Daily devotion

Don’t Just Settle! – Part 1

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Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife, and they went forth from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there. Genesis 11:31 ESV

I used to think that God called Abram to go to the land of Canaan, as if it were just a lightning bolt out of the blue. It seemed that when God said, “Go to a place I will show you.”, it was if it were a place totally unknown and unfamiliar to Abram. But in today’s reading, we discover that actually Abram’s father, Terah, had set out from Ur to go to Canaan years before: but he never finished the journey. Terah did leave behind his home country. He left behind the land of idolatry, his familiar surroundings and friends, but when he got to the town of Haran, Terah decided to settle. Of course, God doesn’t give us all the particulars, of Terah’s motives, but whatever they were, they caused him to give up on his goal.

Photo by Bich Tran on Pexels.com

Now Terah started in the right direction but never made it all the way, because he settled. But the good news for us today, is that even though Terah settled for less, God didn’t He hadn’t changed His mind, and unlike any of us, God has all the time in the universe to bring His plans to pass. So, God waited. He waited a generation as Terah grew old and died in the safe little village of Haran. They must have lived there for many years during that waiting time, because by the time chapter twelve starts, Abram is already seventy-five years old. But God’s call never grows old, He never gives up and God never settles for less. Instead, God came and called again, but this time HIs call was to Abram:

“And the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you – And Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot, his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of CANAAN...” 
Genesis 12 1; 5a ESV

Never Abandoned

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“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Psalm 22:1

I know that all of Psalm 22 is a picture of the cross, but as I listened to it today on the Bible app, I also began to wonder what was happening in King David’s life when he wrote it. Was David running from Saul, being attacked by his own son Absalom or involved in some unrecorded battle? Though we don’t know exactly his circumstances, it made me realize that when Jesus said, “Take up your cross and follow me,” it will mean that, just like David, there will be times when we will pass through circumstances just as challenging to our faith.

But unlike our Lord, who truly was forsaken as He bore our sins, though it may feel as if God has forgotten us, that it is not so. Jesus has promised that He will be with us, through thick and thin all the way, even to the end of the world. Are you facing failure in your career? Abandonment by a spouse? Rejection by a parent? Have received the diagnosis you feared from the doctor? Jesus has not, nor will He ever forsake us, but when we humbly call out to Him, He will come. Though the lyrics of the song, “Little Talk With Jesus,” are often sung lightheartedly with smiles, let’s read them carefully this morning and make them our prayer. God is listening; God cares, and He will make things right and make us whole, when we cry out to Him in our prayer.

"I may have doubts and fears
My eyes be filled with tears
Jesus is a friend whi
Watches day and night
I go to Him in prayer
He takes my every care
And just a little talk
With Jesus makes it right!"
Cleavant Derricks

I’ve Got Confidence!

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I was pushed hard, so that I was falling, but the Lord helped me. The Lord is my strength and my song: he has become my salvation. Psalms 118:13-14 ESV

“Are you sure you can do this?” Mike yelled over the sound of the rushing water.

“No problem, I’ve got confidence!” I shouted back as I started my chainsaw and undercut my way through the trunk of the uprooted tree that I was standing on. But as the saw sliced through the last inch of bark, I realized too late to change things that I had terribly miscalculated the outcome. In one terrifying moment I was catapulted head over heels into chest deep freezing water. By God’s grace the saw flew harmlessly into the river, and I landed unhurt but embarrassed. Most humiliating of all was hearing my coworker Mike’s hysterical laughter, as he kept repeating over and over, “I’ve got confidence! Yes, I’ve got confidence!” Just as I didn’t think I needed help, until I was catapulted through the air, many of us find ourselves in spectacular fails because we have plenty of confidence but have based it on ourselves instead of God. Sometimes I wonder if God stands on the other side of the stream laughing hysterically and repeating our boastings a few times to the angels, before coming again to our rescue. But the good news is that even when we have catapulted ourselves into our own problem, He has promised to be our strength when we cry to Him for help. He is the one who not only is our song, but He also becomes our salvation. Through our prideful actions we may have sent us flying head over heels by unexpected outcomes, thank God that even at those moments, He will come to our rescue when we put our trust and confidence only in Him!