As the rain and snow

“On the holy mount stands the city he founded;
    the Lord loves the gates of Zion
    more than all the dwelling places of Jacob.
Glorious things of you are spoken,
    O city of God. 

“Of Zion it shall be said,
    ‘This one and that one were born in her’;
    for the Most High himself will establish her.
The Lord records as he registers the peoples,
    ‘This one was born there.’ 

“Singers and dancers alike say,
    ‘All my springs are in you.'” Psalm 87:1-3,5-7

“It shall come to pass in the latter days
    that the mountain of the house of the Lord
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
    and shall be lifted up above the hills;
and all the nations shall flow to it,
    and many peoples shall come, and say:
‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,..
that he may teach us his ways
    and we may walk in his paths.'” Isaiah 2:2-3

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.” Matthew 5:14

The psalmist is enthralled with God’s holy mount, and sings of its glorious things. Founded and loved by the Lord, Zion was established as the spiritual birthplace of her children, marking their identity as His. There springs of living water issue forth, evoking singing and dancing with joy.

We are all dwellers in time and space, living in allotted places here on earth, intended to make our mark. Adopted as Christ’s own, we have a part, while awaiting our heavenly home, in identifying with God’s light and joy in our communities, establishing them as redolent with His springs of life and glorious things. (Acts 17:26)

How are we bringing and planting Zion in our cities? Whether at work, service, or habitation, what marks our place as a holy mount, standing distinct for the Lord? How are we offering His springs of hope, teaching His word, living out His light and love among fellow pilgrims? Firmly established on the mount that is Christ and regularly partaking of His living water equips us to shine as a city on a hill. (John 7:38)

“Glorious things of thee are spoken,
Zion, city of our God.
He whose Word cannot be broken
formed thee for His own abode.
On the Rock of Ages founded,
what can shake thy sure repose?
With salvation’s walls surrounded,
thou may’st smile at all thy foes.

See, the streams of living waters,
springing from eternal love,
well supply thy sons and daughters
and all fear of want remove.
Who can faint while such a river 
ever flows their thirst to assuage?
Grace, which like the Lord, the Giver,
never fails from age to age.

‘Round each habitation hov’ring,
see the cloud and fire appear
for a glory and a cov’ring,
showing that the Lord is near.
Thus deriving from their banner
light by night and shade by day,
safe they feed upon the manna
which He gives them on their way.

Savior, since of Zion’s city
I through grace a member am,
let the world deride or pity,
I will glory in Thy name.
Fading is the worldling’s pleasures,
all his boasted pomp and show;
solid joys and lasting treasures
none but Zion’s children know.” ~John Newton (1779)

Lord, establish me so I may shine on Your holy hill.

“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good? Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. Yet the Lord set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day.  Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn. For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe.  He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. You shall fear the Lord your God. You shall serve him and hold fast to him, and by his name you shall swear. He is your praise. He is your God, who has done for you these great and terrifying things that your eyes have seen.” Deuteronomy 10:12-21

Moses, in recounting Israel’s history since receiving God’s commandments, pinpoints their common and insidious condition: a stubborn hard heart. The root of their varied sins, this was the one to be dealt with ruthlessly. In order to meet God’s requirements to fear, obey, love, and serve Him, they must circumcise their hearts and cut away any vestige of stubbornness. Self-will must go, the Lord must be all in all.

And oh, how stubborn we can be. The flesh is all about self: my time, my wants, my preferences, my plans, my feelings. ‘Dare you not get in my way or interrupt my agenda, Lord. Dare you not offend my sensitivities, upend my schedule, quash my passions. After all, You made me this way, so let me be.’

The Lord bids us see another angle, and graciously provides the wherewithal to embrace it. ‘I made you, I fashioned you in My likeness to know fulfillment of personality and purpose in Me. When you willingly fear, obey, love, and serve Me, you will flourish. You will enjoy rich spiritual communion, My guidance, enabling, and sufficiency, abundant fruitfulness by way of the exchanged life. My will and ways for yours.’ (Deuteronomy 11:1-25)

How are we doing fulfilling God’s requirements? Where are we most resistant to His commands- in our spirits? Relationships? Duties? What callouses, what ingrained habits, need cutting away? When willingness replaces stubbornness, we will know joy, glad freedom, and the fulness of relationship with Christ.

“Have thine own way, Lord! 
Have thine own way! 
Thou art the potter, 
I am the clay. 
Mold me and make me 
after thy will, 
while I am waiting, 
yielded and still. 

Have thine own way, Lord! 
Have thine own way! 
Search me and try me, 
Savior today! 
Wash me just now, Lord, 
wash me just now, 
as in thy presence 
humbly I bow. 

Have thine own way, Lord! 
Have thine own way! 
Hold o’er my being 
absolute sway. 
Fill with thy Spirit 
till all shall see 
Christ only, always, 
living in me!” ~Adelaide Pollard (1906)

Lord, please dissolve any stubbornness in my heart, circumcise it to be whole and holy for you.

 “I pleaded with the Lord at that time, saying, ‘O Lord God, you have only begun to show your servant your greatness and your mighty hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as yours? Please let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan, that good hill country…’ But the Lord was angry with me because of you and would not listen to me. And the Lord said to me, ‘Enough from you; do not speak to me of this matter again. Go up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes westward and northward and southward and eastward, and look at it with your eyes, for you shall not go over this Jordan. But charge Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he shall go over at the head of this people.’” Deuteronomy 3:23-28

In a poignant account, Moses tells how the Lord firmly and graciously set his pleading to stop. He’d led faithfully for 40 years, but the dishonorable deed was done and the decision made, and he would not enter the promised land. This fact would not change, but he could. His unrequited longing would not be entertained. He must set it aside, accept God’s decision, and invest his passion and even this lesson into preparing Joshua to enter and take the land. (Numbers 20:10-12; Deuteronomy 1:37-38; 4:21-24,39-40)

Occasionally we bump up against situations that we deeply regret or sorely want to change. If only we could take back decisions made, actions taken, words spoken- or left unsaid. What if we could change the consequences or write a different ending? While the Lord hears and understands our remorse and longing, He tells us there are some things that will not change, but we can be changed through them.

When angst arises over things or people or circumstances we want to alter, how could frustration or anger or regret be eliminated if we focused on the One who never changes, whose purposes and ways are good in every season? How could our outlook be brighter if we adjusted our attitude to one of acceptance and gratitude? Instead of wrestling with what we cannot have, would we rest in the One who brings glorious resolution? (Malachi 3:6; Romans 8:28; Hebrews 13:8; James 1:17b)

“Be still, my soul! the Lord is on your side;
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;
Leave to your God to order and provide;
In ev’ry change he faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul! your best, your heav’nly friend
Thru’ thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul! your God does undertake
To guide the future as he has the past;
Your hope, your confidence, let nothing shake;
all now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul! the waves and winds still know
His voice who ruled them while he lived below.

Be still, my soul! the hour is hast’ning on
When we shall be forever with the Lord,
When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.
Be still my soul! when change and tears are past,
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.” ~ Kathrina Von Schlegel (1752)

Lord, teach me to bow and rejoice in gratitude for Your unchanging faithfulness and goodness in all situations.

“Ah, you who hide deep from the Lord your counsel,
    whose deeds are in the dark,
    and who say, ‘Who sees us? Who knows us?’
You turn things upside down!
Shall the potter be regarded as the clay,
that the thing made should say of its maker,
    ‘He did not make me’;
or the thing formed say of him who formed it,
    ‘He has no understanding’?

Is it not yet a very little while
    until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,
    and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest?
In that day the deaf shall hear
    the words of a book,
and out of their gloom and darkness
    the eyes of the blind shall see.
The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord,
    and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.
For the ruthless shall come to nothing
    and the scoffer cease,
    and all who watch to do evil shall be cut off,
who by a word make a man out to be an offender,
    and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate,
    and with an empty plea turn aside him who is in the right.” Isaiah 29:15-21

“Where shall I go from your Spirit?
    Or where shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
    If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
If I take the wings of the morning
    and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
    and your right hand shall hold me.” Psalm 139:7-10

The Lord expresses His omniscience in varied ways, uncovering the supposed secrets of the human heart. Throughout the Scriptures, God wants His people to know that man can try to control, but He is the Ruler. Man can plot to deceive, but He discerns motives. Man can attempt to conceal, but He knows all that is hidden and every hiding place. The beautiful thing about God is that He uncovers ugliness with grace and meets darkness with light, flooding His mercy and love into every hidden crevice. (Proverbs 21:30; Hebrews 4:12-13; 1 John 1:6-9)

For many, there are things to hide, and reasons to hide. True feelings, jaded viewpoints, immoral thoughts. Past trauma, regrets, shameful deeds and their consequences. Character weaknesses, temper, bitterness. We can insinuate, suggest, and pretend, but as much as we try, we cannot conceal any of these from the Lord.

The longer we try to hide from Him, the more deeply rooted the lies to ourselves, Him, and others. Concealing in one area spreads the poison of untruth, fear, and false confidence until hearts are calloused and vision is clouded and we do not even know who we are.

Enter the Lord, all-knowing and -loving, to meet fears with promise and insecurities with cleansing and hope. He upends our folly and gives true wisdom, our inner turmoil and stubbornness with fresh freedom and joy. Where do we most need His uncovering? Of what is He convicting that I must confess? With whom and in what situations do I put up barriers to conceal my thoughts or actions? Do we have the courage to come clean, knowing His freedom awaits? The Lord sees, the Lord knows, and the Lord loves His own.

Father, keep me honest and pure before You always.

“Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me,
    for I am poor and needy.
Preserve my life, for I am godly;
    save your servant, who trusts in you—you are my God.
Be gracious to me, O Lord,
    for to you do I cry all the day.
Gladden the soul of your servant,
    for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
    abounding in steadfast love...
Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer;
    listen to my plea for grace.
In the day of my trouble I call upon you,
    for you answer me.

There is none like you among the gods, O Lord,
    nor are there any works like yours.
All the nations you have made shall come
    and worship before you, O Lord,
    and shall glorify your name.
For you are great and do wondrous things;
    you alone are God.
Teach me your way, O Lord,
    that I may walk in your truth;
    unite my heart to fear your name.
I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
    and I will glorify your name forever.
For great is your steadfast love toward me;
    you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol…
But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,
    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” Psalm 86:1-13,15

When David took up his harp or lyre, songs of his Lord issued forth with emotion and wonder. For this needy, godly servant of the Lord, every strum, every idea set to note echoed God’s works remembered: His attributes, His creative and saving acts among men and nations, His grace and glory. Every word was one of dependence, declaration, or exaltation. His godly captivation with his Maker and the Doer of all things good spilled forth in psalms full of thanksgiving and praise.

We set the rhythms of our lives. Certainly we have outward forces and responsibilities influencing the content and pace of our days, but soul focus is ours to determine and keep. When mindset and senses are open to considering the Lord no matter where we are or what we are doing, a multitude of His works will fill our minds and invigorate our spirits. We are poor and weak, He is able and sufficient. We err, He is merciful. We are spent, He gladdens the heart. We’re planning or negotiating, He is orderly and purposeful. In every opportunity to love, every breath-taking view, every close call, warm embrace, or inspiration ignited, we will sense the Spirit’s work and want to praise Him.

Which of God’s attributes do we notice around us? How united are our affections and attention to fear and praise Him? How can we surrender our work to His greater works, and so imprint efforts with His steadfastness, grace, and faithfulness? How can we point others to say, “There’s no work like God’s”?

“Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
in light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
almighty, victorious, thy great name we praise.

Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light,
nor wanting, nor wasting, thou rulest in might;
thy justice like mountains high soaring above
thy clouds, which are fountains of goodness and love.” ~Walter Smith (1867)

Lord, may my works be like Yours, reflecting Your greatness and glory.

“You are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath.., that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from… slavery, from the Pharaoh king of Egypt.”

“Know therefore today that he who goes over before you as a consuming fire is the Lord your God. He will destroy them and subdue them before you. So you shall drive them out and make them perish quickly, as the Lord has promised.

“Do not say in your heart, after the Lord your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out. Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations.., and that he may confirm the word that the Lord swore to your fathers…

“Know, therefore,.. you are a stubborn people. Remember and do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness… You have been rebellious against the Lord.” Deuteronomy 7:6-8; 9:3-7

Moses repeatedly reminds the Israelites whose they are. He knows well how man can get in the way, and keeps turning them to the Lord their God who chose them as His treasured possession, set His love on them, delivered and redeemed them to be His people, possess His gifts, and keep and carry His word to the world. Remember Him. Their taking of the promised land would be all God’s doing, not theirs. They were never to take credit nor touch His glory, only to revolve their lives around Him and His plans. (Numbers 20:10-12)

Oh, how we like to swagger! We think highly of ourselves, and relish taking credit for good things that happen. We boast about our favor, let it be known what we envisioned, achieved, built, influenced, earned.

The Lord has for us a whole new paradigm: life is all about Me. ‘Your specialness, your freedom, your bounty, your safety, your successes- they are all about My love, My amazing grace, My holiness, My generosity.’ We are to know this, and know it well. (Romans 12:3)

Once we begin to see life and gifts through this divine, eternal lens, we marvel at how different aspects of God’s character involve themselves in our every day. Do we sense His love and creativity when we behold the beauty of a color-burst dawn graced with soaring birds and their cheery song? Do we delight in His unique affection when our hearts squeeze at the sight, birth, or death of a loved one? How well do we know that all we have and are is from Him, and for Him? (Romans 11:36; 1 Corinthians 4:7; Colossians 1:16-17)

The next time we’re tempted to take credit, would we point to Jesus? How has He guided, guarded, or given to our benefit? A changed mindset results in greater praise to Him.

All glory to You, my Lord.

“This iniquity shall be to you
    like a breach in a high wall, bulging out and about to collapse,
    whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant;
and its breaking is like that of a potter’s vessel
    that is smashed so ruthlessly
that among its fragments not a shard is found
    with which to take fire from the hearth,
    or to dip up water out of the cistern.

“For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel,
‘In returning and rest you shall be saved;
    in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.’
But you were unwilling,  and you said,
‘No! We will flee upon horses’;
    therefore you shall flee away;
and, ‘We will ride upon swift steeds’;
    therefore your pursuers shall be swift…

“Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you,
    and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
    blessed are all those who wait for him.

“For a people shall dwell in Zion..; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see [him]. And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or to the left. Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. You will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, ‘Be gone!’

“And he will give rain for the seed with which you sow the ground, and bread, the produce of the ground, which will be rich and plenteous. In that day your livestock will graze in large pastures, and the oxen and the donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork.” Isaiah 30:13-16,18-24

The prophet exposes the truth about those who feigned devotion and pretended at righteousness while serving as their own gods. While the Lord was near with open arms, His people insisted on making their own way, their hearts far from Him. In mercy He spoke: only the meek would know His joy, only the redeemed would sanctify the Lord, yet they settled for fruitless effort. He would give understanding and the will to accept instruction if only they would return.

How often and in what situations do we drift from the Lord and rely on ourselves? We might proclaim that He’s all-wise, and we trust Him, yet in daily concerns we fret. We become so accustomed to making our own way, asking for blessing rather than guidance, that we cannot see the crack in our protection. We take responsibility for every battle, every decision of our children, every need in the workplace, and forget who it is we serve, who has the rightful throne. In our self-imposed adversity, God waits to be gracious.

Would we take time to assess how near we really are to the Lord? Does profession match action? What idols need we banish? What instruction are we hearing? Where have we experienced His mercy applied? Drawing near to the Lord is the place of soul rest and abundance.

Father, draw and keep me near, to the praise of Your mercy.

“Now this is the commandment—the statutes and rules—that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land you are going to possess, that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes… all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. Be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the Lord… has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

“And when the Lord your God brings you into the land..—with great and good cities that you did not build, houses full of all good things that you did not fill, cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full, then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve.” Deuteronomy 6:1-13a

“So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13

Moses had just recounted God’s ten commandments to the younger generation of Israelites, and how they’d been communicated in greatness and glory. In emphasizing that they were to fear God and follow these statutes, he highlighted the greatest: that they love the Lord with all their heart, soul, and might. Loving Him first and best would result in a long life of glad obedience and fulfillment. (Deuteronomy 5:1-24)

There are many enticements that drive us, many pursuits we initiate, many things for which we strive. The God who made our hearts knows what truly fulfills, and it is not a life focused on self or toiling. We must consider, in every effort with people, tenacity at work, goal pursued, where is love? Expertise, brilliance, talents, or accomplishments that are exercised without love procure no lasting meaning or satisfaction. (1 Corinthians 13:1–3)

We cannot just muster up love by sheer will. It is planted in us by God’s Spirit. Have we received Christ and so His indwelling love? Does it strum the rhythm of our daily work, activities, and interactions with others? Love for God motivates us to be grateful. Love motivates us to show honor and respect. Love motivates obedience and excellence for His sake. And love for God ignites love for brother. How are we expressing love in these areas? What needs to change for us to welcome the Lord’s love into heart, soul, and might anew? (1 Corinthians 13:4-7; Galatians 5:22-23; 1 John 4:19-5:3)

Lord, keep Your love on my heart, hands, and in every step.

“You shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. He humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna,.. that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Your clothing did not wear out and your foot did not swell… So you shall keep [his] commandments by walking in his ways and fearing him. For the [he] is bringing you into a good land of brooks of water, fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, vines and fig trees and pomegranates, of olive trees and honey, a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, [and] will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. You shall eat and be full, and bless the Lord your God.” Deuteronomy 8:2-4,6-10

Moses was used by God to impart a long view to the people of Israel. The Lord worked through decades in Moses’s life to develop him as His humble leader and friend. In their daily wrangle of difficulties and opposition, he was the appropriate messenger to remind them of God’s big picture. As they entered the promised land, they needed to remember that God works on a heavenly timetable in heavenly ways, and to trust, fear, obey, and bless Him in every season.

It is natural in the flesh to prefer certain stages of life over others and want happiness in them all. Sometimes we relish only the good, glossing over or choosing to forget the pain, neglect, and sins of the past because we do not want to deal with them, by confession or forgiveness. Sometimes we remember only the shame, regrets, and hurt, and in bitterness fail to acknowledge how God has faithfully met and carried us, bringing help and comfort. The Lord would have us remember the whole way He has led, through briars and beauty.

God designs the life of a pilgrim to be marked by a variety of circumstances and experiences. To grow in Christ-likeness, we need both bitter and sweet, stretching and consoling, darkness and illumination. We tend to pray for one way for one outcome, when God knows the opposite would bring about His better results: more conforming to His image, deeper faith, greater revelation of His character, wider testimony to His grace, more glory to His renown. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8,11)

Where am I fickle in devotion and gratitude to the Lord? Do I pick and choose where I want to be grateful, and complain or resist the unpleasant? How has He proven Himself in the past, teaching me that He orders and works in all things for my good and sanctification? Will I commit to look for Him in every situation, and to praise Him for the varied ways He guides and provides? Remembering God through the whole of life increases expectation, hope, and zeal for His marvelous work to be done.

Lord God, may I pass the test of thanksgiving to You in all things, at all times, and may my life be a testimony to Your goodness, constancy, and glory.

“If you say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I. How can I dispossess them?’  you shall not be afraid of them but you shall remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and Egypt,  the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs, the wonders, the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm, by which the Lord your God brought you out. So will the Lord your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid.  Moreover, the Lord your God will send hornets among them, until those who are left… are destroyed. You shall not be in dread of them, for the Lord your God is in your midst, a great and awesome God.  The Lord  will clear away these nations before you little by little. You may not make an end of them at once, lest the wild beasts grow too numerous for you. The Lord your God will give them over to you and throw them into great confusion, until they are destroyed. He will give their kings into your hand, and you shall make their name perish from under heaven. No one shall be able to stand against you… The carved images of their gods you shall burn with fire. You shall not covet the silver or gold that is on them or take it for yourselves, lest you be ensnared by it, for it is an abomination to the Lord your God.  And you shall not bring an abominable thing into your house… You shall utterly detest and abhor it.” Deuteronomy 7:17-26

Moses knew well how vacillating and timid the Israelites could be. He told them to look at the Lord God and His wonders rather than the foreboding people of the nations, to consider His great deeds and deliverance instead of what terrible might be. Rather than stew in self and feelings, believe that the Lord was great and awesome in their very midst, mighty to guard and lead and save. Count on His promises, on His step-by-step clearing of their way in the land. He was with them to completely conquer if they revered Him alone.

Sin and self-preservation often taint or distort our view of things. When we are the center, with all else revolving around our concerns, we tend to turn inward and doubt God’s greater promises. We forget His grace, His faithfulness, His miraculous deliverances over the years because we are fixated on our present obstacle or fear. We may say we believe His word, but we fail to take hold of its substance. We ignore His presence.

Raising our heads to see with eyes of perspective and faith diminishes the size of enemies. Recounting God’s past victories inspires claiming His promises and following His commands, even if fulfillment is not on my timetable. Acknowledging and rejoicing in the fact that He is with us changes dread to expectation, hesitation to eager obedience.

What do I say in my heart that discounts what God has said? What causes this disconnect? Do I fixate on threatening situations, or the Word? Do I absorb reports designed to keep me in fear, or what I know is unshakably true? What gods of safety, comfort, or smug control are preventing my taking the land the Lord wants to give?

Father, help me live in the power of Your presence in my midst, eager to take in faith opportunities You present, to Your glory.