Ephesians 5:8-10
You groped your way through that murk once, but no longer. You’re out in the open now. The bright light of Christ makes your way plain. So no more stumbling around. Get on with it! The good, the right, the true—these are the actions appropriate for daylight hours. Figure out what will please Christ, and then do it.
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
We were warned for days. Every forecaster talked about the serious tornado threat for our area – up to a week beforehand. The danger from impending tornadoes was the lead story on the national news broadcasts on Saturday evening…even though the storms were not expected for another 24 hours or so. I sat in church Sunday morning and prayed for safety for everyone in Arkansas. A line of thunderstorms with hail had come through earlier, and a soft rain fell. I asked, “LORD…who won’t be here this evening? What structures will be missing? Will our area be hit? Is this, quite literally, the ‘calm before the storm’?” It seemed surreal…and nebulous. “Maybe the storms will miss us,” we commented hopefully.
The storms did miss our community…but not those 40-50 miles to our south, with the cities of Mayflower and Vilonia, Arkansas, being hit the worst. Storm debris, photos and papers from these areas have even been found near my neighborhood. Lives have been taken. Homes are destroyed. The devastation defies description in a swath as much as a mile wide and spanning some 90 miles in distance. This massive, violent storm was on the ground for a long, long time. And worse yet, the tornado’s path was the same as one that emaciated much of this very area only three years ago. Some people lost their homes – or suffered thousands of dollars in damage – in 2011…and now those refurbished or reconstructed homes are gone once again. The death toll is 16…and climbing…as family and friends search for missing loved ones.
So today, as the sun tries to peek through the clouds and we step up out of our safe rooms and “hidey holes”…as we pull ourselves out of the murk and the darkness into the bright light of day and the truth of this horrific scene, we are left to ask a lot of questions…”WHY, LORD? And…WHY the same area once again? Why were two cities who have endured much hardship in recent years – including natural disasters and a man-made one – revisited with tragedy and incredible hardships? What on earth do we do now? Where do we turn?”
A couple of years ago, I watched incredible cable news footage of a tornado destroying homes in rural Oklahoma. A photographer aboard a nearby helicopter captured the horrific scene, and the news station aired it live. Once the storm passed, people began to emerge from underneath the rubble. Where only the foundations of houses remained, doors to “safe rooms” in the ground opened, and entire families stepped up and out into the light of day. They wandered…and stumbled…and appeared to be understandably dazed and confused. And many are in that same condition today.
I watched an interview this morning with one young father whose house is gone – for the second time in three years. He told the reporter, “We are still here by the grace of God.” I know it is easy for me to say this from a safe distance…but the hand of God is evident in this tragic event – even now. People are sharing harrowing stories of survival. Many who lost everything they own are thanking God for keeping them physically safe. Rescue and recovery efforts are organizing all over the state and nation. People are praying. And even in circumstances where loved ones have lost their lives, God is at work. These deaths will not be in vain. We cannot see it, but God is orchestrating the events of this storm – and its clean-up. He is touching the hearts and lives of all who observe this devastation, and people are pulling together in restoration efforts.
People are figuring out what to do to please Christ…even as they grieve and struggle. They are turning to Him for guidance as they stumble…because honestly, they don’t have a clue what to do of their own accord. And Jesus is answering. As we look to Him for wisdom and direction, He is walking with us. If we will prayerfully move forward, He will guide our steps. Our Heavenly Father will make sense of all of this for us in the daylight hours. He will show us what is good…right…true…and equip us to do these things!
Where is God in this tragedy? He is here…right smack dab in the middle of it! He is holding our hand, picking up a shovel and scooping debris, and orchestrating rescue and restoration efforts. He is soothing the broken hearts of the grieving, healing the injured, and touching the hearts and minds of His people. He is saying, “Step into the light of Christ. Walk with Him…and when you can’t put one foot in front of another, let Him carry you. We will get through this!”
Christ’s bright light is making the way plain. Have you come out of the darkness and found God? This is the day to get busy doing what is good, right, and true – even in the midst of this horrific, devastating storm…to figure out what will please Christ, and then do it! Are you with me?
©2014 Debbie Robus
Showing posts with label stumbling in the darkness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stumbling in the darkness. Show all posts
Daily Devotional for September 2, 2013
1 John 1:6-7
If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we’re obviously lying through our teeth—we’re not living what we claim. But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God’s Son, purges all our sin.
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
Imagine never using your electricity. Every night, as darkness falls, you stumbled around and fumble to find your way from room to room. You have a television or two, but you never turn them on. You have a refrigerator, but it’s empty, because you won’t plug it in and use the needed power to cool your food. You don’t use your phone, because you won’t charge it, and the battery ran down a long time ago. You take cold baths and showers, get dressed in relative darkness or only by daylight, and you wash and rinse your clothes in a sink or bathtub. You can’t cook most of your food, because pretty much every appliance you own runs on electricity, and you’re not “plugged in”. Your electric bill is paid… you have electrical power available...… but you refuse to use it!
Sounds pretty nutty, doesn’t it? Yet this is exactly what countless people do every single day with their Christian faith. They have the power of God available… Jesus Christ bought and paid for their sins on Calvary… and they will tell you in a heartbeat that they have a relationship with God. Still, they refuse to turn on the power and fumble around in the darkness. We are all guilty of this at one time or another. There are times when each of us fails to fully avail ourselves of the power of God in our lives… to call on Him to help us with a particular situation or challenge. There are times when we claim we live for God, but our actions and behaviors indicate otherwise. But for some, this is a way of life that is akin to living in a home with electricity… and never using it.
I am always amazed when I encounter someone who is negative, critical, pessimistic, always angry at someone or about something – in a nutshell, a total grump… yet they never miss a church service or a Bible study. They are the first to claim the name of Jesus and declare that they love the LORD. They will say, “Oh, I can’t do such-and-such, because we have Wednesday night prayer meeting,” or “Our church is sponsoring a mission trip, and I have to help with the fundraiser.” Their entire life appears to a paradox… if not an outright lie. They stumble around in the darkness and don’t turn on the light! The “electricity” is there… they just aren’t utilizing it! You may know people like this… and maybe you are one of them - at least part of the time. I have to tell you, outside observers are not buying it when you claim to have an intimate relationship with God. In essence, it appears that those who behave this way are lying through their teeth, as the scripture says.
It is time to “turn on the light!” If you don’t have God’s power in your life… if you have not accepted Jesus Christ and received forgiveness for your sins, I urge you to do so. Tap into the power and light of God Almighty, and operate in His strength, love, grace and mercy. If you are a born-again Christian, yet you continue to stumble around and operate in untruth by not living what you claim, it is time to humble yourself before God and ask Him to help you make the necessary changes. We cannot be effective in our Christian discipleship if we stumble around in the darkness. We cannot demonstrate the power and love of God if we are operating in negativity, gossip, criticism, unkindness, defeatism, and downright evil. We cannot “talk the talk” and fail to “walk the walk". We don’t fool anyone. We’re lying through our teeth, and everyone knows it.
We have a choice to make. If we are going to accept God’s “electricity”, we have to use it. We have to turn on His light in our heart and let it shine for all to see. Will you choose to fumble in the dark… or have you plugged in to God’s power and turned on the light? Isn’t it time you did just that?
©2013 Debbie Robus
If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we’re obviously lying through our teeth—we’re not living what we claim. But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God’s Son, purges all our sin.
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
Imagine never using your electricity. Every night, as darkness falls, you stumbled around and fumble to find your way from room to room. You have a television or two, but you never turn them on. You have a refrigerator, but it’s empty, because you won’t plug it in and use the needed power to cool your food. You don’t use your phone, because you won’t charge it, and the battery ran down a long time ago. You take cold baths and showers, get dressed in relative darkness or only by daylight, and you wash and rinse your clothes in a sink or bathtub. You can’t cook most of your food, because pretty much every appliance you own runs on electricity, and you’re not “plugged in”. Your electric bill is paid… you have electrical power available...… but you refuse to use it!
Sounds pretty nutty, doesn’t it? Yet this is exactly what countless people do every single day with their Christian faith. They have the power of God available… Jesus Christ bought and paid for their sins on Calvary… and they will tell you in a heartbeat that they have a relationship with God. Still, they refuse to turn on the power and fumble around in the darkness. We are all guilty of this at one time or another. There are times when each of us fails to fully avail ourselves of the power of God in our lives… to call on Him to help us with a particular situation or challenge. There are times when we claim we live for God, but our actions and behaviors indicate otherwise. But for some, this is a way of life that is akin to living in a home with electricity… and never using it.
I am always amazed when I encounter someone who is negative, critical, pessimistic, always angry at someone or about something – in a nutshell, a total grump… yet they never miss a church service or a Bible study. They are the first to claim the name of Jesus and declare that they love the LORD. They will say, “Oh, I can’t do such-and-such, because we have Wednesday night prayer meeting,” or “Our church is sponsoring a mission trip, and I have to help with the fundraiser.” Their entire life appears to a paradox… if not an outright lie. They stumble around in the darkness and don’t turn on the light! The “electricity” is there… they just aren’t utilizing it! You may know people like this… and maybe you are one of them - at least part of the time. I have to tell you, outside observers are not buying it when you claim to have an intimate relationship with God. In essence, it appears that those who behave this way are lying through their teeth, as the scripture says.
It is time to “turn on the light!” If you don’t have God’s power in your life… if you have not accepted Jesus Christ and received forgiveness for your sins, I urge you to do so. Tap into the power and light of God Almighty, and operate in His strength, love, grace and mercy. If you are a born-again Christian, yet you continue to stumble around and operate in untruth by not living what you claim, it is time to humble yourself before God and ask Him to help you make the necessary changes. We cannot be effective in our Christian discipleship if we stumble around in the darkness. We cannot demonstrate the power and love of God if we are operating in negativity, gossip, criticism, unkindness, defeatism, and downright evil. We cannot “talk the talk” and fail to “walk the walk". We don’t fool anyone. We’re lying through our teeth, and everyone knows it.
We have a choice to make. If we are going to accept God’s “electricity”, we have to use it. We have to turn on His light in our heart and let it shine for all to see. Will you choose to fumble in the dark… or have you plugged in to God’s power and turned on the light? Isn’t it time you did just that?
©2013 Debbie Robus
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)