Into Trouble and Out

Posted on February 13, 2008 by Henry Neufeld

1And the entire Israelite congregation traveled from the Wilderness of Sin by stages as YHWH directed, and they camped at Rephidim, and there was no water for the people to drink. 2The people disputed with Moses, and they said, “Give us water so we can drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why are you disputing with me? Why are you testing YHWH?” 3The people became very thirsty and they grumbled against Moses, and they said, “Why have you brought us out of Egypt to kill us, our children, and our flocks with thirst?” 4And Moses cried out to YHWH, saying, “What shall I do about these people? A bit more and they’re going to stone me!” 5And YHWH said to Moses, “Go before the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you, and take your staff, the one you used to smite the Nile, in your hand, and go. 6I will be standing before you there at the rock in Horeb, and you will strike the rock, and water will come out of it, and the people will drink. And Moses did so in front of the elders of Israel. 7And he named the place Massah and Meribah, because of the dispute brought by the children of Israel, and because there they tested YHWH, saying, “Is YHWH among us or not?” — Exodus 17:1-7

Sometimes I write devotionals that talk about how much God cares for each one of us, and all the things he has done. Other days I talk about how following God can get us into trouble, and how we cannot expect everything to be perfect in the Christian life. We have to be ready to endure hardship and trials if we are going to follow God.

Each of these topics can be dangerous by itself. If we talk about only about safety, support, prosperity, and the things we normally call blessings, we might be very cheerful, but we may also be very shallow. When the trial comes, we may find that the gospel has very shallow roots and the enemy pulls it up. (I say “thing we normally call blessings” because I would argue that all God’s leading is blessing, but sometimes it may not seem so at the time.)

So let’s follow Israel in our story today. There are numerous lessons in this passage, but I’m going to focus on one. They come to camp in Rephidim, and they don’t have water. Now we aren’t told up front what their complaint was, but we get the core of it at the end. Some people were saying, “Here we are without water. If God was really leading us, we’d have water.”

I suspect their complaint to Moses said much the same thing. “Look Moses, you led us out of Egypt with a bunch of miracles. The God who turned the Nile to blood and parted the sea could handle a bit of drinking water. So the problem is obvious—you’ve lost your touch and you aren’t following God’s guidance.”

But the text also makes clear that the camp at Rephidim was by God’s direction—literally at the mouth of God. So for those who tell me that God doesn’t lead anyone into trouble, there’s the text. God led the Israelites to a place where there wasn’t enough water. Pretty clear, no? This could get depressing! Even when I’m following God’s guidance and being obedient, I can come to a really nasty place.

The Israelites were pretty angry and went after Moses. Church people do that to their leaders. “Pastor, you persuaded us to build that new building, and now look at the funds—there’s not enough to pay the bills! If God had led us to build that building, the money would be here.”

So what does Moses do? He goes straight to God. I love the way Moses talks to God—right straight from the heart! “Lord, they’re going to kill me if you don’t fix this!” So God sends Moses out with witnesses, and with the staff. Notice that it specifies the staff that Moses had used to strike the river. God wants to remind people who has control of the water.

And then God supplies the needed water. For all of you who think God is gloomy, dreary, and expects us to spend lives of misery because we serve him, this one is pretty clear too. God fixed the problem. He provided water.

For God it never was a problem. Into trouble, and out of trouble—by God’s leading. That’s how we grow in trust.

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While We Are Still Weak

Posted on February 12, 2008 by Henry Neufeld

6For while we were still weak, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. 7Rarely will one give one’s life for a righteous person; for a good person one might dare to die. 8But God makes clear how much he loves us because while were were still sinners, Christ died for us. — Romans 5:6-8

You know, sometimes I think Christianity is so easy that it’s hard. That may seem like a strange statement, but I find God’s grace somewhat difficult to get hold of. That’s why I am concerned about anyone saying we have to really understand salvation before we can receive it. I don’t think we do understand it.

Most of us have figured out pretty clearly that we came to Christ bringing nothing to the table. We din’t have any bargaining chips to make Jesus take us into God’s kingdom on any of our own terms. It was grace, plain and simple. It may have been hard to see that. We may have a very hard time feeling it even when we already know it. But we do get it in general.

Then comes the moment of failure. What am I going to do? I’m going to try to find all the things I need to do right. I’m going to try to make agreements with God. “I’ll give $XX every week for the test of my life if . . .” Sometimes we make commitments regarding our behavior. Often this amounts to telling God that in exchange for his favor we’ll do something we were supposed to to anyhow.

It might just be me, but I don’t think so. I suspect there will be lots of readers who will think of times when they have said, “God, if you’ll get me out of this situation I’ll …”

But God is a pretty consistent God. He’s still working on the grace plan. He wants to make you fully a part of his kingdom. When you come to him as a miserable failure, he doesn’t toss you out with the garbage. He applies some more grace. And more. And more. And more.

While we are still weak – God loves us!

While we are still weak – God accepts us!

While we are still weak – God calls us!

While we are still weak – God equips us!

While we are still weak – God keeps on working on us and molding us!

Now there are times when God wants you to work. There are things it’s good for you to do. God likes you to develop character. The thing is that none of that is the basis on which God accepts you. Just as a mother loves the child who brings home the Ds on a report card just as she loves the child who brings home As, so God loves each of us.

Now he may want us to work on the D—and F—areas of our lives. But we do that ever and always as his children.

He brought us to him while we were still weak. He continues to work while we are still weak.

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Wrapped Around a Tree

Posted on February 11, 2008 by Henry Neufeld

2And the word of YHWH came to him [Elijah], saying, 3”Go from here and turn east, and hide in the Wadi Kerith, which is toward the Jordan River. . . .” 8Then the word of YHWH came to him saying, 9”Get up and go to Zarephath, which is toward Sidon, and you will live there. I have commanded a widow to feed you.” 18:1A long time went by and the word of YHWH came to Elijah in the third year, saying, “Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will bring rain on the face of the ground.” — 1 Kings 17:2-3, 8-9, 18:1

I’ve been learning quite a bit from our dog Barnabas lately. Today I noticed again his tendency to get his leash wrapped around trees, garbage cans, or anything that’s available. Once he has gotten himself tangled up, he will not go back and undo what he has done. When he is tied up outside, he’ll go around a tree, and then head toward the house. He wants to go in, and the door is right in front of him! When I go out, I either have to lead him back around the tree, or I have to untie him so he can run straight for the house while I take care of untangling leads. I usually let him loose and untangle the leash myself, because he firmly resists walking away from his goal. He can’t see how going back around that tree will help him get to his goal—being back inside the house.

Now there are really two lessons I take from that story. The first one is about repentance. It is so easy for us to go in the wrong direction for so long that we can’t find any way to turn around and get ourselves untangled. We keep struggling toward the next goal, but we feel like we are being held back. Repentance may well involve going back and untangling ourselves where we have taken wrong turns. I may laugh at the dog when he has tangled himself in a particularly creative way, but sometimes parts of my life look like that!

But the other lesson is the one I take from Elijah and the way God led him. Very often just when we think we’re ready to jump out and do the real thing, the thing we know God has called us to, we find that God is sending us on a detour. It happened to Moses when he was sent from Egypt to Midian. What a detour! Why couldn’t God just act immediately and make Pharaoh let Israel go? Then there are the Israelites. They were ready, or so they thought, to inherit the land of Canaan. But they spent forty years wandering in the wilderness. Even Jesus took a detour into Egypt on his way to his own time of ministry.

The paths of God’s messengers and servants are not always straight and easy. Often the straight path looks best to us, but that’s only because we don’t actually know what is along that path. God is working a plan out in our life.

In our passage today I’ve extracted the pieces where Elijah is told to move. First he speaks to Ahab—no effect. Then he goes to the Wadi Kerith—it dries up. Then he goes to Zarephath. He spends three years. Still nothing is happening. Finally God tells him to go to Ahab and rain would come. But if you remember the story, there was still a lot of “doing” before the rains actually came.

Sometimes I feel just like Barnabas. There’s grandpa (Barnabas was our son James’s dog) pulling me in precisely the opposite direction from the one I want to go. He’s leading me away from the door! This can’t be right! Dig in my feet and hold on for dear life! But what I’m really doing is resisting the best, perhaps the only way to get to my goal, no matter what it looks like.

If you’ve got your feet dug into the ground and a stubborn look on your face while you fight the direction in which God is pulling you, perhaps you should learn a lesson from Barnabas—one he’ll likely never learn himself. Sometimes going the other direction is the only thing that will work!

Don’t stay wrapped around a tree!

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Make it Easy for God

Posted on February 8, 2008 by Henry Neufeld

Note: There was a glitch with our name servers that caused this site to be unavailable Wednesday and Thursday. Access will be spotty today, but should be good by tomorrow. If you’re reading this, you obviously have access! 🙂

8I will wisely guide you in the way you should go.
I will watch you and advise you.
9Don’t be like a horse or a mule,
without understanding.
They have to be curbed with bit and bridle,
Lest they come at you. — Psalm 32:8-9

There are several different ways to view God’s will, but two approaches serve as a contrast. Most people fall between these two points. There are those who expect God to have a specific will for every move of their lives. For them, God’s will is detailed and specific, and their choice is simply to hear and obey in every detail. At the opposite pole we have those who see God’s will as a generic set of good principles and bad principles. You are supposed to choose to do what is right, but God doesn’t care what particular profession you choose, and he certainly doesn’t care what you will have for dinner.

It’s not really my topic for this devotional, but I can’t resist suggesting a way for these two groups, and those between to work together. Perhaps God works with different people in different ways, guiding some step by step and just handing others a general map. I don’t know for sure, but that seems possible to me.

The Psalmist seems to put himself somewhere in the middle. Check your own Bible version for the word I translated “advise.” It gets translated quite a number of ways, but generally it refers to giving counsel, and the recipient can decide precisely what to do with it. At the same time, it tells us there is a path that God has for us, and he’s going to guide us wisely.

The question for us is how we will follow this path. When I take our dog for a walk I have to have him on a leash. He wouldn’t follow me if I didn’t have that leash. He’d go where he wanted to, and I couldn’t count on him to come when I called unless he wanted to. If he was better behaved, he might be able to have more freedom on a walk, but for his safety I have to have control of him.

Some people are like that. You’ve probably encountered them at work. They can do things, but they need to have all the rules and procedures laid out in detail. If you forget to close a loophole, they’re sure to find a way to create disaster. Others require less direction. They’ll follow the spirit of a supervisor’s instructions even when the detailed letter didn’t cover the situation. You can tell this second sort of employee to “work safely” and they will, even going to the trouble of discovering what is safe.

God’s children need to learn to be guided by that wise direction, to accept that counsel, and to follow the spirit of God’s will. God will work with us no matter who we are. If it’s a bit and bridle, God will provide! Remember that Psalm 32, from which I took our passage, is a Psalm of confession, and the confession comes after God’s hand was heavy on the one who had sinned.

So he has good reason to give this advice. Be easy to move in the right direction. Make a habit of repentance, rather than avoiding it. Don’t wait for God’s hand to be heavy on you before you correct your course.

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How Far Do I Lift My Eyes?

Posted on February 6, 2008 by Henry Neufeld

1I lift my eyes to the mountains.
Where does my help come from?
2My help comes from YHWH,
The one who made heaven and earth. — Psalm 121:1-2

There was a bit of geography to prayer and to worship in ancient Canaan. People felt that if they could just get a little closer to the gods, it was more likely they would be heard. That’s why you read about “high places” in the Old Testament in reference to Canaanite worship. Lifting up one’s eyes to the hills (or mountains) was something that sounded pretty devout. It was like saying, “I’m going to church.”

That’s a good thing, isn’t it?

Well, yes and no. It’s a good thing to go to church, to get together with our fellow believers and worship. It’s a good thing to share our testimonies and to praise the Lord. It’s a good thing to share in our prayers for one another for whatever we need.

But there was a temptation in Canaan to look at the hills as the source of salvation. Not only that, one could look at what people had put on top of the hills, altars, shrines, idols, and so forth, as the source of salvation.

Recently there has been a race going on between different companies to make sub-orbital vehicles. What these vehicles do is take people to the edge of space, theoretically outside our atmosphere. You could say that they are reaching the sky.

Now think about the poor Canaanite going out to worship. He looks up at the sky. The gods are way up there. He knows that people have climbed the highest mountains around and haven’t reached heaven. But still he’s going to do his part. He’s going to climb up the nearest hill to make it easier for God to reach him.

It’s really pathetic, if you think of it. Considering the distance to be traveled, going to the top of a hill doesn’t really accomplish all that much.

But we are tempted to do the same thing. When we look for help, healing, or salvation, we really want to depend on what we can do. We try to do a little bit of good on our own and see if that will help. We are, like the Canaanites, looking to the hills.

The Israelites knew better. They knew that climbing hills didn’t really help. The psalmist looks at the hills and knows his help doesn’t come from there. It comes from the one who made the hills, and not only them, but all of heaven and earth.

When we come to God we always want to help him out. We think that if we do just the right stuff in the right way God will hear. But he doesn’t need you to climb to the top of a pitiful little hill. He can see you down in the valley. He doesn’t need you to perfect your prayers and get just the right words. He already knows what you want.

Lift up your eyes, but when you do, lift them all the way. Your help doesn’t come from little things down here. It comes from the creator of all.

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No Condemnation

Posted on February 5, 2008 by Henry Neufeld

16For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son so that everyone who puts their trust in him will not perish, but will have eternal life. 17For God didn’t send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to make it possible for the world to be saved (made whole) through him. — John 3:16-17

Sometimes it’s a good idea to get back to basics, and that’s what I’m doing today. The first of our two verses is so familiar that I would guess many readers will be annoyed at my translation. That’s OK. Just say it to yourself from memory the way you remember it.

Got it in mind? That’s the gospel in a nutshell. God loved, God gave, we live. It’s way too simple for most of us, probably because we just don’t see how it can be as simple as it is. So we like to make conditions. God couldn’t possibly love me, I’m not good enough. I need to get much better before God will love me.

But the basic gospel says that God does love you and he did give himself for you. All you have to do is accept it. It can’t get more basic than that.

Now we don’t read the next verse nearly as often, but it’s very important too. You see, we often feel condemned just because we get close to Jesus. We see how good he is and we don’t feel up to it. But God didn’t send Jesus to condemn us, but to save us, to make us whole.

That’s just a restatement of the basics from John 3:16. God is here to save. He loves you and wants you to live eternally.

1So there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed us from the law of sin and of death. 3Because God did what the law couldn’t do because it was weak through the flesh: God sent his own Son into the world in the form of sinful flesh and he dealt with sin by condemning it in the flesh, 4so that the right requirement of the law could be fulfilled in you, who don’t live according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. — Romans 8:1-4

We couldn’t do it. The rulebook couldn’t do it. Only God, both our creator and our redeemer could do it. And there you have Salvation 101.

God loved. God gave. We live.

Accept it!

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Do You Know What You Believe?

Posted on February 4, 2008 by Jody Neufeld

That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced the he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day. 2 Timothy 1:12 (NIV)

Do you know what you believe? Take some time today, if you’ve never done this, and write down 3-4 points that you know you believe. What beliefs can stand through all of your life experiences? When ‘stuff’ is difficult in your life, when you can’t see what God is doing and/or why He might be allowing it to happen, what can you still believe without exceptions or qualifiers?

When I was a child, I believed what my mother and father told me. I relied on them to feed me, clothe me, and keep me from falling. I didn’t question (not until I was 6 or so!) because I thought my parents were SO SMART and knew EVERYTHING! I don’t even remember what the incident was but sometime around 6 I realized that my parents didn’t know everything! What a shock! Then as I grew and became ‘older’ and somewhere around 12 – I thought I knew everything! My parents were ‘out of it’ and I kept this know-it-all attitude until I went to college and was out on my own – and got my reality check of how little – very little – I actually knew! Then at the young age of 40, I ‘hooked up’ with Jesus and the more I know about my LORD, the weaker I feel in myself, the more questions I have, and the more I rely on Him!

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”

1 Corinthians 1:18-19 (quote from Isaiah 29:14) (NIV)

Paul, arguably one of the greatest minds of his time, states early in his ministry that the basic premise of the cross – the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ – is foolishness to those who are trying to ‘figure it out’ or ‘make sense’ of the concept – and so are DYING. When you take that tiny baby step of faith and believe that Jesus is God in the flesh and came to make the perfect sacrifice for sin, you KNOW it is God. There is no wisdom and intelligence about it. It is faith.

And then, toward the end of his life, as he sees the end coming, Paul is speaking to his student, Timothy, and like Jesus did with the disciples just before He died, Paul is trying to cram the important ‘stuff’ into Timothy. Paul is continuing to remind Timothy that this faith, this Christianity, being a disciple of Christ, is still seen as foolishness – but Paul is not ashamed of what he believes and professes. Paul has given himself totally to Jesus and knows that Jesus will finish what He has started…no matter how it looks to anyone else.

Do you know what you believe? Do you trust God to finish what He has begun in you? Do you trust Him enough to keep going in your relationship with Him? Trust Him enough to be obedient even when you can’t understand or know the ‘why’ of it? Are you ashamed when others may think you are foolish in your love and obedience?

It is in spending time every day with a person that you get to know the person and a relationship grows. And so it is with God. I must spend time with Him, sweet conversation that involves speaking my heart and listening with my mind and spirit. I learn what I believe. I am no longer “…tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming…” (Ephesians 4:14 NIV).

Do you know what you believe? Henry and I have prayerfully begun writing on some new books about ‘basic’ Christianity and discussion about Christian principles. I ask for your prayers that we would write down what God would want to say to us; that we would hunger for more knowledge of God and a closer Spirit-relationship with Him.

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Get in a Study Group

Posted on February 1, 2008 by Henry Neufeld

20But you need to realize that no one alone can understand any of the prophecies in the Scriptures. 21The prophets did not think these things up on their own, but they were guided by the Spirit of God. — 2 Peter 1:20-21 (CEV)

Here in America we like our independence. “Think for yourself,” we tell young people. And there is great value in thinking for yourself. There is also great value in listening to God for yourself, and in studying the Bible for yourself.

But that isn’t all there is to it. God gave the Bible to his people, not just to one person, and not to various persons individually (though individuals did bring it to the people). God gave his Bible to the community, the body of Christ, all those who believe.

Notice the reason Peter gives in verse 21 why we can’t understand on our own (the famed “private interpretation” from the KJV). The prophets didn’t think these things up on their own, and we don’t receive, understand, and apply them on our own either. The Spirit directed the giving of scripture, and thus the Spirit must direct how it is understood and applied in the church.

This is a place we often get off track. God gives spiritual gifts to the church, not to you personally. Now someone, especially someone who has heard me teach on the topic, may ask what I mean. Surely one person is given the gift of teaching and another the gift of discernment. The gifts go to and are exercised by single individuals. Yes, we each are part of the body, and we each receive gifts, but God’s plan is that the gifts—all the gifts he gives to his body in a particular area—work together for the good of all.

That’s sometimes hard for our western, individualistic minds to comprehend. God thinks of bigger units than us individually or even our family. He’s interested in equipping the body.

At Pentecost, who received the Holy Spirit? Well, the whole church did, at least all those gathered together. It wasn’t one person over here and another over there. God’s Spirit became the breath in God’s church, so that the church could be his body and be alive with his breath.

Do you see the similarity here? We each exercise God’s gifts in ministry, but the ministry is a product of the whole body. We each study individually, but we also need to study together and learn from one another so that the whole body can be built up through a working, effective knowledge of God’s word as it comes to us in scripture.

You can’t do that at home by yourself. It doesn’t really happen in the worship service, because there we listen to the pastor as he imparts the word to us. The engine of this type of Bible study is small groups that gather to study the Bible, from Sunday School classes, to study groups meeting in homes.

Don’t try to go it alone. No matter how good you are in your Bible study and your spiritual life, find a group of people who can challenge you and hold you accountable.

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Forgiveness and Consequences

Posted on January 31, 2008 by Henry Neufeld

8YHWH our God, you answered them.
You were a forgiving God to them,
But one who punished their misdeeds. — Psalm 99:8

One of the tough things about learning to forgive is the feeling that we’re letting someone off the hook. Deep down we feel that they should get what’s coming to them for what they did to us. For many of us, we also feel that we should get what’s coming to us. That’s one of the very difficult things about grace—it feels unfair. We get angry at the injustice when grace is shown to someone when we don’t think they deserve it. Indeed, they can’t deserve it, but we still feel that some are less deserving than others!

Now let’s be clear. Grace isn’t fair. If God was fair, none of us would make it. So let’s be thankful for a God who isn’t fair at all, and gives lots of good things to people who don’t deserve them.

But at the same time, God is also trying to make us grow up. We think of growing up as a child’s problem. But in following God’s pathway, we will always be growing up. Even though we get our perfect, spiritual bodies, I think even in heaven we will continue to learn and grow. In order to grow up we have to learn new lessons, and there’s nothing like consequences for learning lessons!

That’s the subject of our text today. God worked with Israel using grace and forgiveness along with consequences. He made the consequences very clear in Deuteronomy 30:15-18:

15Look! I’m setting before you today life and well-being, death and disaster. 16The things that I command you today, to love YHWH your God and to follow his ways, to keep his commands, statutes, and judgments—if you do these things you will live and become great and YHWH your God will bless you in the land where you’re going to take possession. 17But if your heart turns aside, and you don’t obey, and if you are drawn away and worship other gods, and to serve them, 18I tell you today that I will certainly destroy you. Your days won’t be extended on the land which you’re crossing the Jordan to go and possess. — Deuteronomy 30:15-18

You see, forgiveness is powerful. Grace is powerful. One of the things it does is give us a choice, where none existed before. Because of grace we do have the choice of life and death. Without grace we have only the choice of death.

But grace is also an invitation. It invites us to follow God’s pathway. Isn’t that a contradiction? In fact, doesn’t Psalm 99:8 look like a contradiction? God forgives and punishes. There is forgiveness, but there are also consequences.

No, it’s not a contradiction. Our problem is that we look at things from too narrow a perspective. God wants to forgive you, but he also wants to transform you. Both of these things are gifts, but transformation only occurs when you get on board.

Think of it this way. Supposing I see you walking down a path which is going to end in a cleverly concealed drop-off. I can come warn you about the drop-off ahead. That would be nice of me, wouldn’t it? Supposing, however, that I leave you to think that because you have been warned, you are now safe, and you continue following the path.

God’s grace and forgiveness let us know that we’re on the wrong path. They let us know that we serve a God who will forgive our getting on the wrong path. At the same time, we serve a God who wants us on the right path, and is going to do everything possible to see that we change from the wrong to the right path.

Seen in that light, the punishment, and the consequences, are themselves part of grace.

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Hurry Up and Wait!

Posted on January 30, 2008 by Henry Neufeld

And YHWH said to Moses, “Go up into the mountain and wait [lit. be there] . . . — Exodus 24:12

When I was in the Air Force we frequently heard the saying “Hurry up and wait.” You see, the powers that be, however little more power they had than I had, wanted people to be ready to receive commands. They weren’t too worried if you had to sit around and wait for them. When they should up, the key thing was that they wouldn’t have to wait for you.

Today I took a scripture fragment that is smaller than I usually use for a devotional. As I read this passage today in the New Revised Standard Version, the word “wait” struck me. It’s literally “be there.” Moses was ordered into the mountain to “be there” for God. Down in the camp the people were ordered to wait.

After Moses waited, God came a spoke to him.

In our modern world we’re always in a hurry. We schedule everything. I’m as guilty of this as anyone else, or even more. I like things to start on time. I like them to end on time. When we’ve taken up the scheduled time, you’ll catch me glancing at the clock, thinking about what I’m going to do next.

But sometimes you have to spend time with God. Sometimes you have to wait. That’s not easy for us to do.

We’re not waiting because God doesn’t have time. He has all the time in the world-literally! So why doesn’t he just hurry up and bring stuff to us? Why doesn’t he answer my questions now? I’d certainly like that!

Unlike my Air Force superiors, God is not impatient. God doesn’t need you to be sitting there on a mountain somewhere so he doesn’t have to wait for you when he gets there. The fact is that no matter how much we like to avoid the issue waiting can be good for us.

So think about your life. Is there a time when you can go before the Lord, whether in your prayer closet, at your desk, on the beach, in the mountains, at your church, or anywhere God might call you to be, and just be there? Can you wait for God without a schedule? For many of us that’s hard, very hard, but we need to look for those times.

It’s likely you’re really waiting to be ready to hear what God says, and when you’re ready there he’ll be, right where he was all the time.

But if you’re watching the clock, instead of waiting for God, it will be very hard for you to be ready.

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