As the rain and snow

“You are my rock and my fortress;
    and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me;
you take me out of the net they have hidden for me,
    for you are my refuge.
Into your hand I commit my spirit;
    you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God…

I trust in the Lord.
I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love,
    because you have seen my affliction;
    you have known the distress of my soul,
and you have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy;
    you have set my feet in a broad place…

Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress;
    my eye is wasted from grief;
    my soul and my body also…

But I trust in you, O Lord;
    I say, ‘You are my God.’
My times are in your hand;
    rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!
Make your face shine on your servant;
    save me in your steadfast love!..

Oh, how abundant is your goodness,
    which you have stored up for those who fear you
and worked for those who take refuge in you!..
In the cover of your presence you hide them
    from the plots of men;
you store them in your shelter
    from the strife of tongues.

Blessed be the Lord,
    for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me
    when I was in a besieged city.
I had said in my alarm,
    ‘I am cut off from your sight.’
But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy
    when I cried to you for help...
Love the Lord, all you his saints!..
Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
    all you who wait for the Lord!” Psalm 31:3-9,14-16,19-24

Steadfast: 1. Firmly loyal or constant; unswerving; faithful; 2. Fixed or unchanging; 3. Unmovable.

Through every up and down, yank and slip, God’s love is steadfast. Choking or breathing freely, stumbling or ascending, quaking or at rest, attacked or alone, when we know the Lord Jesus, we carry and are enveloped by a strong and steady love that knows no variance or measure. There is no Rock like our God, nor love like His love. (1 Samuel 2:2)

In Him, we are secure. In Him, we are held, intimately known, and given a wide place to roam. In deepest distress, God’s arms hold us, His hands hold our times, and His face lights our way. He stores up goodness for us, and stores us safely up with Him. He shelters from strife and delivers from doubt to bless His name.

What is our affliction? Where are we troubled? How has He wondrously shown His steadfast love in the hurt and darkness? When we falter in grace or in faith, can we trace His faithful loving hand? What wrong thinking, distractions, or lies cause us to yield to alarm instead of taking courage and waiting on Him?

The earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord. Look around! Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens. He benevolently rules over all! How precious is your steadfast love, O God! Relish, rest, and take delight in Him! Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you. (Psalm 33:5b,22; 36:5a,7a)

Lord, may I ever continue in and under Your steadfast love, and spread its excellencies to the needy around me.

“The Lord is my light and my salvation;
    whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
    of whom shall I be afraid?

When evildoers assail me
    to eat up my flesh,
my adversaries and foes,
    it is they who stumble and fall.

Though an army encamp against me,
    my heart shall not fear;
though war arise against me,
    yet I will be confident.

One thing have I asked of the Lord,
    that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
    all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
    and to inquire in his temple.

For he will hide me in his shelter
    in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
    he will lift me high upon a rock.

And now my head shall be lifted up
    above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer in his tent
    sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the Lord.

Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud;
    be gracious to me and answer me!
You have said, ‘Seek my face.’
My heart says to you,
    ‘Your face, Lord, do I seek.’
   Hide not your face from me.
Turn not your servant away in anger,
    O you who have been my help.
Cast me not off; forsake me not,
    O God of my salvation!..

Teach me your way, O Lord,
    and lead me on a level path
    because of my enemies…
I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord
    in the land of the living!” Psalm 27:1-9,11,13

David is pursued and pelted by enemy assailants, but he’s not overcome by their dark press. He gazes at, holds onto, and sings of the Light that is his God. Every opponent, every onslaught, pales into the background as he focuses on his one thing: dwelling with his Lord every waking moment, beholding His beauty in intimate communion. His hope is fixed in the anticipation of looking upon the goodness of the Lord forever.

We get pressured by so many things that rob attention from the one that is vital. Work and financial responsibilities, maintenance of material goods, petty grievances and irritations with people and politics- each has its place, but none is foremost. Jesus realigned Martha when He directed her to turn from busy tasks to gaze, and listen. It’s not that there aren’t important duties to manage, nor challenges and enemies to contend with, but as God’s children we know all these are providentially in place as instruments for a higher knowing of Him in the midst. (Luke 10:38-42; 2 Corinthians 12:9-10; James 1:2-4)

What occupies our focus? How would we perceive things differently if we began each day aligning praise, passion, and purpose with God as our light and salvation? When and how will we seek His face?

“O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free!
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.” ~Helen Howarth Lemmel (1922)

Lord, train me to focus my energies and sight to look upon You, so the perspective of all else is framed and understood by Your glory and grace.

“The heavens declare the glory of God,
    and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech,
    and night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words,
    whose voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out through all the earth,
    and their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun,
    which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,
    and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
    and its circuit to the end of them,
    and there is nothing hidden from its heat...

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
    be acceptable in your sight,
    O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” Psalm 19:1-6,14

Beholding the heavens, we take in all the psalmist describes: God’s magnificent, infinite, indescribable glory: light, movement, order, splendor that explodes the imagination. The shout both humbles and raises to awe. Our senses and souls expand but find their limit while soaring, trying to comprehend the incomprehensible and articulate the measureless in involuntary praise. It is beyond imagining the splendor, and our perception of it, before the fall.

While the Lord tilts our faces skyward to behold His glories, He intends that we carry what we glean into the horizontal ‘here below’ of day to day. We cannot go through our hours with physical eyes on heaven, but our spiritual eyes can carry the eternal perspective of its beauties to our daily decisions and interactions. His order, love, light, and handiwork can be evidenced in the words of our mouths and work of our hands. (Psalm 90:17; Matthew 5:16)

If the heavens declare, what am I declaring? If this Almighty God dwells in me by His spirit, how clearly and broadly am I displaying His glory in demeanor, kindness, acts of service, care, and generosity? How do my words reflect His grace and compassion? My actions His love and strength and tenderness? My industry His order, excellence, persistence, and purposes?

“God, all nature sings thy glory, and thy works proclaim thy might;
ordered vastness in the heavens, ordered course of day and night;
beauty in the changing seasons, beauty in the storming sea;
all the changing moods of nature praise the changeless Trinity,

Clearer still we see thy hand in man whom thou hast made for thee;
ruler of creation’s glory, image of thy majesty.
Music, art, the fruitful garden, all the labor of his days,
are the calling of his Maker to the harvest feast of praise.

But our sins have spoiled thine image, nature, conscience only serve
as unceasing, grim reminders of the wrath which we deserve.
Yet thy grace and saving mercy in thy Word of truth revealed
claim the praise of all who know thee, in the blood of Jesus sealed.

God of glory, power, mercy, all creation praises thee;
we, thy creatures, would adore thee now and through eternity.
Saved to magnify thy goodness, grant us strength to do thy will;
with our acts as with our voices thy commandments to fulfill.” ~David Clowney (1960)

Lord, infuse my nature with Yours. May there be no thought, speech, or action in which I am not reflecting and declaring Your greatness and glory.

“There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.  For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot… 

“You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you… If Christ is in you,.. the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” Romans 8:1-7,9-11

For those in Christ, a new freedom and vantage point are owned and take effect in everyday living from the moment of salvation. What is true for children of God is that the law of life has overtaken the law of sin and death, banishing the curse of certain death that slavery to sin brings. This freedom effectuates glorious inauguration to a life of the Spirit, full of His vibrancy, victory, and peace. Hostility to God and His ways is divinely transformed to glad submission. And we are called to walk accordingly. (Romans 6:6,13,23; 8:13; Ephesians 4:1)

We behave the way we behave because we believe what we believe. If it is true we have been freed from the stronghold of sin, we should reckon that so and act within and out of that liberty. Relentlessly the devil lurks and taunts to deceive and make us fall, convincing us we’re condemned, too weak to triumph over evil desires and inordinate affections. He tricks us into compromise, doubt, justified outbursts of anger, arrogant rights to special treatment, a flirt here and a tidbit of juicy gossip there. He snarls and delights at every stumble and wave of despair at repeated failure. (1 Peter 5:8)

Who do we believe? Will we succumb to the enemy of our souls, or triumphantly stride alongside Jesus according to all He’s accomplished for us? He helps in weakness, and perseveres to sanctify, to conform us to His image, to defend and intercede for us. Through Him, we are more than conquerors! While we wrestle against dark forces of evil, our risen Savior indwells and empowers us by His Spirit. Therefore, we can believe and walk accordingly. Will we by faith get in step? (Romans 8:26-34,37; Ephesians 6:12)

Lord, keep Your steadfast love and salvation before my eyes that I might walk accordingly in integrity, in Your faithfulness, and for Your glory. (Psalm 26:3,11)

“He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
    for his name’s sake.” Psalm 23:3

“For your name’s sake, O Lord,
    pardon my guilt, for it is great.” Psalm 25:11

“Do not remember against us our former iniquities;
    let your compassion come speedily to meet us,
    for we are brought very low.
Help us, O God of our salvation,
    for the glory of your name;
deliver us, and atone for our sins,
    for your name’s sake!
Why should the nations say,
    ‘Where is their God?..’

But we your people, the sheep of your pasture,
    will give thanks to you forever;
    from generation to generation we will recount your praise.” Psalm 79:8-10a,13

“Though our iniquities testify against us,
    act, O Lord, for your name’s sake;
for our backslidings are many;
    we have sinned against you…

“Do not spurn us, for your name’s sake;
    do not dishonor your glorious throne;
    remember and do not break your covenant with us.” Jeremiah 14:7,21

The unspeakable splendor of a mountain sunset, vivid fiery clear color in clearer air emblazoned in glory, is magnificent to behold. Given by God for our enthrallment and pleasure? Not exactly. The Creator spreads His lavish display to enlist our souls to take joy and delight in Him for His sake and glory, not because it captivates us with feel-good wonder. Yes, we lift our eyes and are dwarfed before the Immeasurable, but our what is man? moments are used by the Almighty to draw out praise to the Him who made and redeemed us, who gave us dominion so we could praise His excellent name forever. O, how turned around we get in this world! We make life about me, and strive for sensory surprise and fulfillment that satisfies me, when rapturous joy and pleasure come only when He is exalted. (Psalm 8:1,3-6)

We are born under the condemnation of sin we have inherited, and in our smugness might think that the loving Jesus saves for our sake. But in fact, what He has done and does on our behalf (yes, it is out of pure, divine love) is ultimately for His sake, not that we would be famous exemplars of salvation but that He would be known and exalted in our transformed lives. Our self-centered wiring is hard to recalibrate, but by His example and grace and faithful sanctification, He turns our affections in the right direction. (Psalm 51:5; Isaiah 49:3; John 3:16; 1 John 1:8-9)

God is greatly glorified by His perfect character and the actions that flow from it: justifying, pardoning, saving, and restoring His people. He is exalted in delivering, helping, and leading us. Every act is about Him, and is done for us for the sake of His name, kingdom, and eternal purposes. How well is His ‘sake’ displayed in us?

Do we pray, behave, and endeavor with this mindset? How would it change our motives, the caliber of our work, the way we spend money and recreate and serve and schedule our time if we lived and breathed for Jesus’s sake instead of our own?

Lord, remind that You are the end and glory of all creation and of my life. Convict and correct any self-ward inclinations or prideful actions, that I might fully live, and live fully, for Your sake alone.

“Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head and kissed him and said, ‘Has not the Lord anointed you to be prince over his people Israel? And you shall reign over the people of the Lord and save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies. And this shall be the sign that the Lord has anointed you to be prince over his heritage… Go down before me to Gilgal. And behold, I am coming down to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. Seven days you shall wait, until I come to you and show you what you shall do.'”

“He waited seven days… But Samuel did not come, and the people were scattering from him. So Saul said,’Bring the… offerings.’ And he offered the burnt offering. As soon as he had finished.., Samuel came… [and] said, ‘What have you done?’ And Saul said, ‘When I saw that the people were scattering, and that you did not come.., and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash,  I said, “Now the Philistines will come against me.., and I have not sought the favor of the Lord.” So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.’ Samuel said, ‘You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God… Now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart.’” 1 Samuel 10:1,8; 13:8-14

Saul was a flawed man (as are we all), appointed by God to a great stewardship and supplied with clear instructions to obey. On the surface he seemed willing enough, but there were areas of control, pride, and impatience he never yielded to his Sovereign King’s control. While God sought a man after His heart, Saul proved he was directed by his own, and when confronted, he only made excuses.

How falsely affirming it is in the flesh to proclaim and pretend that we wholeheartedly follow Jesus. Seldom is this true. Because of conviction, helplessness, or weakness, as Christians we can, with lip-speak, turn over certain areas of our lives in desperation. We also step up to serve or donate, feigning sacrifice. But behind the public scenes, in the hidden places of the heart, the Spirit uncovers the true motive of pride. We yield to impatience, greed, and impetuous action. We nurse pet sins, coddle charms, hoard favorite things, and stroke wrong affections for our own indulgence. We play at righteous surrender, but in truth say, Lord take this, but don’t touch that. We like being master. (Matthew 26:33-35)

The only way to escape this spiritually poisonous attitude is to offer ourselves fully as living sacrifices, laid bare and open in confession for the Lord’s healing light and balm. We might perfect the appearance of being ‘sold-out,’ but until God has full sway, we will be miserable by His mercy. Once He handles every pulse and place with His grace, we are free to do the works He’s prepared for us with power. (Psalm 24:3b-5a; 32:1-3,5; 51:2,6,10; Romans 12:1; 2 Corinthians 4:6-7; Ephesians 2:10; Philippians 2:12-13)

Where have my self-willed proclivities hindered spiritual growth and fruitfulness? What specific areas of my life need His probing, uncovering, and cleansing touch?

Father, expose and remove all taint in my rebel heart. Take all of me that I might be all for You, today and forever.

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,  and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,  and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us…

“Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation… For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:1-5,9-11,17

The access to God the Father opened by Jesus’s crucifixion is a wonder-door. By faith we enter- all by His gift and quickening- and oh, the charmed delights that are ours to possess! Abundant grace! Assurance in salvation! Endurance and hope in suffering! Redemption! Ever-flowing love for Him and others! Righteousness in thought and deed! Fellowship divine! (Mark 15:37-38; Ephesians 2:8-9,18; Hebrews 10:19-25)

Are we acting on what is true? Since we are justified and declared righteous, are we enjoying the peace and fullness that Jesus made possible for us? Why do we, as children of God and people of faith, dance around the opening and fail to enter the joy and grace He offers? Why do we only flirt with Holy Spirit filling, and go about work and play as spiritual paupers? He has died and been raised to give us hope of His glory! To give us purpose in suffering, to train us in endurance and develop character and fill us with zest! He has poured His love and Holy Spirit into our hearts so we can live boldly and wholeheartedly as His redeemed, bringing reconciliation to others! Would we partake of these immeasurable spiritual riches?

If Jesus’s work of our salvation is finished, and God’s throne is always available, how readily and regularly do we practice accessing His grace? He gives help, insight, healing. He gives guidance, fresh morning mercies, and strength. All for the approaching, asking, and taking. (Psalm 32:8; Lamentations 3:22-23; Hebrews 4:16)

How purposefully, how fruitfully are we living day to day? Are we effective stewards, or do we waste the gifts entrusted to us? Are we intentional to pray over our schedules, to prepare for conversations, to be eager for service in His kingdom, and brave to share His gospel with the lost?

Lord, cause me to access and utilize the immeasurable riches of heaven You have won for me, for the good of others and the praise of Your grace.

“You, O Lord, are a shield about me,
    my glory, and the lifter of my head.” Psalm 3:3

“Let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
    let them ever sing for joy,
and spread your protection over them,
    that those who love your name may exult in you.
For you bless the righteous, O Lord;
    you cover him with favor as with a shield.” Psalm 5:11-12

“He brought me to the banqueting house,
and his banner over me was love.” Song of Solomon 2:4

God plants in His people a natural desire for security, as well as fire for significance requiring growth and action. By grace He vows to circle us about with His shield of protection and coincidentally lift our head for vision and hope and exultation. There is tension in His involvement with us, but no dichotomy with the contrasts it presents. His banner and favor are meant to propel us to engage with His kingdom purposes in the world with great rejoicing.

For any prescribed life adventure, we want to be enveloped in appropriate gear- unencumbered by excess that would hinder full performance but dressed securely with what would enhance it. When the Lord issues a call to special relationships, work, or ministry, He is refuge, glory, and freedom all at once. Provider, purpose, and joyful passion. It is not only possible to have safe harbor in Him and safe release to fly, but it is His very way with His own and fully consistent with His character and plan. Do we know this beautiful blend and blessing and interdependence of being held fast in love and freed to soar? Of perfect rest and perfect release? (Isaiah 26:3; Hebrews 12:1)

How ready are we for His daily call? Are we in a rut of repetition, slothfully relishing the ‘shield’ of sameness and monotony but going through days and seasons without joy or sense of blessing? Are we tempted to stagnancy, having ‘served our time’ and determined to enjoy the fruits of others’ labor? Do we prefer nestling into our envelopes of safety and comfort to lifting our heads for fresh vision with what God’s arms around us provide by way of support and courage? Where is God issuing a new opportunity to participate in His kingdom work and a call to abandon ourselves to it? (Romans 12:11)

“All for Jesus! All for Jesus!
All my being’s ransomed pow’rs,
all my thoughts and words and doings,
all my days and all my hours.

Let my hands perform his bidding,
let my feet run in his ways;
let my eyes see Jesus only,
let my lips speak forth his praise.

Since my eyes were fixed on Jesus,
I’ve lost sight of all beside;
so enchained my spirit’s vision,
looking at the Crucified.

O what wonder! How amazing!
Jesus, glorious King of kings,
deigns to call me his beloved,
lets me rest beneath his wings.” ~Mary Dagworthy James (1810-1883) 

Lord, grant both gratitude for Your gracious, protective envelopment, and grit to raise my head and go engage with Your world. All of me I commit joyfully and confidently for Your great glory.

“And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars.” Genesis 1:16

“He is wise in heart and mighty in strength…
    who seals up the stars;
who alone stretched out the heavens…
who made the Bear and Orion,
    the Pleiades and the chambers of the south.” Job 9:4,7-9

“I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
    the moon and the stars, which you have set in place…” Psalm 8:3

“He determines the number of the stars;
    he gives to all of them their names.
Great is our Lord, and abundant in power.” Psalm 147:4-5

“Praise him, all you shining stars!..
    For he commanded and they were created.
And he established them forever and ever.” Psalm 148:3,5-6

“By him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible,.. —all things were created through him and for him… and in him all things hold together.” Colossians 1:16-17

“He upholds the universe by the word of his power.” Hebrews 1:3

The early sky is flocked with gray, a monochromatic scape of ambling irregular tufts. An occasional star pokes a bright dot in the vast pale, while its constellation companions are hidden behind the brightening morning, tricking the eye from a set perspective. Though they are momentarily invisible, I know they are there, holding name and position, because the Word says so.

In the same way, God holds our lives. He knows us by name, orders our place, and perfectly sustains us within His purpose. Yet there are times, and even long seasons, when we feel abandoned, suspended, groundless, directionless, and therefore unsettled. We can’t see companion lights around us confirming our position or completing our ‘pattern,’ nor sense clear direction for moving clouds that obscure and confuse. Where is the rising sun, my vantage point for direction? In these uncertain breezes and bleak light, we are called to trust His unshakable plans and rest in His sustaining power. (Psalm 55:22; Proverbs 3:5-6; Isaiah 43:1; John 20:29; Acts 17:26)

“The Lord of hosts has sworn:
‘As I have planned,
    so shall it be,
and as I have purposed,
    so shall it stand.'” Isaiah 14:24

Where has the loving Lord ordered uncertain circumstances to develop our dependence on Him and His promises? Where need we exchange fretting for faith, frenzy for fixed, full confidence in His design and timing for every divine intention? Would we ask Him to help us believe His sovereign hand is at work, even when we cannot trace its path? (Hebrews 11:1,6)

God orders our ways, and understands every turn of listless focus, loneliness, and longing. His plans for us are good, redemptive, fulfilling, and life-giving. He’s working toward gold, fruitfulness, and flourishing. Will we trust Him? “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” Will we keep shining His light even in uncertainty, receive its cheer and follow its beam in faith that He goes before us and is working all for our good? Job 23:10; 42:2; Isaiah 14:24; Jeremiah 29:11; Romans 8:28)

Lord, help me see with eyes of faith, to trust Your vision when all to me is invisible. Great is Your faithfulness, and great Your goodness, power, and glory.

“Barnabas and Saul returned from  Jerusalem when they had completed their service, bringing with them John, whose other name was Mark.” “When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues… And they had John [Mark] to assist them.” Acts 12:25; 13:5

“Paul said to Barnabas, ‘Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.’ Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark.  But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work.  And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus,  but Paul chose Silas and departed.” Acts 15:36-41

“Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry.” “Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, and so do[es] Mark,.. my fellow worker.” 2 Timothy 4:11; Philemon 23-24

John Mark was a faithful helper to Paul and Barnabas, until he was not. What caused him to abandon them at Pamphylia? Was he too young and unseasoned to follow through on a long journey? Did he let personality clashes or physical discomforts work him into giving up? Whatever the reason, it caused sharp disagreement, and the two comrades parted ways. But Barnabas the encourager (perhaps his cousin) saw something- his potential, a willingness to grow- and took him along to Cyprus. Over time, as he was mentored in faith, God changed John Mark into a strong, useful worker.

Moses was tongue-tied. Jesus had nowhere to lay his head. Several disciples went from local fishermen to nomads with their Teacher. Paul’s life turned from status to suffering. Not everyone called by God to ministry was a natural adventurer, risk-taker, or bold speaker. But through willing obedience, God enabled them to do His work, equipping and changing them along the way. (Exodus 4:10-18; Mark 1:16-20; Luke 9:58; Acts 22:3-5; 2 Corinthians 11:22-29; Philippians 3:6-8)

As long as we live, we can change. The God who calls us to specific roles or tasks is able to equip and transform. He perseveres to sanctify us in the process. (2 Corinthians 3:18; Ephesians 3:20)

Where have we grown stagnant and crusty? How willing are we to be changed by God? What excuses do we make for sloth in service, habitual sin, or ungodly attitudes? That’s just the way I am. We can’t get along. It’s too hard. I don’t know how. Am I prone to procrastinate, or bullishly plow through people to accomplish tasks? Do I shirk confrontation when it’s required, or brazenly chastise without listening? Do I accept doing only what is easy, or plunge into ‘yes!’ without prayer at all? Do I fail to speak when the Lord prompts, or run my mouth with gossip or ugly speech?

What would change if we asked the Lord to reveal parts and patterns He desires to remake, then repent, and surrender to His re-work? Where do we want to transform and grow? What’s impossible for us is possible with Him! (Matthew 18:15-17; Luke 18:27; Romans 12:2; Ephesians 4:15,29; Colossians 3:16)

Father, give me humility and desire to grow. Change and sanctify me to be more like Thee.