Devotions with Pastor Stanton

The Holiness of the Ordinary

Have you ever felt like God’s guidance is completely missing simply because your life feels incredibly ordinary? You might love the biblical stories of burning bushes and parted seas. You often expect God to guide you with flashing neon signs or overwhelming emotional experiences. But what happens when you wake up, go to work, run errands, and experience absolutely nothing supernatural? You can easily fall into the trap of believing that if a moment isn't spectacular, God must not be active. But what if God’s most profound work is happening right now, hidden in the utterly normal details of your everyday life?

Grace for the Heavy Backpack

Have you ever tried walking with a backpack filled with heavy rocks? At first, you might manage a decent pace as you lean forward, and push through. But eventually, after a few miles, the weight won’t just exhaust your physical body, it will completely crush your spirit. So many of us are walking through life exactly like this. We are carrying invisible backpacks loaded with the heavy stones of past guilt, present shame, and deep anxiety about the future. We are completely exhausted, and we haven't even reached our destination yet. But God meets us on this road to give us the strength to persevere.

Stop Stirring the Water

Picture a man kneeling beside a still pond of water. He leans over, looks at his reflection, and he absolutely does not like what he sees. So, what does he do? He plunges his hand in and stirs the water. The face breaks apart. It moves. It distorts. And for a fleeting moment, it feels like something actually changed. But then... the ripples fade. The water settles. And the exact same face comes right back. How often do we do this with our very own lives? We constantly try to change the water and circumstances, fully convincing ourselves that we have somehow changed the person.

Praying Beyond Our Daily Bread

Imagine being invited to the home of a billionaire. He looks at you and says, "I want to give you the keys to my estate, full access to my resources, and a guaranteed inheritance that will secure your family's future for generations." And in response, you look back at him and say, "That’s great. But really, if you could just give me five dollars for a cup of coffee on my way home, we’ll be good." It sounds absurd, doesn't it? To be offered something so massive and settle for something so incredibly small. Yet, when it comes to our prayer lives, we often do this exact same thing with the Creator of the universe. He offers us eternal, unshakeable promises, and we often shrink them down to our immediate, temporary comfort.

Trading Our "If" for God's "I Will"

Have you ever tried to make a deal with God? You probably didn't call it a negotiation, but it sounded something like this: "Lord, if You just get me out of this financial mess, I promise I'll finally start giving." Or, "God, if You heal this relationship, I'll go to church every Sunday." We often treat our faith like a contract negotiation. We want a guarantee of comfort before we give God our complete obedience. We hold our full surrender hostage, waiting for God to meet our specific terms. Today, we are going to look at how God invites us to trade our restless "if" for His restful "I will."