Some days are topsy turvy aren’t they? Actually, some seasons of our lives are that, and if you’re like me, your mind may be going in all directions at once, not get anywhere fast.
When it becomes difficult to find focus, our story can get complicated. We need to take our thoughts captive and guard our hearts and minds. Let’s brighten the chapter of our story with a happy thought on even just one blessing for the moment and remind ourselves of Philippians 4:7,
“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
He promises peace in the chaos and when we have peace we have focus.
We all have things that seem insurmountable. Things that are hard and seem as if nothing good could ever come of them. Well, today, let’s just let our faith out of the box we’ve confined it to and live like we believe for those things to become real. It’s called a miracle and they still happen
Yeah, so some days just seem all so old and familiar, and just when you think you’ve turned a slight corner it appears it went wrong and not right. Then what? Then where do we turn when the turn at the corner didn’t turn at all in the right direction? Isaiah 43: 19
“Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.” Don’t you love it; this wonderful promise from the Lord your Holy One, Israel’s Creator and King ~ Verse 15?
“I am the Lord who opened a way through the waters, making a dry path through the sea….but forget all that ~ it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See I have already begun, do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”
An awesome promise from the Lord our God for us right now in this moment, this day, this month, this year. I especially like the part about the “New Thing.” Don’t you? Whatever God has done in the past that rocked your world, and turned it upside down with wonder, miracles and healing, is nothing compared to what He’s about to do, can do, and will do, if we just ask with a believing heart. So beautiful soul ~ needing something new today? I’m sure we could all use a heap of “new” and wonderful and couldn’t we handle the awesomeness of watching our Red Sea part, making a way for us to cross over into God’s promises fulfilled?
Well ~ God is faithful! As He led the Israelites through the wilderness He leads us! He’s our life source, our life preserver, our provider, our sustainer, our healer, our counselor, our Savior, and our Lord. Let’s not miss the new thing He’s about to open up to us by living in past glories, victories, or even those devastating past failures, where it’s so easy to wallow and get off course. There is more than all of that ~ and our sovereign God holds it for us. Open your mind and your heart to the “New” that He has in His divine, Mastermind! Be obedient! Be trusting! Be faithful and watch and pray!
Oh, couldn’t we do with a few slain giants today? Those huge obstacles that get into our thoughts, minds and hearts and try to take us down in defeat and leave us feeling like whipped puppies?
Oh, yes, those fears, anxieties and failures that just have a way of wrapping themselves around our little finger to blackmail us into their captivity, always present themselves, just when we think we’re making a little progress along the way. They creep out of the cracks like poisonous spiders, small but mighty, ready for attack, and we feel helpless to escape.
So, friends, that’s why we grab our five smooth stones of scripture to tuck into our pockets before we head out for the day.
David knew, didn’t he? He collected his stones and his words just before he went out to meet the big guy, the Philistine no one dared to speak of, let alone meet. In 1 Samuel 17:45-49, we find him reinforcing God’s faithfulness in action, when he states,
“You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s armies..whom you have defied. Today the Lord will conquer you and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.”
So, maybe the battle rages on within and without and you’re left without much to go on, but five smooth stones of scripture. That’s enough! Grab them! Tuck them into your heart! It’s all you need to face those big guys who are out to get you and trip you up.
Hope and Healing In Hard Places 