Daily Devotional For Wednesday, August 7, 2024

It's a Wonderful Wednesday.  Have you ever felt you were fighting a losing battle? It seems just when we think things cannot get worse, they do. For example, just when I thought I had seen it all, I realized I hadn’t until the opening ceremonies of the Olympics in France. Prior to that, we witnessed a 20-year-old attempt to assassinate a former President of the United States who is also the Republican nominee for President for this party. Genetically DNA males are boxing in the Olympics and literally demolishing their genetically DNA female opponents and the world applauds this as fair and right. 

I am aware of all the troublesome things going on in the world. I see the economic woes that affect the costs of everyday living. Groceries and eating out now cost an arm and a leg and then another arm and a leg. Restaurants are closing everywhere because people cannot afford to eat out. Buying groceries is almost like attempting to buy a house. You need a mortgage to do it. I see biblical values undermined and rational voices censored. 

I see the propaganda that drives much of the media’s reporting. California has passed a law that makes it illegal for those working in their school systems to inform parents if their children are choosing to use pronouns for themselves that do not conform to their genetic gender at birth. Massachusetts is getting ready to pass a law that removes from all future birth certificates the words “father” and “mother” of a child because it is offensive and oppressive. Instead, the term “parent” will be used. It seems that evil and the demonic are spreading faster than fire across a dry Kansas wheat field. 

I fear it will not be long until our own government starts turning on conservative churches for our opposition to abortion, homosexuality and homosexual marriages, transgenderism, the misuse or wrong uses of pronouns. Who would have ever thought that our country which was founded on and for religious and Christian freedom would one day seek to hunt us down like Rome hunted down Christians 2,000 years ago? 

I am aware of all those things, but I also am aware that the Spirit of God is moving in the earth. I see Him stirring the hearts of people whose outlook seemed permanently hardened against Him. I see church leaders and believers in difficult places who are more determined to share the gospel than ever before. I want to be in that group. I want to raise the bar for myself, and I hope you’ll join me. Let’s turn our hearts to the Lord and determine to honor Him and serve Him more than we ever have before. Let’s tell the story of how He purchased our salvation and rescued us from a life of heartache. Let us—the redeemed of the Lord—stand up and say so!

In the first 400 years of the church, Rome attempted to eradicate and exterminate the church. The more they tried, the faster the church grew. Why? People know the truth when they see it and hear it. People know that the government is not the answer, but God is. People know that most politicians are just like the devil and his demons — untrustworthy. I believe that God is on the move and if we are wise, we will join Him where He is working.

Christian author Guy Richard writes this:

"When I lived in Edinburgh, Scotland, my home was situated just below an extinct volcano that was appropriately called “Arthur’s Seat” because it resembled a very large saddle. Several times each year, a dense fog would cover this mountain completely and shield it from view. On those days, I would wake up and look out my window, and the mountain would not be there—or so it appeared. 

But even though I could not see Arthur’s Seat, I knew that the mountain was still there. It had not gone away, despite the fact that I could not see it.Many times in the Christian life, God appears to be invisible. We cannot see Him. We cannot see what He is doing. The fog rolls in; the storm clouds gather; and they shield Him completely from our view” (Source: https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/god-is-on-the-move).

If you have read The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe,  or seen the movie, The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis, this is precisely where the creatures in Narnia are at the beginning of the story. The White Witch (who represents the devil)  has seized control of Narnia and has magically imposed winter. She has terrorized the Narnian inhabitants by turning many into stone and by putting a stop to Christmas. To make matters worse, Aslan (who represents Jesus Christ) is nowhere to be found. He is silent. He is hidden from view. And yet, in the midst of all this, the Narnians find hope in the reminder that they share with one another: Aslan is on the move. This reminder helps them hold fast even through the most difficult circumstances when Aslan seems silent and seemingly far off.

Some of you may feel this way today. As our country and even some churches become more liberal and wrong is not right, and immoral is now moral, and gender is subjective and some Christians’ lives are no different from non-Christians, we wonder, “Where is God? Why is He so silent? Why can’t God be found?” When we feel this way we it is imperative that we remind ourselves that God is on the move. He is at work. When His hand seems invincible and His voice seems silent God is working behind the scenes to bring His perfect will and purpose to completion through typically ordinary things and vents.

For example in Luke 2, God’s invisible hand is working in and through ordinary people and events to bring Joseph and Mary together and have Jesus born in Bethlehem to fulfill His prophecy in Micah 5:2, “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a Ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on My behalf” (NLT). How does God do this initially — through using the Archangel Gabriel to appear to Mary and Joseph separately. How does God do this perfectly to get them to Bethlehem? He used a pagan’s king’s command to have those in his kingdom register for taxation purposes. This ordinary event was used by God to move in the world to get both Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem, his hometown. And behind the scenes, God used a star to attract the attention of magi to come to the house in Nazareth when Jesus was a toddler. Again, God did the supernatural through the natural to move.

Read Luke 1:26-28:

“In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, (27) to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. (28) And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” (29) But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. (30) And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. (31) And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. (32) He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David, (33) and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” (34) And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” (35) And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. (36) And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. (37) For nothing will be impossible with God.” (38) And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her” (NLT).

God was on the move and behind the scenes after several thousands of years of prophecy, God used a simple Jewish girl to bring the Messiah into the world naturally. God was on the move and later to reinforce that Jesus was the Good Shepherd, angels appeared to lowly shepherds in the fields who were watching their sheep at night and informed them of His birth. God was on the move and guess what, He still is today. 

Christian author Ken Lawrence writes this:

“In a New York Times article, journalist Alex Stone tells the story of how executives at a Houston airport faced and then solved a cascade of passenger complaints about long waits at the baggage claim. They first decided to hire more baggage handlers, reducing wait times to an industry-beating average of eight minutes. But complaints persisted. This made no sense to the executives until they discovered that, on the average, passengers took just one minute to walk to baggage claim, resulting in a hurry-up-and-wait situation. The walk time was not a problem; the remaining seven empty minutes of staring at the baggage carousel was. So, in a burst of innovation, the executives moved the arrival gates farther away from the baggage claim area. Passengers now had to walk much farther but their bags were often waiting for them when they arrived. Problem solved. The complaints dropped.

For the same article Stone interviewed MIT operations researcher Richard Larson, the world's leading expert on waiting in lines to discover the psychology behind our waiting. What happened at the Houston airport makes for a perfect illustration. According to Larson, the length of our wait is not as important as what we're doing while we wait. "Often the psychology of queuing is more important than the statistics of the wait itself," says Larson. Essentially, we tolerate "occupied time" (for example, walking to baggage claim) far better than "unoccupied time" (such as standing at the baggage carousel). Give us something to do while we wait, and the wait becomes endurable.

This is why, so often, waiting on God feels like unoccupied time to us. We wait, but what is really happening behind the scenes of our life? Is God actually doing anything? Waiting on God implies developing a new perspective of what God is doing while we wait on him” (Source: Ken Lawrence, Skin In The Game, pp. 105-107).

Listen Southside. God is on the move and while you wait on God, look where God is already working and join Him there. And when you do, you might find that whatever you were waiting on God personally, God moves in your own life to answer that prayer. 

Questions To Answer

1. What are you personally waiting on God to do in your life, or your family? What do you think God is waiting on you to do or be for Him? Why?
2. Just because we do not see God moving or feel He is there, just like Guy Richard above talked about how the fog or clouds would hide Arthur’s Seat. Though he could not see it, he knew it was there. When you feel you are in a fog spiritually and you cannot see God moving, what is the hardest part of this for you and why?
3. In the illustration above by Ken Lawrence, it reminds us that sometimes it is not that God is not moving, with our free time, we simply wait impatiently on God rather than walking closer to Him while we wait. What do you need to do to do that and how do you believe this would help you?
4. For thousands of years, Jews waited for the coming Messiah. Their belief was He would come as military and political king destroying Rome and establishing Israel as THE world superpower. To them to believe that God has chosen two simple peasants to be the parents of the Messiah not some king or ruler, was a hard pill to swallow. To believe the Messiah would come to help them defeat sin was another hard pill to swallow. What is a hard pill for you to swallow as you wait for Jesus Christ to move in your own life and why?

Scripture To Meditate On: Deuteronomy 31:6, “Be strong and courageous. Don’t fear or tremble before them, because the Lord your God will be the one who keeps on walking with you—He won’t leave you or abandon you because He moves ahead of you” (PAR).

Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, I have to confess that I can be impatient when I am waiting on You to move. I know the problem is not You, but me. I at times prefer sight, not faith. I prefer You move for me rather than me moving for You. Your Word is full of examples of when and how You moved when people were almost tired of waiting. Thank You for moving when I can’t see You. Forgive me when I act as if You do not keep Your word. Lord, when the fog rolls in and I can’t see You, give me the faith to trust that You are there no matter what. I love You Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you Southside!—Pastor Kelly