Category Archives: Fear & Doubt

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April 8, 2015

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Faith & Hope, Fear & Doubt, God's Plan, Peace of God, Trusting God

IT’S MORE THAN JUST CROSSING YOUR FINGERS

Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you. [Psalm 25:5 (NLT)]3-9-15monarch - NBG9981rWEB

We hope: the house will sell, we’ll “ace” the test, the stock market will rise, the biopsy will be benign, the relationship will improve, it won’t rain on the picnic, the plane will be on time, the raise will come, the lottery ticket will pay off, or the cure will be found. Is that hope or simply wishful thinking?

Christian hope is neither hope in specific circumstances nor mindless optimism; it is hope in God. It is the confidence that no matter how those other situations turn out, God will get us through them all. Christian hope means we trust what God has promised; it is a confidence in His word. His word, however, has nothing to do with travel schedules, good weather, winning lotto numbers, or even pathology reports.

Hope in God means that we’ll have the strength to stand strong, the ability to keep going in the face of adversity, the capability to forgive, and the capacity to return good for evil and love for hate. Hope in God allows us to be joyful in all circumstances. It reassures us that God is in charge and He will do what is right. We don’t just dream of good in the future, we expect it to happen; it’s just that the rosy future may be further away than tomorrow and will last for eternity.

How do we build our hope in God? Hope is a portion or part of faith. Faith and hope, in my mind, are overlapping realities: hope is faith in the future tense. So most of faith is hope. [John Piper]

I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. [Romans 15:13 (NLT)]

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April 7, 2015

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Bible Stories, Challenges & Difficulty, Fear & Doubt, God's Promises, Holidays & Holy Days, Knowing Him, Sorrow, Grief & Regrets

WILL WE RECOGNIZE HIM?

He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. [John 1:10 (NLT)]

?????????????????????????????The Gospel of John tells us that Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early that Sunday morning only to find it empty. Puzzled, upset, and thinking that someone had stolen the body of Jesus, she started to weep. When she saw a man, thinking he was the gardener, she asked what had been done with Jesus. It wasn’t until He spoke to her that she recognized the Lord.

Luke tells how, that same day, while walking to Emmaus, two of Jesus’ followers were talking about the crucifixion and the week’s events. Frightened and disturbed by the confusing news, a man joined them as they walked. The two, preoccupied with their sadness and disappointment, failed to recognize Him. It was not until Jesus sat down with them, broke bread and blessed it, that they finally recognized their Lord.

These men and Mary Magdalene were Jesus’ followers, yet they failed to recognize him at first. Were they so blinded by their grief or so focused on their disappointment that they couldn’t see their Savior? Were they so preoccupied by their troubles that they failed to see their solution in Jesus? Did they miss seeing Jesus simply because they weren’t looking for him? Was it because, in spite of Jesus’ promises, they weren’t even expecting him?

If we ever hope to experience Jesus’ power and hope, we must remember to look for him when we are grieving, disappointed or troubled. I wonder how many times I have seen Jesus and failed to recognize him, never realizing He was right beside me all of the time.

If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. [Jeremiah 29:13 (NLT)]

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April 2, 2015

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Bible Stories, Fear & Doubt, God's Plan, Prayer, Trusting God

IT’S A REQUEST – Maundy Thursday

He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” … Then Jesus left them a second time and prayed, “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will be done.” … So he went to pray a third time, saying the same things again. [Matthew 26:39,42,44 (NLT)]

He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood. [Luke 22:44 (NLT)]

A request allows a variety of responses such as “yes,” “no,” “perhaps,” “maybe,” or “later.” A command, on the other hand, expects the response of “yes!” In our relationship with God, it’s important to remember that He’s the only one who gets to command. We, on the other hand, can only make requests. If God’s response to our prayers is a resounding “No!” does that mean we didn’t pray hard enough or that we were unworthy or unloved?

Jesus was intense in his prayer that last night; he prayed so fervently his sweat dropped like blood to the ground. He certainly was persistent; he prayed three times in the garden of Gethsemane. Without a doubt, being without sin, He was worthy. Moreover, Jesus surely was loved; after all, He was the son of God. Yet, God did not take away the cup of suffering that lay ahead of him. If God could deny His only son, we must accept the fact that He can deny our prayers, too. God denied Jesus because He had other better plans for Him; when God denies our prayers, it’s because He has other, better, plans for us, as well. Let His will be done!

May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. [Matthew 6:10b (NLT)]

 

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March 31, 2015

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Attitudes & Behavior, Bible Stories, Challenges & Difficulty, Fear & Doubt, Trusting God, Wisdom & Guidance

DEFEATED BEFORE EVEN TRYING

But Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses. “Let’s go at once to take the land,” he said. “We can certainly conquer it!” But the other men who had explored the land with him disagreed. “We can’t go up against them! They are stronger than we are!” [Numbers 13:30-31 (NLT)]

Twelves scouts went to explore the land of Canaan; ten saw only the giants and two, while seeing the giants, also saw a land flowing with milk and honey. Ten men saw only the challenges while two saw the rewards. Ten men saw the glass half empty; two saw it half full. Ten saw the clouds, and two saw the silver lining.

I had a writing project due but all I could see was what I perceived to be an insurmountable obstacle in writing it. The obstacle: other people were involved in the event about which I thought I needed to write, people who probably wouldn’t be pleased to see the story in print. I saw only the giants in my way and, as a result, didn’t start on the project. Writer’s block had me defeated before even trying to write. In a chance conversation with a friend, I confided my dilemma. “Have you asked?” was her simple reply. “They’ll say no!” was mine. But would they? Taking her words to heart, I asked God for guidance and then shot off an email with my request to write about this specific subject.

Once I’d taken this small step of asking instead of assuming and, more important, trusting my dilemma to God, my giant didn’t seem so big. Confident that, if God wanted this story told, He would give me the words, I stepped out in faith and started writing to see where God would lead me. Instead of conceding defeat because of the obstacle in my path, God showed me a way to step around it. By the time my first draft was complete, I’d written it in such a way that everyone’s privacy was respected and no would be embarrassed, hurt or offended.

Like the Israelites, we often see predicaments instead of prospects: the chance of failure rather than success. I saw defeat before I’d started and I nearly gave up without even trying. The Israelites wanted their problems solved and the giants defeated before stepping out in faith and trusting that God would find a way. Because of their lack of faith, only Caleb and Joshua, the two scouts who believed, lived to set foot in Canaan over forty years later. Fortunately, I finally heeded God’s command to be neither afraid nor discouraged and my project was completed (and in way less than forty years!)

This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. [Joshua 1:9 (NLT)]

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March 3, 2015

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Attitudes & Behavior, Challenges & Difficulty, Faith & Hope, Fear & Doubt, God's Promises, Prayer, Trusting God

YAHWEH YIRAH – THE LORD WILL PROVIDE

Abraham looked around and saw a ram caught in a bush by its horns. He went and got it and offered it as a burnt offering instead of his son. Abraham named that place “The Lord Provides.” And even today people say, “On the Lord’s mountain he provides.” [Genesis 22:13-14 (GNT)]

It’s not easy for us to trust God’s provision; yet, when we trust, He provides. Abraham trusted God to provide and the ram replaced his son as an offering. God provided manna and water in the wilderness for forty years to the Israelites, food for both Elijah and Elisha, wisdom to Solomon, victory to Joshua, and dinner for thousands on a hillside. Why do I have trouble believing He’ll provide me with what I need when I ask?

In this day of fast food, streaming movies, instant messaging, microwaves, and being able to do my shopping from my desk with a click of a computer mouse, I seem to expect God to provide me with my needs as quickly and easily as Amazon. God’s provision, however, like everything else He does, goes according to His time frame, not ours! Moreover, God’s provision requires our trust in it!

It’s not easy to trust God to provide what we need, especially if we’re running on empty! For example, if I’d been the widow in yesterday’s message (“Would You Have Trusted?”), I would have been more likely to trust Elijah if there had been a few days’ supply of bread and oil rather than only enough for one meal. My trust would have waned with a bare cupboard.

Yesterday, I was running on empty and I desperately needed another devotion. I’d sat at my computer and written word after word to no avail. I was left with several half paragraphs, incomplete thoughts, disjointed Bible verses, and a sense of anxiety. “Where are the words for the next message?” I asked. Satan poked me with a dose of fear and doubt and I even wondered if I should discontinue this mission. “Lord,” I cried, “Provide! Please give me guidance and words!”

My fear and that prayer reminded me of the story of Elijah, the widow and God’s provision. My fingers raced over the keyboard and yesterday’s message nearly wrote itself. As I composed it, I realized how little I actually trust in God’s provision; those thoughts brought me to today’s message. See: He really does provide! We just have to stop running around in circles in a panic, pray and trust. Just pray and trust, and understand that God will provide, in God’s time and in His wonderful way.

God’s divine power has given us everything we need to live a truly religious life through our knowledge of the one who called us to share in his own glory and goodness. [2 Peter 1:3 (GNT)]

 

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March 2, 2015

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Bible Stories, Fear & Doubt, God's Promises, Miracles, Trusting God

WOULD YOU HAVE TRUSTED?

And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus. Now all glory to God our Father forever and ever! Amen. [Philippians 4:19-20 (NLT)]

In a time of famine, the prophet Elijah went to a poor widow and asked for bread. She told him that she had none and had only enough flour and oil to make one last portion of bread for herself and her son. This would be their final meal; after it was gone, they would surely die of starvation. Elijah, however, persisted, telling her to make bread for him first, and then bread for herself and her son. He assured the woman that there would be enough flour and oil left for them all until the famine was over. The widow didn’t try to reason with the prophet and suggest, “If what you say is true, how about my son and I eat first and then I’ll feed you?” She simply did as Elijah asked. She trusted him and they continued to eat for many days. Just as Elijah promised, there was always enough flour and oil left for another meal. It was a miracle.

What a story of trust this is. The widow trusted Elijah completely. She fed him first with no guarantee that there would be anything left for her or her son. Because she trusted, the Lord provided. Without trust and the widow’s simple act of faith, there would have been no miracle. Had it been me, I wonder if a miracle would have occurred. Would I have trusted in God’s provision? How difficult is it for us to take that first leap of faith and trust in the Lord that He will provide.

They cried out to you and were saved. They trusted in you and were never disgraced. [Psalm 22:5 (NLT)]