Tag: Isaiah 40:31

Knock, Knock…

On By femmefuelIn FemmeBytes by Bindu Adai-Mathew, October 2011 (Devotions)Leave a comment

By Bindu Adai-Mathew

Today two things didn’t go as expected. Disappointment quickly set in like an evening fog, clouding my vision and blurring my future hopes and expectations. Soon worry ensued. 

But as JMathis challenged us yesterday, when guilt, pain, and stress came knocking, I fought those negative feelings by meditating on a verse that has brought me great comfort in the recent year.

 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  Romans 8:28

 Lord, does that mean you can take my mistakes and still get me to where I need to be? And as if to answer that question, I am reminded of King David whom God established his bloodline despite David almost ruining his reign with adultery and then covering that up with murder.

 Lord, does that mean you can use situations where I feel like people are against me and use even that to benefit me?  I am quickly reminded of the story of Joseph who was betrayed by his brothers and sold into slavery but later rose to second in command of a Egypt.

 Lord, I’m middle-aged…if you were going to bless me, wouldn’t it have happened by now? I am reminded of  Sarah who gave birth to her promise well after her physical body would not have been able to conceive.

 In “all things” Lord? Really?

Really.

 But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:31

 Okay, Lord. As challenging as it is and as impatient as I am, I will wait upon you and your perfect timing.

 

 

 

 

 

Ally O . . . I hardly know you, but I love you

On By femmefuelIn FemmeBytes by Sasha Katz, October 2011 (Devotions)1 Comment

Ally O, I hardly know you, but I love you.  And, yes, we all know, your mama loves you too.  She greets us every morning with a smile and the truth wrapped around her heart.  It is all mixed up with sweat, but that’s what we’re here for anyway.  Aren’t we?  It is the sweat of the flesh and the sweat of the spirit.  That’s what we are here for anyway.

Ally O, you know your mama better than me.  But I can’t help but tell you how she beams for her three.  And breaks for any one of you who is suffering.  Like a roller coaster ride, she cares for you from afar – – going through your ups and downs with you.  Her pure, pure heart watches you grow.  And on her knees she intercedes for you.  And, every now and then, she leaks patches of your walk to us.

I know, Ally O, that He stripped you of all the confidence you gained for the 18 years before you left for college.  He took away the many athletic and academic successes you collected over the years.  He looked you squarely in face and asked you to trust in Him.  Your mama grinned and bore your pain.

I know, Ally O, that, just a year later, He’s teaching you more.  Seems like He’s taking you apart again.  Looking you squarely in the face and asking you to trust Him.  We are promised certain things.  Sometimes we are sinking in the mire of a dungeon.  Some days we soar on wings like eagles.  Isaiah 40:31.  But, mostly, He invites us to experience His Sufficiency.  BinduAdai

You will find Him, not in the occasional cold looks of your team mates, but in the security He provides to you as His daughter.  You will find Him, not in your swooning, lovesick study buddy, but in the grace He gives you to manage your friend’s crush.  You will find Him because the only reason He put you where you are is to do just that.  To find Him in the deepest way you were made to find Him.

Ally O, you have a mother who would move mountains to rescue you from your pain.  But you also have a mother who rather coach you to climb your own mountains.  As you face your mountains, I leave you with the very wise words of my dear friend . . . And do not forget, Ally O, that I love you.

Let those difficult days be the days where God reveals His true power to you. Where you experience the “Peace that Passes All Understanding” despite your circumstances. Where you experience His Power over the most hardest of hearts. Where He opens up the impossible doors of your life like the Red Sea so you can walk through them. Those difficult, stormy days that you are hating and wishing would just pass may end up being the most defining days of your Christian walk. Because it is there, through the haze and fog of the storm, where you will see and experience the Presence of your Maker.