shadow

God’s Got This

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So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” And the Lord opened the servant’s eyes and he saw’ and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 

2 Kings 6:16-17, NASB

horse21The king of Aram was furious with the prophet Elisha and had begun exacting his revenge. Following the orders of the king, the Aramean army circled the city of Dothan where Elisha was rumored to have been staying. Rising early one morning, Elisha’s servant went out, and upon seeing the Aramean’s horses and chariots he asked Elisha, “What shall we do?”

It’s a valid question, don’t you think? I’m thinking now would be a good time to have a strategy.

Elisha, steadfast in faith, reminded the servant not to fear. More were fighting for them than against them. And then for some added assurance for his servant, Elisha prayed that the Lord would open his servant’s eyes so that he could see for himself the army that was fighting for them. “And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha” (2 Kings 6:17).

Have you ever wished you could get a behind the scenes look when your faith is feeling a little weak in the knees? More than once I have wished to be privy to this information. Maybe I wouldn’t have problems trusting if I could just see the Lord’s army fighting on my behalf. I guess that isn’t faith though, is it? The writer of Hebrews tells us that “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1 NASB emphasis mine).

Elisha had it right. Elisha’s servant, like me at times, had it all wrong.

When the storms of life crash head-on with our faith, it can be easy to fix our eyes on our problems. We can see them. They’re real and they can be frightening. Like the servant, we can be quick to panic or try to spring in to action like it all depends on us. The good news is that it doesn’t depend on us. God’s got this.

The Lord and His army are fighting on our behalf. We need only to trust. Like Elisha, we too can stand in confidence that those fighting for us are more than those fighting against us.

Choosing to trust,

Traci

The Still Small Voice

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So He said, “Go forth and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing.

1 Kings 19:11-12, NASB

“Do you want God do send you a postcard?!”

fireMy husband has asked me that more than once when I’m faced with a big decision. My answer is always the same. “Yes! Actually, that’s exactly what I want! Gideon got the fleece, Moses got the burning bush, why can’t I get a postcard?!”

It seems silly as I write it, but it’s honest. Sometimes my faith feels so small and my circumstances seem so big. I just want God to tell me what to do!

Elijah, fleeing for his life and desperate for death, was told by the Lord to go to Horeb as He would be passing by. Elijah, a prophet of God, was no stranger to the miracles of the Almighty. Elijah, having been fed by ravens and witnessing fire fall from Heaven, knew the Lord would deliver. Expecting God to show up, Elijah went as he was told. Today’s verse tells us that a strong wind, an earthquake, and a fire came, but the Lord was not in any of them. This time, the Lord showed up in what the King James Version refers to as a “still small voice” (1 Kings 19:12 KJV).

What if Elijah had only looked for God in the big and miraculous as opposed to the still and the small?

Make no mistake, God still uses miraculous ways to communicate with us, but if you and I are only looking for God in the big and the powerful, we set ourselves up to miss His divine guidance. God may not speak to us in the same manner as He did to Elijah, but He still speaks in countless ways. He speaks to us through His word, through conviction and prompting deep in our hearts, and through the words spoken by others. There are no limits to the ways He can and will show up in our lives.

It’s difficult to hear His guidance without spending time with Him through worship and the reading of His Word. It’s in our hearts—our humble and submissive hearts-—that the still small voice of God is heard.

Humble and Hearing,

Traci

Watching and Waiting

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Heed the sound of my cry for help, my King and my God, For to You I pray. In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice; In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.

Psalm 5:2-3 NASB

sorrow_bwThe same prayers had been muttered day after day, week after week. In search of guidance, my heart was heavy, and my prayers had become routine. A spiritual blind spot that had taken residence in my heart was revealed through conviction of the Holy Spirit.

Was I praying just for the sake of praying or did I pray like I believed? Did I believe that the Creator of the universe was hearing my prayers and was going to answer? I soon realized that I hadn’t heard His guidance, in part, because I wasn’t expecting it.

Praying-it’s what we do. Christians pray. We most certainly pray in church. Many of us pray before meals and say bedtime prayers with our kids. We pray for healing for those who are sick and for comfort for those who are grieving. The list goes on, but do we pray expectantly? Do we pray like God is not only going to hear our prayers but that He is willing to answer our prayers with the same power that created this world and everything in it? Often times, my answer is no.

I find myself believing the lie that my problem is just too big … or too little to even pray about. I listen to the enemy when he tells me that someone is too lost and can never change. Oh, the lies we listen to.

What if we changed how we pray? What if we prayed like we believed God and that He was going to hear our prayers and answer them? Not according to our will but to His. For us to believe that God is going to answer our prayers in the manner that we desire is faulty theology.

How wonderful it is that the God that we pray to is the same God who created the heaven and the earth and raised Jesus from the dead?! Praise Him!

There is no need too big that our God cannot meet. There is no financial situation too desperate or a marriage too broken. No child has run too far from the Lord that He cannot bring back to Himself.

Friend, as we enter the throne room of God, laying requests for the salvation of loved ones, the healing of diseases, and comfort for the grieving, let us leave those requests with Him and wait expectantly for His answer.

Waiting expectantly,

Traci