An Evening Prayer

 

But he went away angry

He was furious. He felt disrespected. His anger made him turn away. He would have missed the miracle if he stayed mad. He would have missed what God was trying to do if he refused to listen. His fury at how he thought things were supposed to go had him blinded to any other option than what he believed should happen. He wanted it done his way. And he wanted it done now. And in doing so his arrogance left no room for God. But in a turn of events, Naaman was asked a simple question. And that question changed everything for him. It changed his demeanor. It changed his perspective. It changed his outcome. Naaman went away angry, but he didn’t stay away. He came back. He did what the man of God asked. He put aside his own expectations. His own assumptions. He stopped trying to do it his own way. Oh Lord, that this would be us. That when our hearts are hardened, we turn back. That when it’s not happening our way, we still believe You. That when the miracle doesn’t come, when we want it or how we want it, we still trust You. That when You’ve asked us to do what we don’t want to do, we do it anyway. Open our hearts, Lord. Help us to see what You need us to see. Forgive us when we go away angry, Lord. Oh Lord, please forgive us, when our way is not Your way. In Jesus’ Name we pray. 

Shut the Door

Shut the door behind you. Shut out the distractions. Shut out the naysayers. Shut out the doubters. Look away from the ones trying to lead you astray. Turn from the ones who only offer negativity. And darkness. And despair. Look for the helpers. The ones who offer light. Look for the ones who have grounded themselves in the promises of God. The ones with the unshakable faith. The ones who see the impossible with their eyes but believe in the possible with their hearts. There won’t be many. There won’t be a crowd willing to believe that the God of yesterday is still the God of today. That He still longs to help. That He still keeps His Word. But the faith of Elisha. And Abraham. And David. And everyone single one who came before us and trusted. And stood up. And offered hope. Look for the ones with that kind of faith. The world will offer you a multitude of answers to your pain. But if the answer isn’t rooted in Jesus Christ, then it’s not an answer at all. It’s just another problem waiting to weigh you down. Surround yourself with a cloud of witnesses. Open your Bible. Sing songs to the Lord. Focus on your faith. And shut the door.

No matter who wins the election

No matter who wins.

No matter which candidate is elected.

No matter how it ends.

God is still in control.

He is still in charge.

The world may convince you to worry.

The world may tell you to fear.

The world may make you believe that all hope is lost.

But the world doesn't get the final say.

God does.

None of our options are perfect because no man is perfect.

None of our options are sinless because all men have sinned.

It's been said we are forced to choose between the lesser of two evils.

And left to search for the truth amongst so many lies.

It's overwhelming.

And exhausting.

When we put our faith in the world.

But when we put our faith in God.

When we keep our eyes on Him.

When we choose His promises.

And His sacrifice.

And His love.

We don't get caught up in worry.

Or swayed by opinion.

We simply place our life in His hands. 

We consider Jesus.

And remember the cost.

We don't get caught up in who sits in a house.

When we know who sits on the throne.

"I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him will I trust." Psalm 91:2

Keep your eyes on Jesus

Peter found himself in trouble. He saw someone walking on the water towards his boat. 

He thought it was Jesus, but he wasn’t totally sure. And so he questioned Him. And asked Him to prove it. “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water.” 

And Jesus said, “come.” 

Peter stepped out of the boat and started walking on the water towards Jesus. He was okay at first. Everything was going exactly as expected. But then he took his eyes off Jesus. 

And everything started going terribly wrong.

He began focusing on the wind. On its strength. On its ability to hurt him. He became afraid. And his fear became bigger than his faith. As he started to doubt, he also started to sink. It was nighttime, so the situation must have felt even more dire. 

Darkness has a way of doing that. Making things seem scarier than they are. 

He cried out to Jesus, “Lord, save me!”

And immediately Jesus reached out His hand and caught him. Jesus didn’t hesitate. It’s important to remember that. Because that means He was watching Peter. That means He had His eye on him. 

You can’t respond immediately if you aren’t paying attention. 

When you’re facing your own doubts. Your own weaknesses. When you’ve lost confidence. And had to quickly adjust from everything going right, to everything going wrong. Remember who to look to. Remember who to call on. 

It doesn’t matter what it looks like. It doesn’t matter how dark it gets. 

Call out to Jesus. Ask Him to save you. Believe that He will respond. 

Believe that He won’t hesitate. 

And believe that, even in the moments you’ve taken your eyes off Him, He’s never taken His eyes off you.

We said we would never forget

We said we would never forget.

We said we would never forget the fear.

We said we would never forget the anguish. 

We said we would never forget the feeling of not knowing what to do.

We said we would let nothing divide us. 

We said we would let nothing come between us.

We said we would let nothing tear us apart. 

Not again. 

We said the unity we felt would carry us.

We said we would help our neighbor.

We said we would volunteer, contribute, make a difference.

We said we would not continue to divide.

We said this tragedy would make us stronger.

We said that hatred wouldn't win.

We said the people we were the next day, would be better people.

We said we turned to God. 

We said our country would honor Him.

We said He would be where we put our faith.

We said a lot of things.

We said we would never forget.

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