Devotions By Jan

Category Archives: Suffering and Trials


by 3 Comments

Cactus Flower

Scripture for Today: Isaiah 43:19  “See, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?  I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”

We have friends who are “desert rats!”  They are drawn to the remote immense spaces.  No matter that it is often dry and uninhabitable.  There is something about its harsh beauty that allows one to breathe after the congestion of the city.

It is always surprising to see flowers bloom on a cactus in the desert.  Its spiny surface seems incongruent with the fragile beauty of a flower petal.  Our God is so creative to plant something so delicate where we least expect it!

Our verse for today encourages us to look and see what God is doing.  We could miss it.  Because the cactus flower often opens with the sunlight but closes with dusk, passing by its beauty is easy to do!  In the same way, we can pass by unaware of what new thing God is creating.  He makes a way in the wilderness and streams in the wastelands.  He makes something beautiful in a dry barren place.

It is too easy to see only the negative.  I need to watch for what new thing God may be creating in me or in my circumstances.  Am I looking for that good He promises in Romans 8:28 or have I become accustomed to seeing only the trial?  Have I settled for something less than what God had intended for me?

Open the eyes of my heart Lord, so I can see the bigger picture of what You want to accomplish!  If it is good and beautiful I know it is Your doing!  Thank you, Lord, that no trial or pain is beyond Your reach to produce something positive and wonderful!


by 1 Comment

Waterfall

Scripture for Today:  Psalm 42:7 “Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls;  All Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me.”

The grandeur of the mighty Niagara Falls impressed both my husband and me.  It was bitterly cold during our winter visit and we could not stand there for long.  Even so, the force of its cascading water was deafening!  Not only are these three falls breathtaking but they are an important source of hydroelectric power.  Almost 76,000 gallons of water flow over two of the three falls every second!

Our verse for today can be looked at as a description of the cascading waters flowing from the upper Jordan as they rush down from Mount Hermon (verse 6).  But they are also an image of the author’s depression.  His soul is downcast and it feels as if he is being overwhelmed with water.  The force of his emotions are overpowering.  As with the weight of water pouring down without interruption, so it can be with sadness.

The unrelenting weight of sadness affects every believer from time to time.  We sometimes seem to be the victim of our own emotions.  At the same time, we can see that there will some day be an end to distress and emotional turmoil.  It is this hope that can turn us around and help us keep our head above water.

Rather than focusing on the crushing weight of my emotions, I can look forward to an eternal weight of glory (II Cor. 4:17).  By comparison, whatever I am going through is considered light and momentary.  That is my hope.  Everything good is ahead of me.  All sorrow and sadness will one day be erased.

They are His waterfalls, His breakers, and His waves.  Thank you Lord, that you will not allow them to overwhelm me!


by 4 Comments

Dark Night

Scripture for Today:  Psalm 42:8  “The Lord will command His loving kindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me, a prayer to the God of my life.”

We just experienced the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere on December 21st.  The winter solstice makes for a very long and dark night.  However, this year, it was the night before that could claim that distinction!  Due to a lunar eclipse, the night of the 20th is said to have been the darkest night in the last 500 years!

For many people, the holidays are represented by some very dark nights.  Expectations not met, hopes dashed and keen disappointments mark holiday nights.  Sweet “Hallmark” moments do not match up with one’s reality.  For some, the darkest nights occur when everyone else seems to be celebrating.

Ralph Waldo Emerson has said when it is dark enough, men see the stars.  But our verse for today is no pithy saying.  It is truth.  His loving kindness is ours in the daytime.  His song is ours in the night, even in the darkest night.  Circumstances can disappoint.  People can disappoint.  But HE does not.  Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed (Romans 10:11).  What an incredible truth!  During the darkest night, I can sing!  He gives me hope.

I love that our verse for today says that He “commands” His loving kindness.  It reminds me that He is in control.  He commands and directs.  He arranges and controls.  So much of my life is not my call, but His.  I am thankful that His control is loving and kind.  His direction is trustworthy.

No matter how dark the night, thank you Lord, that my heart can sing because You give me hope.


by 2 Comments

Chestnuts

Scripture for Today: Isaiah 45:3  “I will give you hidden treasure, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name.”

These chestnuts are all over the ground of the forest up above our house.  They are brown and furry by the time they drop and look like something out of a Star Trek TV episode (the mythical “tribble”).  When they are still green and fresh, the chestnut is difficult to handle with its spiny bur.  But getting at that delicious treasure is worth all the effort!  There can be up to seven chestnuts in one bur.

The chestnut here in France is most often roasted but is also candied, boiled, steamed and grilled.   For Christmas and New Year’s the “marron glacé” is traditional fare, a chestnut that has been glazed in sugar syrup.  For some, the chestnut is an acquired taste, but I enjoy them!

Our verse for today talks about treasures that are hidden.  The riches that the Lord reveals are not so obvious.  Like the chestnut, they are sometimes stored in places difficult to see.  The outside of that hidden treasure makes it easy to miss.  Getting at that treasure may involved going through some tough prickly times.

It is through the hard times that I see God’s love and gentleness with me.  It is when life is difficult that He reveals the treasure of who He is.  His comfort and His grace are the unexpected surprise behind that negative experience.  Through a trial He becomes MY Lord, calling me by My name.  Faith becomes very personal as He reveals to me the treasure of His power and presence.

Help me, Lord, to discover that treasure.  Reveal to me the secret places of Your love!


by Leave a comment

Thirsty Deer

Scripture for Today: Psalm 42:1-2  “As the deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for You, O God.  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.  When shall I come and behold the face of God?”

There are deer up in the forest on the hill behind our house.  It does not happen often, but I have surprised them on my walks in the vineyards.  I imagine they like to come down and nibble on the vines.  The moist climate of Alsace means that local deer can satisfy much of their thirst in their foraging of wet leaves.  The deer living in a dry sandy country have a greater need for water.

The deer described in our verse today lives in a dry climate and quenches his thirst in a flowing stream. David (thought to be the author) likens his thirst for God to that thirsty deer.  For days and nights David had been crying (verse 3).  The outpouring of his tears has made him thirsty for God’s reassuring presence.  He was crying because his enemies mocked him saying, “where is your God?” (verse 10)  In the face of their taunts and persecution, David thirsts for just a glimpse of the face of God.

David’s relationship to God was so close.  Yet, there were times he was particularly thirsty for His presence.  Those thirsty times were in reaction to the mockery of others.  In the same way, when I am ridiculed for my faith, I need to run to Him.  When my incredulous mocking peers discourage me, there is only one solution; come and be reassured in His satisfying presence.

The sweet water He provides my soul is exactly what is needed in facing an unbelieving world.  Thank you, Lord, that through faith, You satisfy that longing for a glimpse of Your face.