Month: January 2024

I often say, “Give me a long enough, I can mess things up pretty good. I can get into God’s way for sure.“ What I mean by that is without God directing the way, I have definitely messed up. And I’m sure I will continue messing things up trying to do them on my own. I bet many of you have felt, or feel, the same way too.

No matter what we are facing in life, no matter what we are going through, God will see us through. But believing is the key. Believing is the magic word here. We must believe in God. We must believe he has a plan. We must believe he is in control. And we must believe that we can’t do it alone. I know it’s hard to do that. Because we live in a world where we call the shots. We pave our paths.

In the Bible, we read that God tells us to “fear not” in our daily lives. This is to give us the strength to keep going. So remember this, no matter what we have done, no matter how bad we mess it up, God is there. Even if we think we are at the end. That there’s no turning back. God is there. So keep going. Keep pushing. Fight the good fight. Keep your eyes on God and you will feel his hope. You will experience his grace. Get out of your way long enough to let him show you. He will because he loves you. He always has. He always will.

On this morning, one year ago, many people were waking up to hear the news about what happened to Damar Hamlin in the football game the night before. Many of us watched it live. It was really difficult to watch. He went into cardiac arrest after making a seemingly routine tackle. The medical personnel performed CPR on him for several minutes and were able to get his heart beating again. I think it’s fair to say that we watched him die and then be brought back to life. The NFL made the right choice and canceled the rest of the game.

As the medical team was doing their work, a majority of all the players and coaches went to their knees to pray. They didn’t know what else to do. So they prayed. Which was the right thing to do. I am a firm believer in the power of prayer. I have been on the receiving end of the power of prayer. My family has as well. Friends that I know too. When we find ourselves facing difficult times, we should turn to prayer. Why is that? My answer is this: I know that we serve an awesome God. A loving God. A God whose plan is beyond our understanding. But it is perfect.

I would also like to suggest something. Many of you are already doing this. Many of you are not. And I know that I need to be more consistent myself. Let’s begin making prayer a priority in our lives. And I don’t mean pray just pray. I mean let’s make prayer a real priority. Let’s be diligent about it. Let’s be focused on praying when we are praying. Maybe we should all begin each day going to our knees in prayer. Just as human fathers want to hear from their children, God wants to hear from us. His children. It’s a way that we can “bless” God. Let’s not just pray when times are tough. Instead, let’s pray for his guidance. Let’s ask him to lead us so we can serve him. And after we pray this prayer, let’s believe and know that he will guide us. Because he loves us. He always has. He always will.

You are not alone. God has you. Years ago Hezekiah had to speak these words to his people. They were getting invaded. He knew that the people were fearful. He knew where that fear came from. He knew they would forget who God is. He knew they would forget His almighty power and glory. Hezekiah knew that he couldn’t just be a good king and a skilled general. He knew he must also be a wise pastor to his people. 

As they were preparing for the Assyrians, he didn’t want the people of Judah to think that they were left alone. He wanted them to know that they had been blessed. And not forget God was with them. He told his people: “Be strong and courageous! Don’t be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria or his mighty army, for there is a power far greater on our side!”

Being fearful isn’t something that only pertains to people from years past. Being fearful is a human experience. Therefore, we experience it in today’s time as well. But also, experiencing God is not something that is only reserved for past times as well. God is present today. And he will be present in the future. So when you experience fear, or experience times of uncertainty, remember that God is here for you. And as the Bible tells us, “Be strong and courageous.” He will see you through. But it’s up to us to turn to him. It’s up to us to ask him. It’s up to us to let him take control.

Here we are beginning a whole new year. As we age, it’s interesting to me how we view New Year’s Eve. How we celebrate it. Or how we don’t celebrate it. Some of us stay up to watch the ball drop in our time zones. Others of us watch the ball drop in New York City, and then call it a night where we are. Some of us are sleeping long before midnight. So many different emotions that people feel as a new year begins. Excitement about it. Doubt about it. Determined about it. Or fear about it. These emotions are natural.

Sometimes we look at our lives and we wonder why they don’t like those around us. Because we envy them. It can be natural to do so since we are human. Sometimes we try to manipulate our circumstances to get what we want or desire. That’s natural as well. Wishing we had more things. Or more opportunities. More of this. More of that. Also natural because we are human. There are even moments that we will lower our standards because of disappointment that we are trying to avoid. Expecting less of ourselves to do so. And as we stated earlier, this is natural because we are human. 

But you want to know what we have in our arsenal. We have grace. We have grace from God. Which gives us the ability to have faith. Grace and faith. Incredible! These are gifts from God. Therefore, they are not natural. They are not human. Because they are of God. So as we will begin this new year, let’s realize that God gives us the power to believe. He gives us grace in what we are facing. He gives us hope and peace. He gives us the ability to look at this new year, this new beginning, as a new opportunity to grow stronger in him. And to serve others. Let’s build our lives on belief in him. Let’s boldly seek him. And let’s see where he takes us.