Author: astherainandsnow

“The Lord said to Aaron, ‘With you bring your brothers… that they may join you and minister to you while you and your sons are before the tent of the testimony.  They shall keep guard over you and over the whole tent… They shall join you and keep guard over the tent of meeting for all the service of the tent…  And you shall keep guard over the sanctuary and over the altar…  And behold, I have taken your brothers the Levites from among the people of Israel. They are a gift to you, given to the Lord, to do the service of the tent of meeting… I give your priesthood as a gift.”

“‘All the holy contributions that the people of Israel present to the Lord I give to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual due. It is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord for you and for your offspring with you…” 

“‘Out of all the gifts to you, you shall present every contribution due to the Lord; from each its best part is to be dedicated.'” Numbers 18:1a,2-3a,4-5a,6-7a,19,29

“The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof,
    the world and those who dwell therein” Psalm 24:1

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” James 1:17

All things are from God, created by and for Him. He owns everything. Therefore everything we enjoy is a given by Him, indelibly imprinted with His glory and purposes. In His mastery He appoints and arranges gifts of people, Spirit, and resource with divine design that we are equipped to carry out His call, by use or by donation. (Psalm 50:10; Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-7; Ephesians 4:7,11-13; Colossians 1:16)

As with any gift, what God assigns is His doing, not anything we earn or necessarily choose, and proceeds from His generosity and bounty. In His economy nothing is intended for waste, but only fruitfulness and eternal good. Spiritual gifts are given to build up His church, people to guard, undergird, and further His work, resources to provide for needs.

Have I gratefully accepted God’s good gifts to me, even those I would not choose, the talents and people He has conveyed? Can I see troubles, sorrows, challenges as sanctifying gifts from His loving hands rather than a curse, and not waste them? Do I squander the time and treasure He’s entrusted, or employ them according to His will? How would my view of life circumstances change if I received every aspect- health, position, responsibilities, opportunities- as gifts from my loving Master?

To whom am I a gift, perhaps even an answer to prayer, and how well am I fulfilling my purpose as a helpmate, support, teacher, friend? Am I committed to being all God intends me to be for others? His church? Where and how am I exercising my specific gifts to spread His light, sustain ministries, and upbuild others?

Lord, may I never cease to thank You for the gifts You bestow, including a great salvation and the abiding presence of Your Spirit. Help me utilize every one entrusted to me for the blessing of Your people and the praise of Your glory.

“When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said, ‘Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses,.. we do not know what has become of him.’ So Aaron said to them, ‘Take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, sons, and daughters, and bring them to me…’  And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’ When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it [and] made a proclamation and said, ‘Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.’ And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” Exodus 32:1-2,4-6

“Be very strong to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, turning aside from it neither to the right hand nor to the left,  that you may not mix with these nations remaining among you or make mention of the names of their gods or swear by them or serve them or bow down to them,  but you shall cling to the Lord your God just as you have done to this day.  For the Lord has driven out before you great and strong nations… Be very careful, therefore, to love the Lord your God… Fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.  And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 23:6-9,11; 24:14-15

The trouble and trip up with getting to know Christ is that we’ve allowed other loves into our souls. We cannot serve both God and gods. We cannot crowd the Lord into a mix of self-erected deities or flurry of heart passions, or stray after strange lovers. We cannot follow half-way. We must cultivate a single eye for God if we are to know Him deeply in significant life-transforming ways. (Matthew 6:24; 1 John 2:15-17)

Any intimacy outside God’s holy parameters, any secret shrines erected or false gods worshiped, interfere with pure worship of God Almighty. When we serve selfish ambition or lusts of eye and flesh, we pollute our loyalties as the King’s subjects. He sees the secret heart and all that’s harbored there, and honors sincere prayers of confession and fielty. (Matthew 6:5-6; 1 John 1:9)

What would return us to fidelity to Christ? What foreign gods need casting away, what strange soul ties need breaking forever? Only a pure, unfettered devotion in a guarded heart has room for His love to grow and flourish. (Proverbs 4:23)

Lord, break any errant soul ties that I might love and be faithful to You alone.

“Now Korah… rose up before Moses, with a number of… well-known men. They assembled themselves together against Moses and Aaron and said to them, ‘You have gone too far! For all in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?’ When Moses heard it, he fell on his face, and said.., ‘In the morning the Lord will show who is his, and who is holy… The one whom he chooses he will bring near to him… You have gone too far, sons of Levi!.. Is it too small a thing for you that the God of Israel has separated you… to do service in the tabernacle of the Lord and to stand before the congregation to minister to them..? Would you seek the priesthood also?  It is against the Lord that you have gathered together…’

“And Moses said to Korah, ‘Be present… before the Lord tomorrow… Hereby you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, and that it has not been of my own accord…’

“As soon as he had finished speaking, the ground under them split apart.  The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the people who belonged to Korah and all their goods.  So they and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol, and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly.” Numbers 16:1-5,7,9,11,16,28,31-33

“The Lord, the Most High, is to be feared,
    a great king over all the earth.”

“Man in his pomp will not remain;
    he is like the beasts that perish…
But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
    for he will receive me.” Psalm 47:2; 49:12,15

Korah deserved the judgment meted out against him. Dire and horrible as it was, God clearly would not stand for this rebellion among His spiritual leaders. By both destruction and the plague’s cessation, He gave vivid visual lessons of His fury and His atoning mercy to invite reverence and faith in His people. The remnant of the condemned would not forget they had been spared, and would live to sing of His salvation. (Numbers 16:36-50)

Like Korah, we fuss and fidget with the places God assigns us. We envy and compare with others and complain about circumstances. Consumed with self-assigned rights and feelings, we fail to see our chafing is against God, who loves us enough not to stand for immature faith. He condescends to save and inspire that we might live above circumstances in joyous victory. (Romans 3:23; 6:23)

Have we considered our rebel hearts? In what areas do we insist on our own way: my pleasures, my drive, my timing? Where does resentment rebel against grace? Vengeance against forgiveness? Rash temper against gentleness? Impatience against rest? Are we willing to expose these tendencies to God’s consuming fire, and live free of them under His atonement? (Deuteronomy 4:24)

What can we do to never forget our Savior’s grace? Would we implement a regular time of praise? Participate in regular fellowship? Set aside times for thanksgiving, and proclaiming His salvation to the next generation? Whom will we tell today of His love and mercy?

My Savior, may I never forget Your worth and grace, and ever sing to benefit others and exalt Your glory.

“For you have rejected your people,
    the house of Jacob,
because they are full of things from the east
    and of fortune-tellers like the Philistines,
    and they strike hands with the children of foreigners.
Their land is filled with silver and gold,
    and there is no end to their treasures;
their land is filled with horses,
    and there is no end to their chariots.
Their land is filled with idols;
    they bow down to the work of their hands,
    to what their own fingers have made.
So man is humbled,
    and each one is brought low—
    do not forgive them!
Enter into the rock
    and hide in the dust
from before the terror of the Lord,
    and from the splendor of his majesty.
The haughty looks of man shall be brought low,
    and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled,
and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.

For the Lord of hosts has a day
    against all that is proud and lofty,
    against all that is lifted up—and it shall be brought low;
against all the cedars of Lebanon,
    lofty and lifted up;
    and against all the oaks of Bashan;
against all the lofty mountains,
    and against all the uplifted hills;
against every high tower,
    and against every fortified wall;
against all the ships of Tarshish,
    and against all the beautiful craft.
And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled,
    and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low,
    and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day…
And people shall enter the caves of the rocks
    and the holes of the ground,
from before the terror of the Lord,
    and from the splendor of his majesty,
    when he rises to terrify the earth.

In that day mankind will cast away
    their idols of silver and gold,
which they made for themselves to worship,
    to the moles and to the bats,
to enter the caverns of the rocks
    and the clefts of the cliffs,
from before the terror of the Lord,
    and from the splendor of his majesty,
    when he rises to terrify the earth.
Stop regarding man
    in whose nostrils is breath,
    for of what account is he?” Isaiah 2:6-22

Man who regards only man comes to little account in the economy of God’s majestic judgment. Man piles high his accolades and treasures, heaps up defenses and strategies, builds high his towers and grows lofty his trees, but His royal Highness will bring all that low. We ascend the mount of the Lord only to know Him, but must be humble of heart lest He cast us down. His righteous judgment against all that is set up against Him destines the guilty to crouching beneath His terrible splendor. (Isaiah 2:3)

The way we think, worship, and build determines our end before the High One. When all is perceived, pursued, and accomplished for ourselves, every effort will be cast down. But when for Christ, where we don’t touch His glory but surrender to His holiness, we remain in His light. We have the privilege of serving Him here below and carrying the light of His word to our communities and world. (Isaiah 2:5; 5:15-16; 6:1-8; 42:5,8; Colossians 3:23)

Who takes highest position in my life? What do I worship?

Lord, keep me humbled before You, in every thought and action exalting You alone as God, raising only eyes, hands, and voice to lift up Your praise.

“I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods.  For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, ‘The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.’  So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.

“Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests: Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their kinsmen. I weighed out to them the silver and gold and the vessels… that the king… had offered… 650 talents of silver, and silver vessels worth 200 talents, and 100 talents of gold, 20 bowls of gold worth 1,000 darics, and two vessels of fine bright bronze as precious as gold. I said to them, ‘You are holy to the Lord, and the vessels are holy, and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the Lord, the God of your fathers.  Guard them and keep them until you weigh them before the chief priests…’

“Then we departed… to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambushes by the way. We came to Jerusalem, and there we remained three days.  On the fourth day, within the house of our God, the silver and the gold and the vessels were weighed into the hands of Meremoth the priest, son of Uriah, and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas, and with them were the Levites, Jozabad the son of Jeshua and Noadiah the son of Binnui.” Ezra 8:21-29a,31-33a

Hands surrendered and lifted high in prayer, hands of battle and strategy, hands at work carrying and guarding valuables, hands offering treasure to God. No hands compare to the almighty, good hands of God. Our hands grasp and manipulate, His hands provide, guide and sustain. Our hands defend, His hands deliver. Our hands do good things, His hands are strong and good, establish our work, and are on us for good, always. (Psalm 18:34; 89:13; 90:17; 144:1; 1 Peter 5:6-7)

If God’s hands are strongest, why do we continually want to take matters into our own hands? We fret to control because we are impatient and prideful. We may not claim we know better and are better than God, yet often by our impertinent actions we declare so. If we would pause and realize what our actions really say about our trust in the Lord, we might come to repentance and change our ways.

What would we like to see change in our attitude toward any work before us? What if we began by humbling ourselves and seeking God’s direction, protection, and favor? How might this example make a difference for children, work colleagues, fellow laborers in ministry, our own faith? Weak faith is the result of unused muscles. When will we begin to do our work as those holy to the Lord, His way and for His renown and praise? (Revelation 4:11)

Lord, in every endeavor, may I open and use my hands trusting Yours, and so magnify Christ.

“The Lord spoke to Moses, ‘Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief among them.’  So Moses sent them,.. all of them men who were heads of the people of Israel… and said to them, ‘Go up into the Negeb and the hill country,  and see what the land is, and whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, few or many,  and whether the land is good or bad, and whether the cities are camps or strongholds, and whether the land is rich or poor… Be of good courage and bring some of the fruit of the land.’ Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes.

“So they went up and spied out the land…  [At] the Valley of Eshcol [they] cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and carried it on a pole between two of them; they also brought some pomegranates and figs…

“At the end of forty days… they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation.., and showed them the fruit of the land. They told him, ‘We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large…’

“But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, ‘Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.’  Then the men who had gone up with him said, ‘We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.’

“Of those men who went to spy out the land, only Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive.” Numbers 13:1-3,17b-21a,23,25a,26b-28,30-31; 14:38

Each tribal representative had the same assignment and same opportunity. Each was identified as a chief and a head. But true leadership always rises to the top. It requires keen boldness, standing up for right against the majority, and a confident expectation in the promises of God. The initial risk taking was swallowed up in fear for most, but God’s best saw and wanted to seize beyond the obstacles.

Weak faith breeds discouragement and grumbling, while the faith-filled are undeterred and motivating. With full confidence in the Lord, they harness and redirect passionate emotion to inspire that confidence in others. They know by experience the character of God; it shapes and drives their mindset, decisions, communication, and prayers. (Numbers 14:1-4,6-9,17-19)

Where do we stand? Where has the Lord called us to service, and how have we responded? While He equips everyone He does call, a distinguishing spirit and an element of faith are necessary to hear and step up in the first place. Are we hindered by obstacles or do we see them as opportunities? Do we shrink from risk for fear of failure, or advance trusting the unseen God who is greater than any enemy? How well do we lead for Christ’s cause, and whom are we inspiring? (Numbers 14:24; Philippians 4:19; 1 Thessalonians 5:24; Hebrews 11:1; 1 John 4:4)

Lord, grant holy boldness and a willing heart to lead for You.

“Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman.  And they said, ‘Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?’ And the Lord heard it.  Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.  And suddenly the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, ‘Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting.’ And the three of them came out.  And the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward. And he said, ‘Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream.  Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house.  With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?’  And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, and he departed.” Numbers 12:1-9

And the Lord heard it. What a vital understanding from the author and brunt of the criticism. Humble he was, positioned so rightly before his God he knew that any and all flack directed his way went through the knowledge and loving hands of the One he served and trusted. No need for touchy offense, nor chastisement, nor retaliation. His was not to correct, put in place, defend, or avenge. The Lord was his Defender. (Deuteronomy 32:35; Psalm 62:5-7; Romans 12:19)

And the Lord stepped up and in, putting these catty siblings in their rightful place. He was in charge, His order would prevail. Moses could rest in that, even when his secure and tender heart thought the punishment severe and he pled for God’s mercy he well knew. (Numbers 12:10-15)

Do we find ourselves jealous of others, insecure in comparison, prone to finding fault or criticizing what we cannot have ourselves? Have we refused to accept the role He’s assigned us? Any mental or verbal attacks are not against the individuals but against their Maker, their Defender. What change of heart and understanding of God’s all-wise authority could move us from jealousy of to jealousy for our peers? (Numbers 11:26-29; John 15:18)

What would change in our sensitivities to criticism, our touchiness, if we were settled in spirit in our Defender? Every chastisement that’s fallen on us has fallen on Him, and He’s borne our wounds on the cross. He is the perfect One in whom we find security, identity, and protection from worldly attacks. In fact, we are counted blessed when we are persecuted for His sake as we share the glory of His sufferings and experience His grace and resurrection power therein. (Psalm 69:9; Isaiah 53:3-6; Matthew 5:11-12; Philippians 3:7-11; Hebrews 4:15-16)

“O worship the King all-glorious above,
O gratefully sing his power and his love:
our shield and defender, the Ancient of Days,
pavilioned in splendor and girded with praise.” ~Robert Grant (1833)

Lord my Defender, help me trust You with any rebuff. May I exhibit genuine mercy to those who attempt to hurt or undermine, by Your grace and for Your glory.

“On the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony. And at evening it was over the tabernacle like the appearance of fire until morning.  So it was always: the cloud covered it by day and the appearance of fire by night.  And whenever the cloud lifted from over the tent, after that the people of Israel set out, and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the people of Israel camped.  At the command of the Lord the people of Israel set out, and at the command of the Lord they camped. As long as the cloud rested over the tabernacle, they remained in camp.  Even when the cloud continued over the tabernacle many days, the people of Israel kept the charge of the Lord and did not set out.  Sometimes the cloud was a few days over the tabernacle, and according to the command of the Lord they remained in camp; then according to the command of the Lord they set out.  And sometimes the cloud remained from evening until morning. And when the cloud lifted in the morning, they set out, or if it continued for a day and a night, when the cloud lifted they set out.  Whether it was two days, or a month, or a longer time, that the cloud continued over the tabernacle, abiding there, the people of Israel remained in camp and did not set out, but when it lifted they set out.  At the command of the Lord they camped, and at the command of the Lord they set out. They kept the charge of the Lord, at the command of the Lord by Moses.” Numbers 9:15-23

God gave both visual and audible aid to His people to ensure they walked with Him at His behest. His instructions were obvious and clear, and required that they hear the commands, watch the sky, and stay in step. Though they had their moments and seasons of squirming, He never abandoned His own, training them in long obedience over years of wandering.

How do we respond to God’s authority in and over our lives- with resistance, hesitation, or eager obedience? What need we turn from to attune to His voice and peel our eyes upward to behold His movement? How willing are we to yield to His commands when they rub against our desires, or temptation’s magnetic pull?

Do I prefer making and taking my own charge, or do I trust and embrace that of the good Sovereign? Camping and setting out with the Lord of hosts ensures days and years of fulfilling service, growing in grace and faith, and the joy of participating in His kingdom.

“A charge to keep I have,
A God to glorify,
A never-dying soul to save,
And fit it for the sky.

To serve the present age,
My calling to fulfill;
Oh, may it all my pow’rs engage
To do my Master’s will!

Arm me with watchful care
As in Thy sight to live,
And now Thy servant, Lord, prepare
A strict account to give!

Help me to watch and pray,
And still on Thee rely,
Oh, let me not my trust betray,
But press to realms on high.” ~Charles Wesley (1762)

So be it, Lord.

“Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: ‘Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious.  For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: “To the unknown god.” What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.  The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.  And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place,  that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,  for

‘“In him we live and move and have our being”;

‘as even some of your own poets have said,

‘“For we are indeed his offspring.”

“‘Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.  The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,  because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.’” Acts 17:22-31

Paul’s message to the Athenians addressed their spiritual curiosity with truth, upending their convoluted conclusion that an unknown god they worshiped they could also make. No, only the true, unique, living God would have planted such desire in them. He alone was their Creator and Source of life, and fully alive Himself, was near and intimately knowable. The gold and stones, the art and imagination of man, were all gifts from His hands, signposts leading to Him, objects and talents that displayed His creativity, magnificence, and glory. Even more, He had sovereignly appointed this time and place for them to hear this truth, to seek and find Him.

God made man in His image and planted eternity in every heart. Unlike any other creatures, we long to know what we can know only through divine inspiration. A fascination with spirituality is not the same as a real understanding of the one Spirit who ignites true worship of the unique holy God through Christ. Are there things and places we contort into more than they are? What idols of what-we-want-to-believe tenets, or shrines to success, have kept us from an authentic relationship with the knowable, personal Lord? What would God have us learn and act on today to know Him better? (Genesis 1:26-27; Ecclesiastes 3:11)

“Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
naught be all else to me, save that thou art.
Thou my best thought, by day or by night,
waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.

Be thou my wisdom, be thou my true word;
I ever with thee, and thou with me, Lord.
Thou my great Father, I thy true son,  
thou in me dwelling and I with thee one.” ~Old Irish, translated by Mary Byrne (1880-1931)

Lord, may I daily know, love, exalt, and share You.

“O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,
    and you will not hear?
Or cry to you ‘Violence!’
    and you will not save?
Why do you make me see iniquity,
    and why do you idly look at wrong?
Destruction and violence are before me;
    strife and contention arise.
So the law is paralyzed,
    and justice never goes forth.
For the wicked surround the righteous;
    so justice goes forth perverted.

“Look among the nations, and see;
    wonder and be astounded.
For I am doing a work in your days
    that you would not believe if told…”

“I will take my stand at my watchpost
    and station myself on the tower,
and look out to see what he will say to me,
    and what I will answer concerning my complaint…”

“And the Lord answered me:

‘Write the vision;
    make it plain on tablets,
    so he may run who reads it.
For still the vision awaits its appointed time;
    it hastens to the end—it will not lie.
If it seems slow, wait for it;
    it will surely come; it will not delay.

‘Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,
    but the righteous shall live by his faith…’

“Though the fig tree should not blossom,
    nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
    and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
    and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
    I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
God, the Lord, is my strength;
    he makes my feet like the deer’s;
    he makes me tread on my high places.” Habakkuk 1:2-5; 2:1-4; 3:17-19

When much of life is a complaint against wickedness, vile activity, and injustice, there is only one station for gaining God’s perspective and hope. In order to turn grumbling into gratitude and fear to faith, our watch post must be high and hushed. The high places were littered with idolatrous alters, but treading them defines victory over their sinister pull and pollution. (Habakkuk 1:12-13)

We can plod through the lowlands with limited vision and heavy attitudes, or scale the heights in the strength of the Lord. We can be crushed by the weight of worry, injustices, and fear of things, or we can crest the circumstances with a long and lofty view. Taking in the vastness of God’s will and divine economy of His timing helps us endure the distance we must cover before relief and resolution. Complaint turns to confidence when circumstances are seen on God’s scale and with His eternal lenses.

Would we choose to tread the heights in our thinking, acknowledging and rejoicing in the fact that God knows His plans for a hope and future? Would we tuck every pain, dearth, and want into the sufficiency of our salvation? Would we be still long enough to gain His perspective and know that He is God, and will one day be exalted in the nations of the earth? (Psalm 46:10; Jeremiah 29:11)

Lord, help me tread in faith where You have gone before me on the heights, rejoicing in You over every circumstance, in my salvation, and because of Your righteous rule in earth and heaven.