The Son Will Shine His Light
Darkness isn’t just the time between dusk and dawn; it’s also any time you are facing the unknown. This is especially true of those seasons of suffering when the light at the end of your tunnel is nowhere to be seen. It is during those times that you must not give up hope. For even on those dark days when you can’t see what is up next, what step to take next or how anything good will come next, hope remains. Jesus is still there and Jesus still cares! Ask Him to give you the faith and inner strength that is needed to endure. And though the outer darkness may yet linger, the Son will rise and shine His light in your heart.
It Will Not Be Wasted
Satan wants to convince us that our doing good isn’t actually doing much good. He will skew the facts, point to the wrong metric, and mislabel our actions as failures. But God doesn’t measure our success by social media likes, comments and shares. God sees us quietly toiling behind the scenes loving Him by loving others and measures our success not by our fruitfulness or fanfare, but our faithfulness. What’s even more encouraging is this: God is working through us in ways that are unknown to us. So… keep on faithfully serving King Jesus because it all counts. Nothing you do for His kingdom will ever be wasted.
Like A Puzzle
Like a one-thousand-piece puzzle, your life will often look like a jumble of disjointed and disconnected fragments that don’t seem to fit together very well. But God is putting everything into place exactly where He wants it so you can be who you were made to be and do what you were made to do. He has a good reason for and a good result from everything He allows to come into your life. Someday all will make sense, all will be made right, and all will be made new when He completes the good work He has started in you. Take heart! When the last puzzle piece is put into place, you will see what God has been seeing all along.
He Doesn’t Need…
He doesn’t need advice. He doesn’t need instructions. He doesn’t need guidance. God rules and reigns over every location and situation in the universe with absolute certainty. You will not find Him getting confused, getting caught off guard or getting into a place where He second guesses Himself. He always knows just what to do, just how to do it, and just when to do it in order to accomplish the goal of His purpose and the good of His people. This is the One we turn to and trust in! When we struggle to make sense of our lives, let us remember this: Even if we don’t know what it is, God always knows exactly what He’s doing.
He Didn’t Need…
He didn’t need a blueprint. He didn’t need inspiration. He didn’t need assistance. God created all of the universe without anyone’s ideas, input, ingenuity, innovation or imagination. He just designed it all and made it all out of nothing. When you consider the amazing diversity and creativity and majesty displayed in every corner of the created world that we can see, hear, smell, taste and feel, God’s handiwork is just absolutely stunning. He created angles and dimensions, shapes and textures, colors and flavors, scents and elements, and, well, everything known and unknown to us. Praise Him for He has done great things!
Encourage Others To Look At Him
The attention of every single consciously awake and aware human being is captured by something at all times. We are either focused on something that nurtures a deeper love for, stronger dependence on, greater obedience to and better enjoyment of Jesus or something that drains that from us. Our aim as Christians should be to interrupt the fixation of others on the world and its ways and shine a spotlight on Him, so they can experience the blessings and benefits of knowing Him and the privilege and pleasure of worshipping Him. Today, let us get people to look at us so we can encourage them to look at Him.
Rewiring How We Think
Our thoughts have the power to shape how we believe and behave, for better or for worse, so we must let our minds land most often on Jesus. His Good News message is full of life-changing truths and promises that will guide us into a right perspective on every life issue. It will change how we see our past, present and future and produce greater joyful hope, peaceful rest and loving obedience as we experience the power of a deepening understanding and awareness of Who He is, what He does for us and what He says to us. The more we think about Him, the more it will rewire how we think about everything else.
It Is Painful, It Is Wonderful
It is painful to have our iniquities exposed, our imperfections pointed out and our inabilities made known to us. No one loves to be labeled a sinner. But we can’t get well until we are aware of and acknowledge our sickness, and then go to the Great Physician of Grace to heal us. It is humbling to do so, but God does not belittle us when we come to Him in confession and repentance. Instead… He lifts us up. He makes us whole. He spurs us on. It is wonderful to have Jesus forgive us for our sin, free us from our sin and favor us in spite of our sin. Oh, how we love to be labeled “Redeemed!” Go to Him now. There is grace for you.
Not As They Are, But As They Will Be
Remember this as you follow Jesus in faith: it’s not what happens to us that is of greatest importance, but rather the result of what happens to us. Things often won’t go as we plan, things often won’t work out like we hope, and things often won’t be as simple or easy or comfy as we would like. But in the hands and plans of God, our struggles are not setbacks. They are stepping stones to the good result He has in mind. So… Don’t stop believing. Don’t stop proceeding. Something good is coming even if you don’t yet see it. Take heart! Things would look much better if we could see them not as they are, but as they will be.
Changes
One of the ways that God changes us to become like Jesus is through hardships. We struggle to find answers on our own, we worry and doubt and fear often, we fall short over and over again, and we feel like many tasks in front of us are impossible. But, in time we learn to turn to and trust in the wisdom, strength, and grace of God as He transforms us into people of faith through our struggles. Learn this: sometimes God will change the situation; sometimes God will use the situation to change us.
