Devotionals and encouragement for a spiritually dry season, when life didn’t turn out the way you expected and you are reeling with more questions then answers, and you can’t seem to find your way out.
We see a period. The end, no alternatives. No second chances, no do-over. No stops, no restarts, no going back. The little girl in Mark 5 is dead. No question mark, it was final. The last breath had been exhaled. Those that knew her were in mourning. To all, her story had ended- they didn’t know she’d forever live in the pages of our bibles, or that her story would impact people centuries later. All they knew is that this young girl was gone. Nothing they did could bring her back.
Have you ever left full, only to return empty? Maybe you followed God’s call, you journey out with Him excited and ready to do what He has put in your heart. Maybe God called you into ministry or missions, or maybe He called you into the unknown in your very own home. Perhaps God called you away from something, some people, some situations, a job. And now, now you find yourself exhausted, spent, used up, empty.
It’s easy to tout God will never give me more then I can handle, when life is great. But what about when the fire starts to burn? When your life is disintegrating in a pillar of smoke. When you stand as Job did with suddenly empty hands, and you feel all alone. Is God with…
Judges 6 is a well known Bible story, it’s in this chapter that we meet Gideon in the Bible in a rather unassuming way. The men and women throughout the pages of the book of Judges always show up with little fanfare, and we are immediately tossed into their story as they step into a…
Have you ever noticed that when God tells us to do something or calls us to a place it doesn’t always make sense? The bible is filled with these moments, from God telling Moses to strike a rock for water to holding his staff over his head so the Israelites can claim the victory, or even when Jesus tells Peter to throw his nets into the water in the heat of the day. Often times the things we are called to, the places He leads us to look ridiculous to others and even ourselves.
For the last couple of weeks, we’ve been digging into Judges 6 to get everything we can out of it. This particular chapter of Judges is so rich and filled with wisdom on finding your calling. Often we are a bit hard on Gideon, quick to point out his doubts and shortcomings but I think…
Sometimes God’s call brings us to roles where God is my strength has to be more real then it ever has been before. He draws us into positions we feel ill-equipped for and into roles we could never imagine ourselves in. He uses what the world would call a weakness as a platform. As we…
We find ourselves in Judges chapter 4 and the people of Israel have once again turned their backs on the Lord and are living under the oppression of the king of Canaan. They like their parents and grandparents once the judges of Israel passed away embraced the culture. For 20 years they have lived in…
We’ve said goodbye to Joshua, and stepped into a new era. We can’t help but wonder the impact Joshua’s legacy would have on the generations after him. As we flip through the pages of the book of Judges we find the answer and several gems of wisdom. Throughout the lifetime of those who remember what…
Often we don’t realize that we can be going through a spiritually dry season- only to walk into a storm all the while we are desperately holding on to God. Because a storm doesn’t always bring rain, sometimes it just adds a layer of destruction. One more thing to break you down, to tear down the surviving remnants and scatter them far away.