The Desert – Finding God in the Dry Places
The desert. A place of desolation and isolation. No food. No water. Nothing to sustain you.
When I think about “desert experiences,” two stories from the Bible come to mind.
The first is about the children of Israel. After their miraculous deliverance from Egypt, they were only weeks away from entering into the Promise Land. Yet, when faced with “giant” opposition, doubts entered their hearts, and they were forced into the desert where they wandered for 40 years (Numbers 14).
The second is about Jesus. After his baptism in the Jordan River, he was led into the desert for 40 days where he was tested (Matthew 4).
Obviously, “desert experiences” are not pleasant, even painful. Can anything good come from them? Deuteronomy touches on a possible purpose for these wilderness experiences:
“Remember how the Lord your God has led you in the desert for these forty years, taking away your pride and testing you, because he wanted to know what was in your heart. He wanted to know if you would obey his commands” (v. 8:2).
For the children of Israel, God miraculously fed them each day. God was their source. Jesus fasted during his 40 days in the desert. And like the children of Israel, God was his source.
The desert is a place where nothing natural will sustain you. It’s a place where things don’t always go the way you planned. Sometimes, it’s a place where you question your own faith in God–a place that reveals your heart.
Any experience with panic or fear is a desert experience. It’s not pleasant. It’s a difficult place to be. But, it’s also a place where God becomes your source:
Your source of peace.
Your source of rest.
Your source of provision.
Be encouraged that God is with you. Yes, it may be difficult, and it may be lonely. But your Father is with you–holding you, guarding you, watching over you. And remember, you are going through this experience “so that things will go well for you in the end” (Deut. 8:16).
Prayer: Father, this desert of anxiety and panic is very lonely. It’s a place where there seems to be no life, no joy. Lord, I know that here in the desert, I am being tested. Nothing here will sustain me except you. I put my trust in you, Father.
A Child is Born
A Child is Born
That night some shepherds were in the fields outside the village, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them.
They were terribly frightened, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news of great joy for everyone! The Savior–yes, the Messiah, the Lord–has been born tonight in Bethlehem, the city of David! And this is how you will recognize him: You will find a baby lying in a manger, wrapped snugly in strips of cloth!”
Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others–the armies of heaven–praising God: “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to all whom God favors.”
When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Come on, let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this wonderful thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
They ran to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. Then the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary quietly treasured these things in her heart and thought about them often. The shepherds went back to their fields and flocks, glorifying and praising God for what the angels had told them, and because they had seen the child, just as the angel had said (Luke 2:8-20).
When I think about this story, I often overlook Mary’s response to all of this. In this story, the shepherds were amazed at this “wonderful thing”. And when the shepherds told the others, they too were “astonished”. There was an incredible atmosphere in Bethlehem. Heaven had touched earth.
And, when we read about how Mary responded, we learn that she “quietly treasured these things in her heart and thought about them often.” Her heart was filled with thoughts of the Messiah, thoughts of Jesus.
It reminds of the carol we sing at this time of year. The carol declares:
Joy to the world! The Lord is come:
let earth receive her King!
Let every heart prepare him room,
and heaven and nature sing.
I love that line, “Let every heart prepare him room.” Is your heart open for the King? Have you prepared him room in your heart? If not, let me encourage you this Christmas week to slow down. Take a break from your hectic schedule of last-minute shopping, wrapping presents, cooking big meals and whatever has so consumed your time.
Prepare room in your heart for him. Take some time as Mary did to quietly treasure this incredible event. Think about it often as she did. Let your heart rejoice at the true meaning of Christmas–Christ was born to redeem your life from destruction.
And when you do, let’s join the angels in declaration: “Glory to God in the highest heaven!”
Guided by the Holy Spirit
In high school, one of my favorite subjects was math. The formulas, expressions and rules came naturally to me. I enjoyed the challenge of working through and solving problems.
In college, I was able to use my math ability to tutor people who struggled in this area. I would walk them through the problems and explain the rules and procedures. I would remind them of what the teacher said and how to apply those teachings.
In our everyday life, we also have a Tutor–one who walks with us everyday teaching and counseling. One who reminds us of the things Jesus taught.
Jesus said, “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” (John 14:25-26).
At this very moment, Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father (Mark 16:19). But, we are not left alone. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to us to be our link between heaven and earth, our line of communication between the natural and supernatural. The Holy Spirit comforts us and counsels us. He teaches us and reminds us of the things Jesus taught.
Do you have a hard time understanding the Bible? Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you as you read. Do you not know how to handle a certain situation? Ask the Holy Spirit to remind you what Jesus would do.
“Can I really hear the Holy Spirit?” The answer is yes. The voice of our Father speaks through his Holy Spirit. He is like our long distance, telephone link. As we talk and communicate with people over a telephone line, so we also can talk with our Father in heaven through His Holy Spirit.
Have you ever thought, “I really need to pray today.” That’s the Holy Spirit reminding you. Have you done something you know was wrong? That “knowing” is the Holy Spirit convicting you.
Next time fear begins to rise up within you, listen carefully to the Holy Spirit. You will hear your Father say, “No need to worry. I will be with you. I will protect you. Trust me.”
Prayer: Father, tutor me. Teach me. Show me how to trust you more. Through the Holy Spirit, counsel me on how to surrender my fears and my anxieties to you, for you can be trusted.
Finding God’s peace through Thankfulness
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).
The first thing to do when you are anxious about something is to present your requests to God. What are you anxious about? What is causing stress in your life? Is it out of your control? Present those things to God. Take them to him in prayer. When you do, pray and petition God with thanksgiving. Being thankful can be a wonderful “anxiety reliever”.
My wife and I went to Ukraine when we were first married. This is a poverty-stricken country. The average salary there was $15 a month. They are a poor people. When my wife and I stayed there for three weeks, we became so grateful for the things we do have in America. A house, a car, clean water, fresh food, etc. We were so grateful for the blessings in our life.
With God, we take so many things for granted–our life, our children, our health, our spouse, our salvation, on and on. We have so many things to be grateful for. When we pray to God, we should tell him how thankful we are for the wonderful things he has done in our lives.
By giving thanks to God for the things he has done, we take our eyes off our problems and look upon his blessings over us. We can also be thankful to God because he will answer us faithfully. Whatever his answer may be, our Father can be trusted. Thank him for being such a loving Father.
Finally, as you are thankful in your prayers to God, then “the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” God’s peace will guard your heart and your mind.
Does your heart and your mind need a touch of God’s peace? Be thankful.
Prayer: Father, I am so grateful for the blessings you have poured into my life. I thank you for saving my soul and promising me that we’ll be together in heaven. Thank you for guarding my life and keep me safe.
Trusting your Father
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and don’t lean on your own understanding”(Proverbs 3:5).
For me, this was the key scripture that catapulted me down the road to recovery. When we trust God with our lives and don’t try to figure things out on our own, then fear–no matter what it may be–does not have foothold in our lives.
It all comes down to trust. Can you trust God with your life? With your death? With your family? When your heart is racing and your mind is filled with fear? Can you not fight those uninvited thoughts? Can you stand still and see the salvation of the Lord?
My first victory over panic attacks came when I was sitting in a recliner holding my son. The panic hit. My mind was racing. Then, I thought, “Lord, I don’t care what happens. I will trust you. If I die, then I die. Whatever happens, I will trust you.”
Do you know what happened? The fear came and went. It didn’t stay around long enough to do anything. No panic attack. No overwhelming fear. It just came to pass.
That was my first victory. Since then, I’ve been able to rest during an attack. Occasionally, an attack will get the best of me. But, I press into God and spend time alone with him. I pray and worship until I can hear that still, small voice encourage me, “Don’t fear, my child. You can trust me.”
I pray that each one of you will experience the overcoming power of trusting our Father. Our salvation was paid for with a very high price–the death of God’s Son. Do you think God would pay such a high price for our lives and not watch over us?
This weekend, let me encourage you to do two things: First, don’t lean on your own understanding–don’t try to figure it all out. Secondly, trust God. Trust your Father in heaven. When the fear hits, pray, “Father, I will trust you no matter what happens. With all that I am, I will trust you.” Then, just rest in his arms of love, and he will carry you. He will not let you fall.
Prayer: Father, I trust you. I put all of my trust in you, for you are my King, my Protector, my Lord. My hope is in you.
Responding in Faith
I am learning more and more about faith each day. In the past, faith–as I understood it–was the ability to muster up enough belief in something that it would come to pass. “If you just had enough faith…” Faith, I am learning, is more than what you believe–it’s how you respond according to what you believe.
Faith is perfected through testing. When things come crashing in all around you, faith is what you stand on. When all of your “religion” and formulas begin to crumble, faith is what’s left. You can read about the great people of faith in Hebrews 11. It talks about how they believed God was good no matter what happened to them.
I thought about Job. Here was a man who lost it all: his family, his possessions, his health. All his friends reasoned and assumed his suffering was because of sin. Job, on the other hand, did not lose his faith. He trusted God, even if God was going to slay him (Job 13:15).
Then, there’s Jesus, the ultimate in suffering. His faith was perfect, yet he was tested. Even when his friends deserted him and the cross was ahead, his faith was that God knew what he was doing. He trusted God. He trusted his Father. He had faith that through his suffering, God would be glorified.
“We have around us many people whose lives tell us what faith means. So, let us run the race that is before us and never give up. We should remove from our lives anything that would get in the way and the sin that so easily holds us back. Let us look only to Jesus, the One who began our faith and who makes it perfect. He suffered death on the cross. But he accepted the shame as if it were nothing because of the joy that God put before him. And now he is sitting at the right side of God’s throne. Think about Jesus’ example. He held on while wicked people were doing evil things to him. So, do not get tired and stop trying” (Hebrews 12:1-3).
Prayer: Father, sometimes it’s hard to stand strong when things all around me are crumbling in. But, I know that faith is holding on to you when I don’t feel like holding on. Faith is choosing to trust you when I can’t see clearly, think clearly or even do things correctly. Give me the strength I need to trust you more.
The Foundation of Faith
“Everyone who hears my words and obeys them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. It rained hard, the floods came, and the winds blew and hit the house. But, it did not fall, because it was built on the rock” (Matthew 7:24-25).
This scripture is about the foundation of our faith. As an engineer, I can understand the importance of a good foundation. Take a tall building for example. Were it not for a good foundation, the building would be unstable and dangerous.
The is true with God. If our faith does not have a solid foundation, then we will be tossed about by every wind and wave of doctrine (Ephesians 4:14).
But what is this “solid foundation”? Jesus himself explains in the verse above. A solid foundation is built by hearing his words AND obeying them. It’s more than just hearing the commands of Jesus–it’s obeying them. James 1:22 says, “Do what God’s teaching says; when you only listen and do nothing, you are fooling yourselves.”
Where is your foundation? Is your foundation based on the promises of a friend, the hopes of a doctor, the security of a spouse, the marvel of a new medicine? Or, is your confidence in the person of Jesus Christ? Is your foundation on sand or the Rock?
One thing if for sure: the rains will come, the flood waters will rise and the wind will blow hard. Your foundation will be tested.
Prayer: Lord, I ask you to reveal your Foundation, your Rock, to each one reading this. I ask that you show them the importance of this solid foundation. Help them to trust you more and obey the commands of Jesus. Show them that the storms of life will come, but with a solid foundation, we can trust you no matter what life throws our way. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Safely over the Mountains – Facing Difficulties
Do you ever feel like things keep crashing in around you–that nothing is going right in your life? Right when you start see some light at the end of tunnel–crash!–another setback. You press on, weary and tired, hoping that you can get over these mountains of pain and discouragement.
Habakkuk felt the same way. He opens his book with these words: “How long, O LORD, must I call for help? But you do not listen! ‘Violence!’ I cry, but you do not come to save. Must I forever see this sin and misery all around me? Wherever I look, I see destruction and violence. I am surrounded by people who love to argue and fight”(Habakkuk 1:2-3).
So many times in my life, I get overwhelmed. Like Habakkuk, I cry out, “How long, Lord, must I call for help? Aren’t you listening? Don’t you see my pain?” It seems like my prayers are going no higher than the ceiling.
What are you facing right now? Are things overwhelming for you? Are you being pressed in on every side? Are your prayers answered with only painful silence?
I want to encourage you with the final words of Habakkuk. Throughout this prophetic book, the pain and misery of the people are obvious. There seems to be no hope, no future, no peace. Yet, the final three verses of this book give us the key on how to respond when we feel so alone and abandoned:
Even though the fig trees have no blossoms,
And there are no grapes on the vine;
Even though the olive crop fails,
And the fields lie empty and barren;
Even though the flocks die in the fields,
And the cattle barns are empty,Yet I will rejoice in the LORD!
I will be joyful in the God of my salvation.
The Sovereign LORD is my strength!
He will make me as surefooted as a deer,
And bring me safely over the mountains.
Habakkuk 3:17-19
God is your strength! He is your salvation. Through Christ, you are God’s precious child. When you put your trust in him, he will make your path clear and give you the strength to pass “safely over the mountains”.
Prayer: Father, I cry out to you for peace, for help, for strength. Like Habakkuk, I will rejoice in you in spite of my circumstances. I will be joyful and choose to love you, choose serve you and choose worship you, for it’s through these sacrificial acts of service that I grow strong in you.
Feeling Faithless
“Russell, I’m tired and weak. My faith has failed me. I don’t know what to do.”
“I feel so faithless, like God has abandoned me.”
“I feel so alone. I have no faith to carry me through these difficult times.”
Do you feel faithless, like God has given up you?
Do you feel like God’s not even listening to you?
Are you on the verge of giving up?
If so, let me quote this incredible promise from the Bible:
“If we are faithless, [God] remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself” (2 Timothy 2:13).
When you are at your weakest, when you are ready to give up, when you are tired from fighting, know this: God is faithful.
- He will never leave you.
- He will never forsake you or abandon you.
- He will always remain faithful to you.
- He will never give up on you.
He can’t because he has promised to take care of you in Jesus. If God did give up on you or abandon you, all of creation would cease to exist, because he would have to disown himself. The fact that you are alive and breathing and reading this message is proof that God is faithful and that he will take care of you.
At one particular point in his ministry, Billy Graham was experiencing a dark period in his life. He felt as if God had disappeared. He wrote to his mother about the experience, and she replied, “Son, there are many times when God withdraws to test your faith. He wants you to trust him in the darkness. Now, son, reach up by faith in the fog and you will find that his hand will be there.”
Prayer: Dear heavenly Father, I feel so alone right now. My faith has failed me. I feel so faithless right now. I don’t know what to believe. Please help my unbelief. Father, you alone are my strength. You alone are my peace. Help me to trust you with all of my heart. Give my mind the strength it needs to trust you no matter what. Help me put aside all of my selfish ambitions, my vain techniques and my empty prayers. Empower me to believe and trust you through these dark nights and lonely times. Even though I may not see you, hear you or feel you, help me know that you are here, holding me, taking care of me and watching out for me. I ask these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Never Forsaken – Learning to trust God in our financial need
Have you ever heard the scripture that God will never leave you nor forsake you? It’s an often-quoted verse. I quote this verse from the New Testament (Hebrews 13:15), but the writer of Hebrews was most like quoting an Old Testament verse. Here are three possible references from the Old Testament:
In Deuteronomy 31:6, Moses prepared the children of Israel–who were about to cross the Jordan into the Promised Land–by saying: “Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid of them! The LORD your God will go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor forsake you.”
Then, in Joshua 1:5, God spoke directly to Joshua as he was about to enter the Promised Land: “No one will be able to stand their ground against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you.”
Finally, right before King David was about to hand over the kingdom to his son, Solomon, David said to him, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Don’t be afraid or discouraged by the size of the task, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you” (1Chronicles 28:20).
Yet, the context of Hebrews 13:5 is not about a Promised Land, about powerful enemies to be defeated or about taking over a kingdom. The context of Hebrews 13:5 is about money and possessions. Let me quote the entire verse for you: “Stay away from the love of money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, ‘I will never fail you. I will never forsake you.’”
I share this scripture and its context with you because I know how stressful, anxiety-provoking and fearful the issue of finances can be. Even today, when debt is at an all time high, I know there are many of you out there struggling financially. Maybe you are jobless. Maybe you’ve taken a pay cut. Maybe there’s a huge influx of overwhelming bills. You lie awake at nights wondering how you will make it through tomorrow.
Listen carefully to what God says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” These aren’t just encouraging words–it’s a promise from God, your Father, your Creator, your Provider. He will never leave you. He will never forsake you. In Jesus, you are never alone!
“Don’t worry about everyday life–whether you have enough food, drink, and clothes. Doesn’t life consist of more than food and clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t need to plant or harvest or put food in barns because your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than they are. Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not. And why worry about your clothes? Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, won’t he more surely care for you? You have so little faith! So don’t worry about having enough food or drink or clothing. Why be like the pagans who are so deeply concerned about these things? Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs, and he will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern. So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today” (words of Jesus in Matthew 6:25-34).
I encourage you to read me and my wife’s testimony on finances. I pray you find it encouraging and hopeful. God does really care about us.
Prayer: Father, I feel so forsaken right now. I’m struggling. I’m hurting. I feel so alone. Your promised me that you will never leave me nor forsake me. Help me to know that you are here with me now. Let me feel your presence in my heart and my mind. Let the power of the Holy Spirit flow through me to encourage me and strengthen me through these difficult times. I surrender my life, my finances and my fears to you. Jesus, I give it all to you. Help me, I pray, in your precious name. Amen.