Hard Things, Holy Strength

Hard Things, Holy Strength

READ: 1 CORINTHIANS 13:4-7; HEBREWS 12:1-3; JAMES 1:2-4, 12 [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20CORINTHIANS%2013%3A4-7%3B%20HEBREWS%2012%3A1-3%3B%20JAMES%201%3A2-4%2C%2012&version=NIV] Sometimes God uses everyday things to show us deep truths. I recently had to take apart a drawer in our refrigerator and replace it. Doesn’t sound very spiritual or complicated, right? But it was hard. And somewhere between the stuck rails and the confusing mechanics, I almost gave up. What I thought would take about twenty minutes ended up taking hours. I didn’t know what I was doing but figured it couldn’t be that complicated. But with the complex design, hidden levers, and no tutorial that matched my fridge, I got frustrated and annoyed. Something so simple revealed how quick I am to doubt myself—and how easily I can get discouraged. I kept repeating to myself: “You’ve got this. You can do hard things.” I had to give myself permission to take my time. And when I finally got the new drawer installed, I felt strong and accomplished. Not just because the job was done, but because I didn’t quit. Sometimes the hard things in life aren’t big and dramatic; they’re the everyday frustrations that test your mindset, your confidence, and your willingness to keep going. But in every hard situation, God invites us to rely on Him. He isn’t only with us in the big miracles. He’s also present in the moments when we’re tempted to quit. And whether we choose to dig in and persevere, or fall into believing the lie that we are incapable, He never leaves our side. We can be confident that God is with us because Jesus, God the Son, persevered in doing hard things for us—He became human, lived a sinless life, died on the cross, and rose again from the grave. He was tempted to quit, but He kept going because He loves us. Once we’ve put our trust in Jesus, He is with us through the Holy Spirit, giving us strength and courage to persevere through every hard thing He has called us to do (Ephesians 2:10; 2 Peter 1:3). I’m reminded of Galatians 6:9: “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” The drawer wasn’t just a drawer—it was an opportunity to persevere. Every hard moment is a chance to practice perseverance and trust God’s steady presence through it all. Resilience isn’t about never struggling; it’s about not quitting when the struggle comes. • LaVerne Vest • Can you think of a time God helped you persevere through a hard thing? Consider taking a moment to praise Him for this! Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:4 (NIV)

Shout Out to God

READ: MARK 10:13-14, 46-52; JOHN 1:4-5; 1 JOHN 1:7 [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=MARK%2010%3A13-14%2C%2046-52%3B%20JOHN%201%3A4-5%3B%201%20JOHN%201%3A7%20&version=CSB] You’ve probably heard little kids cry out, “Mama, Daddy! Help me!” And if they are in great need, they shout as loudly as they can! Children cry for what they need. They aren’t concerned about what other people think. They know who to go to, and so they shout out to the adults who love them. We could learn something from the little humans around us. Are they maybe onto something? In Mark 10, we find a man in crisis. Bartimaeus suffered blindness. Imagine not being able to see in a day and age when there were no seeing-eye dogs, no braille. Bartimaeus had to beg just to survive. But he was done with living in darkness. Bartimaeus wanted to see. So, when he heard that Jesus was passing by, just ahead, he cried out for the Savior. In fact, he shouted. “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” he cried. And the crowd, bothered by this display, tried to hush him. But Bartimaeus would not be hushed. He shouted even louder—insistent, desperate, needy. “Have mercy on me, Son of David!” Jesus, ever keen to hear those who call on His name, stopped. The Lord told the people to bring Bartimaeus to Him. And Jesus the merciful, had mercy. Jesus the powerful used His power. He stopped, He listened, and He healed Bartimaeus of his blindness, changing his life forever. We too have a desperate need for the Son of David. We too walk in blindness, until Jesus, the Light of the world, touches us with His redeeming power. Jesus the merciful is moved when He hears desperate cries. He is eager to touch us in our dark state, and He is able to turn us from blind beggars into children of the light, changing our lives forever. • Kristen Merrill • Jesus is called the Son of David because He is the promised King, descended from David, who came to establish God’s eternal kingdom here on earth. And if we’ve put our trust in Jesus, we belong to that kingdom as God’s dear children! For more about this good news, see our "Know Jesus [https://unlocked.org/knowjesus/]" page. • Even after we’ve admitted our need for the Son of David and become His beloved people, He still wants us to cry out to Him with our every need, fear, question, and longing. Consider taking a moment to cry out to Jesus, the merciful one, about whatever is on your heart. He waits, eager to listen, to draw us near, and to bring light into any darkness. (Psalm 9:10) Jesus spoke to them again: “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.” John 8:12 (CSB)

Adopted by Love

READ: LUKE 15:3-10; EPHESIANS 1:3-6; 1 JOHN 3:1-3 [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=LUKE%2015%3A3-10%3B%20EPHESIANS%201%3A3-6%3B%201%20JOHN%203%3A1-3&version=NLT] Our youngest son came to us by airplane, traveling over half a day to reach us in Seattle. I will never forget the moment my sweet baby was handed to me. Right away, he nestled into my arms. He laid his head down upon my shoulder, and fell into deep sleep almost immediately. It was a moment I will never forget. That’s one of the very best days of my life. The day my son came home. It’s like I can still feel his six-month-old self filling up my empty arms. If a human parent can get so much joy from the arrival or birth of their child, imagine how much joy God the Father experiences when we come to Him, into His arms, at last. We are adopted by God when we receive His invitation to become part of His family. He has chosen each and every one of His adopted children. He loves each of us as His own. Becoming sons and daughters of God is the greatest thing in this world, and in the next one too. In fact, it’s the whole point of life. It’s the reason God the Father sent His dearly beloved Son, Jesus. So that we could become part of His family, reconciled to Him. Now, as God’s children, we are free to live into all He has for us as His sons and daughters. Because of His love for us, we can love Him back, and we can walk in His good ways, overflowing His love to others. Of course, we won’t do this perfectly, yet Jesus’s forgiveness covers all our failures and shortcomings, and He promises to walk with us every step of the way. After all, when we were adopted by God the Father, we became brothers and sisters of Jesus Himself. Once you know Jesus, you are God’s dearly loved child. You can rest in your Father’s arms. You have been adopted! • Kristen Merrill • Have you ever thought about how God felt when He adopted us? Consider taking some time to ponder how today’s author felt when she got to hold her six-month-old son, and then imagine God holding you the same way. How does this image make you feel? • When Jesus, God the Son, died on the cross and rose from the grave for us, He made the way for us to be adopted. If you have questions about what it means to become part of God’s family, who are trusted Christians in your life you could ask? (You can also find out more on our "Know Jesus" page.) See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! 1 John 3:1 (NLT)

God's Plan: More Than We Can Imagine

READ: 1 SAMUEL 2:1-10; EPHESIANS 3:14-21; HEBREWS 13:8 [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20SAMUEL%202%3A1-10%3B%20EPHESIANS%203%3A14-21%3B%20HEBREWS%2013%3A8&version=NIV] Have you ever prayed, Lord, what is your plan for my life? You’re not alone. Becoming an adult can be overwhelming, especially with all the unknowns ahead. A woman in the Bible named Hannah knew how it felt to face an unknown future. She didn’t know if God would give her a child. She prayed for years, until one day God spoke through the priest Eli and answered her with a yes—she would have a son (1 Samuel 1:17). Hannah was thrilled! But God’s plan for Hannah didn’t stop there. He worked through the details of her life in ways beyond what she imagined. As she thanked God for her son, her prayer showed a glimpse of a much bigger picture already set in motion: “There is no one holy like the Lord... there is no Rock like our God...‘He will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed’” (1 Samuel 2:2, 10). Hannah’s prayer mentioned a king, but she couldn’t have known that one day her baby Samuel would grow up to anoint David to be king of Israel (1 Samuel 16:13). Not only that, but many years later Jesus Christ would be born from the lineage of David (Matthew 1:17). Jesus is the promised King of kings, and He came to save us from sin and death. Even as far back as the Old Testament, we see pieces of God’s design for our salvation. Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” As Christians, we don’t have to worry about the future—we can trust God with the details because He is working all things out according to His good kingdom purposes (Romans 8:28-29). So when you wonder what God’s plan is for you, be assured of this. In Christ, it’s more than you could ever imagine (Ephesians 3:20). • Kristine Brown • Can you think of a time you were unsure about your future? How can Hannah’s story encourage us as we face unknowns in our lives? • Hebrews 13:8 talks about Jesus being “the same yesterday and today and forever.” How can this truth give us hope for our future—both our eternal future when Jesus returns to make all things new, and every day till then? Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21 (NIV)

Eat Every Day!

READ: MATTHEW 6:11; JOHN 6:25-69 [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=MATTHEW%206%3A11%3B%20JOHN%206%3A25-69&version=NIV] The other night as I sat down to another meal, I got to wondering. As I ate with my family, I wondered even more: What’s with all this eating? Why do we require so much food? Why do we have to eat every day—several times a day? Wouldn’t it have been more efficient if the good Lord had made our bodies in such a way that we could store our caloric needs just a little longer? I mean, He made camels that way, with humps for extra storage. How about eating every three days? We’d get so much more done without all this constant need for nourishment! And yet, we know that God made all things good. He likes the way He made us, dependent upon our daily supply. He planned it this way. I’m sure God has many reasons for this plan. One might be to keep us humble. We can’t be too puffed up, we humans, if we grow weak and frail from just a few missed meals! Maybe another reason is because God wants to give us a daily (sometimes hourly) illustration, right before our eyes—like the meals in front of us each day—that we are utterly and totally dependent, needy, starved without the presence of God. We see this in John 6, when Jesus explains He is “the true bread…that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world” (verses 32-33). Without Jesus, we’re all dead in our sins. But if we’ve put our trust in Jesus, we can know we have “crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24). He says, “Whoever comes to me will never go hungry” (John 6:35), which means that believers have eternal life with Him! As we learn to follow Jesus in our everyday lives, we quickly discover we need the nourishment that time with Him brings. And often, the more we spend time with Him, the more we want to spend time with Him! How? He has provided us with His Word, the Bible. He provides His presence through the Holy Spirit (also called the Spirit of Christ), who lives inside every believer. And He provides the church, other believers who have the Holy Spirit too. He is that faithful. And He is that good. • Kristen Merrill • Our hunger points us to God, and we find that He desires to provide for us. For example, in Exodus 16, God provided manna—bread from heaven—when the Israelites were in the wilderness for forty years. How can physical hunger point us to our need for Jesus? • We’re all sometimes tempted to think that regular time in God’s Word, in prayer, and with His people isn’t that important. Why is this not true? (Psalm 119:105; Luke 5:16; Hebrews 10:25) Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. Psalm 34:8 (NIV)