothes, fasted and prayed for a resolution. He may have felt the blame for the situation and knew he didn’t have the answer, but he knew God did. He sent word to Esther about what was going on and God used her to save His people.

Psalm 121:1-2 says, “I look up to the mountains— does my help come from there? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth!” (NLT) When things are out of control, God is still in control. We must look to Him because He is the only one who can help in these seasons. He is the one who had the plan and people in position to protect you and bring the season to a close. Like Mordecai, we should turn our hearts toward heaven in fasting and prayer. Like Esther, we should be ready to do whatever God asks no matter how difficult. Things may look bleak, and times may get rough, but in those moments we must look to God and seek Him more than ever. He is still in control of everything and nothing happens without Him knowing. Control your response and let Him take the burden of controlling everything else.

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September 25, 2024 · 5:45 AM

Leaving The Pit Of Despair

September 25th holds a special place in my heart and on my calendar. It’s the day where I hit rock bottom in my life. After seven months of having the bottom fall out from underneath me, this was the day I gave up. I walked into my house, laid down on the living room floor, curled up in the fetal position and bawled like a baby. I was hurting inside so badly and was tired of losing everything. In that moment I cried out to God and told Him I was done. It was then that I heard a still, small voice say, “Finally.” I had been doing thing on my own and living how I wanted to live. God spoke and said if I was ready to build my life His way and live how He wanted me to, He would rebuild my life. I repented right there and agreed to change. I walked over to my calendar and wrote, “The Bottom.”

In Luke 15:11-32, Jesus told a parable about another man who tried to do things his way. He went to his father and demanded his inheritance while his father was still living. He insulted his father and his whole village. He took the money, went to a foreign land and lived how he wanted instead of how he was raised. He was having a good time until he ran out of money. If that wasn’t bad enough, there was famine that caused food to be scare. Then the economy crashed and he couldn’t find work except the lowliest of positions. After struggling, he finally hit rock bottom and decided to seek forgiveness. He headed home. Verse 20 says, “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him” (NLT). His father put a new robe on him, put the family ring on his finger, killed the best calf and had a celebration. His son had returned and agreed to live by the father’s rules.

Psalm 40:2 says, “He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along.” I’ve been to the pit of despair and cried out like the Prodigal Son. A friend recently asked for practical steps to get out of that pit. I to,d him it starts with repentance and crying out to God. It takes determining to make changes in your life and leaving situations, people and places that got you there. It takes committing to reading the Bible, praying daily and getting involved in a body of believers who will love you. When I made these changes, God lifted me out of the pit, put my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I made progress. It took more than ten years to get back to the point where I felt like I was back to level ground. It’s not easy climbing out of that pit of despair, but it’s possibly by surrendering to God.

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September 10, 2024 · 5:40 AM

While You Wait

I had read once that when you’re waiting your perception of time gets warped. Your mind tricks you into thinking it was three times longer than it actually is. I’ve experimented with groups where I would start a timer while they sat in silence. After a period of time, I would ask them to guess how long they sat there. Sure enough they were guessing two to three times the time they were there. I then like to ask what thoughts were going through their mind and what emotions were they experiencing the last time they had to wait at a restaurant or a retail establishment. It turns out we don’t like to wait and often get worked up in the process. Waiting is hard by itself. It’s even more difficult when you’re not sure it is going to end or if you’re going to get what you want. God uses these times to test us and grow us.

Abraham had to wait around 25 years for the promise of a son. God used that period in his life to grow his faith and to show him anything was possible. Joseph waited in a prison in Egypt for his dream to come true. While he was waiting, God was maturing and positioning him to fulfill the dreams. David went back to watching sleep while he waited after being anointed king. Then he spent years on the run living in the wilderness. God used that time to teach him how to shepherd people, win the hearts of a nation and develop leadership skills. In the Parable of the Ten Virgins, five waited patiently and did what they were supposed to do in that period. Five didn’t. What we do while we wait matters.

Lamentations 3:25 says, “The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him” (ESV). Are you seeking God in the waiting or are you complaining? Has your mind told you it’s been too long? We must trim our wicks in our waiting so we’re ready to be used when He’s ready to fulfill His promise. We must let our endurance and faith increase when nothing seems to be happening. God may be positioning you and others and you don’t even know it. He may be developing skills as well. Don’t rush His process because the promise is on the other side of it. I don’t know how long you’ll have to wait, but God has a pattern of having His people wait. He also has a pattern of being faithful to those who do and to those who seek Him in the waiting.

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September 5, 2024 · 5:30 AM

Trust Comes First

When I’m talking with someone who is a newly appointed leader, I don’t want to overwhelm them with a bunch of information. There’s really one thing they need to focus on with their new team, and that is trust. Without trust, nothing else really matters. You can give inspiring speeches, set daring goals and create easy to follow plans, but no one will do much until they trust the leader. Think of a leader in your life that has produced the most growth in you. They had your trust I’m sure. You would follow them anywhere they led because of that trust. People will follow any leader to the extent that they trust them. If there’s little to no trust, there will be little to no progress. The way you build trust is to say what you’re going to do, and then do what you said you’d do.

We often think of people as leaders, but the Bible is full of people who followed God and did amazing things. For each of them, there was a period where they learned to trust Him. Moses learned to trust God at the burning bush. He gave all kinds of excuses as to why he couldn’t do what God was asking because there was little to no trust. God answered them all and showed him many signs to build trust so that he could lead the Israelites out of Egypt. In a similar fashion, God had to build trust with Gideon. He was timid and afraid of his enemies when God called the mighty warrior out of him. He built trust by placing dew on his door mat. So much trust was built that Gideon trimmed down an army of 32,000 to 300 men in order to fight 135,000. It didn’t make sense to him, but because of that trust, he was able to lead them to victory.

How much do you trust God? You may not have had a burning bush experience or dew on your mat, but God has been doing things al, your life to build trust with Him. Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the Lord completely, and do not rely on your own opinions. With all your heart rely on him to guide you, and he will lead you in every decision you make” (TPT). Trusting God completely is what we’re called to do, but like Moses, we tend to make excuses as to why we can’t. Or sometimes we’re like Gideon where we don’t see our own potential the way He does. Either way, you can only follow God’s leading in your life to the extent that you trust Him. If you’re not experiencing the growth or movement that you want, check your trust level. God is ready to lead you into a greater life and relationship with Him, but you must trust Him with all your heart first.

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Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word.

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August 6, 2024 · 5:24 AM

Life’s Seasons

Seasons change. We seem to always be looking for the next season. Whatever season we’re in, we seem to complain about it. We complain about the heat of summer, the cold of winter, the rain in spring and the shorter days of fall. We’re always wanting out of the season we’re in. However, it’s the different seasons that create the lifecycle of growth and production. Without winter the ground couldn’t rest. Without spring seeds wouldn’t spout. Without summer, plants wouldn’t grow. Without Fall we wouldn’t see a harvest. Our lives experience these same cycles and seasons. Just like the regular seasons, we complain and look for the next one.

The people in the Bible were in different seasons and they taught us what to do in each one. In a season of temptation, Jesus quoted scriptures. In a season of being on the run from Saul, David found strength in the word of God. In a season of battles Joshua trusted the word of the Lord. In a season of lamenting Jeremiah found hope in the faithfulness of God. In a season of barrenness Abraham trusted the promise. In a season of persecution, the Early Church counted it joy to suffer as they looked forward to the return of Jesus. Each season passed for these men and women of old, but while they were in them, they held onto God’s Word.

Isaiah 40:8 reminds us, “The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever” (NLT). I don’t know what season you’re in right now. It may look like everything in your life is fading away. It’s in these moments, you must trust in God’s Word. Everything will change except it. His Word is our solid ground in a world of shifting sand. It is the stability we need, the shelter we can hide in, the water we can drink from and the firm foundation to build our life on. Though the storms come, our life can be anchored to hope knowing it will last forever. Instead of complaining about the season you’re in, seek out what God is trying to do in your life during it. Hold fast to the promises you find knowing He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. What He’s done in His Word, He can do today, and will do forever no matter what season you’re in.

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August 5, 2024 · 5:34 AM

Becoming Resilient

Resilience is a person’s ability to withstand difficulties or to be able to bounce back from them. We all have different levels of resilience. In 1956, Jim Elliot had been a missionary to Ecuador for three years. He had been wanting to reach a tribe who was known for their hostility towards outsiders. He felt in his heart that God had called him to reach this tribe so he and some others flew over to meet them. When he didn’t radio back that evening, his wife Elisabeth had another friend fly over the area. Her worst fear was confirmed. The men were killed. However, Elisabeth didn’t return home. She stayed and continued to try to reach this tribe. Within two years the whole tribe accepted Jesus and Jim’s family was living in the village.

In Genesis 39: we’re introduced to Joseph. He was Jacob’s favorite son out of twelve. He had a couple dreams where his brothers and his parents bowed down to him. It wasn’t long after that his brothers beat him up, threw him in a cistern and sold him as a slave. He worked in an Egyptian’s house until he was falsely accused and thrown in prison. After years of being down there, two men who served Pharaoh joined him. They had dreams as well. He interpreted them and they came true, but he was soon forgotten. In over a decade of being in slavery and prison, we don’t hear Joseph complain. Instead, we see his resilience knowing his dream was from God. It wasn’t long after that when he interpreted Pharaoh’s dream and saved his family while seeing his dream come to pass.

Psalm 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble” (NLT). It goes on to say that we don’t have to fear calamities, earthquakes, floods and other disasters. We can be resilient through terrible times knowing that God is in control. To be resilient is to surrender what control you think you have to him. Ultimately His way will prevail. Elisabeth and Joseph trusted God’s voice and plan when their expectations of it didn’t happen. Their resilience helped them to stay the course, believe in their dream and trust God no matter what their circumstances showed. He was their refuge and strength when they needed Him in times of trouble. Because they surrendered their expectations of what things should look like, they were rewarded with the fulfillment of the dreams God placed in them. What do you need to surrender to God so you can find refuge and withstand things not appearing to go your way?

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July 30, 2024 · 5:37 AM

The Best Perspective

I watch all kinds of sports on TV from American football to NASCAR racing. There are times I yell at the players or drivers from my couch because the quarterback missed seeing an open receiver or a driver didn’t take the inside lane on turn 3. I always wonder how they didn’t see it, but then I remember the cameras they’re broadcasting the sport from are usually up high looking down. It’s hard to see a receiver down field when you have a 300 man in your face chasing you down or when you’re traveling 200 mph in a field of over 40 cars. I’ve noticed that often coordinators will be sitting in the press boxes up high and spotters will be on the roof so they can get a better perspective of what’s going on. The directions given by these coaches may not make sense on the ground, but if they’ll trust their coach who has perspective, they’ll succeed.

In Acts 16, Paul and Silas were on their second missionary journey preaching the Good News to people who had never heard if, planting churches and checking with churches they already planted. In the middle of this journey, verse 6 says, “Next Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time” (NLT). They tried to go somewhere else to preach, but were also prevented. It must have seemed strange to them that God prevented them from doing what He called them to, but then Paul had a dream of a man in Macedonia asking him to come. God opened that door and they planted churches in Philippi, Corinth and Thessalonica. These churches became important to the growth of the Church in that area and we received five letters from Paul in the New Testament to them teaching us how to live.

Psalm 32:8 says, “The Lord says, ‘I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.’” The thing about guides and advisers is that we can listen to them, but then have the choice of whether or not we follow their advice. Paul didn’t understand why God prevented him from going to where he planned, but he trusted God’s guidance and advice. The things God asks us to do or even tries to prevent us from doing may not make sense in the moment, but we must remember He has a better perspective of our life. He can see what’s down the road and not just what’s right in front of us. If God is saying, “No,” right now, trust Him. It may not coincide with your plans or even your expectations of what He’s called you to in the moment. Trust the One who watches over you. He had the best pathway for your life.

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June 24, 2024 · 5:42 AM

Becoming Grateful

McDonald’s exponentially increased their sales and revenues by teaching their employees to ask one simple question. Would you like fries with that? When combo meals became a thing, they then asked, “Would you like to supersize that?” These questions were so successful that companies across industries try to replicate it. Almost everyone said yes to them. It works so well because it preys on our inability to be satisfied or content. People didn’t question the cost of fries or however much a supersize was. They considered it insignificant in exchange for getting more. Learning to be content is something we each need to work on.

In his letter to the church in Philippi, Paul explained the value of knowing jesus and how important it is in comparison to the things the world values. In chapter 3, he then goes on to say that he’s a work in progress like we all are. In the next chapter he thanks them for their concern for him. Then in verse 11-12 he tells them to secret to life. He wrote, “Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little” (NLT). We too must learn to be content and to fight the constant need for more. When we learn to be content, gratitude begins to grow in our lives.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:18 Paul wrote, “Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” When we have an attitude of gratitude in ever circumstance we’re in, our perspective changes. Finding things to be grateful for in hard times and learning to be content whether we have a little or a lot reveal our level of trust in God. Do you really believe He is all you need? Do you believe He is your provider? We learn to be content and grateful when we learn to value what God offers is worth more than anything in this world. Not only are there spiritual benefits, but there are psychological benefits as well when we learn these two things. When we’re content and grateful, we’re saying that God has given us what we need and we aren’t lacking anything. Happiness isn’t found in having more things. It’s found in having an attitude of gratitude and contentment.

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June 12, 2024 · 5:43 AM

Remain Faithful

After having gone through a difficult season, I asked my son how he was feeling and what was he thinking about it. He immediately said he didn’t understand why things happened as they did because we had fasted and prayed for a different outcome. He then said, “It makes me question if God really exists.” I began to explain how trials and tests can cause us to question His existence at times because we don’t understand. It can also cause us to question if our prayers are heard and other things as well. What matters is we push through our feeling of the moment and grab onto the reality of who He is. I reminded him of the time God supernaturally answered our prayers and times He’s specifically showed up. I let him know we all go through moments like that at times when we’re going through trials. It’s important to refocus on what God has done so we can remain faithful.

In Luke 22:31, Jesus said to Peter, “Simon, Simon! Listen! Satan has received permission to test all of you, to separate the good from the bad, as a farmer separates the wheat from the chaff” (GNT). What Peter didn’t know was his world was going to crumble that night. He would also deny knowing Jesus three times. Jesus then said, “But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith will not fail. And when you turn back to me, you must strengthen your brothers.” Jesus prayed for Peter, and He also intercedes for us in our moments of testing. Peter beat himself up pretty badly for failing in the test the way he did, but that wasn’t the end. He did turn back and remained faithful and led the Early Church. His failure in the test, like ours, is not the end.

James 1:12 says, “Happy are those who remain faithful under trials, because when they succeed in passing such a test, they will receive as their reward the life which God has promised to those who love him.” Everyone will face tests because Satan wants to sift us and cause us to doubt our faith making us ineffective. He wants us to return to our old life, but Jesus is praying for you that your faith won’t fail. He’s waiting to restore you and strengthen you. It’s in times of testing we find out where we truly stand. Sometimes we pass with flying colors and other times we’re left questioning everything. It’s good to keep a journal of what all God has done so you can remind yourself of the faithfulness of God in those moments. When we remain faithful and make it through the trial, God will give us more of His abundant life He promised us and we will receive the crown of life.

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