If you open the Bible to almost any chapter, you'll find stories of people just like you and me. The same people who cast out demons and defeated giants also made mistakes that would send the rest of us to jail. Seriously…consider what these guys did. They'd get life with no parole these days. Those who left everything to follow Jesus didn't get better jobs or more stable lives; they just got Jesus. They got a gulp of living water.
Sometimes you hear Christians say following Jesus will make you more successful. Just watch some of them on TV on a Sunday morning and you'll hear it. They say God wants to bless you, and by "bless" they mean make you rich. Sometimes it sounds like God is a short-order cook and will make us whatever we ask Him for. But Jesus never said anything like that. He said He didn't come to make life easier for us—-He came to rescue us and make our lives more purposeful by making us more like Him.
Jesus never promised to eliminate all the chaos from our lives; He said He'd bring meaning to them. He invited us into a story of grace and redemption, probably because these are the stories the disciples got wrong, time and again. If you wonder why you still face some of the same struggles you brought into your relationship with God, you're in good company. He doesn't magically erase them like a product from an infomercial; He promises to be with us while we reach toward Him to find more meaning in our circumstances. That's the real blessing.
What trouble are you facing right now?
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When I read this, I was reminded that no matter what is happening in my life God sees me and is with me. Maybe you need this reminder, too.
Finding Refuge
Psalm 139 is a contemplative psalm, often attributed to King David. In it, the psalmist reminds himself of the all-knowing and all-present nature of God. According to him, we can always find comfort in the unconditional promise of God's presence:
“If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me, even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.”
Psalm 139:11-12 NIV
Though life has its challenges and moments of overwhelming darkness, God's nearness remains. He is intimately acquainted with every detail of your life. He sees you, not with the gaze of human eyes, but with the infinite clarity of His love.
When was the last time you acknowledged God’s presence in your life? Have you recently paused to simply dwell with Him? Pausing prompts us to consider the vastness of God's knowledge and the inability to hide anything from His sight.
There is no darkness too deep and no night too long that can conceal us from the unyielding light of our Creator. Seek Him today.
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