“And the Lord spoke kind and comforting words to the angel who talked with me.” - Zechariah 1:13 Sometimes my struggle hasn't been whether God can do something, but just whether He will. It becomes difficult to trust that He will act since we don’t know if He will. When a prayer is seemingly unanswered, we fall back on what we know, that our God is all-knowing, kind, and knows what is best for us. And that can mean He doesn't act because it's what is best for our current situation. Even though I can reason this out, it does leave me in a place of discouragement sometimes. The verse above is a beautiful look into the character of our...
"The time is short,yet the road it seems so longwhen I look into the troubles of my life." Sometimes the road seems long and hard. Daily trials, hardships, and mistakes can compound, leaving me to wonder, "Where are you, Lord, in all of this?" Paul speaks of pressing on, and James says to count it all joy, yet I find it hard to identify with those words and ideas. I don't always have the resolve to endure. This time of unknown is where faith kicks in – doing something when I don't feel like it. I can trust God even though I don't see a solution. The following excerpt from “Daily With The King” captures a difficult season of life...
“But Abram replied, ‘O Sovereign Lord, how can I be sure that I will actually possess it?’” - Genesis 15:8 We've read about Abraham's many acts of faith, even called the "Father of Faith" by some. In Hebrews 11, he left everything and moved his family to an unknown destination because the Lord told him to. We recall his act of obedience to sacrifice his only son on the mountaintop found in Genesis 22. Even in Genesis 15, he is recorded to believe God and counted as righteous because of his faith. It would be easy to elevate Abraham in our minds as someone above us, higher than us, and somehow different than us because of his excellent displays of...
“For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, Blessed is the man who trusts in You!” - Psalms 84:11-12 The psalmist ends Psalm 84 with another blessing for those who trust in God. Worship is believing in Jesus and what He says. This is what truly matters in life. The Lord is a sun to us because He shines on us and is the brightness of our days. He is a shield to protect and guard us against our foes. He is the only one, true, possible source of grace, honor, and true glory. That simple trust...
