The Lion Pit

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” (Ephesians 6:10-13).

When temptations are surrounding you it is like you are in a pit of lions that are ready to pounce. If you ignore them and continue to mull on how you got there and how bad things are, the lions will come in and attack and you’ll go down. These lions are the temptations of your mind with the names “Worry”, “Anxiety”, “Envy”, “Anger” or “Bitterness”. These lions want to tear you apart if you let them so you must fight to stop their advance. But thankfully you are not alone. You have a heavenly coach who will teach you to fight and how to use your weapons.

Continue reading In the Lion Pit →

Stand Fast, Take Courage

“I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved” (Psalm 16:8).

Here is some encouragement to seasoned warriors, for people who have lived long enough in this life to have had their struggles, learned from them, and are still standing to march on. We all have access to God and He wants us to encourage each other, so this is your encouragement to stand fast in the Lord.

Why are big battles difficult? Because we are mortal, the outcome unknown, and because the battle is real and not in theory. In a real battle you are forced to fight because God, the general, is the one who puts you there and asks you to take this ground. And take it you must, even in your imperfect, fallible state.

So how do you approach a battle? Focus. Focus on something bigger stronger and more stable than you are. Focus on the One who says He will go before you and be your rear guard, on the One who gives you your weapons, ‘the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit,’ and who teaches you how to use them to their fullest. Focus on the One who has everything in perfect control and is working it out for much good for His kingdom in ways that even you can’t know. And, focus on the One who, even if you were to get a little bit beat up in the process, will scoop you up in His arms and hold you.

“The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy 33:27).

That is our goal for all battles that will come our way –to focus on the King of Kings and Lord of Lords who bought us with the blood of Jesus and is conquering the world for Himself somehow using our trials to do it. It is a privilege and an honor to be so used.

So stand fast. Take Courage.

John 16:33 states the words of our Lord: “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace, In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Swimming in a storm

“Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! for my soul trusts in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, until these calamities have passed by. I will cry out to God Most High to God who performs all things for me” (Ps 57:1, 2).

Trials are hard. Sometimes in a hard trial you can be on top of it emotionally, having given it to God, but then, out of the blue, you get hit with an emotional reaction. This can be frustrating but this is how I see trials in this metaphor on swimming.

Sometimes your trial assigned to you is swimming in an indoor pool doing a mile. It is work, but you learn how to do it and reach the end. Sometimes your trial is swimming a mile in a lake. Hard work again, but you are able to do it by remembering what you had learned in your previous trials in the pool, so that even with difficulty, you finish the mile in the lake. But sometimes, you are asked to swim in an open ocean at night in a storm. This brings swimming up to a whole new level. You now need to remember what you learned both in the pool and in the lake to attempt the ocean successfully. Even though it is still a mile you are swimming, it is a different matter altogether, because in the ocean you are dealing with cold, with darkness, with waves that will batter you, roll over you, and sometimes make you dip under their surface with their strength. But, the amazing thing is, that you keep popping back up to the surface to keep going. Why? Because you have a heavenly coach right with you saying, “stroke, stroke, ‘at a girl, now come back up, good, steady, keep fighting, don’t give up, come back up, now stroke.”

With your heavenly coach, along with the boat crew cheering on the side as you go, you make it. You make it based on the strength of the One who is teaching you to swim in high seas. I like the fact very much that there is such a strong, caring God who loves His mortal, weak children so much that He even puts His hand under their chin when they need it.

Count it all Joy (James 1)

“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials” (James 1:2).

There is an odd connection between joy and trials, even to the point that God is asking us to count it all joy when the trials come. But how can this connection be possible? Trials don’t usually cause the emotion of joy but the opposite. So how can they bring joy?

“knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience”(James 1: 3).

We can have joy because we know that this trial will test our faith and that the result of this testing will be patience. If our faith being tested is so important, then we need to know what faith is, to understand what is being tested.

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Continue reading The connection between trial, joy, faith and patience →

The Diamond

A daughter at birth, is like a diamond in the rough. When you are given this precious gem, you form it and mold it with great care, spending much time and energy to make sure the chips fall in just the right places. Slowly, over time, something emerges that is both beautiful and shining brightly in your hand. As you enjoy the brilliance of your diamond you feel that all the sweat and tears, time and care were worth it. You guard that diamond carefully since it is very precious to you. But as the diamond shines in your hand, others notice it too. And one day a young man is captivated by its beauty and feels he can’t live without it. Then he does a bold thing. He has the audacity to ask you for your diamond even though he did no work to form it to its present glory. But what is even stranger than this, is that you give him your diamond if you deem him a prince among men.
He then takes this precious gift, carries it away and puts it in his crown to shine brightly for all to see. The light reflected from within its depths is cherished and helps him to truly be the prince he was meant to be.

I would have lost Heart

“I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!” (Psalm 27:13,14).

The Psalmist would have lost heart, why? Because the situation must have been so confusing, so horrible, and so hopeless that he would have lost heart but for one thing – his ‘belief’ in God’s goodness that he thoroughly expected to see.

This is not just an optimistic general belief that all will be well in the end somehow, it is an actual belief (faith) that looks past the present distress onto something bigger, stronger and more secure that doesn’t change with the present times. That something is God, who is the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and your Heavenly Father. He is your shield and your fortress, a rock that doesn’t move. But belief in Him, if He didn’t have the one crucial characteristic of goodness would not be very reassuring. Because of His goodness, He is for you and not against you, which means you can truly believe in His promises that He will work everything out for good for His children (Romans 8:28). Continue reading They That Wait →