Jeremiah 10:6

Jeremiah 10:6 "There is none like Thee, O Lord; Thou art great, and great is Thy name in might.”

Psalm 8:3-5 “When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained; What is man, that Thou dost take thought of him? And the son of man, that Thou dost care for him? Yet Thou hast made him a little lower than God, and dost crown him with glory and majesty!”

When I looked back over my last two Breads, I could see how similar they are. The questions I asked yesterday were already answered the day before. It seems strange that I could know in my mind at the airport that the Lord works His will according to His timing, and then as soon as I got back into the turmoil at work all that understanding just flew from my mind. It seems strange, but it’s not really much of a surprise.

The answer to the turmoil and the questioning is not really found by actively seeking out what God wants me to do at any given time. The answer is found simply by seeking Him and glorifying Him with praise.

The Psalms and the books of the prophets are full of wonderful praise that we can say back to the Lord. He is my rock and my fortress, my refuge, the God of truth (Ps. 31). He loves righteousness and justice, and the earth is full of his unfailing love (Ps. 33). The Lord longs to be gracious to you. He rises to show you compassion, for the Lord is a God of justice (Isaiah 30).

We praise the Lord, not because He needs us to remind Him who He is, but because we need to be reminded. We need to hear ourselves say how great He is and how much greater His ways are than our ways. And as we praise Him, we can’t help but get the proper perspective of our lives and our problems. Our problems and concerns may be big, but the Lord is infinitely bigger than our problems, and He is perfectly able to carry our burdens and solve our problems in ways that are so much better than we can imagine.

Are your problems overwhelming? Praise the Lord that He is all-powerful. Does your life seem hopeless? Praise the Lord that He is the God of all comfort and hope. Let your heart dwell on the Lord and not on your worries, and soon those worries will begin to fade.

“This is what the Lord says—Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty: ‘I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God.’” Isaiah 44:6

Praise His holy name!

Brenda

Ecclesiastes 3:1, 6

Ecclesiastes 3:1, 6 "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: …a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away...”

There have been several times in my life when the Lord’s leading was clear. Going back to school to finish my Bachelor’s degree was one. Co-leading the Sexual Healing class at the local crisis pregnancy center was another.

But there have been other times, like right now, when I have no idea what His will for me is—or rather, when I should do it.

I believe the Lord made me for tour directing, travel writing, and travel photography. But He also gave me the job I have now, so I could support myself and my kids until my kids reached adulthood. Well, they’re adults now, and I’m chafing at the bit to change careers soon. The problem is, I don’t know if I’m supposed to keep the job I have or throw it away for the bottom rung of the travel/tour career ladder. I can’t do both, once the travel assignments exceed my current job’s vacation time.

I don’t know if this is the time for stepping out in faith or waiting on the Lord some more. I pray, but I get no answers. Just more silence. And so I stay, but I’m miserable in my job, but I’m afraid to leave it for the vast unknown. I feel stuck in my job and stuck in indecision.

My indecision sends me back to the Word. In Acts, the early church made many of its decisions through the leading of the Holy Spirit. And they made many others just by deciding something, without there being any mention of prayer or the Spirit. The Psalms, though, are filled with looking to the Lord for help and waiting on Him.

What’s the answer, if you’re wrestling with a decision? How do you know whether to act or to wait? I don’t have the answers. But I know the One who does, and we need to seek Him—not our answers—first. Study the Scriptures and pray. Pray without ceasing. When the time is right, the answers will be clear.

“Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” Psalm 27:14

Brenda

Psalm 38:15

Psalm 38:15 "I will wait for you, O Lord; you will answer O Lord my God.”

Psalm 130:5-6 “I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,and in his word I put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.”

I’m writing this as I sit in the airport waiting for my flight. I shared a taxi to the airport with another woman whose flight was earlier than mine, so that gave me lots of waiting time. And although I feel ready to go, the airline isn’t ready for me yet. They’re working, doing things I’m not aware of to bring everything together at just the right time to get me home.

The plane I’m going to fly on hasn’t arrived yet, and the crew I’ll have may still be flying in from another place. My luggage will be loaded and the food will be placed on board while I’m sitting by the gate or finding my seat on the plane. When all the details have been worked out and everything is ready, then the plane will leave.

Our lives are like this. We feel ready for things to happen. We tell the Lord it’s time now. But He works behind the scenes, putting things in place, getting together the people who will be part of our lives, and even cleaning us up some before He declares that the time is right.

Do you find yourself impatient with the Lord’s timing in your life? Stop and consider that the Lord will act when He knows is best for action.

Trust Him, and may you see the blessing of waiting on Him.

Brenda

John 15:5

John 15:5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."

Psalm 73:28a “But as for me, it is good to be near God.”

The instructor in a photography class I took told us that the difference between a bad photo and a good one is that usually in a bad photo, the photographer didn’t get close enough to the subject.
People tend to take pictures of other people from head to toe, but when we do that, the face is too tiny to make out the features very well. We may see the whole person, but we don’t really see the person.

There’s a famous picture that National Geographic had on one of its covers, and they still use it in their promotional materials. It’s a picture of a young Afghan woman wearing a headdress. The picture only shows her face, and it doesn’t even show all of her headdress. It’s a beautiful portrait, close and detailed, and you get a sense of her character and innocence.

It seems as though lately, I’ve been seeing Jesus as a full-body picture—distant and hard to see very clearly. What I want is to see Him better. What I want is to see His character in full detail.
The problem is not with Him. It’s with the “photographer.” I need to move closer. I need to focus on His face, on who He is and the way He looks at me.

What I need is to dig deeper into the Word, not just read it on a surface level. What I need is to pray fervently, not just say routine prayers at the sleepy end of a long day.

Jesus wants us to be close to Him, the way the branches of a grapevine are close to the trunk. Is this how close you are to Him? How would He want you to go about drawing closer to Him?

Brenda

Luke 21:1 - 4

Luke 21:1 - 4 “While Jesus was in the Temple, he watched the rich people putting their gifts into the collection box. Then a poor widow came by and dropped in two pennies. ‘I assure you,’ he 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.’”

I read a report not too long ago about some of the countries that have contributed to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. People had been asking where all the other countries were when it was our turn to suffer, and the answer came.

France donated generators, supplies, and other tangible assets to help with rescue and cleanup. Other nations donated money, and all this was good to know. But one country brought me to tears. Sri Lanka donated $25,000 to help the victims of Katrina.

This is a nation that suffered devastating loss not even a year ago, when the tsunami hit its coastline. And even before the tsunami, Sri Lanka was a poor nation. But because they knew what it was to suffer and be helped, they gave to help us when we’re suffering. It’s a drop in the bucket compared to what’s needed, but it had to have cost them dearly.

God has told us that we were made in His image, that He has written His word upon our hearts. He planted in each one of us the potential to feel compassion for others and we honor Him when we act on that compassion.

The widow in the Temple, whose poverty taught her the importance of giving to help the poor, gave all she had. A nation devastated by an act of nature understood first-hand the importance of knowing other people cared enough to give, and so they gave.

What devastation, what pain have you suffered that helps you to feel compassion for others facing the same kinds of trials? What was it that helped you get through it?

It may be hard sometimes to bring yourself to emotionally relive your suffering, but it is by remembering the pain that we are able to remember the remedy. Ultimately, Jesus is the Remedy, but He likes to work through us–through poor widows and people whose broken hearts have been healed.

How would He use you to help those around you?

May the Lord sustain you as you give.

Brenda