by wendy | Jan 29, 2024 | Encouragement For Your Heart, Encouragement from the Word, Trusting God
“How do I get to the place where asking God first comes naturally?”
This was the question posed to me recently when I reminded someone close to me to pray about a difficult situation in their life. I paused…
”It takes practice – discipline – the more you go to God with your questions and problems intentionally – the more natural it becomes. It is easy to go to a friend or family member first, but they don’t have the answers like God does.”
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Isaiah 55:8-9
“When we continually go to a person before God – expecting them to fix our problems and have the answers to our deep spiritual questions, it’s actually idol worship,” I continued. “Yikes, I thought – where did that come from?” It was a thought that had been forming for some time but when I voiced it out loud, I instantly felt convicted. This has long been a struggle for me. And apparently, I needed that lesson to be reinforced myself!
In Sunday School this week, the question was asked, “How often do you go to God first – if at all – with your questions and problems?”
I reiterated what I spoke out loud in the other conversation and our teacher asked me to clarify. I stumbled through an example of how I have often used my mom as my go-to problem solver. While that is not bad in and of itself, it becomes idol worship when I choose to rely on her and her wisdom instead of and before the wisdom of God. My mom is a wise and godly woman, but she still does not have the power and wisdom that God can provide. Anything – or anyone – I put before or above God is an idol. Even my mama!
I was reminded of a verse in 2 Chronicles 16
”For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.”
2 Chronicles 16:9
As I looked back on that verse today, I got a little more context by reading the full passage (read 2 Chronicles 16:7-9 or more for the full story).
Asa had known the faithfulness of the LORD in previous encounters, but – as my NIV Study Bible notes – he suffered from faithless forgetfulness. We might call this short-term memory loss. Asa forgot to trust in the LORD – he lost confidence in Him. Why? Certainly not because God had stopped being faithful!
“If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.”
2 Timothy 2:13
When Asa forgot to be faithful in trusting God, he chose instead to place his faith in a person. How often have I done this? Too many to recount.
Here is more from the commentary in my Study Bible notes.
”It is not sin to use human means to solve our problems, but it is a sin to trust them more than God, to think their ways are better than God’s ways, or to leave God completely out of the problem-solving process.”
NIV Life Application Study Bible
The prophet, Hanani, explains it like this:
”Because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped your hand… Yet when you relied on the LORD, he delivered them into your hand.”
2 Chronicles 16:7b, 8b
It begs the question of me, “Who do I rely upon? To whom am I committed?”
“Trust in the Lord and do good;
Live in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
Delight yourself in the Lord;
And He will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him, and He will do it.
He will bring out your righteousness as the light,
And your judgment as the noonday.”
Psalm 37:3-6 (NASB)
Am I forgetfully faithless?
OR
Am I cultivating faithfulness?
”But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
Matthew 6:33
by wendy | Nov 11, 2021 | Encouragement, Encouragement For Your Heart, Encouragement from the Word, Lifestyle Encouragement, Trusting God
Animals are funny creatures! They tend to be fairly self-sufficient, but occasionally we do have to step in to help them out. When our goats are growing their horns, they reach a particular point where they can push through the fence to eat the grass on the other side (an entirely different story!), but when they decide to pull their heads back through they are stuck! The frantic goat will pull and pull and cry loudly until we come over to help them. Most of the time, when we take hold of the horns to help the poor thing navigate back through the fence, the goat will push against us and refuse to cooperate! Neighbors may hear me yelling, “You silly goat, I am trying to help you!”
Just the other day, one of the newborn piglets wriggled its way through the rails of the birthing stall into another part of the barn. The mother had no way to rescue the little stray and it was squealing in frustration as it was separated from its litter mates. I ran around to the back of the barn and picked up the piglet to return it to its mother. That piglet squealed
like a “stuck pig” all the way around the pasture. Both of our sows were snorting at me and Gertrude, the lost piglet’s mother, looked as if she wanted to come through the fence to charge me. She grunted furiously as I slipped her piglet in through fence so she could nose it into the barn with the rest of the litter. As I tossed the piglet in and retreated quickly, I snapped at Gertrude, “Don’t you know I am just trying to help you?”
The very same afternoon, I let the chickens out of the run to peck around the yard. Several of the nosey hens made a beeline for
Roadrunner, our mama hen that had just hatched 5 little chicks. Immediately, she puffed up and started going after every chicken that dared move within a 5 foot radius of her precious little ones. I quickly began to gather up her chicks as they darted to get away from the mayhem. Roadrunner, spying me scooping up her offspring, came after me! Thankfully, I was able to capture all 5 chicks and move them safely to a coop where she joined them. Through the wire of the coop door I fussed at Roadrunner, “I was trying to help you, crazy mama!”
This morning, as I desperately tried to think of a way to “rescue” one of my own children, God made those words I have been uttering to my animals ring out loud and clear in my heart. I have been struggling, wrestling, and pushing against Him as I feel
helpless in the situation. My child is out of my reach and in harm’s way, yet I am powerless to assist. I want to fix it – I want to help – I want to protect – and in that desire, I rail against the one who truly has the ability to rescue. Oh, that I could just get out of the way! It is the kindness of God that He has shown me, through my own ability to rescue my animals in sticky situations, that where I am unable – He is able! I choose to trust Him, knowing that He loves my child infinitely more than even I can. In that love, I find my hope.
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1
by wendy | Nov 11, 2021 | Encouragement, Encouragement For Your Heart, Encouragement from the Word, Trusting God
My pastor has been preaching through 1 & 2 Kings for a while now. The past couple of Sunday’s have been eye-opening lessons about how God “thwarts” the plans of the enemy. I have found myself on the edge of my seat, furiously scribbling notes and trying to catch every word – I NEED to hear this one! It is so easy to become wrapped up in the anxiety of the times, worried over the “what-ifs” of the day. I am a natural worrier – especially over my children – and I sometimes forget that God is in control.
Here are a couple of nuggets of precious hope I have gleaned in the recent weeks:
He (God) thwarts the plans of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success. He catches the wise in their craftiness and the schemes of the wily are swept away. Job 5:12-13
People do plan wicked things. Sometimes, others do not have my best interest at heart. BUT – I can trust that God DOES have my best interest at heart.
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11
This is a verse I know by heart – but sometimes I don’t believe it in my heart. I find myself wondering if God really meant this for me. It doesn’t always feel like He is giving me a hope and prospering me – but that is because I don’t see the big picture!
My pastor often reminds us that, “If God allows a wicked (painful, difficult, hard to understand) plan to succeed, it is so the best possible outcome by the best possible means achieves the highest results.” (I hope I quoted that correctly!)
I can trust that my messes and my hard times have purpose and will not be wasted!
If you – like me – find yourself in the midst of impossible situations and hopeless times, I would strongly encourage you to read the story we studied this week in 2 Kings 6:24-7:20. The people were without hope and did not think they would survive. When the king expressed this to Elisha, the prophet encouraged him to wait “one more day” to see God’s provision. The king did wait and he was not disappointed. God is faithful!
In my notes, I highlighted, “When I am empty of me that is when God shows up BIG!”
Here is the verse I am camping on this week:
What is impossible with man is possible with God. Luke 28:27
by wendy | Nov 11, 2021 | Direction, Encouragement, Encouragement For Your Heart, Encouragement from the Word, Focus on God, Trusting God
I was recently told, by a person who has been exposed to the Word their whole life, that Scripture just doesn’t hold their attention. I can understand that – especially if it is perceived as an assigned reading that “should be done.” I can remember trying desperately to comprehend my high school history book, but no matter how many times my eyes moved over the words, my brain simply refused to enter the information. It just was not interesting to me – it seemed to have no bearing on my life.
I have, at times, felt the same way about the Bible. Rote reading that didn’t make sense and certainly didn’t seem to apply. Once I began to understand though, that Scripture is a book of stories – accounts of the lives of real people like me who struggled – reading it became a lifeline instead of a chore. Suddenly, reading the Bible illuminated the darkness of my crazy life, helped me make sense of the chaos, called me to focus on the important things, and gave me courage to keep going. Scripture not only holds my attention – it compels me!
Yesterday, I was studying our Youth Sunday School lesson. We are using The Gospel Project curriculum and it is taking us consecutively through the Bible. The current unit carries us through the Exodus and wandering of the Israelites in the wilderness. Because we have been traveling through Scripture in the order that it happened, we are invested – familiar with the whole story. We have just experienced the awesomeness of God’s power as He orchestrated the release of the Israelites from Egyptian captivity and brought them through the impossible obstacle of the Red Sea. His people have been led and protected every step of the way, but as soon as they felt some discomfort, they fell to doubt, fear, and complaining. Under the commentary in my lesson, I wrote the following message: “When we focus on the challenge, we shake in fear. When we focus on God, we are encouraged.”
That lesson resonated with me. It seemed like a phrase I might need some day to encourage someone. I closed my book and continued on with my plan for the day – a busy one full of appointments with new shops and processing orders. By the evening, I was feeling overwhelmed by the growth of my business and the increase in my responsibilities. The things I had prayed for were happening – and it was scary!
As I crawled into bed, feeling anything but relaxed, I texted with my mom. “This is stressful.”
“Just focus and trust the Lord,” she replied. Those specific words were like a flashback!
I left my bed and pulled out my notes from earlier in the day.
“When we focus on the challenge, we shake in fear. When we focus on God, we are encouraged.” I had been right – I would need those words to encourage someone – that someone was me! The lessons learned by the Israelites wandering in the wilderness were a blueprint for my own wandering. As I read their story, I am reminded about the amazing show of power, provision, and protection God has showered upon my own life. When I read about their doubt and fear, I recognize my doubt and fear. When I see the kindness and grace that God showed them over and over – the patience He displays in their hard-hearted and hard-headed struggle to move forward – well, let’s just say that I can relate.
This world can seem like a meaningless, chaotic, mess – there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t need to be encouraged. I’m thankful that we have been given a guide – not a dry, academic manual of instructions – but a narrative of grace and a reminder that the God of the Universe is alive and active and cares about me!
“Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
Exodus 14:13-14
by wendy | Nov 8, 2021 | Encouragement, Encouragement For Your Heart, Trusting God
Several years ago I attended the HOPE WMUV Get Away Conference. Our keynote speaker was Sylvia DeLoach and she kept us in stitches while giving some very powerful tips about Loving God with All our Minds! At some point during the message, Sylvia made reference to the Sons of Issachar in 1 Chronicles 12 – and I decided to read more about them. It turns out that the context of the passage brought great encouragement to me and I hope it will to you as well!
David was anointed King by God – called to office – but he had to wait a long time before he actually stepped into that role. When the time came, God sent warriors from all over to join David.
I love the words used to describe the men God sent to help David achieve what God had appointed him to do: armed warriors, able, brave, ready for battle, famous, designated by name, those who understood the times and knew what to do, experienced, prepared, fully determined. And to top it all off, they came with plentiful supplies! It is clear that God rallied all the troops – literally – to make happen what He purposed to happen.
I especially love this passage:
“We are yours, David! We are with you, son of Jesse! Success,success to you, and success to those who help you, for your God will help you.”
1 Chronicles 12:18
In the waiting, it can often seem like we are alone. The enemy would like to convince us that God has forgotten or that He never called us in the first place. But we must stay true to the calling God has placed on our lives and trust that He will bring it to fruition at His appointed time. He has all the resources and He will make it happen – we are only to be faithful each step of the way.
“When the time is right, the Lord will make it happen.”
Isaiah 60:22
His plans are always on time and He will provide all we need!
And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.
2 Corinthians 9:8
by wendy | Aug 9, 2021 | Encouragement, Encouragement For Your Heart, Focus on God, Trusting God
Our Sunday School lesson last week focused on the story of Elijah and his announcement of a Great Drought. (1 Kings 17) Elijah was a prophet of God and his calling required him to call out the sin of the people. When Elijah announced that there would be no rain or dew in the land for several years, he was simply reminding the people of a consequence of their sin – the refusal to acknowledge God as their sustainer. A drought in the land was divine punishment that would affect the fertility of the land and cause a famine. The very people that refused to give God the credit for producing the rain would find out in a very real way just how powerful God was.
Sometimes things dry up as a result of sin.
Our God is a God of mercy and grace and He does allow things to dry up as a result of our sin and disobedience. When this happens, it is painful – but it is not permanent! God’s love is so great that He would rather see us suffer for a time in order to bring us to repentance and a right relationship with Him than to allow us to be separated from Him eternally. He longs for us to turn from sin and to run to Him.
“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
2 Chronicles 7:14
Elijah’s announcement of drought for the people meant that the source of water would be drying up for him as well. I wonder if Elijah had concerns as he proclaimed the punishment. But God had plans for His servant, and He sent Elijah to a brook where he would find water to drink and birds to bring him food. Relying on ravens to feed him must have required a great deal of faith, but imagine how Elijah must have also marveled at the clear water that flowed through that stream during a drought!
Have you ever found yourself in a season where you were abundantly aware of the blessings poured out on you? When God places His hand of protection and provision upon you in the midst of difficulty in the world, it can be extremely faith-building. I imagine that Elijah gained strength in that time – and he would need it! When you find yourself in that place, be intentional about your praise and gratitude – be purposeful about cooperating with God to grow and strengthen your faith – and be prepared for what is to come!
“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
Jeremiah 17:7-8
Sometimes things dry up to cause us to move.
Wouldn’t it be glorious to stay in that place? Drinking from the clear, flowing water, eating food dropped from the sky, resting and hiding from the troubles of the world – just you and God and nature. Elijah might have been content to stay there forever, but he wasn’t functioning in his calling there. God used that time to strengthen and sustain and grow Elijah, but the time came when God was ready to use him again – so He dried up Elijah’s source of water and told him to move!
It often comes a surprise – and not a happy one. The stream of income dries up. The sweet friendship dries up. The desire to create dries up. The opportunity of a lifetime dries up. Whatever it is – the thing that has quenched your thirst or fed your soul – it just goes away, it stops, it dries up. And its not because that thing was bad, or because you did something wrong – it may simply be time to move on. It may be time to get back to work – doing that thing that God has called you to do.
“Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. Then the word of the Lord came to him: “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.”
1 Kings 17:7-9
Let’s not miss the order of events here! First, the brook dried up – then, the word of the Lord came to Elijah. I don’t know about you, but I would prefer it to be the other way around. I like for God to give me directions first so I can feel comfortable with the way things go down, but this is not usually how God operates.
“God’s ultimate goal for your life on Earth is not comfort but character development. He wants you to grow up spiritually and become like Christ.”
Rick Warren
God wants us to develop confidence in Him. The more we learn to trust in Him, the more effective we can be in following Him and doing the work He has called us to do.
Sometimes things dry up to increase our faith.
Each step God led Elijah through increased his understanding of God, of God’s character, and of God’s power. God commanded natural elements (rain and flowing water) as well as animals (ravens) to provide for Elijah’s needs. Once Elijah was confident in that provision, God moved him to a place where he could see God work in a different way – through a desperate widow with free will. Each of these instances grew Elijah’s faith and confidence in order to prepare him for the next thing.
Sometimes things dry up to increase the faith of others.
One might assume that just because Elijah was a prophet that he always viewed things through a lens of faith. But let us not forget that Elijah was a man. When God dries up what seems like a good thing in my life, I tend to wonder, “Why me – why now?” It often takes hindsight to see that it was never all about me in the first place!
The widow that God sent Elijah to was an unlikely candidate to provide anything for him. She was without a provider herself and laden with responsibility for her child. She was down to her last hope, seemingly without any options. No income, no food, no family, no rain – and she had accepted the fact that she and her son would die. This woman did not know God. She was worthless in the eyes of the world – but God saw her and loved her. God used the widow to provide food for His prophet and He used Elijah to provide hope for her! God could have accomplished both completely on His own but He chose to invite them to witness and participate in His work – and He does the same for us!
Oh that I may have eyes to see God moving, a heart to love as He loves, and a spirit willing to be used.
“Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.”
Romans 12:11
What is drying up in your life? Spend some time in prayer, seeking God and His direction. Ask Him the following questions:
- Is there sin in my life that begs for repentance?
- Is God asking me to move (physically, emotionally, spiritually)?
- Am I cooperating with God’s desire to grow my faith? Am I trusting Him to protect and provide?
- Is God using my situation to grow the faith of someone else? Am I willing to be used by God?
Whatever is happening – turn your eyes upon Him. Let go and allow Him to work in whatever way He will. You can be certain that He is working for your good and new things are on the horizon!
”Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”
Isaiah 43:18
