Written by Chuck Swindoll, these encouraging devotional thoughts are published seven days per week.
No matter what happens to you, remember "the pit from which you've been dug." You'll find the best place on earth is still pretty close to your roots. Like the country song reminds us, "Look how far I had to come, to get back where I started from."
At just the right moment, precisely as God arranged it, in keeping with a plan we might dub “Operation Arrival,” enter Messiah.
Read Luke 21:1–4; Ephesians 2:8, 9; Matthew 2:11
While Jesus was in the Temple, he watched the rich people dropping their gifts in the collection box. Then a poor widow came by and dropped in two small coins.
“I tell you the truth,” Jesus said, “this poor widow has given more than all the rest of them. For they have given a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has.” (Luke 21:1–4)
I love those words, "God is not unjust so as to forget." When no one else notices, mark it down, God notices. When no one else remembers, God records it so it won't be forgotten.
God gave you a mind. God gave you reason. God gave you a unique sensitivity; it's built into your spiritual system, and each person's system is tuned differently. God wants to reveal His will to you and to teach you while you are waiting. So while you are waiting, don't start searching for spooky stuff. We walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).
The king may rule the kingdom of Persia, and Haman may sign edicts with the king's official seal, but it is the Lord who is in control of this entire situation. And in the nucleus of His divine plan, Esther becomes invincible.
We get in a hurry when we don't wait on the Lord. We jump ahead and do rash things. We shoot from the hip. We run off at the mouth, saying things that we later regret. But when we have sufficiently waited on the Lord, He gets full control of our spirit.
This may be one of those "white spaces" in your own life. Maybe it's time for you to pray and fast and to call upon a few close friends to fast and pray with you. Maybe it's time for you to say, "I'm not going to rush into this unpredictable and unprecedented situation. I can't find the path to walk. So I'm going to wait. In the meantime, I'm going to give it to God. I'm going to listen with a sensitive ear and watch the Lord's leading with a sensitive eye."
We'll gain new strength. We'll get a better perspective. We'll store up extra energy. We'll deepen our determination to persevere. All that happens when we...wait.
Do you teach your children to stand up for what they believe? Are you teaching your grandchildren how to be people of character, regardless? That's the way they will learn it. Let me probe one question deeper. Are you modelling authentic character? That leaves the message permanently etched in their minds.
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