Daily Devotional For Sunday, January 19, 2025
Well, if you have been following the weather reports, it seems we are in for some rain and possibly even some snow. Did I say “snow?” Yes I did. Possibly up to 8 + inches starting Tuesday night. The thing about mid January is that people develop what is called “winter depression.” It is officially called SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). Why? We have just come off of Christmas with all the celebrating, gift giving, decoration and parties. Then around mid January, the credit card bills start coming and we are hit with a very cold reality that we spent money we did not have for people who already have enough. Please don’t misunderstand me – I’m for giving gifts – but at the same time we should not break the bank or our bank accounts to do it.
Then these winter fronts come in bringing rain, frigid cold weather, and clouds. We get locked inside and we want to see the sun again. In these times, we can go to the Bible or someone may send us a Bible verse such as 2 Chronicles 16:9a, “The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him” (NLT). The verse is an awesome verse. Have you ever wondered why they do not send you the whole verse? Here it is: “The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him. What a fool you have been! From now on you will be at war.” (NLT). Fool? War? Yes that’s in that verse also.
2 Chronicles 16:9 says something very important about God. He is a God who lacks nothing, and therefore gives everything. He is the source of help for all our needs. Because He is the giver, and there is nothing we have which we have not received (1 Corinthians 4:7), He gets all the glory (1 Peter 4:10-11).
But we can read this wrongly. In texts like this one, we can so easily detach God’s action from His actual posture. We can read these promises out of context. We know from this text that God gives—that His eyes “run to and fro throughout the whole earth to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward Him.” We know that because the text says it. But what expression do we picture on God’s face in this work? What type of attitude do we project upon Him in all His supporting and giving?
The context of 2 Chronicles 16:9 is when a seer comes to King Asa of Judah and gives him a rebuke from the Lord for trusting everything else and everyone else except the Lord. King Asa throws this seer into prison and as a result, the Lord causes a foot disease to take Asa’s life. The Chronicler concludes King Asa’s life with this in 2 Chronicles 16:12-13:
“In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was afflicted with a disease in his feet. Though his disease was severe, even in his illness he did not seek help from the LORD, but only from the physicians. (13) Then in the forty-first year of his reign Asa died and rested with his fathers” (NLT).
Yet, what 2 Chronicles 16:9 states is the truth. God does support those whose heart is completely His. We see this in the thousands of Christians who have been martyred for their faith. God did not always protect people from death, but He sustained their faith from dying in that situation. Are you in a place where disappointment, discouragement, heartache, and loneliness have nearly overwhelmed you? Do you feel beaten down, mentally or physically? Do you feel as if your spirit has been crushed? I want you to know that God has not abandoned you. Scripture promises us time and again that God is with His people. He will not leave you at the first sign of trouble, or the fiftieth sign of trouble. He is not ashamed of your weakness.
He will draw close to you, as close as you will allow Him to be. He can do for you what only Almighty God can do. He can bring strength to your physical body. He can restore relationships. He can intervene in situations that seem impossible. He can take away your despair and fill you with joy. He can give you renewed hope for the future. He can give new purpose to your days. This is why we must be careful wherever we go. People are watching us all the time to see if what we claim we believe is lived out in our lives. I realize this is a double standard, but it is reality. Not only are people watching us, so is the Lord.
I read an interesting article about bike thefts on college campuses:
“How would your behavior change if you thought someone was watching you? Two recent studies suggest that you might start acting more honestly. Years ago a study at a university faculty lounge offered coffee and tea to professors that for years had used an unsupervised honor system. The rules were clear: serve yourself and then put the money you owed into a box. For ten weeks, though, the experimenters put a hard-to-miss poster near the box. One version of the poster featured pretty flowers; the other version had a pair of eyes glaring out at the viewer. The image alternated between flowers and eyes each week. People paid almost three times more on "eyes" weeks than on "flowers" weeks.
A few years later a study found the same results—only this time watching eyes changed the behavior of potential bicycle thieves. Researchers put signs with a large pair of menacing eyes and the message "Cycle thieves: we are watching you" by the bike racks at Newcastle University in England. They then monitored bike thefts for two years and found a 62 percent drop in thefts at locations with the signs.
But there was an interesting twist to this experiment. While theft rates went down 62 percent in the "we are watching you" racks, in other places in the university it shot up by 65 percent—an almost perfect offset. In other words, the thieves kept stealing bikes; they just went down the street to get away from those eyeballs of judgment and accountability” (Source: Priceonomics blog, "How Honest Are You When No One Is Watching You?" (1-30-14); John Metcalfe, "Posters of Angry Eyes Actually Scare Off Bike Thieves," The Atlantic, 4-29-13).
Questions To Consider
- Do you live your life with the awareness that you are always being watched as a disciple and a Christian? Why or why not? If so, what do you think lost people observe from your life and why?
- There are many verses in the Bible where God promises to be with us, comfort us, guide us and encourage us (See Matthew 11:28-30; Romans 8:26-39; Psalm 28:7; Isaiah 43:2, etc). When you need a pick-me-up by the Lord, what passage do you go to for that? How does that help you ?
- You read the context of 2 Chronicles 16:9. Why do you think people leave off the rest of this passage? Knowing the context, does this change anything for you? Why or why not?
Scripture To Meditate On: 1 Peter 3:12, The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right, and His ears are open to their prayers. But the Lord turns His face against those who do evil” (NLT).
Prayer To Pray: “Heavenly Father, thank You for drawing close to those who are brokenhearted and discouraged. Lord, breathe new life, hope, and purpose into Your people. Replace despair and discouragement with life, vitality, and Your joy. Through the blood of Jesus Christ, You have brought freedom, deliverance, and wholeness to our lives. Thank You for Your faithfulness and love. Thank You that Your eyes are continually watching over me. I love You Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside!--Pastor Kelly