by Catherine McDaugale | Jun 6, 2022 | Christian Living, Life, Spiritual Growth
“And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You.” (Psalm 39:7 (NKJV))
Many of us are waiting for something. Maybe you’re going through a trial that seems like it will never end. Or maybe God has given you a promise that has not yet come to fruition. What should we do while we’re waiting?
In short, we should trust God. And “let patience have its perfect work” (James 1:4 (NKJV)).
Waiting for a promise to be fulfilled may seem like a trial in and of itself. Waiting is hard – especially in our culture. We’re not used to waiting for anything. Instead, we’re used to getting things the way we want them, when we want them.
We have fast food. On-demand movies. Giga-bit internet. People get impatient if they have to wait for more than a few minutes in a drive-through. Some even get irritated and leave (or worse). We stream entertainment at our fingertips whenever we want it. Our internet is now so fast that everything works in an instant, even on our phones.
Gone are the days of patiently cooking your own food. Many don’t remember dial-up internet that binged and bonged for a minute before it even connected. And then it would run so slowly that you could get up and do something else for an hour while you were waiting for something to download. Literally.
So when we’re going through a trial, we want it to end now. Or, better yet, yesterday. We don’t want to wait for a promise; we want it to happen immediately. Right?
Sometimes, God does deliver you out of the trial. It started, you prayed, you trusted, and bam! It seemed like God delivered you out of it instantly.
Other times, God gave you a promise that was fulfilled soon after He gave it to you. You were overjoyed by His blessing. You couldn’t believe how quickly God had worked.
But then there are those times when you’re not sure if God is listening. You wonder if He’s doing anything or if He even remembers the promise He gave you. You cry out, “How long must I wait?”
God’s timing is perfect. We need to wait for Him. In the waiting, God is doing a work in us. He’s using that time to change us.
It’s easy to get our priorities mixed up when we’re in pain. When we’re hurting, our focus can get stuck on the trial or the unfulfilled promise. But that’s not where our attention should be. We need to remember that we’re not waiting for something, but on Someone.
Our eyes need to be on Jesus. Our hope lies in Him and Him alone. Refocus your eyes; change your depth of field. Stop focusing on your struggles and fix your eyes firmly on Jesus. Remember all that He has already done for you. Recall how He brought you up out of the miry clay and set your feet on a rock (Psalm 40:2).
When we wait on God, instead of something else, He will strengthen your heart (Psalm 27:14). And “those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31 (NKJV)).
God has a plan. And He has a time for that plan to happen. He is working all things together – not just in your life but in the lives of others as well. God is doing a work while you’re waiting. Even though you can’t see it, God is working. He never sleeps or slumbers (Psalm 121:3-4).
Trust Him. Wait on Him. Be patient while He works.
In the meantime, here are three things you can do while you’re waiting:
1. Read the Bible
Take time each day to nourish your spirit. We tend to focus on our physical needs and forget that our spirit has needs too. When was the last time you forgot to eat food? I have heard of some people who say things like, “I was so busy that I forgot to eat.” But for most, our stomachs readily remind us when we need to eat. (And often too frequently. Sigh.)
But it’s easy to get distracted with whatever we’re doing and forget to spend time reading the Bible. Set aside a regular time to be in God’s Word
- getting to know Him better;
- finding out what He likes and what He hates;
- discovering what He wants you to do and what He doesn’t want you to do; and
- learning about the amazing things He has done.
As you draw near to God, He has promised to draw near to you (James 4:8). And, as your relationship with God deepens, you’ll be able to trust Him and be patient in the waiting.
2. Pray
Pour out your heart to God. Tell Him how you’re feeling. He knows what you’re going through is hard. And He will be there to listen to you and walk with you through it.
In the waiting, you may question the truth that God loves you. But that is the truth. Because He cares for you, He wants you to cast all your care on Him (1 Peter 5:7). The word “cast” means to throw. God wants you to throw your worries to Him. When you do, it’s out of your hands and in His. His hands are able to hold all your cares. Let Him help you.
3. Worship
Praise God for what He’s going to do in your life and for the things He’s already done. When you’re feeling down, put on your favorite worship music and sing to Him. As the psalmist encourages us,
“I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works. I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.” (Psalm 9:1-2 (NKJV))
As you sing praises to God, something awesome happens. When you started singing, your spirit may have felt heavy. You probably didn’t even feel like worshipping God. And it may have been difficult for you to even get the words out of your mouth.
But as you praise Him, as you continue to sing, your spirits are lifted. You feel lighter, calmer – even joyful. Your disposition actually changes while you’re worshipping our beautiful Savior. He is so good to us!
Have you noticed how the psalms often begin with despair and end in hope? The process of taking your cares to the Lord and then praising Him despite your pain results in lifting your spirit. Your circumstances haven’t changed. Yet, your perspective has. You are able to see the size of your problem in light of our great God. Take time to praise Him every day.
So, in the waiting, wait on God. Take time to read His Word, pray to Him, and praise Him as you anticipate how He will work. As you do, you will grow closer to God as you wait by faith on Him.
*Photo by Guilherme Stecanella on Unsplash
by Catherine McDaugale | May 9, 2022 | Christian Living, Life, Spiritual Growth
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and
all these things shall be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33 (NKJV))
By examining yourself, you should be able to determine if God is the One who’s on center stage in your life. To do so, ask yourself what you spend most of your time thinking about. Is it your children? Your husband? Or getting a husband? Maybe it’s not family-related but your job, a vacation you’re planning, or a fun night out with friends.
Now compare the amount of time you spend thinking about those things with how much you think about God. Meditating on His goodness – on who He is and all He has done. Thinking about things like how He created the universe by speaking it into existence and how that shows His power and might. About the promises He’s made to us and all He’s done for you.
If God’s not front and center in your thought-life, you may have relegated Him to that dusty supply closet backstage where you only go when you need something.
God wants to be the main thing in your life, for you to seek Him first. He doesn’t want to be an after-thought, the One we only think about when something bad happens. We shouldn’t confine God to our Sunday mornings. Of course, God also wants us to seek Him in those times. But He doesn’t want them to be the only occasions in which we come to Him.
Make sure you haven’t confined God to certain parts of your life. Instead, put Him on center stage. Give Him priority. Seek Him first, not when you get around to it. When you do, God has promised to provide for your needs.
Besides His promise of provision, there are other reasons we should seek God first. For one, God deserves to be on center stage in our lives. He is the One who created the universe – the One who made us (Genesis 1:1, 27). And Jesus is the One who sustains us. He is literally holding us together. The Bible teaches us that “He holds all creation together” (Colossians 1:17 (NLT)).
Moreover, God wants to have a relationship with you. But you can’t have a relationship with someone you’re not spending time with.
Think about the connections you have with your family and friends. They take time, thought, and energy. Without that investment, a relationship can become estranged. Or it may never form to begin with.
It takes time to develop a friendship – to get to know a person’s likes and dislikes, to understand what they think is important, and to learn how they feel about certain things. If you don’t make the time, you won’t get to know that person very well.
It’s the same with God. If you don’t spend time with Him, your relationship with Him won’t deepen. It won’t grow. You won’t know Him very well. And God wants you to know Him. He has revealed Himself to you in the Bible.
Isn’t that amazing? The all-powerful, all-mighty God wants to have a close relationship with you! He already knows everything about you. God knows what you do and what you think about. He even knows what you’re going to say before you even say it (Psalm 139:4). But He wants you to get to know Him.
So let God be on center stage in your life. Seek Him first today. That doesn’t mean you stop caring about other people or things. Seeking God first just means that God takes priority each day of your life.
Here are a few things that will help you to seek God first:
- Read the Bible every day to discover who God is and His will for your life.
- Meditate on what you read. Ask yourself what it means and how God wants you to apply it to your life.
- Pray to God. Tell Him what’s going on in Your life. Ask Him for guidance and help with the decisions you need to make.
- Be obedient to do whatever God asks you to do. If the Bible teaches you that you shouldn’t do something, obey God and stop doing it. Conversely, if there’s something God wants you to do, start doing it.
As you seek God first – putting Him on center stage, you’ll be able to walk by faith with Him.
* Photo by Barry Weatherall on Unsplash
by Catherine McDaugale | Apr 25, 2022 | Christian Living, Life
“. . . forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.” (Colossians 3:13 (NKJV))
When someone has wronged you, forgiveness is likely the last thing on your mind. The pain cuts deep into your heart. Thoughts like, “How could she have said that?” or “How could he have done that to me?” run through your mind. You justify withholding forgiveness because you feel like they don’t deserve it.
Before we talk about why you should forgive, let’s start by defining our terms. Forgiveness means that you release the person’s debt – the debt that was created by the wrong. It does not mean that the person’s words or actions were okay. It’s only a decision to no longer hold that wrong against them.
Moreover, forgiveness is not the same thing as reconciliation. You can forgive without the relationship being restored. The trust that was lost is not necessarily regained. Depending on the circumstances, that person may still not be a part of your life and may not even know that you’ve forgiven them.
With that in mind, here are three reasons you should forgive:
1. God Told Us To
The main reason we should forgive is because God told us to. As we see from the above verse, God commands us to forgive. It tells us that we “must” forgive (Colossians 3:13 (NKJV)). The word “must” means that it’s mandatory. It’s not optional. We don’t get to decide if we want to forgive. The Bible doesn’t say, “You can think about whether it’s a good idea.”
Because God told us to forgive, we should be obedient to do what He’s asked us to do. Frankly, this should be enough. (Drop mic, exit stage right.) But if you’re still not convinced, there are two more reasons you should forgive.
2. You’ve Been Forgiven Much
Second, you should forgive based on the forgiveness you’ve received from God. Going back to the verse in Colossians, the Bible teaches that you must forgive “even as Christ forgave you” (Colossians 3:13 (NKJV)). When Peter asked Jesus how many times he should forgive his brother, Jesus told him a parable.
In the parable, a king was settling his accounts with his servants and saw that a man owed him 10,000 talents (Matthew 18:23-24). That probably doesn’t mean much to you since we don’t have talents in our monetary system. But at that time, 10,000 talents would equate to payment for 60 million workdays.[1] Yes, million. If you divide that by 365 days in a year, you come up with about 164,383 years. Obviously, it would be impossible to work off that debt.
Because the servant was not able to pay the debt, the king ordered that the man, his wife, his children, and all his possessions be sold (Matthew 18:25). The man fell down before the king and begged him to have patience with him (Matthew 18:26). So, the king “was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt” (Matthew 18:27 (NKJV)).
The servant then went to a fellow servant who owed him 100 denarii (100 days’ wages), “laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying ‘Pay me what you owe!’” (Matthew 18:28 (NKJV)). When his fellow servant begged him to have patience with him, “he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt” (Matthew 18:29-30 (NKJV)).
When the king found out about it, he called the servant and said, “You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?” (Matthew 18:32-33 (NKJV)). So the king “delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him” (Matthew 18:34 (NKJV)).
Jesus then said, “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses” (Matthew 18:35 (NKJV)).
Like the servant in the parable, we have been forgiven much as believers in Jesus. The price of our forgiveness was costly because we have sinned against an all-powerful, almighty God. Jesus had to die to pay that price. He was brutally beaten and hung on a cross. Yet, Jesus willingly died because of His great love for us.
In turn, any infraction against us pales in comparison to our sin against God. Because we have been forgiven much, we should forgive those sins committed against us.
I’m not trying to minimize your pain. That pain is real. The offense may have been great. Your trust was probably violated. Relationships may have been ruined. But any sin against us is like the debt owed to the servant by his fellow servant. And our sin against God is like the debt the servant owed the king – one that we would have never been able to repay.
3. It’s Good For Your Health
Finally, you should forgive because unforgiveness is bad for you. It’s a heavy burden. Until you forgive, that burden is always with you. When you see the person or think about them, whatever they did comes to mind. Your anxiety rises as you dwell on it. You become bitter as you replay it over and over in your mind.
The anxiety you experience has an adverse effect on your body. As the Bible teaches us, “Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression” (Proverbs 12:25 (NKJV)). Of course, medical studies corroborate the Bible’s claim. And I’m sure you’ve experienced anxiety at one time or another in varying degrees. It’s never a good thing. When you forgive, you feel lighter and your anxiety is relieved.
So let’s obey God and forgive those who have wronged us. God knows what is best for us. Let’s always remember how much God has forgiven us. You’ll reap the benefits as you draw closer to God and walk by faith with Him.
[1] Earl D. Radmacher, ed. NKJV Study Bible – Notes. n.p.: Thomas Nelson, 2019. Olive Tree Bible Study App Edition.
by Catherine McDaugale | Mar 28, 2022 | Christian Living, Life, Ministry, Spiritual Growth
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV))
Have you noticed that God doesn’t usually give you the whole picture when He asks you to do something? It’s like putting together a puzzle when you don’t have the front of the box. You’re not sure what it’s going to look like when you’re finished. You can’t see how it will turn out.
For example, you may feel God prompting you to text someone a Bible verse but you have no idea why. You may feel uncomfortable because you’re worried what she’ll think. Later, she may tell you that the verse was exactly what she needed at the time. However, when you sent it, you didn’t have that insight.
Or God may give you a vision with just the first step. He shows you what He wants you to accomplish overall but doesn’t give you the details. Until you take that first step, God doesn’t give you the next one. You have no idea how God is going to take you from step one to the vision’s completion. You don’t have the whole picture.
A few years ago, God gave me a vision about writing a book about His faithfulness. I had never written a book before and didn’t have any idea how it could come to completion. God had only given me the first step. He wanted me to write about how He had been faithful to bring me through a difficult time. It wasn’t until I completed that first step that He gave me the next one. As I followed His direction, God guided me step by step, giving me everything I needed as I stepped out in faith to do the next part.
After the book was completed, I could look back and see the whole picture. I could see how God had met me where I was, each step of the way. And that first step – the one that was so hard to take – didn’t even make it into the book. It was necessary to start the process, and God used it for me personally. But the first step was never meant to be part of the book.
Each time God gives us something to do, we really want the whole picture, don’t we? We think it would be helpful to know all the details. We believe that we would be more confident if we knew each step we would need to take, what would happen in response to each step we took, and how God would work in each situation
Yet, if God gave us the whole picture, we wouldn’t be walking by faith with Him. Instead, we would likely move forward on our own.
Moreover, having the whole picture wouldn’t necessarily help. The truth is that we might not be able to handle the whole picture if God gave it to us up front. It might be too overwhelming for us to take it all in.
We see an example of this in Moses’s life. When God called Moses to lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, He gave Moses many of the details about where He wanted Moses to go, what He wanted Moses to do, who He wanted Moses to talk to, what He wanted Moses to say, and how the people would respond.
- First, God told Moses to go and gather the elders of Israel together, what he should say to the elders, and how the elders would respond (Exodus 3:16-18).
- Second, God told Moses to go to the king of Egypt with the elders, what he should say to the king of Egypt, and that the king of Egypt would not let the Israelites leave (Exodus 3:18-19).
- Finally, God told Moses that He would do the work so that the king of Egypt would let them go and they would leave with the Egyptians’ riches (Exodus 3:20-22).
In short, God gave Moses the whole picture.
When God was finished, we see that Moses was still stuck on step one. Moses asked God, “But suppose they [the elders] will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you’” (Exodus 4:1 (NKJV)).
God had just told Moses how the elders of the Israelites would react. God told Moses that they would believe him – that they would “heed” his voice (Exodus 3:18 (NKJV)). But Moses was focused on himself and his own abilities. It’s like he shut down after that first direction. Maybe he began thinking about it, trying to figure out how it would all work.
Did Moses even hear the rest of what God told him in that moment? We don’t know. But it must have been overwhelming to hear about it all.
How often are we like Moses? We also get stuck on the first step. Instead of trusting God and stepping out in obedience, we get anxious. We ask ourselves, “How could I do that?” Or we worry about what people will think. For that reason, it would be easy for us to get overwhelmed if God gave us more than that first step.
Rather than focusing on our own abilities – or lack thereof – we need to trust God. God is able to help us with everything He wants us to do. “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way” (Psalm 37:23 (NKJV)).
So stop waiting for that step-by-step plan. Don’t worry about whether God’s given you the whole picture. Step out in faith when God gives you that very first step. Trust Him and see the amazing things that He will do.
*Photo by Benjamin Zanatta on Unsplash
by Catherine McDaugale | Feb 24, 2022 | Christian Living, Life, Ministry
“So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12 (NKJV))
One of my favorite movies is Groundhog Day. In it, the main character gets stuck in a sort of time loop and lives the same day over and over. Essentially, time stands still.
He starts off confused. But then he progresses through different stages, using each “new” day to do whatever he wants without any consequences. Some days are filled with frivolity, while others are used to learn new things. After he understands the needed lesson, the clock finally moves on to the next day.
Wouldn’t that be great? Wouldn’t you love it if time stood still so you were able to have all the time you needed without worrying about the consequences?
But it doesn’t work like that. Ever. Time marches on, second by second at an unchanging, rhythmic pace. Time stops for no one.
If you waste a day binge-watching your favorite tv show on Netflix or some other streaming service, you won’t get those hours back. When you wake up the next day, it won’t be the same day again. Once a day has passed, it’s gone for good.
We all get one life. Each of our lives are allocated a certain number of days. In the Bible, the psalmist asks God to “teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12 (NKJV)). We don’t know exactly how much time we will have. But our days are numbered. This life won’t last forever.
When we realize how short our time is, we will use the time we have wisely. In the time that we have, God has fashioned days for us (Psalm 139:16). We can choose to follow God’s plan for our lives. Or we can squander the time He has given us on things that don’t really matter.
As it’s been said, only what is done for Christ will last. When a person comes to the end of her life, she doesn’t look back and say, “I wish I had watched more movies.” Rather, the regrets are that she didn’t spend more time with family, didn’t do something she knew God wanted her to do, or didn’t live her life in a godly way.
Don’t misunderstand me. When you die as a believer in Jesus, you won’t be judged for your sins because Jesus already paid the price for them (John 5:24). God has cast your sins as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12), and He has promised to remember them no more (Jeremiah 31:34). Praise God for that!
Yet, you will be judged for what you did with the time and the talents that God has given you. The Bible tells us,
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10).
At the end, our works will be tested by fire (1 Corinthians 3:13). The things you did for yourself will be burned up. But the things you did for the Lord with the right motive will be rewarded.
Jesus told us the parable of the talents. A talent was a unit of measurement used to weigh a coin. Likely, at the time Jesus taught this parable, a talent would have been equal to a year’s wage.
In the parable, a man who was going to travel to a “far country” gives his servants different amounts of talents according to each one’s ability (Matthew 25:14-15 (NKJV)). The man gave one servant five talents, another two talents, and another one talent (Matthew 25:15).
While their master was away, the servants with five and two talents each traded them and doubled the money (Matthew 25:16-17). “But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money” (Matthew 25:18 (NKJV)).
When their master returned, the servants who had been given five and two talents, told their master how they had doubled what he had given them (Matthew 25:19-20, 22). In response, their master told each one, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord” (Matthew 25:21, 23 (NKJV)).
But the servant who had hidden the one talent made excuses, accusing his master of being “a hard man” (Matthew 25:24-25 (NKJV)). In response, his master took the talent from him and gave it to the servant who had ten talents (Matthew 25:28).
Just as the master in the parable gave talents to his servants to invest for him while he was away, Jesus has given each one of us different abilities to use for His glory while He is away preparing a place for us. When we refuse to use them for any reason or are lazy, we sin.
So let’s be time sensitive because time stops for no one. Let’s commit to walking by faith with God, making the most of the time He has given us. Let it be our desire to one day hear our heavenly Father tell us, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord.”
by Catherine McDaugale | Feb 10, 2022 | Christian Living, Ministry
It’s become common in our society to wear masks. I’m not talking about the cloth covering that we’re required to wear in some places because of the pandemic. The mask is the disguise we put on when we go places.
How often have you taken part in a short exchange like this one at church?:
“How are you?”
“Good, you?”
“Doing great.”
Sure, it may be true. Everything in your life might be going well at that moment. But sometimes, it’s not. You may be feeling discouraged. Or you may have just had an argument with your husband in the car while you were driving to church. Even so, when you walk through the door, you put on your best smile and act like nothing is wrong.
The Bible tells us, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2 (NKJV)). What is the law of Christ? When Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment, He responded,
“‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-39 (NKJV))
The law of Christ is to love God first and then to love your neighbor as you love yourself. One way to love your neighbor as yourself – to fulfill the law of Christ – is to bear one another’s burdens. The word “bear” means to take up in order to carry. When you bear someone else’s burdens, you come alongside that person and help her to carry the heaviness of her problems.
In another place in the Bible, God tells us, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15 (NKJV)). We shouldn’t just share our victories with each other. We should also share our discouragements, our trials, and our difficulties.
By listening to someone who has a heavy burden, praying with her, and pointing her to Jesus, you can help her remember that she is not alone. By lending a helping hand, you can help someone who isn’t able to do something by themselves.
Yet, how often do we do that? Many times we’re wrapped up in our own little world, thinking about our own lives. It’s so easy to focus on what’s wrong in your own life.
When we’re focused on ourselves, we don’t pay attention to those around us. If we don’t make ourselves available to fulfill God’s command, we miss out when the Holy Spirit prompts us to check in with someone.
And it goes both ways. You may be the one with the burden – the one who needs that encouragement or help. The person greeting you when you come to church may be more than willing to listen. But many times, we don’t practice this verse because we’re unwilling to let our guard down. We don’t want to feel vulnerable. We’re afraid of what others will think.
Let’s stop being so concerned with appearances that we keep ourselves isolated. That’s exactly what the enemy wants. Instead, if you’re going through a difficult trial, ask a trusted sister in Christ to pray with you. Be willing to receive the help you need to carry your burden.
And make yourself available to help another in need. Ask God to give you spiritual eyes to see when someone needs your help in carrying a burden. In this way, all of us can fulfill the law of Christ. Let’s purpose in our hearts to do so as we walk by faith with God.
* Photo by Sasha Freemind on Unsplash
by Catherine McDaugale | Jan 13, 2022 | Christian Living, Life, Spiritual Growth
Many of us begin a new year by making resolutions. A new year feels like a fresh start – an opportunity to improve ourselves in some way.
Maybe it’s losing those pounds that crept on while working from home in your pajama pants during COVID. Or maybe you’ve decided that this will be the year that you finally end a bad habit or develop a good one. Whether you’re determined to run a half marathon or achieve a goal that’s been on the back burner, a new year for many equals another chance.
Since we’re almost two weeks into the new year, some have already given up on their resolutions. Maybe you decided to stop eating sweets. But when your coworker brought her amazing cookies into work to share with everyone, you couldn’t resist. Or maybe you had resolved to work out every day. After missing one day, then two, you feel like a failure.
Our spiritual walk with God can be like that. You decide that you’re going to read your Bible every morning. A few days or a week goes by, and you’re feeling pretty good about yourself. But then you wake up late one morning and don’t have time to do your devotions. The days you did well don’t matter to you anymore. The only thing you can focus on is what you didn’t do.
Let’s make one thing clear – that self-condemnation you feel is not from God.
God doesn’t love you any more or any less because you did or didn’t read His word. God’s love for us is not based on our works. We can’t earn His love. When we were at our worst, God loved us so much that He gave His only Son to die for our sins so we could be forgiven (John 3:16).
Of course, God wants us to be closer to Him and do the things He’s asked us to do. But we can’t do those things in our own strength. We need God’s help. Only God can help us to live holy lives – ones that are set apart for Him.
Instead of coming up with resolutions on your own, a better way is to seek God, asking Him what He wants you to change.
As you read the Bible, God will reveal to you the things in your life that He wants you to do or stop doing. When He shows you something, the best course of action is to agree with God and do the things He wants you to do, in the way He wants you to do them.
Daniel did just that. When Daniel was a young man, he was taken captive by the Babylonians. They wanted to indoctrinate the young Jewish men into their culture so they could serve in the king’s palace. The Babylonians gave Daniel a new name, taught him the “language and literature of the Chaldeans,” and offered him “a daily provision of the king’s delicacies and of the wine which he drank” (Daniel 1:3-7 (NKJV)).
Daniel was an Israelite – a group of people who had been set apart for God. God had given the Israelites guidelines about what they should and shouldn’t eat (see e.g., Leviticus 11). Daniel knew how God wanted him to live. He had been taught that God didn’t want him to eat certain things.
It must have been tempting to eat the king’s delicacies and to drink the king’s wine. Daniel was far away from home. He was no longer around his family. He could have justified trying the new foods and drink since he now had to survive in a new culture, a new way of life. Daniel could have decided that it wouldn’t really matter if he continued to follow God’s commands.
But instead of giving into temptation,
“Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank” (Daniel 1:8 (NKJV)).
Daniel was determined to follow God. He made a choice to please God.
Then Daniel took action. He not only made the decision to follow God’s commands, he acted on that decision. The Bible tells us that “he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself” and proposed a plan (Daniel 1:8, 10-13 (NKJV)).
We know that God was pleased with Daniel’s choice to honor Him. The Bible tells us that “God had brought Daniel into the favor and goodwill of the chief of the eunuchs” (Daniel 1:9 (NKJV)). God went before Daniel and prepared the way for Daniel to be successful.
Like He did for Daniel, God will prepare the way before us when we choose to honor Him and do the things He’s asked us to do. God will help us every step of the way. God has given us everything we need to live a Christian life.
- God’s “divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3 (NKJV)).
- The same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives inside the believer (Romans 8:11).
The Holy Spirit will help us do the things that God wants us to do.
So put aside your own resolutions – the ones you came up with on your own. Seek God and His will for one thing that He wants you to change this year. When He reveals it to you, make a decision – purpose in your heart like Daniel did – to do whatever God shows you.
Then act on it. Take a step in the direction of the change, asking God for strength as you step out in faith. God will empower you through His Holy Spirit. Each day, renew your decision and rely on God for help as you walk by faith with Him.
by Catherine McDaugale | Dec 30, 2021 | Christian Living, Spiritual Growth
As we get ready to start the new year, let’s look at an example of someone who walked by faith with God. The Bible tells us twice that “Enoch walked with God” (Genesis 5:22, 24 (NKJV)). What does that mean? In Hebrews, we get more insight into Enoch’s walk with God.
“By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, ‘and was not found, because God had taken him’; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.” (Hebrews 11:5 (NKJV))
Although we are not given the details, we know from this verse that Enoch pleased God. And how did Enoch please Him? Enoch pleased God because he walked by faith.
The next verse in Hebrews teaches us about faith.
“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV))
So, to walk by faith with God you must
- come to God;
- believe that He is God – that He is who He said He is, the way He has revealed Himself to us in the Bible; and
- believe that He rewards those who diligently seek Him.
Diligent means that you seek God in a steady, earnest, and energetic way. It’s a daily desire to find out more about God and draw closer to Him.
If you come to God, truly believing that He is God and that He will reward you if you diligently seek Him, you’ll share your life with Him and trust Him with everything. When you are trusting God, you live the way He wants you to live. And you do the things He wants you to do. You want to please Him. You do things God’s way because He knows what is best for you.
You can learn about what God wants you to do by reading the Bible. The Bible is “inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right” (2 Timothy 3:16 (NLT)). The Bible tells us what God loves, what God hates, and how God wants us to live.
After you learn about the things God wants you to do, you must actually do them. To walk with God, you must “be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22 (NKJV)). In other words, you don’t just listen to the Bible, you do what it tells you to do.
As you move forward, you’ll talk to God about what is going on in your life and look to Him for direction. You’ll walk alongside Him at the pace He sets for you. You’ll go where He goes, turn when He turns, slow down when He walks more slowly, and stop when He stops.
We need to examine our walk with God because we don’t always do that. Paul exhorted us to examine ourselves “as to whether you are in the faith” (2 Corinthians 13:5 (NKJV)). We must focus on our walk with God because we can stray if we’re not paying attention. You may not even notice that you are no longer walking with Him.
Let’s look at it in a different way. Think about going for a walk with a friend. Generally, when you’ve planned to walk with a friend, you’re excited about spending time with her. As you walk, you talk about what is going on in your life. You keep in step with each other, walking at the same pace. Her nonverbal cues tell you when she’s going to turn a corner instead of going straight.
But what if you started to ignore her? Instead of paying attention to your friend, you begin thinking about the things you need to do or a problem you have. Before you know it, you start walking in a different direction. Further down the road, you look up, and you’re no longer with her.
Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? Yet, our walk with God can be like that. One moment, we’re excited about spending time with Him. We’re sharing everything with Him. We tell Him the things we are thinking about and the problems we are having. We trust Him with our dreams. We ask Him for help, for wisdom. We seek His guidance as we walk in step with Him.
Then one day, you look up and realize that you’re no longer walking with God. You’ve started walking on your own path, at your own pace. You’re making decisions without consulting Him. You feel alone. You’re tired and weary.
What happened? You took your focus off God. God didn’t leave you; you left Him.
It doesn’t happen all at once. Typically, a person doesn’t wake up one morning and make a decision to stop walking with God. Instead, you start slowly drifting away from Him. Maybe you got up late and didn’t have time to read your Bible. You got busy so you didn’t pray. You didn’t talk to God throughout your day. Then one day becomes two. Before you know it, a whole week or month has passed.
We need to make a decision to walk by faith with God like Enoch did. It’s a choice we make – whether to get our direction from God each step of the way as we abide in Him or whether we do our own thing, in our own way.
Each day, we decide how we will walk. I hope you will join me in being like Enoch. Let’s diligently seek Him and be known as women who walk by faith with God.
by Catherine McDaugale | Dec 2, 2021 | Bible Study, Christian Living
Where is the best place we can be? At the feet of Jesus – our God and Savior, the one who willingly died to pay the penalty for our sins. At Jesus’ feet, we’re in a position of surrender. In that posture, there is humility. Choosing to sit at Jesus’ feet acknowledges His position as Lord over our lives.
In the Bible, we see that Mary understood the value of being at the feet of Jesus. We are told about three times when she was at His feet.
Sitting at Jesus’ Feet
The first time, Mary is sitting at Jesus’ feet, hearing His word (Luke 10:39). Mary was listening to Jesus. She was paying attention to Him and to what He was saying.
But her sister, Martha, was “distracted with much serving” (Luke 10:40 (NKJV)). The word distracted in this verse means that Martha was “over-occupied” or drawn away.
Could you imagine if Jesus came over to your house for dinner? How much time would you spend planning the meal, shopping for the best ingredients you could find, and making sure your house was spotless? Wouldn’t you want everything to be perfect? Then after Jesus arrived, how much time would you spend making sure that the food was cooked to perfection and beautifully plated? You would want to ensure that Jesus had everything He wanted.
Don’t misunderstand, serving is good. The problem was not Martha’s desire to serve. It was Martha’s failure to focus on what was important in that moment. She was so occupied with what she was doing that she wasn’t paying attention to Jesus.
Jesus was there; Jesus was teaching them. But Martha wasn’t listening. Martha didn’t hear. In fact, Martha was so distracted that she was complaining to Jesus. She approached Jesus and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me” (Luke 10:40 (NKJV)).
Instead of telling Mary to help her sister, Jesus acknowledged that Mary was in the best place – at His feet, hearing His word. Jesus told her,
Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her. (Luke 10:41-42 (NKJV))
There is a time for service. Yet, we must remember that there is also a time to sit at Jesus’ feet, hearing His word. We need to spend time in the Bible, reading God’s word. As we learn about the things He wants us to know, our relationship with Jesus will grow deeper.
Falling at Jesus’ Feet
The second time we see Mary at Jesus’ feet, her brother Lazarus had died. When Jesus came, she fell at Jesus’ feet weeping (John 11:32-33). Mary took all her sorrow and pain to Jesus. She was honest with Him about what she was thinking. She told Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died” (John 11:32 NKJV)).
When we’re going through a heartbreaking situation, we too should fall at Jesus’ feet. We should bring all our pain and sorrow to Him. You can be honest with Jesus about what you’re thinking and how you’re feeling.
Jesus invited us to do so. He said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28 (NKJV)). It is God who “heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds” (Psalm 147:3 (NKJV)). That includes your broken heart.
When we bring all our pain to Jesus, we are admitting that He is the One who can help us. By bringing our sorrow to Him, He can comfort us and begin the healing process.
Worshipping at Jesus’ Feet
The third time we are told about Mary at Jesus’ feet, it is only a few days before His crucifixion. While Jesus was having dinner, (John 12:2) Mary came to Him with her most valuable possession – an “alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard” (Mark 14:3 (NKJV)).
The perfume was worth about 300 denarii (Mark 14:5; John 12:5). A denarius was a coin used at that time. Commentators suggest that 300 denarii was the equivalent of a year’s wages. The flask of oil was likely Mary’s dowry – what she would have presented to her husband at the time of her marriage.
Mary broke the flask and poured it on Jesus’ head and anointed His feet (Mark 14:3; John 12:3). Then she wiped His feet with her hair (John 12:3).
Mary came to Jesus with her future. She gave it all to Him and worshipped Him. She didn’t hold anything back. “[T]he house was filled with the fragrance of the oil” (John 12:3 (NKJV)). The fragrance of Mary’s worship and devotion filled the room.
When the disciples were “indignant” and “criticized her sharply” for wasting the oil because it could have been sold and the money given to the poor, Jesus rebuked them (Mark 14:4-6 (NKJV)). He said,
Let her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for Me. For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always. She has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial. Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.” (Mark 14:6-9 (NKJV))
We too should bring all that we have to Jesus and worship at His feet. As our Lord, everything we are and everything we have belongs to Him. Don’t worry about those who may be indignant or criticize you for your worship of Jesus. As you worship and pray, the aroma of your devotion will fill your house. Our prayers are like “golden bowls full of incense” (Revelation 5:8).
So let’s be like Mary –
- sitting at Jesus’ feet, hearing His word;
- falling at Jesus’ feet in our distress; and
- bringing all that we have and giving it to Jesus as we worship at His feet.
by Catherine McDaugale | Oct 16, 2021 | Christian Living, Spiritual Growth
Walking by faith doesn’t mean closing your eyes or sticking your head in the ground, so you don’t know what’s going on around you. Instead, it’s a choice to focus on God. It’s a decision to continue doing things God’s way and trusting Him for the outcome, despite what’s happening in your life.
I’ve heard people say that Christians need to take a blind leap of faith to trust God. The insinuation is that you need to leave behind all reason and follow God solely based on emotion and a lack of thought.
But that isn’t true. God has given us the Bible. In those pages, God has revealed Himself to us. He tells us what He likes, what He hates, where we came from, where we are going, and much more.
As we consider the things we read in the Bible, God invites us,
Come now, and let us reason together. (Isaiah 1:18 (NKJV))
And Jesus told us to “count the cost” before deciding to follow Him (Luke 14:27-30 (NKJV)). Jesus warned us that it wouldn’t be easy. God wants us to ask questions about who He is and why we should follow Him.
It’s only after we decide to follow Jesus that God instructs us to “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7 (NKJV)). Still, the direction is not to close our eyes. Instead, the Bible tells us that we should be “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:1-2 (NKJV)). The Greek word for “looking” means to turn our eyes away from other things and fix them on Jesus.
It’s like a horse walking with blinders on. The purpose of the blinders is not so the horse can’t see at all – the blinders don’t go over the horse’s eyes. The blinders are placed on the outer sides of the horse’s eyes to keep the horse focused on the road in front of him. The blinders keep the horse from getting distracted by the things around him. In a similar way, when we walk by faith and not by sight, we must keep our eyes on Jesus.
We can get distracted by the things that are going on around us – things we have no control over.
- Every day, the news informs us about people who are killed, storms, wars, disease, and many other horrible things. Our thoughts can be consumed by those awful things.
- We can become divided over social issues. It’s easy to get caught up in arguments about whether everyone should or shouldn’t be vaccinated, the effectiveness of wearing masks, and how the government should or shouldn’t be handling the pandemic.
When we get sidetracked by these things, we are derailed from God’s plans for our lives.
Don’t misunderstand me. You shouldn’t ignore the things that need to be taken care of in your life. It is important to care for your family and be a good steward of the things that God has entrusted to you. God has placed people into your life for a reason. He wants you to love those people, help them with their needs, and tell them about Him.
Yet, first and foremost, we need to keep our eyes focused on Jesus. We need to spend time with Him, reading the Bible, praying to Him, and worshipping Him. As Jesus taught us, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5 (NKJV)).
We are unable to care for the people in our lives the way God wants us to without first being empowered by Jesus. Jesus gives us the strength we need, gives us direction, tells us which way to go, and tells us the things we should do. When our eyes are fixed on Jesus, we’re not distracted by the things going on around us.
There’s a beautiful hymn written by Helen Howarth Lemmel that encompasses this very idea. The refrain of the hymn encourages us,
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.
So, keep your eyes wide open as you follow Jesus. Turn your eyes upon Him. Spend time with your Savior. Take in all that He wants you to see.
by Catherine McDaugale | Sep 16, 2021 | Christian Living, Life, Spiritual Growth
Mornings are hard. I have always secretly envied people (like my husband) who are able to wake up early and still be congenial, outgoing, and talkative from the get-go. If I have to get up early, it seems the only thing I can focus on is how bad I feel – the brain fog and the general malaise.
I recently saw a mug that declared, “A fun thing to do in the morning is not talk to me.” Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.
During COVID, I worked from home. Without the long commute, I was able to slowly wake up before I had to travel down the hallway to our loft where I had set up my home office. I quickly adapted to my new routine. Needless to say, my morning disposition greatly improved.
But now it was time to go back to work at my real office. We had been summoned by those with the authority to change my morning routine. So, in the wee hours before the rising of the sun, I dragged my body out of bed. And I grumbled.
The Bible instructs us not to complain (1 Corinthians 10:10). The Greek word used for complain means to murmur or grumble against in a low tone. It shows a discontentedness with the way things are in your life.
Yet, I had been grumbling and complaining every chance I got. I grumbled in my head. I whined to my husband, coworkers, and friends. I complained about having to get up early. I criticized those who had made the decision to bring us back to the office given that we would be required to wear masks. I felt justified with my grumbling since I’m not a morning person.
Then God reminded me that we’re not supposed to grumble. While I was teaching other women in a Bible study, one of the verses talked about grumbling.
Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned.” (James 5:9 (NKJV))
Ironic, isn’t it? There I was, telling them how they shouldn’t grumble when I had been doing that very thing. A few weeks later, God brought that verse to my remembrance, and the self-application finally sunk in.
I realized that my perspective was wrong. I had only been focused on the early hours and how my body felt. I had lost the bigger picture.
When I shifted my perspective, I could see all that God had given me. Sure, I now had to wake up early, but God was still blessing my life.
- God had continued to provide me with a job.
- God gave me coworkers that I enjoy working with.
- God provided me with the opportunity to spend time with Him in the morning while I commuted in my car – time to sing praises to Him, listen to His word, and pray.
I had forgotten that God is in control of everything. Nothing happens in my life without it going through Him first. There is a reason for everything. God had a reason for allowing the early hours and the long commute back into my life – even if I couldn’t see what it was. I can be certain that God will use whatever happens in my life for His glory.
I had also forgotten that grumbling ruins your witness to others. When you complain, the people around you will wonder why they should be a Christian when you aren’t any different than anyone else. Jesus said,
By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. (John 13:35 (NKJV))
Jesus didn’t say they would know you are His disciple by your complaining. There is no love in grumbling.
Jesus also told us,
You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. (Matthew 5:13 (NKJV))
Figuratively, Jesus was telling us that, as His followers, we are to exhibit wisdom and grace in our speech. As Pastor Jon Courson put it, “Salt promotes thirst, and as the salt of the earth, we should be making those around us thirsty for the living water of Jesus Christ.” We cannot be witnesses that will bring others to Jesus when we are complaining about things.
So I repented and asked God to forgive me for grumbling. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9 (NKJV)). Praise God! Then I purposed in my heart to stop grumbling.
Have you been complaining about something? It may be something that seems unfair to you. And the situation may be unfair. Either way, God is faithful in your life.
If you’ve been grumbling, it’s time to change your perspective about your situation. Take a step back and ask God to show you the bigger picture. Instead of ruminating on what’s wrong, shift your focus from your circumstances to our faithful God. Make a list about the ways that God has been faithful in your life. Then meditate on God’s faithfulness. You can trust God as you walk by faith with Him.
by Catherine McDaugale | Sep 1, 2021 | Bible Study, Ministry
The Bible gives us many examples of faith, some so amazing that it’s hard for me to wrap my head around them. One of those was Abraham. When God told Abraham, “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land I will show you,” Abraham “departed as the Lord had spoken to him” (Genesis 12:1, 4 (NKJV)).
Did you notice that God didn’t tell Abraham where he was going? Instead, God told him that He would show him, meaning God would show him at some later point in time. Yet, Abraham immediately obeyed. He packed up his household and left. Abraham didn’t ask a bunch of questions and drag his heels. He trusted God and did what God told him to do.
Noah is another radical example of faith in God. One day, seemingly out of the blue, God tells Noah that He is going to destroy every living thing on the earth with a flood (Genesis 6:13, 17). And God instructed Noah to build an ark that would hold Noah, his wife, his three sons and their wives, and two of every kind of every living thing (Genesis 6:14-16, 18-19).
Could you imagine? One day, you wake up and start taking care of the things you need to do that day. Then God tells you that He is going to destroy every living thing with a flood.
What would you do if that happened to you? I would likely have questioned God. I would have wanted to know more of the details.
How will the flood happen?
When will it happen?
Will I have plenty of time to build the ark?
Where am I supposed to get all of that wood?
Do I really need to put pitch on the inside and the outside?
Wouldn’t it be sufficient just to put the pitch on the outside?
Would three decks really be enough to hold everything?
But the Bible doesn’t tell us that Noah questioned God. Instead, after God finished telling him how to build the ark, the Bible tells us that Noah did “according to all that God commanded him” (Genesis 6:22 (NKJV)). Noah was obedient to do what God told him to do.
Later, after the ark had been built, God tells Noah to go into the ark with his family because “after seven more days” He would cause it to rain on the earth (Genesis 7:4 (NKJV)) We know that Noah obeyed God because in the very next verse the Bible tells us that “Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him” (Genesis 7:5 (NKJV)).
What would you do in that situation? I know what I would do. I would ask why I needed to go into the ark when there were still seven more days before the rain was going to start.
But Noah had great faith. He immediately obeyed God. We should also respond with immediate obedience when God tells us to do something. We shouldn’t procrastinate, questioning God, before we finally decide to do what God wants us to do.
What if Noah had waited to go into the ark? What if he thought, “I could wait a few days and still go in five days before the rain starts, that would be plenty of time.” We don’t know what would have happened because the Bible doesn’t tell us.
Maybe something would have prevented Noah and his family from going into the ark if they had waited. Maybe nothing would have happened. Either way, the fact that Noah immediately obeyed God shows us that Noah had faith. He believed God and did what God told him to do because he trusted that God knew the best way to do what needed to be done.
And Noah’s faith pleased God. Noah is named in the revered “Hall of Faith.” The Bible tells us,
By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. (Hebrews 11:7 (NKJV))
Let’s be like Abraham and Noah, trusting God with our lives.
What is God calling you to do? Maybe He’s calling you to serve at your church. Or maybe He’s asked you to pray for or encourage someone.
Maybe you’ve questioned God about what He’s called you to do. You may think you’re not good enough. Or you may be worried how the person would react if you asked to pray for her.
Don’t worry about whether you are good enough or what other people may think. God will equip you to do what He’s called you to do. And we should be more concerned about disobeying God than how other people may respond to us.
When you hear God speaking to you, telling you to do something, step out in faith. Instead of questioning God, be obedient. Do what God has asked you to do. Let your life be a radical demonstration of faith that will encourage others to walk by faith with God.
by Catherine McDaugale | Aug 1, 2021 | Ministry, Thoughts
As I was reading through Genesis the other day, I came to the part where Abraham’s servant goes to get a bride for Abraham’s son Isaac. Abraham asked his servant to swear that he would not take a bride for Isaac from one of the women in the land where they were living but that he would go back to his family for a bride (Genesis 24:2-4). The servant did so and traveled to the place where Abraham had once lived (Genesis 24:9-10).
After the servant came to that place, he went to the well in the evening when the women would go to draw water (Genesis 24:11). Then he prayed.
O LORD God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham. Behold, here I stand by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. Now let it be that the young woman to whom I say, “Please let down your pitcher that I may drink,” and she says, “Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink” – let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. (Genesis 24:12-14 (NKJV))
While he was still praying, Rebekah came to the well to draw water (Genesis 24:15). When he asked Rebekah for a drink, she agreed (Genesis 24:17-18). Then Rebekah offered – on her own – to draw water for his camels (Genesis 24:19).
This was no small task. A camel is a desert animal that can go a long time without drinking water. But when it does, a camel will drink about 30 gallons. And the servant had brought ten camels with him (Genesis 24:10). That’s about 300 gallons of water that Rebekah had to draw from the well!
God had answered the servant’s prayer while he was still speaking it. Amazing. Then it struck me. This is not the only woman we meet at a well in the Bible. And the two women were so very different.
We meet the other woman in the book of John. Jesus and His disciples were traveling from Jerusalem to the Galilee, and Jesus “needed” to go through Samaria (John 4:3-4 (NKJV)). Going through Samaria would break the Jewish practice of going around Samaria. The reason it was a big deal for the Jewish people to travel through that area is another blog post in itself. For our purposes here, let’s just say that it was not a common thing to do.
When Jesus and His disciples reached a certain well, the disciples went into the city to buy food (John 4:6, 8). But Jesus sat by the well on the edge of the city (John 4:6). As we read further, we see that Jesus had a plan for a woman who He would meet there.
What a stark difference there was between the woman Jesus ministered to and Rebekah:
- Rebekah was a young, beautiful woman, while the other woman was older (Genesis 24:16; John 4:18).
- Rebekah was a virgin; the other woman had been married five times and was living with a man who was not her husband (Genesis 24:16; John 4:18).
- Rebekah went to the well in the evening, which was the usual time women would go to draw water because it was cooler; the other woman went at noon in the heat of the day, probably to avoid the other women (Genesis 24:11; John 4:6).
In short, Rebekah was vibrant and ready to begin a new life; the other woman was broken and likely felt worthless.
You may be more like Rebekah: younger, raised in a good family, eager to serve the Lord. Or you may be more like the other woman: feeling run down, regretful about wasting portions of your life by living in sin. Whatever your story, whatever your past, it’s not too late. God can still work through your life. The amazing thing we see from these two women is not what they did but what God can do.
Regardless of where you are in your life, God can do His work through you if you are willing and available. The important things the two women had in common was their availability and their willingness to be used by God for His purposes.
When asked if she was willing to go with Abraham’s servant to become Isaac’s bride, Rebekah answered, “I will go” (Genesis 24:58 (NKJV)). Rebekah didn’t hesitate. She was willing to go to a different land and become a wife to a man she had never met because it was God’s plan. The night before, the servant had recounted the oath he had sworn to Abraham, his journey to find a wife for Isaac from Abraham’s family, his prayer at the well when he arrived, and God’s answer to His prayer “before [he] had finished speaking in [his] heart” (Genesis 24:34-47 (NKJV)). She witnessed the servant’s praise that he gave to God when the prayer had been answered (Genesis 24:48, 52).
Rebekah went even though it must have been scary, going to the unknown, which would change her circumstances for the rest of her life. Yet, she went. And God blessed Rebekah with being the mother of Jacob (whose name was later changed to Israel). Rebekah’s grandchildren became the 12 tribes of Israel from whom the Messiah Jesus would eventually be born.
The other woman also chose to make herself available to do God’s work. After meeting the Messiah Jesus, she left her waterpot to go into the city to tell everyone about Jesus (John 4:28-29). She brought the men of her city to meet Jesus (John 4:30). As a result of her testimony, many of them believed (John 4:39-42).
Whatever your story, God has a purpose for your life too. He has fashioned days for you (Psalm 139:16). Will you choose to make yourself available to walk in the days God has made for you?
by Catherine McDaugale | Jun 1, 2021 | Christian Living, Life, Spiritual Growth
Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it. (Psalm 127:1 (NKJV))
The Hebrew word for vain in this verse means useless, empty, worthless. When you are building your house – your family – it must be built by God. If it’s not built by God your labor is useless, empty, worthless.
Jesus told us what happens when we labor in vain.
Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall. (Matthew 7:24-27 (NKJV))
Unfortunately, I can attest to the truth of these verses. I didn’t come to the Lord until later in life, when my son was 15 years old. Before I started following Jesus, I got married, and we had our son. And I began building our house on the principles of this world. I read many, many books on parenting. We took parenting classes. I applied the principles I learned in the books and the classes. I even applied things I had learned from watching television shows that depicted a family life I admired.
I was told, and believed, that a woman could have it all, could do it all. I could have my career, rear my child, make money, and build a household. I could be everywhere and do everything. I could file motions with the court in the morning, help my son with his homework late in the afternoon, make dinner for our family, and bake cookies in the evening. I was assured that it was okay to put my child in the care of others during the daytime, so I could pursue my career and give my son a better life.
Brick by brick, we assembled our house on various worldly principles. We encouraged our son to modify his behavior through rewards and incentives. We imposed consistent rules, limiting television and video games. We provided our son with opportunities to experience different activities, so he could find something he enjoyed. We traveled. We placed an emphasis on our son’s education. We ate dinner as a family. We ensured that we knew where our son was at all times.
Many of those principles are good things in and of themselves. The problem was the foundation. Instead of a solid foundation, I was building right on the ground that was there. I didn’t first ensure the principles were built on the Rock of Jesus.
When I submitted my life to Jesus, I added to the bricks rather than starting a new structure. I added to the house that was already there. Sure, my personal foundation was now strong. Jesus became my foundation, and I was building a new life brick by brick as I learned new Biblical principles. But I didn’t start building anew when it came to our family.
Instead, I simply added to the bricks; I added new rules. Now it was a rule that we all go to church together on a Sunday. I tried to get my son involved with the other teens at our church. We began to pray before we ate family meals. I started reading my Bible some and went to a few Bible studies. I started listening to Christian music part of the time. But the bricks were placed on top of what was already there.
I didn’t address my son’s heart. I don’t think I understood that I needed to. I didn’t explain to him the change that Jesus had made in my life. I didn’t tell him why we were doing some things differently. I thought he would understand solely by observation. Besides, we were the parents, and he was the child. It wasn’t a matter of explaining our actions.
Then one day, without warning, a storm came, and the house fell.
And great was its fall.
Because of my spiritual immaturity at that point, I went back to the world for answers when the house fell. I read every parenting book I could find and talked to a counselor. Nothing made sense. Nothing explained what had happened. I sifted through the rubble for a long time, trying to salvage bits and pieces until the Lord showed me it needed to be cleared away and rebuilt on Him.
Then, as we turned to Jesus, God started rebuilding our house. Slowly, God helped us to clear the rubble. He helped us to lay a sure foundation. My husband and I started building on that foundation, on the truths that Jesus had taught us. The house was rebuilt with the assistance of our loving, faithful God. Our marriage is now stronger than it has ever been because it is built on the solid foundation of Jesus. Since we’ve rebuilt our house, we’ve had other storms come our way. But our new house has endured them all. Praise God, because He is faithful!
What is your house built on? If it is not built on Jesus, the Rock, it’s never too late to rebuild. But you must make a choice to build your house on Him. If you don’t choose to build your house on Jesus and His teachings, the choice will be made for you.
Choose this day whom you will serve. “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15 (NKJV)).
