Devotions By Jan

Category Archives: Suffering and Trials


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Aerated Soil

Scripture for Today:  II Thessalonians 1: 3b-4  “…your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing.  Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.”

When I first saw this picture I wondered why on earth someone would poke holes in a lawn.  Obviously, I am no gardener or I would know all about aerating soil.  What looks like destroying a patch of lawn is actually good for its health!  Aerating soil allows oxygen to reach plant roots.  Water and nutrients can be absorbed more easily.  Without aerating the soil, toxins increase, plant disease develops and plant growth slows down.  This process looks brutal but not only is it good for plants, it encourages roots to grow even deeper.

Our verse for today describes the spiritual health of the Thessalonian church.  Paul is proud of their growing faith and love for one another.  Their faith has been growing as a result of persecutions and trials.  Like aerating soil, the process is hard, but the results can be seen in a growing and healthy faith.  Because of the hard times, their roots have grown deeper and they are able to endure.

The seed of God’s Word has fallen on good soil (Matt. 13:23) and I am thankful.  But for my faith to continue to grow and be healthy, God allows hard times to come and test that faith.  He is aerating the soil to keep me growing.  It certainly does not feel good, but all those difficulties in my life are causing my roots to grow deeper into Him and His Word.

Thank you Lord, that You know what You are doing in my life.  Help me to trust You.

 


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Grasshoppers

Scripture for Today: Numbers 13:33 “We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of the Anak come from the Nephilim).  We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

Grasshoppers are almost cute.  This one seems to be smiling!  Of all the insects I can run into, I am the least threatened by the grasshopper.  Perhaps the delight of seeing them jumping in the grass when I was a child has stayed with me.  They are not thought of as so cute when one realizes they are no different than the destructive locust!  Their ability to jump long distances with those powerful legs is surprising.  If humans could jump as they do, we would easily jump the length of a football field and then some!

In our verse for today, ten of the twelve men sent to check out the opposition in the Promise Land came back feeling like grasshoppers.  The inhabitants were “of a great size” and they concluded they were too strong to attack!  Caleb and Joshua were the only ones who gave an encouraging report to Moses and the people.  The size of the enemy did not matter to them.  They understood that the Lord was with them and there was no need to be afraid.  Believing in God’s promised victory and His protection kept them from feeling small and powerless.

I can relate to those ten men who felt like grasshoppers!  When trials loom in front of me or an obstacle to my faith seems insurmountable I can feel so small and impotent.  I may actually be a grasshopper when it comes to comparing strength and numbers.  But I am on the Lord’s side and that makes all the difference!

Thank you Lord, for the victory I have in You!


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Toy Gyroscope

Scripture for Today: I Peter 5:9  “Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”

One of the joys of being a grandparent is shopping in toy stores.  I have ignored them for years.  Now, I have new interest in anything that may interest my grandsons!  The other day I saw an old fashioned toy gyroscope.  Never one to be too enthused about physics, I still managed to enjoy the whirling action of this toy when I was young.  I am not sure I understand much more about it as an adult!  But I do understand that the middle (rotor) will maintain its spin axis regardless of the crazy movements of that outer frame.

Our verse for today is about resisting the devil and standing firm in the faith.  Like the gyroscope center that resists the movement of the outer rings, we are to stay the course and keep turning in the direction of truth.  Resisting the devil is resisting the “Father of Lies.”  Using the suffering in our lives, he whispers that we are unloved and abandoned by God.  Suffering can surprise us if we somehow thought that as believers we were exempt.  But holding tight to faith in God’s Word and His promises keeps us standing firm and turning in the right direction.

One of the temptations when moving through suffering is to believe that no one else suffers as we do.  It is true that each of us is unique, but suffering is “common to man.”  God has His good purposes in allowing us to suffer different tests and trials.  He will always give us the ability to bear it (I Cor 10:13).

He is faithful.  Thank you, Lord, that with You I can resist and stand firm!


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Underwater

Scripture for Today: Psalm 77:19  “Your path led through the sea, Your way through the mighty waters, though Your footsteps were not seen.”

We live in an age of amazing technology!  Underwater robots, or “Remote Operating Vehicles” plunge the depths of the oceans and bring up all kinds of new information.  Their unmanned exploration has been used in a variety of ways.  Some are able to do repairs on oil rigs.  Some can predict the magnitude of an approaching hurricane.  Others can locate, map and sometimes raise the wreckage of a downed airplane!  Their discoveries have increased our appreciation of God’s creation!  But there is one thing these underwater robots will never find on the ocean floor; God’s footprints!

We do not see His footsteps but we see the evidence of His creative work and His mighty deeds.  The verse for today uses the images of the sea and the mighty waters to represent the unseen reasons for the hard times in life.  The author begins this psalm feeling rejected and forgotten by God.  He decides to meditate on all God’s miracles of the past.  He reaffirms God’s mighty power and ends with trust.  Even though he does not see God’s “footprints” he responds with faith.

I sometimes feel that I am “out of my depth” with why God allows hard things to happen.  But it is true that He leads us into deep waters.  It feels so deep that we cannot find our footing.  We do not see His footsteps or any evidence at all of His being there in that moment of distress.  But He is.  We are not walking on that ocean floor by sight, but by faith (II Cor. 5:7).

Thank you Lord, that You will deliver me from deep waters and will not allow them to engulf me!


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Healing

Scripture for Today:  Isaiah 53:5 “But He was pierced for our transgressions.  He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him and by His wounds we are healed.”

It is flu season now in California.  My husband and I had our shots in November, but there are so many strains, there is no guaranty that we won’t catch it.  The hospitals in the area are not allowing children under fourteen to make visits and they are screening all others at the door.  School absenteeism is on the rise and simple preventative measures are being reviewed in the media.

No one likes being ill.  We count on our healthy lifestyles and our doctors to keep us well.  For the believer, the request for healing of loved ones or for ourselves make up a large part of our prayers.  Our verse for today says that through the sacrificial death of Christ we have peace with God.  Because He took the punishment for our sins, those who place their faith in Him are forgiven!  It goes on to say that by His wounds we are healed.

Quite frankly, even with lots of faith and lots of prayer, one is not always healed.  But this verse speaks of a more important healing in the spiritual realm.  God absolutely heals us physically when it is part of His plan.  But it is always part of His plan to give us spiritual healing.

His healing mends my broken heart, and He heals me from the awful effects of sin.  He will one day heal me for eternity with a heavenly body that is perfect and incorruptible!  Thank you Lord, that in my future, sin and sickness will be a distant memory.