Trusting God Day by Day: 365 Daily Devotions (18 page)

H
ave you ever seen a puddle of water that was stagnant? There’s no circulation, no fresh water source, and the water just sits there. There’s little life left. We can slide into stagnation. It happens a little bit at a time and often so slowly that it is almost imperceptible. I believe everyone will stagnate if they don’t fight it. It is easy to just float along with everyone else, doing the same thing every day. We stop being daring, doing outrageous things, and being creative. We settle in, we slip into the world’s mold, and we conform to what people expect. We become boringly predictable!

One of the most valuable things I have learned is to do things on purpose rather than waiting until I feel like doing them. I purposely take care of my responsibilities in life, because I know it is very important. I give on purpose. I actually look for people to be a blessing to because I have learned the vitally important lesson that Jesus taught about walking in love (see Eph. 5:2; 2 John 1:6). I purposely do something that is a little out of the ordinary for me every once in a while simply because I refuse to live in stagnation. I purposely spend time every day in prayer and fellowship with God because I want to honor Him and always give Him His rightful place in my life, which is first place.

If you take this aggressive action, living on purpose and refusing to stagnate, it will make a big difference in your quality of life. Don’t just put in your time here on earth; enjoy your life and make the world glad that you are here.

O
nce I found myself worried about what I would do if my husband, Dave, died. How could I run the ministry on my own? After several days of this mental attack the Lord spoke to my heart and said, “If Dave died, you would keep doing exactly what you are doing because I am the One holding you up, not Dave.”

I obviously need Dave and depend on him for many things, but God wanted to reestablish in my heart what was true from the beginning of our ministry: with or without Dave, or anyone else for that matter, I could do what God had asked me to do as long as I had Him.

When Peter, Judas, and others disappointed Jesus, He was not devastated, because His confidence was not misplaced. He was dependent and yet independent at the same time. I depend on many people in my ministry to help me accomplish what I am called to do. However, I see constant change. People leave who I thought would be with me forever, and God sends new people who have amazing gifts. I need people, but I know it is God working through people to help me. If He decides to change who He works through, that should be no concern of mine.

I appreciate all the wonderful people God has placed in my life. My husband and children are amazing. My ministry staff is top-notch, and the wonderful ministry partners God has given me are awesome. I need all of them, but if for any reason God ever decided to remove any of them from my life, I want to be a confident woman who knows that with God alone all things are possible. My confidence must be in Him more than it is in anything or anyone else.

T
rying to solve tomorrow’s problems today only steals the energy God has prearranged for you in order to enjoy today. Don’t waste your time worrying! It is vain and useless.

When Jesus instructed us not to worry about tomorrow, He was saying that we should deal with life one day at a time. He gives us the strength we need as we need it. When we take that strength He gives us and apply it to worry instead of living, we rob ourselves of the blessings God intended for us to have today. We miss out on good things because we worry about bad things that may not even come to be!

For several years a woman had trouble getting to sleep at night because she feared burglars. One night her husband heard a noise in the house, so he went downstairs to investigate. When he got there, he did find a burglar. “Good evening,” said the man of the house. “I am pleased to see you. Come upstairs and meet my wife. She has been waiting ten years to meet you.”

A confident person does not worry, because they see the future differently than those who are worriers. They confidently believe that with God’s help, they can do whatever they need to do, no matter what it is. A positive attitude enables them to expect good things in the future, not bad ones. Confidence is the fruit of trusting God. When we trust
Him, we may not have all the answers, but we are confident that He does.

L
ife isn’t one big, long sunny day. At some point, we all face storms—whether they come in the form of unexpected illness, job loss, financial crisis, marital difficulties, problems with children, or any number of other scenarios that are stressful, intense, and important. I have faced many storms in my life—some like the quick afternoon storms that are common in summertime and some that seemed like category four hurricanes. If I have learned anything about weathering the storms of life, I have learned that they don’t last forever, and that if at all possible, I do not need to make major decisions in the midst of them.

When the storms of life arise, it’s best to keep your mind and emotions as still as possible. Thoughts and feelings often run wild in the midst of crises, but those are exactly the times we need to be careful about making decisions. We must remain calm and discipline ourselves
to focus on doing what we can do and trusting God to do what we cannot do.

Next time you face a storm or crisis in your life, I hope you’ll remember these words, which I often say: “Let your emotions subside before you decide.” Do your best to let things settle down before you make major decisions. You may not always have that choice, but as much as possible, put significant decisions on hold until your storm passes. Just as the wind blows about wildly during a storm, our thoughts can become quite wild and frantic, and that is not the best time to make major decisions.

Making this commitment will protect you from making quick, unwise decisions that could take you off the course God has for you.

O
ne of the best stories about how faith and confidence in God releases the power of potential took place centuries ago, when many parts of the ancient world were still unsettled. God promised the people of Israel they would possess a rich and fertile country, known as Canaan. He didn’t promise them they could step across its borders without opposition, but He did promise them they would inhabit it—and when God makes a promise, He means it.

Taking God at His Word, the Israelites appointed twelve men to go
into Canaan to “spy out the land” and bring back a report. Upon their return, ten spies admitted that the land flowed with milk and honey, and acknowledged that the fruit in Canaan was large and beautiful, but then remarked that the land was full of giants who would be impossible to overcome. They allowed the presence of the giants to detract from the promises of God.

In contrast, Joshua and Caleb brought back good reports, full of faith and confidence in God, and Caleb spoke up with confidence, saying, “Let us go up at once and possess it; we are well able to conquer it” (Num. 13:30). The ten spies thought the giants in the land were too big to kill, but Joshua and Caleb thought they were too big to miss. Joshua and Caleb were the only two men who were positive in the face of opposition from the giants. They didn’t ignore the challenges, but they did not overemphasize them—and they were the only two who entered the Promised Land.

Being positive does not mean we deny the existence of difficulty; it means we believe God is greater than our difficulties. Believing in God can cause us to win any battle we face. When we are closed to “positive possibilities” we only see what is right in front of us, not what we could see if we would simply be positive and creative.

F
ear and worry are closely related. You might say fear is the parent of every kind of worry because every worry starts as a fear. The Bible clearly teaches that God’s children are not to worry. When we worry, we rotate our minds around and around a problem and come up with no answers. The more we do it, the more anxious we feel. When we worry, we actually torment ourselves with a type of thinking that produces no good fruit. Worry starts with our thoughts, but it affects our moods and even our physical bodies.

A person can worry so much that it makes them feel depressed and sad. Worry places stress on your entire system and causes a lot of physical ailments like headaches, tension in muscles, stomach problems, and many other things. It never helps, and it does not solve our problems.

We can worry about hundreds of different things, from what people think of us to what will happen to us as we age. How long will we be able to work? Who will take care of us when we get old? What happens if the stock market crashes? What if gas prices go up? What if I lose my job? Quite often, worry does not even have a basis or a nugget of truth to it. There is no known reason to even think about the things that worry and then frighten us.

The only answer is to stop worrying by placing your trust in God. He has the future all planned, and He knows the answer to everything. What we worry about frequently never happens anyway, and if it is going to happen, worrying won’t prevent it. God’s Word promises us that He will take care of us if we trust in Him.

A
ll of us need encouragement. It is a tool that increases our confidence and inspires us to act with courage, spirit, or strength. That is what we need! We don’t need anyone around to discourage us; instead, we need “encouragers” in our lives.

Because we all encounter difficulty while we are running our race and trying to reach our goals, we all need encouragement. The more we get, the easier it is to stay on track and avoid wasting days or weeks in discouragement, depression, and despair. One of the best ways I know to get something I want or need is to give some of it away. God’s Word teaches us to sow and then we shall reap. If a farmer plants tomato seeds, he will get a harvest of tomatoes. If we plant encouragement in the lives of other people, we will reap a harvest of encouragement in our own.

What we make happen for someone else, God will make happen for us. Do you sometimes find yourself wishing you had more encouragement, maybe from your family or your friends or your boss? But how often do you encourage others? If you’re not sure, then make an extra effort right away. You can be the channel that God uses to keep someone confidently pressing toward success rather than giving up.