Honest Reflections

For troubles without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails within me.” (Psalm 40:12 NIV)

If you’re in a pit, you’re not alone.  Everyone has troubles, everyone has faults, we’re all struggling.  We’re all seeking rest from our problems. We all want answers to why life is going the way it is going.  But those answers aren’t available. Sometimes, with the aid of hindsight, we can see the purpose in our struggles, sometimes we can’t.   David is crying out the words in today’s verse. He was a man after God’s own heart, yet he was drowning in his earthly troubles (1 Samuel 13:14 NIV).  David, a prominent figure in the lineage of Jesus, is desperate.  He needs help, he’s at rock bottom. He’s holding God accountable to His promises.  David is crying out for the divine help that only comes from God. When you’re in the pit, God is in it with you.

When you’re in a pit, God is in it with you.

When I need to be reminded that God is with me in the pit, I think of Daniel and the lions den.  Daniel refused to worship false gods, as a result, he was thrown in the pit, literally with lions. The next morning, the king goes to check on him:

“When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?” 

Daniel answered, “May the king live forever! My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, Your Majesty.” (Daniel 6:20-22 NIV)

Whatever pit you’re in, you’re not alone.  God is with you. He’s protecting you in ways you don’t know.  He’s teaching you things to help you grow. He’s loving you, even if He’s silent.  God is with you. He promises in the Bible, He will never leave you nor forsake you (Deut. 31:6 NIV, Heb. 13:5 NIV).  Hold God accountable to His promises, trust that He is with you.  No matter what the circumstances are in your life, God knows. God is with you, He has a plan.  Trust in Him to let it unfold.

Question of the Day:

What promise do you need to hold God accountable for today?

Further Reading: Leviticus 15:1-16:28 NIV, Mark 7:1-23 NIV, Psalm 40:11-17NIV, Proverbs 10:13-14 NIV

“Hatred stirs up conflict,  but love covers over all wrongs.”(Proverbs 10:12)

Hatred stirs up conflict, but love always overcomes hate. We see this all the time in T.V. shows like “This is Us.”  The masterful way Rebecca, the Mom, creates peace in her household with her love. She knows each of her children’s faults, and she covers them with love.  Her love is different for each child. Randall struggles with anxiety, Rebecca’s love gives him calm. Kevin struggles with addiction, Rebecca’s love gives him stability.  Kate struggles with insecurity, Rebecca’s love gives her strength. God does the same for us. He knows all of our faults, and He covers them with love.

Hatred is a conflict.  When we have feelings of hate towards someone, it stirs up conflict within ourselves.  God has recently purified my heart from hatred. I had hatred in my heart toward someone.  The thought of this person immediately made me angry. This anger caused conflict in my life because I’m called to love everyone.  I had to find a way to love this person. I realized, I first needed the hatred removed from my heart, something I could not do myself.  I began praying and asking God to remove it for me. And He did, but not all at once. Over time, He revealed to me what was feeding the hatred in my heart.  As He did, I was able to remove those things from my life. Instead of feeding the hatred, I paved the way for love.

Pave the way for love!

I was able to remove the hatred from my heart because God showed me what was feeding it.  In order to pave the way for love, I had to feed on God’s love. I had to spend time in His word getting to know Him better.  I had Him search my heart as David did in the Psalms:

“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”  (Psalm 139: 23-24 NIV)

God found the offensive way in me, He helped remove it from my heart.  His love removed the conflict from my life. His love overcame hatred by covering my faults.  One simple prayer inspired by Priscilla Shirer paved the way for love: “Bless them, fix me.” God knows His children, each of us.  He knows our faults, and He covers them with His love. Whatever hatred is in your life, God’s love can overcome it. But He has to be the one leading the way, we can’t do it on our own power.  Only with God can we love well. Only with God can we overcome hatred with love. Only with God can we pave the way for love.

Question of the Day:

Who do you need to pray, “Bless them, fix me” for today?

Further Reading: Leviticus 14:1-57 NIV, Mark 6:30-56 NIV, Psalm 40:1-10 NIV, Proverbs 10:11-12 NIV

“Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.”  He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. He was amazed at their lack of faith.” (Mark 6:4-6 NIV)

If you want a miracle, you must have faith.  Jesus couldn’t do any miracles because his family and friends didn’t believe He was God. Faith is believing what we can’t see (Hebrews 11:1 NIV).  Faith is believing the sun will rise in the morning and set at night.  Faith is believing the air around us will allow us to breathe. Faith is believing that God is sovereign; He can do anything.  Faith is believing God can do miracles.

Jesus was interested in how much faith we have.  We see it in the scriptures often. When He healed the blind man, Jesus asked him if he had faith to be healed (Mathew 9:28 NIV).  He commended the woman who knelt at His feet asking for a miracle; Jesus said the mother’s faith had healed her daughter(Matthew 15:28 NIV).  Jesus said the same to the woman healed from years of bleeding by touching His robe, her faith healed her (Matthew 9:21 NIV).  Time and again, Jesus was interested in the faith of the people He healed.  Without faith, miracles can’t happen.

Without faith, miracles can’t happen.

“And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies” (Hebrews 11:32-34 NIV).  

None of the things listed in the verses above would have happened if the people didn’t have faith.  The first step of faith that we have to take is faith in Jesus. When we believe in Jesus, we’re believing in what is not seen.  We believe He is real, that He exists, even though we can’t see Him. When we believe in Jesus, we’re exhibiting faith to those around us.  When we model our lives after Jesus, we’re living out our faith in Him. Each day we seek Him, our faith will grow. As our faith grows, we’ll begin to see the miracles God does every single day in our lives.  We’ll see the miracle of the sunrise and sunset, we’ll thank Him for the air we breathe. We’ll know, He is sovereign, He can do anything.

Question of the Day:

What miracle are you believing God for today?

Further Reading: Leviticus 13:1-59 NIV, Mark 6:1-29 NIV, Psalm 39:1-13 NIV, Proverbs 10:10 NIV

“When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak,  because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” (Mark 5:27-28 NIV)

If you want to be healed, walk closely with Jesus.  In a recent podcast, I can’t remember which one, I was introduced to the phrase, “cover himself in the dust of the Rabbi’s feet. ”  When someone wanted to become a disciple, they would live with a Rabbi.  They would spend 24 hours a day together, walking everywhere. They walked so closely, the disciple would get the dust from the Rabbi’s feet on him.  Jesus, being of Jewish descent, is a Rabbi.  When we follow Jesus closely, we are covered in His dust.  When we are that close to Jesus, we’ll be healed.

The woman in today’s story was following Jesus so closely she was covered in His dust.  When she touched His robe, she was healed of her infliction. For 12 years she had lived with constant bleeding, but once she touched Jesus cloak, the bleeding stopped.  The first step in healing is to stop the bleeding.

The first step in healing is to stop the bleeding.

When you have a cut, one of the best ways to stop the bleeding is by applying pressure to the wound.  The pressure causes the blood to flow less, which gives it time to coagulate, which causes the bleeding to stop. God does have the power to heal us instantly, but often, we heal in stages.  Small wounds heal quicker than larger wounds. When the bleeding stops, a scab forms that protects the wound from infection. The entire process for the wound to heal takes weeks to complete.  The body has to have time to repair the broken blood vessels and new tissue to form. Healing does happen over time. But first you have to apply pressure to the wound.

For Christ follower’s, one way we apply pressure to our wounds is by reading God’s word.  Each day we can let His promises stop the bleeding. We can allow His strength to repair what is broken and bring new life from our wounds. When we read and apply His word to our lives, we’re touching His robe.  We’re following Him so closely, we’re covered in His dust. When we are covered in Jesus dust, we will be healed.

Question of the Day:

Are you getting covered in Jesus dust?

Further Reading: Leviticus 11:1-12:8 NIV, Mark 5:21-43 NIV, Psalm 38:1-22 NIV, Proverbs 10:8-9 NIV

“I have seen a wicked and ruthless man flourishing like a luxuriant native tree,” Psalm 37:35 NIV

When the wicked flourish, trust God for the final outcome.   I played a mixed doubles (male/female team) tennis tournament this past weekend.  In our first match, our opponents cheated. The male partner made a bad line call.  In tennis, the players call their own lines. If the ball lands on any part of the line, it is considered “in.”  In this situation, the ball landed inside the line, but the guy called the ball out before it bounced. Once it landed in, he chose not to overrule his initial call.  Honest players overrule themselves when they make a bad call. I’ve played tennis long enough to understand this is all part of the game. You have to let it go and not let it affect your playing.  When the wicked flourish, trust God for the outcome. But the outcome may not be what you expect.

The wicked will always cheat.  If they don’t know Jesus, they don’t know better.  To them, the outcome is worth whatever it takes to win.  And sometimes they do. At the end of the first set of my match, there was another controversial line call on set point.  I was serving when it happened. Once again, they cheated. I chose not to engage, and conceded the set to them. I let my opponents lack of integrity affect me.  I was unable to shake the wickedness off. We lost the match. Even worse, they went on to win the entire tournament. The cheaters won, the honest people lost. And God let it happen.  But we don’t know the whole story. Nothing surprises God, He has a plan.

Nothing surprises God, He has a plan.

The next verse after today’s says: “but he soon passed away and was no more; though I looked for him, he could not be found” (Psalm 37:36 NIV).  The wicked don’t flourish forever, if at all.  

When we played our match, we had a lot of spectators.  We were on the first court, the easiest match to watch, it was the beginning of the tournament.  There were many witnesses to the cheating. There were many witnesses watching how I handled the situation.  I tried not to let it ruin my witness for Christ. I didn’t handle it as well as I would have liked, but I did handle it the best I could.  By the time this couple won the tournament, everyone had left. No one was there to watch their championship match. But everyone saw them cheating. The wicked won’t flourish, God will always prevail.  Our job is to do the best we can to keep our eyes focused on Him.

Question of the Day:

What wickedness is trying to distract you from God today?

Further Reading:Leviticus 9:7-10:20 NIV, Mark 4:26-5:20 NIV, Psalm 37:30-40 NIV, Proverbs 10:6-7 NIV

“For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open.” Mark 4:22 NIV

Even when you try to hide something, it always gets exposed.  Typically, the exposure comes in a way you never would have thought.  When I was a flight attendant, I found a man’s wallet in the seat when I was cleaning the cabin after landing.  I turned it into customer service, who called his home number to alert him his wallet had been found. Long story short, during the process of returning his wallet to him, he was exposed as having an affair.   He was traveling with a woman, not his wife. Customer service called his wife from the address in the wallet. When his wife found out about the wallet and his travel companion from customer service, she discovered the affair.  Secrets gets exposed in due time.

Exposure seems like the worst thing in the world, but exposure can be healthy.  My freshman year of college, I learned about bulimia; self-induced vomiting to lose weight.  I started doing this in secret. I can still feel the heaviness that secret was to carry around with me.  But I did, for over a year, until one night, I couldn’t keep it any longer. I had transferred schools and was now attending the same school as my cousin, Patrick.  I still remember the night he came over to my apartment and I confessed what I had been doing. That was the turning point for me. I got counseling that helped me deal with my issues.  I stopped throwing up, I dealt with issues from the loss of my father, and I healed. Exposure leads to healing.

Exposure leads to healing.

John tells us the truth about light and darkness: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5 NIV).  Nothing stays hidden in the dark.  The man’s affair on the airplane was revealed.  My bulimia was revealed. “Whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed…whatever concealed…brought into the open” (Mark 4:22 NIV).  They will be revealed in God’s time, not our time.  For whatever reason, it was God’s timing for the man to be exposed to his wife.  The night I told my secret was God’s timing, not mine. God knows all of our secrets, there is nothing hidden from Him.  When the time is right, He’ll shed His light on the darkness.

Question of the Day:

What secret has God exposed in your life?

Further Reading: Leviticus 7:28-9:6 NIV, Mark 3:31-4:25 NIV, Psalm 37:12-29 NIV, Proverbs 10:5 NIV

“Lazy hands make for poverty, but diligent hands bring wealth” Proverbs 10:4 NIV

If you want to avoid poverty, you have to work.  I listened to an interview of Sam Elliott recently. He is one of my favorite actors, well known for his mustache and deep voice.  He talked about how his career started. He moved to L.A. and took any job he could get in the movie industry.  He found a low level job. He got a contract as a bit actor, doing whatever the studio wanted. Eventually his career took off.  What he emphasized was the hard work that goes into being an actor. People don’t realize how hard they work because all they see is the finished product.  Too often we idolize people, not realizing all they went through to get what they have. Everyone has to work, if they don’t, they’ll find themselves in poverty.  Poverty is more than just money.

Poverty is more than just money.

Poverty can be relational. Relationships take work; they take intentionality.  My husband and I have a great marriage. We work on our relationship everyday. On our honeymoon, we listened to a Biblically based series on marriage.  On the drive home from that week, we made our first financial budget for the month. We do daily devotionals together that help us talk about difficult subjects.  And when needed, we seek counseling to help us work through the tough stuff. We have a great marriage because we work hard at it. But if we didn’t work at it, we would be in poverty.

Relational poverty is worse than monetary poverty.  Skin Hunger is the term used for people starving for physical touch.  Some people never get hugged, they suffer from Skin Hunger.  Studies have shown, small babies that aren’t held when born are affected at a molecular level.  We need relationships in our lives. We are designed to have relationships and live in community.  And we have to work at them if we want them to be good.

We have good relationships when we prioritize them in our lives.  My relationship priorities: God, husband, family, friends. I want to be respected most by those who know me best.  Therefore, I need to be intentional in those relationships. I have to prioritize my time so I have time to invest in those relationships.  I try to love all people God places in my path, but I know I can’t be everything to everybody. That is God’s job, not mine. However, I can try to be a good wife to my husband, a good family member to my family, a good friend to my friends. When we work on our relationships, we’ll find more wealth than we ever imagined.

Question of the Day:

What relationship do you need to work on today?

Further Reading:  Leviticus 6:1-7:27 NIV, Mark 3:7-30 NIV, Psalm 37:1-11 NIV, Proverbs 10:3-4 NIV

“On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Mark 2:17 NIV

The best doctor for you is Jesus. We all need Him as our first and foremost doctor.  I took a friend to the doctor the other day. I sat and waited for her in the car while she went in for a routine shot.  I realized, as I watched people go in and out of the hospital’s doors, how grateful I was I didn’t have to walk through them.  Good health is a blessing from above we take for granted. But even in good health, we still need Jesus. Some sins are visible on the outside, but most can’t be seen with the naked eye.  We are all sinners. We all need Jesus to heal us from our sins. Jesus is the only doctor that can heal us from what we can’t see.

What is in our heart does affect our physical health.  If we’re stressed or anxious about a situation, our body will communicate it.  We may have an upset stomach or a headache because of our worry. Often stress affects our sleep, stealing it from us, a thief in the night.  If we’re angry at someone, our bodies reveal it in the tension of its muscles. When we’re sad and grieving, our bodies are sluggish, no desire to move.  For all of these things, Jesus has an answer. His yoke is easy, His burden light.

His yoke is easy, His burden light.

Jesus has a simple answer for all our struggles: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light”  (Matthew 11:28-30 NIV).  If we’re struggling with sin, take it to Jesus.  If we’re struggling with heartache, take it to Jesus.  Whatever is keeping us from enjoying life, and enjoying it to the fullest, take it to Jesus.

God sees the heart.  He already knows the help we need to heal our brokenness.  He’s just waiting for us to come to Him so He can give us rest.

Question of the Day:

What do you need God to heal you from today?

Further Reading: Leviticus 4:1-5:19 NIV, Mark 2:13-3:6 NIV, Psalm 36:1-12 NIV, Proverbs 10:1-2 NIV

“My tongue will proclaim your righteousness, your praises all day long.” Psalm 35:28 NIV

If you want to control the weather in your life, develop a lifestyle of praise.  I was listening to a conversation between Will Arnett and Dax Shepard on the Armchair Expert.  Will made a comment about being happy.  He said he’s happy because he makes his own weather.  In other words, it’s up to you how happy you are in life.  For him, he’s found happiness by focusing on the “low-hanging fruit,” as he calls it.  He’s appreciative of his kids, his wife, their good health. He’s grateful for what he has, which creates his own weather of happiness.  We can do the same thing. We create a forecast of joy by living a life of praise.

We create a forecast of joy by living a life of praise.

We can praise God for the same “low hanging” fruit that Will does.  Our families and friends, our jobs, our health are all “low hanging” fruit.  Living in America, we have access to one of the greatest health care systems in the world.  If our health suffers, we have the best help in the world at our fingertips. Some of the fruit that is higher to pick but just as valuable: the air we breathe, the food we eat, the clothes we wear.  Even higher still, God’s intricate presence in our lives, His perfect timing that intervenes at the precise moment, His desire to create us from the love He has for us, all things worthy of His praise.  

On the other hand, we can create a hurricane in our lives by trying to control it ourselves.  When we take matters in our own hands, not waiting on God, we create storms. When we strike back at someone who has harmed us, we create a storm.  When we gossip instead of praise, we start a tornado. When we lie, steal or cheat, we’re creating havoc in our lives that can erupt into a storm at any moment.   

The type of weather in your life is determined by you.  In order to have joy in our heart, we must have praise on our lips.  Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians instructed us to give thanks in all situations (1 Thess. 5:18 NIV).  He’s not saying to be thankful for bad situations.  He’s instructing us to find something within the situation to be thankful for today.  If you look hard enough, you can always find something to praise God for, even in the darkest of situations.

Corrie Ten Boom, in a concentration camp in Nazi Germany, thanked God for the fleas.  The fleas kept the guards away so the prisoners could study their Bible.  In the darkest of situations, find a flea to praise God for within it. Create your own weather today.

Question of the Day

What kind of weather do you want to create for yourself?

Further Reading:  Leviticus 1:1-3:17 NIV, Mark 1:29-2:12 NIV, Psalm 35:17-28 NIV, Proverbs 9:13-18 NIV

“ At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness,  and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.” Mark 1:12-13 NIV

In order to overcome temptation, we must learn to live in its tension.  We must first accept temptation is a part of life in Christ. Today’s verses occur right after Jesus starts His ministry on earth.  The first thing He endures is 40 days of tempting by Satan. When we choose to follow Christ it guarantees a life of temptation. But take heart, Jesus faced every temptation we will ever face and overcame it.  Jesus knew how to live in the tension of temptation.  

Jesus knew how to live in the tension of temptation.

Two things are essential for living in the tension of temptation.  First, you have to accept that you will be tempted. Not only will you be tempted, but they will be temptations specific to you.  I’m tempted by sweets, my husband could care less. He’s tempted by tortilla chips, I am not. We all have different temptations which we are susceptible to in life.  When we accept that as fact, we begin to live in the tension of temptation. Just as an alcoholic can’t get help until he recognizes he needs help, we can’t overcome temptation until we accept we have temptations to overcome.

Second, prepare in advance your response to temptation.  Jesus knew temptation was a part of life, He was prepared for it in advance.  For every temptation Satan places before Jesus, He already has an answer. All three of the temptations, food, wealth and power, Jesus responded with scripture that was readily on His tongue (Matthew 4:1-11 NIV). We can do the same thing.  Once we accept temptation as part of life, know the ways we are tempted, we can respond like Jesus.

Paul gave wise advice about temptation.  He wrote to the Corinthians that were dealing with all kinds of temptation these encouraging words: “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV).  God always provides a way out of our temptations if we keep our eyes focused on Him.  That’s what Jesus did, He kept His eyes focused on His Father, who gave Him a way out.  

Accept temptation is a part of life.  Prepare in advance for whatever it is.  Keep your eyes on Jesus, you’ll be able to overcome anything.

Question of the Day:

What temptation tension are you living in today?

Further Reading: Exodus 39:1-40:38 NIV, Mark 1:1-28 NIV, Psalm 35:1-16 NIV, Proverbs 9:11-12 NIV