Day 81: But...

Whenever you hear the word “but” at the end of a statement you can be sure that it is not the end. Whatever the speaker is saying, there’s more to the story, there's more to the statement. Bottom line, it’s not over.

Psalms 31:14 (expanded passage Psalms 31)

But I am trusting you, O Lord, saying, “You are my God!”

David has been going through it, prior to this statement he is listing everything going wrong in his life. His adversaries are coming after him, he is in a state of grief and weakness, he is just having a hard time. Before he starts this list of unfortunate events he says, Lord be gracious to me. Then he goes on to tell God what is going on and how he is greatly distressed. My favorite part in this chapter and many of the other chapters is when David says, “but…” we know whatever will follow that word will not be as bad as what preceded it. We know that David has hope. David goes on to say, “BUT I am trusting you,...” This excites me so much because David knew that even in His distress, even when his adversaries were coming after him. There were men trying to take his life, literally trying to kill him. But David says, “but I trust you Lord, You are my God.” They're all coming after me, I’m in pain, I’m weak, my soul is distressed, but I trust you. You are my God, you are the one I look to even in all of this you are bigger, my life is in your hands.

We can learn something from David here, we can get so caught up in what is going on in our lives. We get caught up in the pressure, the pain, the frustration, the tears, the stress. We start to think that there is no way out. But, my friends there is, we have to remember that there is always a but, it’s not the end. There’s hope, no matter what it looks like we have to say, “But I am trusting in you, You are my God.” I am trusting in you because my life is in your hands, you have gotten me thus far and I i’m trusting that you will bring me all the way through. Sometimes all we have is trust in God, we have no other choice, we know, we hope that God is and will bring us through whatever it is we are going through. For some of us this means taking a chance on God, taking a leap of faith. Trust me when I say, He won’t let you down. There’s always a but, there’s always an answer. But we have to look up from our sorrow and our heartache and the bad situation we are in and look to where we will find hope. We have to look to Christ, we have to put our trust in Him. We know that this is only for a moment, there’s always a ‘but’, so we know, this is not the end. It’s not over.

Psalms 30:5

For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.

Genesis 50:20

As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

Psalms 73:26

My flesh and my heart may fail,  but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Reflection/Prayer Time

Whatever is on your heart today pour it out to God, know that whatever you are going through there is always a but, it’s not over, this isn’t the end. Talk to God about whatever stood out to you the most today.

I love you, I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Make sure you share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 82!

Day 60: How Far Will You Go (Part 1)

There are a few things to speak on for the next few days, with the main subject being; How far are we willing to go for Christ? Also how far are we willing to go to forgive and love our enemies, in the same way Christ did. How far are we willing to go to let someone know that Jesus loves them, and that we love them?

Considering how far Christ went for us, it seems an appropriate question to ask. Are we willing to give it all up for the sake of Christ, if He asked. We’ve all been approached with the question, “If God told you to (Blank) would you do it?” And without a doubt our answer is hypothetically yes, we know for sure that we would drop everything for Christ because we love Him that much. Our response comes from a pure heart and the willingness to do it. But when we are approached with the task, we are disappointed and displeased to find that there are some conditions. Not preconceived conditions, but human conditions. We find that it is very hard to do, and this doesn’t make us bad people, it makes us human. We know we want to be able to drop everything and go is God asked us to and eventually we will get to that point.  

Matthew 19:21-24

Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

This young man wanted to serve Christ, and he wanted to know what He had to do. What will make him a better follower of Christ. Jesus tells him to sell all of his possessions and give them to the poor, he immediately grew sad. Sometimes we are holding onto things tighter than we think. We have to be closer to God and attached to Him, more than we are to these tangible, earthly possessions. A lot of times our answer is yes, but there’s that one thing that will make us consider saying no.

A few people who were willing to drop everything and follow Christ were the disciples. Not all of them wanted to go immediately, they wanted to get their affairs at home together before they started following Him. When Jesus called to them, they answered, and it was most likely the best thing to happen to them. A lot of people might say that it was easier for them to do it because they weren’t really giving up much. That is not true, they were giving up everything. It may not be the same things we have now but for them it was everything. I think when we read the bible we forget that these people are real, these stories aren’t myths, they actually happened. These men had families, jobs, hobbies, etc. They were human just like us, yet they were willing to drop it all because God was calling.

We have to be so close to God that if He told us to drop everything for Him we would without question, because He is the tightest thing we are holding on to. That if someone told us to drop God, we would give up everything else before we even think about doing that.

Reflection

1. If God told you to drop everything and follow Him, would you do it?
2. What do you think would stop you from following Christ?
3. Is there anything that you hold on to tighter than God?

Prayer Time

Allow the answers to the above questions guide your prayer. Talk to God about your willingness to follow Him, and wanting to do what is right. Talk to God about the things that you unconsciously put before HIm, allow HIm to show you what that is. Remember that a prayer is just a conversation with God, talk to Him. He’s listening.

I love you, I hope you have an amazing day or evening, make sure you share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 61!