Day 4
I lived in Houston, Texas for almost 8 years. The summers were so hot. That seems like not enough to describe them. I can remember walking outside and the heat and humidity being so high that it literally would take your breath away. You couldn’t do very many things outside because of the extreme temperatures and if you did you must take breaks often and make sure you drank lots of water to keep you from dehydration. It was so hot at times the power would go out in our homes due to the magnitude of power being used by air conditioners. Hot …hot…hot. Did I say hot?
When I moved to Arkansas in the fall and I took in the cool air, I thought it couldn’t get any better than this. If I haven’t said yet this week I love fall and all things fall. Praise Jesus for cooler weather.
I love the change from summer to fall because one day you can walk outside and it’s hot and the sun is brightly shining and the humidity is breath taking literally, but the next day you walk outside and there are cooler temperatures and a cool breeze and the sun is till shining brightly. There is relief!
What’s crazy is that the same sun that was shining the day before and the temperature was in the hundreds is the same sun shining in the fall when the temperatures are in the seventies. The sun never leaves and is still present. Much like Jesus! He is constant…he never changes!
Hebrews 13: 8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
He never leaves our circumstances. No matter how difficult those circumstances, no matter how exhausting the situations, He is still there.
Deuternomy 31: 8 “It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; He will never leave you or forsake you…”
And when we finally trust that, we breath in Jesus and when begin to rest in His presence. His peace is a breath of fresh air. There is strength for the fighting.
Isaiah 40: 29 “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak). There is perseverance for the exhausted”
Hebrews 10: 36 “For you have need of endurance so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.”
There is hope for the fainting heart
Romans 5: 2 “through whom we have gained access by faith into the grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God”.
There is grace given for the frustrated.
Ephesians 4: 7 “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”
There is wisdom for the one searching for answer
James 1: 5 “If any of you lack wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him”.
That’s what Jesus does for us. He is there, we know that, in some cases we see Him but we just allow Him to take the sidelines of our lives instead of allowing him to coach the game. We just have to begin to live in what we know is true! And His word is truth! We begin to love in peace that helps our circumstances to no longer rest on us. We enjoy the “cool air”. We enjoy all the promises he has made to us. We begin to live in true joy. Our life becomes a life of full worship. Not just Sunday worship, singing songs, a life that is lived in worship to the great creator, our Father. Our joy overflows and it not only affects us but the ones around us.
I heard a speaker not very long ago that said, “life’s situations give us the opportunities to see and accept that Gods promises don’t expire – but you have to choose to believe it.” I think sometimes our response or choices could lead others to believe we have stopped believing that what He says is true and that there truly are no expirations. This is usually because we are surrounded by so much that it’s hard to breath at times. We are holding so much, we are standing in the heat and we aren’t taking breaks to get hydrated. We aren’t spending time with our Father and His Word. When we lose our joy, we ultimately lose our faith, our hope and our peace.
Romans 15: 13 “May the God of hope fill you with all the joy and peace, as you trust him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit”
So as you step outside these next few days, weeks and you breath in the cool air and you feel the warmth of the sun hitting your face, choose joy, choose to trust in His promises, choose to know that He is always there, choose to surrender, choose a life lived out in worship for the one that is shining down on you!