When The Lord Seems Slow was in Coming

Reading the One Year Bible this time of year is not my favorite. The various readings talk about discipline, destruction & death. As I read, I feel like I’m walking through a minefield looking for a stray flower to pick 🤗

Today, as I read the pleas of the prophet Habakkuk, I could relate to the urgency in his voice. The crops had failed, the fields lay fallow & the barns were empty & yet what did this man of God do?

He waited.

He climbed up his watchtower & stood at his guard post waiting for a reply from His commanding officer & King!

The Lord did reply in word, but the rescue seemed slow in coming.

The Babylonians conquered nation upon nation. Psalm 117 tells of the mourning Jews who wept beside the rivers of Babylon. Their captors demanded a song, but how could they sing while they sat captive in a foreign land?

Circumstances can sometimes invoke that feeling of captivity. It doesn’t matter how you arrived, whether by choice or injustice, but the feeling of hopelessness is real right now for many.

Habakkuk is aware of the long list of liabilities the Israelites incurred through their stubborn hearts. God loved them enough to let them fall in their sin, & then loved them even more by allowing them to be taken captive by a counterfeit king!

The King of kings longs to be Lord over our hearts, but we often turn to counterfeit things for comfort only He can provide!

The Lord tells Habakkuk of a coming time of salvation. He encourages the prophet with this:

“If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently…“

There are prayers I’ve been praying as I stand in my watchtower waiting for the Lord’s reply. I know He’s good. I know we can take Him at His Word, but sometimes? Sometimes he seems slow in coming...

Father, I don’t want to require captivity by a counterfeit king to remind me of my need of You!  I don’t want to be like the Babylonians who were guilty because they relied on their own strength as their god. I can finagle an outcome with the best of strategists, but I’d much prefer the outcome that arrives when I choose to wait on You. “I’m gonna wait on You. I’ve tasted your goodness & trust in Your promise!”

(Look up “Wait on You” by Maverick City💯!)

#OneYearBible #waiting

Progression over Perfection

Last night my son who loves goals asked me if I’d set any New Year’s resolutions. I chuckled inside because I haven’t bought many Christmas gifts yet so I certainly haven’t lifted my eyes out of the weeds of today to think about goals for 2022 😂

I simply replied that I don’t have any aside from wanting to publish my devotional.

He smiled & said, “That’s amazing!” 🤗 & then shared how he decided to ask the Lord for a word or phrase to brand his coming year.

Through a series of cool coincidences, the phrase, “Progression over Perfection” continued to surface before him.

He’s an all-or-nothing kinda guy. If he can’t do something to full completion quickly & perfectly, he’ll choose to move-on-dot-com😂 Choosing to be content with slow steps of progression instead of immediate perfection is HUGE for him!

This morning as I read Proverbs 30:7, I was reminded of our conversation. I felt a giddy anticipation as I wondered what the writer was going to request. He begins with this:

“O God, I beg 2 favors from you; let me have them before I die.”

I stopped reading at the period & pondered this question:

If I only had 2 favors to ask of God that would come to fruition before I die, what would they be?

What would  yours be?

It’s a hard question to ponder, right?

The goal-setter in me was less than enthusiastic about the writer’s answer. He basically asked for help NOT to do something (lie). Then he asked for neither riches nor poverty for an abundance of each might tempt Him to forget about God in his wealth or dishonor God in his scarcity.

Wowza. His requests weren’t so much about goals, but more so about his growth in his relationship with God.

Progression over perfection.

Growth over goals.

Those 2 phrases have me wondering what the coming year may hold if either of those were my guiding mindset? What risks might I take & what things would I release if my aim was simply to grow closer to my God?

He owns cattle on 1,000 hills so we need not strive to earn anything. It’s all ours because we are His! He’s a good Shepherd Who will always lead us to life-giving water! When we make way for Him, we unknowingly make way for The Way to guide us to all that we need!

#OneYearBible #goals

December 17th One Year Bible Readings

💡NAHUM 1:1-3:19

💡REVELATION 8:1-13

💡PSALM 136:1-26

💡PROVERBS 30:7-9

What to do When Sorrow Settles on the Surface of our Hearts

I awakened today with a faint remembrance of falling asleep with sorrow in my heart. The visual that surfaced was that of a beaker filled with oil & water. It was scientifically wrong as the oil had settled to the bottom & the water rested on the surface. I sensed that the water represented sorrow & the oil of God’s Presence rested beneath.

We live in a world marked by weeping. Not a day will pass without someone, somewhere shedding a tear or bowing their head in grief. Sadness that rises to the surface is a condition of our fallen world & yet it will not be the state of eternity if we let the Lamb become our Shepherd.

Revelation 7 tells of a day when the Lamb on the throne will be our Shepherd. He will lead us to life-giving water & God will wipe away every tear from our eyes.”

I find it funny that a lamb will be a Shepherd. It’s like a child being a parent, but better because THIS Lamb came as a young, innocent knowing all, seeing all, & as The Word, being the Source of ALL past, present & future!

The Lamb was center on the throne so one cannot approach God without first passing before The Lamb.

The Lamb knows what it’s like to BE a sheep, He knows the sorrows of this earth & the unfulfillment we face on the daily! It is because of His love that He became The Lamb so we might invite Him to become our Shepherd!

When we allow Him Lordship over our hearts, He leads us to life-giving water before the throne of our God, Who with exquisite tenderness, wipes every tear from our eyes.

In this life we will have sorrow that settles on the surface of our hearts, but Jesus longs to be the oil of gladness that rests like a deep, unending well far below the happenings of everyday life!

Father, You created us to experience emotions & yet they do not negate or diminish Your life-giving Presence. In fact, they act like a gas gauge reminding us of our need of You!

I feel like that beaker this morning with watery sorrow on the surface AND the oil of Your Presence like a firm foundation beneath. Thank You for being a shield of protection to all who come to You! We may feel feelings, but the Truth of Who You are keeps them from settling for too long or seeping too deep.

#OneYearBible #Grief

December 16th One Year Bible Readings

💡MICAH 5:1-7:20

💡REVELATION 7:1-17

💡PSALM 135:1-21

💡PROVERBS 30:5-6