Over the past year I’ve had stretches where I haven’t readily felt my faith. God hasn’t felt as near as He often does. I’ve endured a significant disappointment and wondered where God is; Is He still working when I can’t see or feel Him? But notice my emphasis on feeling, on my senses. If God is only faithful when we can feel Him, then we as humans have a problem. Thankfully, God’s goodness doesn’t rise or fall on how we feel about Him. His goodness is based on who He is. Here are three things that have helped me the past year.
Go Back to What Is True, Not What You Feel Is True
This past weekend I spoke at a church in California. I’m always grateful to teach God’s Word, but this weekend I needed it. I needed to be reminded of who God is. I was teaching on the power that pours forth from God’s holiness. When the Israelites passed through the Red Sea, they exclaimed, “Who among the gods is like you, Lord? Who is like you—majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?” (Exodus 15:11). God is unlike all others, and He never stops working, even when we don’t feel it. Go back to Scripture. Give your feelings and emotions to God, and ask Him to remind you of what is true about Him.
When Things Are Out of Your Control, They’re Not Out of God’s
One of the truths I’ve held onto this past year is God is in control. This doesn’t mean that heartbreak doesn’t happen, or hardship won’t come our way, but it does mean He is sovereign over all. Some really important things are currently out of my control, so what a balm to my soul Colossians 1:16-17 has been: “For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and by him all things hold together.” All things are held together by Him. What are you afraid of? What is causing you anxiety? Take it to His loving care.
Choose Gratitude
Gratitude does not come easy to me but it’s a spiritual discipline I’ve been practicing this year. When we are experiencing various trials, and we don’t know what the future holds, we can look around at the many good things God has blessed us with. We can thank Him for these many blessings and turn our gratitude to worship. “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever” (Psalm 136:1).
These are a few of the things I’ve been going back to. I hope they help you in whatever season you find yourself in.
Please join me for this month’s video devotional on what to do when we can’t see or feel God. If you’re in that place, I hope it will be an encouragement to you that the Israelites were there too. Sometimes it’s a blessing to be reminded that we’re not the first ones to feel as though God’s activity has vanished from in front of us. But this doesn’t mean He’s not working or with you. Watch the video below to find out more.
I recorded a short Lenten devotion for you to reflect on. In Luke 24:5, the angel of the Lord asks the women at the empty tomb, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” This always makes me think about where I’m looking for life. I hope these thoughts set your expectations on Jesus no matter what you’re walking through this spring.
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Are you in a season of waiting? An in-between time? I don’t know anyone who relishes the time between a promise given and the proper time for the promise fulfilled, yet what God does in our lives and the lives of others can be some of the most meaningful work He accomplishes. I hope you’ll find encouragement in this season as God prepares you for what He has prepared you for!
Over the next few months I’ll be writing devotionals from the book of Esther in celebration of the release of my latest study, Esther: Daring Faith For Such A Time As This, coming November 1st. There’s so much encouragement in her story. In God’s story.
When You Don’t Know, Do What You Do Know
Esther 4:14b “Who knows, perhaps you have come to your royal position for such a time as this.”
The phrase, “for such a time as this” is a familiar one in the Book of Esther. What we don’t often focus on is that the verse begins with “who knows.” Because we typically want to know, right? We want to know who our child will end up marrying, what will happen with the diagnosis, whether or not we’ll get the job, what school our child belongs in. We love a “thus sayeth the Lord,” when it comes to life’s biggest decisions.
But when Mordecai pleaded with Esther to put her life on the line on behalf of the Jewish people he didn’t have a direct command from the Lord. Mordecai believed that God wouldwork out deliverance, but he didn’t know how. When it comes to significant outcomes in my life, I very much like to know “that” it will happen and “how.” But it’s precisely the latter that God doesn’t usually share with us. Sometimes all He asks us to do is to take the first step of obedience. And then the next.
As I write, I have a stirring in my heart for something I’m not quite sure about. The Lord has asked me to take a practical step of obedience but I don’t know where it’s leading. It it leads where it could, it would be life-changing. But the path could also just as realistically not be life-changing at all. Who knows? But here’s the thing… well, two things: 1. God knows all things and 2. we know a few things.
God knew exactly how He would deliver His people because He knows all things. But Mordecai knew a few things. We can assume he knew of God’s general will for His people, the Jews. We can assume he knew of passages like Deuteronomy 4:31 which says, “For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath.” In other words, Mordecai knew that God would keep His covenant with His people even when they had been driven into faraway places. He knew enough to know that God would not fail the Jewish people now. Even though they were seemingly a million miles from the land of promise, and Esther was queen in a pagan Persian palace, and Mordecai had angered a chief rival of the Jews by not bowing down to him, somehow, someway, God would keep His promise to preserve His beloved people. Mordecai wasn’t exactly sure if or how Esther would be used, but He believed God would deliver His people one way or another.
The same is true for us. When we study Scripture, we discover what God has called us to generally: Love others, speak kindly, walk humbly, worship Jesus, take care of the orphan and widow, live generously, trust God and don’t worry, and we could go on and on. Those are the “few” things we know to do. God knows the bigger picture. And He delights in our trusting Him, even when we don’t know the specifics of how He will work out His plan.
Esther and Mordecai had the confidence to courageously step up, not because God told them how things would turn out but because they knew that fighting for the Jewish people was in accordance with His will. What do you know to do that is God’s will? You may not have all the details, but how can you obey now? What practical step can you take?
Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (NIV). Many things in life are not good. And bad things don’t always work together for good. However, what we can bank on is that in all things it is God who is working for our good!1
Be obedient to Christ. Make choices according to what God has revealed to you in His Word. Trust Him. Though you can’t know how it’s all going to work out, take heart that it will. In His time, in His way, always for your good.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you. 1 Peter 5:6-7
I love this time of year but not for the normal reasons. Lent, the 46 days leading up to Easter, is not a time of gift-giving or lavish partying. It’s not even a time for chocolate bunnies or Cadbury eggs—these don’t come until Easter morning. And the weather is typically dreary. Chilly and wet as winter tries to hang on in the tug-of-war that spring is eventually sure to win.
Lent is somber.
It’s a season for reflecting on the cross. A season to get better acquainted with the limitations of our humanity. To remember how much we need Jesus in the big things out of our control and in the smaller moments when our patience is simply fraying. It’s a time for pruning, for stripping away. The good news is that these are not ends in themselves. Lent is so that more fruit will eventually come to bear.
Twenty years ago, I sat in the office of a Christian counselor who guided me along the paths of Lent. He explained it was a time to set aside some of our normal pleasures so that something new could grow in its place. It was this “new thing growing” that caught my attention. I needed new. I was stuck. My friendships weren’t healthy, my work success or lack thereof was controlling my emotions, I didn’t know how to cultivate joy. Cutting something fun out of my life seemed a terrible idea rather than an antidote. But I agreed. Reluctantly.
I’ve never looked back.
That year I set aside some things that had held power over me. But I didn’t stop there. My counselor helped me fill that newly created space with intentional practices that focused on my relationship with Jesus. I paused longer to reflect in God’s Word, journaled, took prayer walks, talked to friends about what God was teaching me, showing me. As I did, the roots of my faith pushed deeper into richer soil. It’s dark down there, by the way. I didn’t enjoy every moment underground dealing with my attachments, my neediness, my sin. Some moments were agonizingly lonely. But God was doing a resurrection work the likes of which can only happen underneath the ground. Or behind an immoveable stone.
The other day I was talking to my friend about the cumulative effects of seasons of fasting. Each Lenten year seems to build on the next. She told me that some of the things that used to be so hard for her to lay down she doesn’t even think about anymore. Those time-consumers, those unyielding habits, she no longer has use for them. I get it. What makes this a double-win is practicing Lent not only helps us rid ourselves of the detrimental or unnecessary, but that time is redeemed for what matters. Life-giving practices now grow out of the same soil whose nutrients used to be spent on the frivolous. Lent helps us steward the soil God’s given us.
I’m reading through the back half of Mark as Easter approaches (Mark slows way down after Peter’s confession of Him in chapter 8. From there, it’s a slow walk to the cross). It keeps me intentionally focused on Jesus and His road to the cross and ultimately His resurrection. One of the most meaningful parts to me is when the disciples are arguing about who’s the greatest. We do this today, by the way—we just may not discuss it out loud and in plain daylight. Anyhow, Jesus sat down, which I assume meant He sat His disciples down too. “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all,” He said (Mark 9:35). I don’t think He could have laid it out there any clearer. To be great is to serve. To be high is to be humble. To be first is to put the needs of others ahead of our own. The Lenten season helps us practice this. As we die a little more to our comforts and addictions and obsessions, we make more room for Christ to pour His life through us.
We’re a little less than three weeks to Easter. The brunches, baskets, and bunnies will be there. In the meantime, what new thing needs to grow? Jesus, help us follow you as we walk toward Easter. Prune back what is sucking the nutrients out of us. Strip away what is not of you. Fill us with your Spirit. And on Easter morning, we will celebrate that you have made, and are making, all things new.
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