Blog Entries tagged 'hardships'

Out Of Reach

linda@dailydevotions.com.au — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0100

I knew that I was the least experienced in the group and that my ability to pick up new things was often disastrous (this point had been reinforced just a few years earlier when I tried to teach myself to roller blade!)

Deuteronomy 30:1-20

Reference: v.11 Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. (NIV Bible)

Explore: A couple of years ago I decided to go skiing with some friends. I had never tried skiing before, in fact I'd never even been to the snow before. As we headed out early on our first morning I was very aware of my limitations. I knew that I was the least experienced in the group and that my ability to pick up new things was often disastrous (this point had been reinforced just a few years earlier when I tried to teach myself to roller blade!) And yet I was with a great group of friends and was up for the challenge. Just getting in the skis proved slightly difficult and no one told me how slippery the snow was going to be - maybe they assumed I would have worked that one out myself! The day slowly got better. I survived my first ski lesson, finally conquered getting off the lift and stopped falling over every couple of metres down the slopes. But the real excitement came when all of a sudden, two runs before the end of the day, everything seemed to come together at once and I felt like I was finally skiing. I may have only still been on the green run (easiest slope) but I felt in control and it felt great. I had nailed it! Although I thought skiing was going to be too difficult for me and totally out of my reach, I did it!

Application: There are many things in our lives that seem out of reach. For me one of those things was skiing, but for you it might be breaking out of debt, finding your soul mate or mending a relationship. For some people they feel that following God is too difficult and seems out of reach. But He is not. We may need to make some sacrifices, be persistent and allow ourselves to be vulnerable but it seems that this is part of the process we go through to get anything worthwhile.

Prayer: When everything seems too difficult and out of reach You come to us. All we need to do is cry out to You and You hear our us. Thank you for never being out of reach. Amen.

What is something in your life that seems too difficult at the moment, or even out of reach?

Need To Be Needed

linda@dailydevotions.com.au — Tue, 05 May 2009 00:00:00 +0100

When someone looks to rely upon people who need to be needed, they end up doing everything for the other person and almost getting energy from the other person's helplessness.

Genesis 47:1-31

Reference: v.23 Joseph said to the people, "Now that I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed for you so you can plant the ground." (NIV Bible)

Explore: It is often nice to feel needed. When someone relies on you it can often bring a sense of responsibility and fulfillment as you help someone through a time of need. There are some people, however, who take this to the extreme. When someone looks to rely upon them they end up doing everything for them and almost getting energy from the other person's helplessness. These are people who need to be needed. On the otherhand, there are people who take the responsibility of caring for another seriously but work hard in helping that person stand back on their own two feet.

Application: Joseph was certainly in the latter category. The responsibility of helping the people through a famine was huge. And yet, even when they had sold everything they had to Pharaoh - through Joseph - he was still able to empower them and equip them to help themselves.
The way we deal with other people can either empower them or keep them in a rut of neediness. While it is sometimes nice to be needed, if we really want to help the other person then we need to direct them onto a road of self-accomplishment. God has given every person gifts and abilities that they can exercise and it's a blessing to them and to God if we are able to empower others to use those gifts.

Prayer: Lord, it is great when a community works together to build each other up. As we do so, help us to empower each other to all use our gifts for your glory. Amen.

How has someone empowered you?

Fairy Tale Endings

linda@dailydevotions.com.au — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Linda Bailey is currently in the Philippines leading a short-term mission trip. For two weeks she will be sharing some of her favourite REAP posts. Here is the REAP she has chosen for today...

Sometimes I fall into the trap of thinking that God should always give me fairy tale ending.

Jonah 2.1-10

Reference: v.2
He said:
"In my distress I called to the Lord,
and he answered me.
From the depths of the grave I called for help,
and you listened to my cry. (NIV Bible)

Explore: I love romantic comedies. I do love all kinds of movies, but I particularly like romantic comedies. That rollercoaster ride of emotions only to discover that everything works out ok and you finish with your fairy tale ending. I know they are totally unrealistic but it's a nice escape from the everyday world.
Yet sometimes I fall into the trap of thinking that God should always give me a fairy tale ending. If I call out to Him when I am in distress, He should be just like the male hero in the movie and rescue me making everything perfect in the end. However, that is not how God works.
Here we find Jonah praying to God and proclaiming that the Lord answered his prayers and 'brought his life up from the pit'. If I read this chapter from verse 2-9 I would think that Jonah is thanking God from bringing him up out of the stomach of the fish. However Jonah is saying this prayer while still in the fish. He was thrown into the stormy water and God provided a great fish to swallow him, I'm not sure that would be quite what I was thinking of when I put out my distress signal to God!!

Application: God doesn't often answer us with the response we are expecting. While we are looking for a fairy tale ending, God knows what is best for us. Maybe if God had provided another boat for Jonah to be saved in, he would have just continued on his journey away from Nineveh. But God truly knows what is best for us, even if it doesn't quite align with our fairy tale ideas! When we call out to God in our distress we need to trust that He will do what is best for us.

Prayer: Lord, you made us and you know what is best for us. Help us to seek You in our distress knowing that You are all the hope we need. Amen.

Withdraw from the Rat Race

linda@dailydevotions.com.au — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 00:00:00 +0100

The pressures and the needs will always be there but if we address them from a place of refreshment then we have a greater capacity to deal with the situation.

Matthew 14.13-21

Reference: v.13 When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. (NIV Bible)

Explore: Gossip magazines make their money from intruding on people's private lives. In a recent magazine I saw pictures of Jennifer Anniston and John Mayer being intimate in a pool. These photos were so pixilated that it was clear they were taken from a very long way away, possibly another State by the look of how fuzzy they were! But you don't have to be famous to have your time interupted or intruded upon. There are always people who need to ask you this, or want to spend time with you on that, and while we are all born to be in community I think it's also important to have time alone too.
When Jesus heard the news that John the Baptist had been beheaded by Herod, he took some time out in a boat. It says that he 'withdrew'. We all need time to withdraw from the rat race occasionally and deal with our emotions, stress and exhaustion. By the time Jesus had landed the boat he was in a healthier place and had a better capacity to serve than if he had have just continued on.

Application: How are your emotional/exhaustion levels? Everyone has different pressures in their life. Whether it's family, work, school or personal issues, we all need time to be refreshed and refocussed. No one else can make you have time off, it is a personal decision. The pressures and the needs will always be there but if we address them from a place of refreshment then we have a greater capacity to deal with the situation. After Jesus had 'withdrawn' from the crowds he came back and fed over 5000 people. We may not perform such a miracle as this but we will have more compassion and understanding when we come from a place of refreshment.

Prayer: Lord, so often I get totally focused on the here and now and don't see the bigger picture. Help me to see that if I am not healthy then I will struggle to help others. Amen.

The Easy Life

linda@dailydevotions.com.au — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 08:54:23 +0100

I don't believe that God creates the hardship for us, but I do believe that if we are serving God with all our lives then our path will not always be an easy one.

Acts 14.21-28

Reference: 22b "We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God," they said.

Explore: We all like to live the easy life. We drool over advertisements that show grand holidays when all we have is a rusty caravan in the back yard, we put down students for being lazy when really we're just jealous of their copious amounts of holidays, and we idolise the rich and famous because their lives seem so much easier with wealth.
And yet we know that luxuries, holidays and riches are not going to help us enter the kingdom of God here on earth. To enter God's kingdom we need to follow His command to love Him and love others... and that's when the hardships start!
I feel that Paul and Barnabas have earned their right to speak on hardship. In this passage they have actually travelled back to the place (Lystra) where the Jews persuaded the crowd against Paul that "they stoned him and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead"(Acts 14.19). Now if that's not hardship, I'm not sure what is!! And yet it did not deter Paul. He continued on and even went back to the same place so that he could continue to spread the word of Jesus.

Application: I'll be honest, I hate hardships. I've just moved church, I've just moved suburb, I've just moved jobs and it's been hard and I've struggled. But I do know that through the hardship I have relied more on God than when I feel like I'm sailing through life. It's during times of hardships that I look to God more, I strive to seek His face and to feel His presense. And it's in these times that we truly enter the Kingdom of God. There is no better place than to be at the feet of Jesus and sometimes it takes a hardship to get us there. I don't believe that God creates the hardship for us, but I do believe that if we are serving God with all our lives then our path will not always be an easy one. But that is the best place for us to be.

Prayer: Lord, hardships can really suck. Being in a place of turmoil can really affect our decisions and our relationships. Help us to rely on you in every part of our life so that we can enter into the Kingdom of God and always live for You. Amen.

No Shortcuts For God

linda@dailydevotions.com.au — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 08:48:34 +0100

God has chosen each of His followers to be His 'chosen instrument'.

Acts 9.1-19

Reference: v.16 "I will show him how much he must suffer for my name." (NIV Bible)

Explore: We all like the easy life... or at least I do! If there's a quicker, more effective way of getting things done then I like to hear about it. I try to discover all the short-cuts on my computer keyboard and get frustrated when I'm using a program that doesn't allow them!
Unfortunately, when we are chosen by God, there aren't any short-cuts to make things easier. God had chosen Saul to be His 'chosen instrument' (v.15) and yet He followed up that honor by saying that he 'must suffer for my name'. Saul should have known the kind of suffering that he would face, as he had inflicted a lot of the suffering on other Christians before his conversion on the road to Damascus.

Application: God has chosen each of His followers to be His 'chosen instrument'. You may not have the skills to be a travelling missionary like Saul (whose name was changed to Paul) but you do have skills in other areas. And God has given us each strengths and abilities so that we can use them to build His kingdom.
Now, we must keep in mind that it's not going to be easy! There are times when we will all suffer for God's name, but then we will know that we are truly being used for Him.

Prayer: Lord, we tend to shy away from hardship and troubles. You never promised us an easy life, but You did promise to be with us through every part of our lives. Help us to feel Your presence, especially when we feel we are suffering. Amen.

When the going gets tough

linda@dailydevotions.com.au — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 08:32:01 +0100

David looks back at his kingship and notices God's presence and power throughout

2 Samuel 22.25-51

Reference: v.30 With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall.

Explore: David has written a song of praise to the Lord. In all of his journey as king he can look back and see that God was present with him. It's a bit like the poem 'Footprints': during the hard times, that was when God carried you.

Application: When we are actually in the midst of difficult times it's often hard to see through the haze of turmoil and emotion, however God promised that He would always be there, and He never breaks His promises. If we endure those hard times, knowing that God is with us each step of the way, then our faith will certainly be strengthened and our perspective through the storm clearer.

Prayer: Lord, You know that often during difficult times we turn away from You. But You are our strength and our deliverer. May we always rely on Your presence. Amen.