Recalculating Devotional: Day 16

As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him, “Go south down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.” So he started out, and he met the treasurer of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under the Kandake, the queen of Ethiopia. The eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and he was now returning. Seated in his carriage, he was reading aloud from the book of the prophet Isaiah. The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and walk along beside the carriage.”
Acts 8:26-29 (NLT)

Not too long ago, I was talking with a friend of mine who is a great cook. I was asking her about some of her favorite dishes and how she had learned to cook and bake. At one point I asked her if she was passing her knowledge and skills down to her kids. She told me that one of the biggest challenges in doing that was that she doesn’t have many
of her recipes written down. She just cooks by “feel” and even when she gets ahold of a new recipe, she always likes to change them up and try new things, often making them differently every time she cooks that dish. While the outcome is amazing, it’s tough for other people to learn those recipes or get them to turn out as well as the original.

That’s the way that I often feel when I am looking for divine direction for my life. I want God to provide specific, step-by-step directions that will take me from start to finish and give me a guaranteed outcome. But so often, I feel like I have just enough information and faith to take the next step.

In the book of Acts, one of the early leaders of the church is a guy named Philip. In Acts 8, God gives him some very specific direction for his life. He tells him which direction to head (south) on a specific road (the desert road from Jerusalem to Gaza). So Philip headed south on the desert road. Once he got going down that road, he ran into the treasurer of Ethiopia, who was reading the Old Testament book of Isaiah and trying to figure it out. As Philip walked by on the road, God spoke again and told him to go and walk alongside the Ethiopian’s chariot. Again, real specific and very clear.

There have been so many times I wished that God would guide me that clearly. But recently, as I read that passage again, I noted something that I had missed. While God spoke clearly to Philip, He only gave him small steps of obedience to follow. Get on the desert road between Jerusalem and Gaza. Check. Go south. Check. Walk next to that chariot. Check.

I realized that part of the reason God’s guidance in my life sometimes feels “fuzzy” is because I am trying to bring the entire route into focus. I want to see and know it all. But God is directing my steps. My next step. And the step after that. So, I am learning to listen and obey one step at a time. If you’ve ever felt the frustration of trying to figure out your route, try taking it one step at a time, and watch where God takes you.

Is there a clear next step that God has been showing you? What could help you take it? What could keep you from taking it?

Recalculating Devotional: Day 15

Moses replied, “Because the people come to me to get a ruling from God. When a dispute arises, they come to me, and I am the one who settles the case between the quarreling parties. I inform the people of God’s decrees and give them his instructions.” “This is not good!” Moses’ father-in-law exclaimed. “You’re going to wear yourself out—and the people, too. This job is too heavy a burden for you to handle all by yourself.
Exodus 18:15-18 (NLT)

Moses was a pretty capable guy. He had been through a lot in his life and had a deep well of experience to draw from, but he was wiped out and he was struggling. The nation of Israel had been living in captive slavery for over 400 years and Moses was the person God chose to lead them out of slavery. Because of his role as THE leader, everyone brought their disputes and disagreements to Moses.

Most biblical scholars estimate that the crowd Moses led through the desert was around two million people, and Moses, alone, was the judge who settled all their problems. The people were getting frustrated having to wait in line for days (weeks? months?) to get their case heard and Moses was burning out quick. Imagine settling people’s disputes all day long, six days a week, for weeks and weeks on end. Moses didn’t think he had a choice in the matter. It was his job and he was going to see it through until it killed him. Then one day his father-in-law, Jethro, stopped by to visit, and gave Moses the best advice he could have ever gotten: “Stop.”

Now, Jethro went on to give him some wise counsel about restructuring, but it all started with, “Stop, this is not good.” As we are trying to navigate our way through life, some of the best guidance we can receive from the Lord might be, “Stop, what you are doing is not good.” I know we all have places to go and people to see, and life seems to get faster and faster every day. But when you’re lost, sometimes the best thing you can do is stop. Maybe that’s what the Psalms mean by, “Be still, and know that I am God.”

When I have gotten lost, whether on a highway or a hiking trail, one of the biggest mistakes I have made is to go faster. To hit the gas or turn my hike into a jog, thinking the faster I go, the sooner I’ll find my way. We are always wanting God to show us where to go and how to get there, but have you ever felt like the guidance God had to give you was, “Stop. Slow down. Be still and let Me be God. I want to lead you, but right now, you need to wait.” God’s delays are not denials. If we can trust God to direct our paths, we can also trust Him when He says stop

Have you ever felt like God said, “Stop,” when you were asking Him for direction? How did you react to that? How did it turn out?

Recalculating Devotional: Day 14

So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.
Galatians 5:16-18 (NLT)

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. – Poet Robert Frost, "The Road Not Taken"

That line from poetry is probably one of the most famous lines in American poetry, maybe American literature. It is often quoted by speakers to challenge her or his audience to take the road less traveled – to not follow the crowd or to do the hard things that most people don’t want to do. All of us have come to places and moments in our lives where there is a fork in the road, and we have to decide which route we will take.

In fact, most of life is like that. Someone once said, “your life is the accumulation of every decision you’ve ever made.” The forks in the road or decisions that I have made that tend to stick with me the most were the ones where I clearly knew the right path, the wise path, and the healthy path, but still chose the other path. Usually, I have done that because the other path led me where I wanted to go, despite the consequences.

In Galatians, a letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in a region called Galatia (modern-day Turkey). In his letter, Paul compares the results of our sinful nature (sexual immorality, drunkenness, envy, greed, etc.) with the ‘fruit’ of the Holy Spirit (love, joy, peace, etc.). There is a fork in the road, Paul seems to be saying, and you should choose the right path – the road less traveled. How to do this? Be directed by the Holy Spirit and let Him guide your lives.

The Holy Spirit wants to provide us with divine direction, leading us down the right roads and keeping us from the pain and consequences of wrong road living. Like a GPS for your soul, God wants to help you navigate the turns and choose the right path, even when it is the road less traveled.

Have you ever realized that you were headed down the wrong path and chosen to keep going anyway? What is it that kept you going that way? What do you think it means to let the Holy Spirit guide your life?

Recalculating Devotional: Day 13

You have made a wide path for my feet to keep them from slipping.
2 Samuel 22:37 (NLT)

I’m not much of a mountain climber. In fact, I’m not a mountain climber at all. I don’t even own a Patagonia coat. But about fifteen years ago I was in Chile, near the border
of Argentina, and I accidentally climbed a mountain (it was probably actually a foothill) in the Andes. My friend Rob and I were there to help plan a mission adventure for high school students. The camp we were staying at was at the foothills of the mountains and one day, Rob and I decided to do a little exploring. We kept getting higher, and pretty soon the trees and grass we had been walking through became rock and cliffs. For some reason, we kept deciding to climb, “just a little higher,” until eventually, I knew we had reached the point of no return. There was no way I was going to try and descend back down the rock face we had just climbed. So, we had to keep going until we made it to the top.

Eventually, we did get there, took a bunch of pictures, and rejoiced that we were still alive and in one piece. Then we discovered the really good news. On the backside of this foothill/mountain, we had just climbed, there was a path that led back down to the main road. And it wasn’t just a path. It was a wide path. Dirt road-like in most places. It made the trip back to our camp much easier than the trip to the mountain top.

In 2 Samuel 22, David, the king of Israel, was singing a song of praise to God. He was thanking God for all the things He had provided to David over his lifetime. And in verse 37 he sings, “You have made a wide path for my feet to keep them from slipping.”

David had spent many days and nights in the wilderness, climbing mountains and racing down them, either in pursuit of his military enemies or running from them. He did all of that in sandals or bare feet. David knew the value of wide, non-slip pathways. But David wasn’t just talking about geography. He was talking about his life. He was thanking God for leading him, for giving him divine direction throughout his life. He was thankful for God providing wide-pathways and making them clear. That’s the beauty of following God’s direction for our lives: He wants to make the path wide and keep us from slipping.

How has God made wide paths in your life? Is there a decision that you need to make where you could really use a wide, clear path forward?

Recalculating Devotional: Day 12

So Moses told the people, “You must be careful to obey all the commands of the Lord your God, following his instructions in every detail. Stay on the path that the Lord your God has commanded you to follow. Then you will live long and prosperous lives in the land you are about to enter and occupy.
Deuteronomy 5:32-33 (NLT)

Moses is one of the most well-known people in the Bible and perhaps all of history. Even people who don’t attend church, read the Bible, or know much about Christianity tend to know a little bit about Moses (Ten Commandments, part the Red Sea, etc.) You can find his story at the beginning of the Bible, in Exodus-Deuteronomy.

The tribes of Israel had spent 400+ years as slaves in Egypt and kept crying out to God to get them out of there. God heard their prayers and He sent Moses to deliver them from slavery and lead them to a new land where they could live and thrive as a nation. That trip took a LONG time and while the people were getting ready for a new home, God wanted to get them ready to be a new people. So, one of the jobs God gave Moses was to write down and teach them a set of laws to live by, since they were no longer slaves, but an independent nation. The Ten Commandments are at the core of the law God gave Moses, but there is a lot more to it.

Toward the end of his life, Moses reminded the people about the law that God had given and how important it was to remember it, and more importantly, to follow it. In Deuteronomy 5 he writes, “…be careful to obey all the commands of the Lord your God, following His instructions in every detail.” Then he tells them to “stay on the path.” Some versions of the Bible translate it this way, “do not turn to the right or the left…”

You see, the Israelites had a tendency to kind of stray off the path. They liked to live on the edge of what God had instructed them to do. They wanted to kind-of-sort-of-almost do what God said, but they tended to drift.

Honestly, I do the same thing. Instead of asking, “What does God want for me?” I ask, “What can I get away with and still be ok?” Maybe you do the same thing. There’s something about wanting our own way that’s hard to shake. But while we want our own way, God wants what’s best. Moses told the people that if they would stick to the path and not stray to the right or the left (no political commentary intended), they would experience long and prosperous lives. When we ask God for direction and then follow the path where He leads us, we will end up right where we want to be.

Where are you most likely to stray from God’s path for your life? Is it worth trading a long and prosperous life for?

Recalculating Devotional: Day 11

So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
2 Corinthians 5:16-17 (NLT)

One of my best friends is a guy named Bob. In the 1980’s, during the farm crisis, Bob, like a lot of his friends and neighbors, lost everything. He told me how hard it was to see his livestock sold and his machinery driven away. He was in the hole for a lot of money and most of his family and friends were encouraging him to declare bankruptcy like everyone else. But Bob said no and met with every one of his creditors, promising that no matter how long it took, he would repay every penny, even though he had no idea
how. He felt that was what God wanted him to do.

Not too long after that, Bob got a job driving a dump truck, and eventually, he started his own excavation business. God kept blessing Bob’s new business and he kept working hard and within a few years, he had repaid every one of his creditors, much to their surprise. Today, Bob’s business is flourishing and he has been a blessing to hundreds of people, including me.

It is an incredible turnaround story and I love telling it. But if you ask Bob about that turnaround, he will quickly tell you that it isn’t the biggest turnaround in his life. That, he will tell you, is when he gave his life to Christ. That’s when everything really changed in his life. Bob has experienced what Paul meant about in 2 Corinthians 5 when he wrote, “…anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” Talk about a recalculation!

When we become Christians (followers of Jesus) the old us gets left behind and we get to start brand new. In fact, the literal definition of the word repentance is, “a 180-degree turn.” Whenever I miss a turn when I am driving, my GPS will recalculate my route, and often its smooth voice tells me to “make a U-turn”. God does that same thing for us when we put our faith in Him. He helps us to recalculate and sets us on a new path. Our old route is gone, we’re on a new trajectory!

Have you made the decision to follow Jesus? If so, how has your life been recalculated? If not, what has stopped you from making that u-turn?

Recalculating Devotional: Day 10

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.
Proverbs3:5-6 (NLT)

My freshman year of college, I borrowed a friend’s car (I didn’t have one of my own) so I could take a group of friends to the movies. I was especially interested in taking one of the girls in the group to the movies and wanted to play it cool so she’d be impressed.

Our college was in the middle of downtown Minneapolis and the theaters were at a mall in the suburbs. I had been out there a couple of times although I wasn’t driving and
didn’t really pay attention. But I had a pretty good idea of where I needed to go and I had the keys, so away we went. I had been driving for about thirty minutes (it should have taken 15 minutes) when people started to question my navigational skills and suggesting we stop for directions, which of course, was out of the question. So, instead of asking for directions and getting back on the right path, I continued to drive, confident that I could figure it out.

Well, to make a long story short, I drove around for almost an hour, never found the mall, and we missed the movie. It took me a while to live that one down and it taught me a valuable lesson: don’t overestimate your ability to get there on your own.

King Solomon was known as the wisest man who had ever lived, and he wrote most of the Proverbs, a collection of wise sayings. In Proverbs 3, he reminds us not to depend on our own ability (understanding) and to instead trust in the Lord. The result? “He will show you which path to take.” Thanks to the GPS in my vehicle and in my phone, I don’t really get lost too often anymore. I am also willing to stop and ask someone now. But there are definitely times that I feel lost in life. There are times when I really struggle with a decision to make or a direction to take. There are also times when I know I need to “recalculate” an area of my life. That’s when these words from Proverbs come to mind. They remind me that if I will seek God and trust Him with my life, He will show me the right path to take.

Is there a decision you are trying to make, or a turn around you need to make? How much are you trusting the Lord to direct you?

Put On Compassion

2020 was a hard year for everyone. You would be hard-pressed to find anyone who came out of 2020 unscathed. But what truly discouraged me wasn’t the lockdown or working from home.

It wasn’t the political conflicts or the social unrest.

The thing that hurt my heart the most was seeing the way Christians reacted towards people, especially on social media. 

My issue wasn’t that people had opinions. I adamantly support people forming their own opinions and beliefs, especially when they have the diligence to do research and truly search for answers. What really concerned me was the lack of compassion we seemed to have for others.

Merriam Webster defines compassion as “a sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it.” Compassion isn’t just feeling bad for someone or wishing they didn’t have to struggle;  it’s also a desire to make things better, to actively seek out ways to support the hardships of others.

I have worked with school-aged children for a third of my life, and for the past few years, my focus has been on supporting students who have a hard time managing their behavior. These kids are amazing! And their stories would break your heart. I have learned so much from working with them, but there are two specific things that I have realized:

• Behavior communicates.

• Hurt people hurt people.

How someone behaves communicates something. When I watch the news, especially any clips regarding politics or social injustice, what I see is people communicating that they are hurt and angry. When I see people sharing their views on social media, what I see is people longing to be heard. And when I see people attacking others, what I see is a lack of compassion for anyone who thinks differently or holds a different opinion.

Disclaimer: I’m all for open debate and argument; the way we go about it, the amount of compassion we have (or don’t have) is the issue.

I think part of the reason we lack compassion is because of how much access we have to knowledge. The Apostle Paul warns us about the danger of knowledge in 1 Corinthians 8. In this passage, Paul is writing a letter to a group of Christians in the ancient city of Corinth, answering some questions they have about living as believers in the culture around them. One of the issues they were struggling with was whether or not they should eat meat that was sacrificed and offered to idols. During that time, part of the meat was given to the priest that oversaw the sacrifice; if he didn’t want it, he could sell it in the marketplace, and it was often cheaper than other meat options (even the ancient people loved a good deal!).

Paul starts out his answer to the Corinthians by saying, “We know that ‘we all have knowledge.’ Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up” (verse 1). In the next couple of paragraphs, Paul goes on to basically say that eating the meat wasn’t a problem because the Christians knew idols aren’t real--the sacrifices didn’t really mean anything. However, he also makes the point that not every believer has this understanding yet, and that needed to be taken into consideration. Newer Christians, especially those who grew up sacrificing to idols might be bothered by their conscience in regards to the sacrificed meat. Not only did the priest get a third of the meat after the sacrifice, but the family participating got a third of it too (the rest went to honor the god they were worshipping). Here they were trying to turn away from the life they once had to pursue the one true God, and yet, they kept getting put in their old situation by fellow believers offering them sacrificed meat.

So what does eating meat have to do with compassion and our access to knowledge?

The meat wasn’t the issue. I honestly don’t think Paul really cared about the Corinthians’ meal planning habits. The issue was how they were treating one another and the lack of concern they had for people who thought differently. Instead of seeking to alleviate the struggles of their fellow believers, those who thought they “knew better” were letting their knowledge and understanding inflate their self-importance. There wasn’t any compassion towards another person, just “Well, I know this is right, so I don’t see why you have a problem with it.”

In today’s culture, we have immediate access to any information we seek. It’s incredibly easy to find evidence that will support any opinion you have. That’s an incredible privilege! I work in education, so I will always advocate for learning and using the tools available. But privilege also comes with responsibility. The issue isn’t having knowledge, it’s about how we use it and how it affects us. The more we know, the more temptation we face to think we know better than someone else, to get a little too “puffed up” for our own good. Are we using our knowledge to tear down others or to actively seek ways to alleviate their struggles?

Showing Compassion

It Starts With Yourself

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from therapy, it’s that if you aren’t able to treat yourself with compassion, you won’t be able to treat others with compassion in an effective way. Oh, sure, you can fake it a bit, but eventually what’s inside will come out. If you want your outward actions to be compassionate, your heart has to be compassionate, and that starts with being compassionate to yourself.

Know who you are in Christ. Know what God thinks of you. Know and believe the value you have because of what God has done for you.

View People with the Right Lens

How you view people will greatly affect how you interact with them. How do you see those around you? Do you see them as knowing less than you? Or do you see them as image-bearers of God? It doesn’t make a difference if they have the same views as you or the same beliefs--if we hold to what the Bible says, each person was created in God’s image and has His breath in their lungs. Do you see them that way?

Viewing another person as someone who is desperately loved, valued, and cherished by God will help you have the desire to love them, too.

Serve without Expectation

As we discovered earlier, compassion isn’t just a feeling. It’s an action. And it’s how we’re called to live. Throughout the New Testament, God calls us to act with compassion. In Colossians, we’re told to put on compassion. In Galatians, we’re called to bear one another’s burdens. God expects us to help others carry their struggles. If we truly want to follow Christ’s example, showing compassion isn’t something we get to opt-out of. In fact, 1 John tells us that if we know someone is in need but we withhold compassion, how can we claim to know God’s love?

Look for ways to serve other people. What can you do to make someone’s day easier? What can you do to help alleviate some of their stress? Jesus Himself modeled this when He decided to feed a crowd of followers so He could continue ministering to and teaching them (Matthew 9:35-36). He had compassion on them because He saw they were distressed, so He served them in a very human way--by giving them free food! Showing compassion doesn’t have to be a grand, extravagant event; it just has to come from a heart that sincerely cares.

The way we love other people, the way we show compassion, is the way people will know Who we represent. There are a lot of things I’m still figuring out about life, about my faith, about how to live in this crazy world, but this is what I know without a shadow of a doubt to be true: God has radical compassion and love for human beings, not just as a group, but as individual people, and we are called to be a reflection of that.

Recalculating Devotional: Day 9

Early the next morning Joshua and all the Israelites left Acacia Grove and arrived at the banks of the Jordan River, where they camped before crossing. Three days later the Israelite officers went through the camp, giving these instructions to the people: “When you see the Levitical priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God, move out from your positions and follow them. Since you have never traveled this way before, they will guide you.
Joshua 3:1-4 (NLT)

When you are traveling somewhere you’ve never been before or you are in unfamiliar surroundings, one of the greatest gifts you could have is an experienced guide. Someone you can trust who knows the way.

Last January, I was part of a group from Journey Church that traveled to South Africa to work with Blessman Ministries, one of our mission partners. One of the things we got to do on our trip was to go on a photo safari. It was an amazing experience seeing zebra, giraffes, rhinos, elephants, and lions in the wild. At one point on our safari, our guide stopped the vehicle and showed us some really big lion prints in the dirt road we were traveling on. The tracks were headed one way, so our guide took us the other way.

I couldn’t imagine wandering around that area by myself with no idea where I was going or what was out there. Maybe you’ve felt that way at times in your life. When you moved to a new city, started at a new school, or tried to figure out how to be married as a newlywed. I have experienced many, “What am I doing here?!” moments in my life.

That’s probably how Israel felt when they were getting ready to go to the Promised Land, a place God was giving them so they could live and grow there. There were only two problems: One – people already lived in that land and weren’t interested in leaving. Two – no one in Israel’s travel party had been there before. They didn’t know where they were going. So, God told them (through Joshua) to follow Him. They were supposed to wait for the Ark, which represented God’s presence, to go in front of them and follow it. They had no idea where to go and God’s solution was to lead them. GOD became their GPS. And it worked!

Here’s the great news. Wherever your life takes you and whatever path you have to walk, God has already been there and He will lead you. You just have to choose to follow His path and not the best one you can come up with. You haven’t traveled this way before, let Him guide you.

When you are facing uncertain circumstances in life, where do you look for direction? Who or what do you follow?

Recalculating Devotional: Day 8

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right path for his name’s sake.
Psalm 23:1-3 (NLT)

During my lifetime, the tools we use to navigate have changed a lot. As a kid, when our family went on trips, my dad would drive the car down the highway while my mom unfolded a giant map and plotted the shortest and quickest route to our destination. He was the pilot, she was the navigator. Eventually, our glove box full of road maps was replaced by an atlas, which was a book full of maps of every state. We swapped a poster size road map for an oversize book full of them.

Somewhere in the ’90s, the internet helped us find MapQuest (which was an early, clumsy cousin of Google Maps). You would plug in your starting point and your destination and MapQuest would give you a route, which you would then use to print out pages of driving directions. Then along came the GPS for your car, which had to be constantly updated. These days, we all just open an app on our phone or tell it where we want to go, and step-by-step it gets us there. No one gets lost anymore.

One of the great bonuses of swapping our maps for apps is that a GPS has the ability to recalculate. When you miss a turn, change your destination, or when the route changes, you don’t need to buy a new map or print out new directions. Your GPS recalculates the path for you.

Wouldn’t it be great to have a GPS for life? We do. In Psalm 23 (the Lord is my Shepherd psalm), we read that God guides us onto the right path for His name’s sake. Like a shepherd that tracks down a wandering lamb and gets it back to the right place or a friendly voice that recalculates our route and gets us on the right path, the Holy Spirit will guide us when we choose to listen to God wants to say to us. The key for us is what Jesus said in the New Testament. “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me…” (John 10:14). When we listen for His voice, He directs our steps.

What is the most lost you have ever been on a trip? What did you do? When you feel lost in life, who do you listen to as you recalculate?

Recalculating Devotional: Day 7

But now I have finished my work in these regions, and after all these long years of waiting, I am eager to visit you. I am planning to go to Spain, and when I do, I will stop off in Rome. And after I have enjoyed your fellowship for a little while, you can provide for my journey.
Romans 15:23-24 (NLT)

If you could take your dream trip anywhere in the world, where would you go? A chalet in the Alps? Kicking it at the beach on a South Pacific island? Site seeing through Europe? A Caribbean cruise? Maybe a week in a kingdom run by a mouse? There are so many amazing places in the world, it’s hard to choose just one place.

The Apostle Paul had a dream destination. For years he planned and waited for an opportunity to go to the most important city on the planet at that time – Rome. It was the capital of the Roman Empire and the most powerful and influential place Paul could think of to preach the Gospel. In his letter to the Christians in Rome, Paul wrote that “after all these long years of waiting, I am eager to visit you.” Paul’s dream was about to come true! He would travel to Rome as a preacher to tell as many people as possible about the resurrected Christ.

Well, Paul did eventually make it to Rome, but not as a preacher. Paul got to Rome as a prisoner. He had been arrested and imprisoned for preaching about Jesus and because riots broke out wherever he did so. So now he was being sent to Rome for a trial before Caesar. Instead of arriving in Rome in style, Paul arrived in chains. But that didn’t deter Paul.

For two years Paul told anyone he could about Jesus, which started to lite a flame that became a fire. When Paul arrived in Rome, one-half of one percent of the world had heard of Jesus (and no one in Rome had heard of Paul). But centuries later, almost 3 billion people are Christians, and there is a statue of the Apostle Paul in Rome. The point? God will always get you where you need to go, even if the route doesn’t look like what you planned. But it’s ok, because you can trust Him.

How has your life turned out as you imagined? How has it turned out differently than you imagined? How have you seen God working in all of it?

Recalculating Devotional: Day 6

Next Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time. Then coming to the borders of Mysia, they headed north for the province of Bithynia, but again the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there. So instead, they went on through Mysia to the seaport of Troas. That night Paul had a vision: A man from Macedonia in northern Greece was standing there, pleading with him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” So we decided to leave for Macedonia at once, having concluded that God was calling us to preach the Good News there.
Acts 16:6-10 (NLT)

Have you ever had a door slam closed on something that you were sure was going to be a great opportunity for you? Your life was headed in a great direction and then you ran into a “ROAD CLOSED” sign.

One time it happened to me was during my junior year of college. I had been car-less for the first two and a half years of school. I had to rely on public transportation or bumming rides off my friends to get around the Twin Cities where my college was located. Then an opportunity to get a brand new car for free came my way. I got the chance to shoot for one during half-time of a minor league basketball game. I won the contest that night and got invited back for a “shoot off” against the other high scorers from the season. I kept shooting and I kept winning and I ended up in the finals. It was down to me and one other guy for the car. The day of the final game I spent hours at the local YMCA working on my shots and imagining grabbing the keys to that car. I was sure that God was going to help me get that car since I couldn’t afford one of my own. So that night I showed up, shot well, and had the highest score I got during the entire contest. And I lost. We met at half court and the other guy got handed the car keys, I got a handshake. It felt like the door had slammed in my face.

Maybe you’ve had that feeling. It might have been not getting the job you were sure you had locked up. You didn’t get into your chosen college and had to settle for your ‘safety school.’ Your relationship with ‘the one’ didn’t pan out. Or you walked out of the doctor’s office with a diagnosis you never saw coming.

In Acts 16 we read about a trip that the Apostle Paul and his friend Silas took. Two different times they had a plan and two different times, God closed that door. It had to be frustrating and it had to make Paul wonder if he was doing the right thing. But instead of giving up or going home, Paul and Silas waited. They put their focus on God instead of on their agenda. And eventually, God opened a new door that ended up having a global impact (check out the story in Acts 16). We often see a closed door as REJECTION, but God often uses closed doors for REDIRECTION. We focus on our plans, but God directs our steps. Paul and Silas trusted God for divine direction and it worked out for them. I am confident God will do that for you too.

When is the last time you faced a closed door? How did you respond? What did God teach you through that experience?

Recalculating Devotional: Day 5

Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.
Psalm 119:105 (NLT)

Driving in the city and driving out in the country are two very different experiences. When you drive in the city, here are all kinds of lights to help guide you. Street lights, lighted signs and buildings, porch lights, light streaming from the windows of homes and businesses. Light everywhere. It’s pretty easy to see what’s ahead and to find your way to where you’re going. It’s a well-lit pathway. Sometimes it’s so well lit, we even forget to turn on our headlights when driving. That never happens in the country.

In the country, streetlights are few and far between. There are fewer homes and even fewer businesses, and they often close early. The path you are traveling is not nearly as well-lit or clear. Out there you are not going to forget to turn on your headlights. You have to have them to see where you are going. But headlights don’t illuminate the path all the way to your destination, they give you enough light in front of your car to keep you going forward.

I don’t know about you, but I like a well-lit pathway. I like to know where I am going and not have to worry about finding my way or missing my turn. There have been times when God has made my path just that clear. But often my life feels more like a drive in the country, figuring things out turn by turn as my headlights help me to keep going. The good news is this, God wants to work both ways in our lives. Sometimes He will give us a light for our path, and we will be able to run with it. At other times, He will provide a lamp for our feet and help us to take the next step. We won’t always be able to see to the end of the road, but we can trust Him with our next steps.

What pathway is God illuminating or step is He lighting up for you right now?

Recalculating Devotional: Day 4

At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him. Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?” Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.”
John 6:66-69 (NLT)

The old saying is, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going,” but we all know that when the going gets tough, the crowd tends to get smaller. Admiral William McRaven (US Navy, retired), shares about his experiences during “Hell Week” as he became a Navy Seal. McRaven recounts hours spent swimming in freezing water, running miles in the sand, and existing on little to no sleep. During the entire week, instructors kept reminding them of one fact: you can quit any time you want. All a trainee had to do we walk over to a bell and ring it three times and it was over. No more running, no more freezing, no more pain. They could enjoy a warm meal and a warm bed, they just had to ring the bell. Any many, many, many people have rung that bell.

In John 6, there was a “ring the bell” moment. As Jesus engaged people with His teaching, performed miracles, and even fed them, the crowds that followed Him had continued to swell. Then, Jesus began to let them know about the cost of becoming one of His followers. When the going got tough, they got going. Jesus asked His closest followers, the twelve disciples, if they wanted to leave too. Peter spoke up for the group and told Jesus they weren’t going anywhere because He [Jesus] had the words of life. In other words, the cost of following Jesus was worth it because He alone could lead them to eternal life. What a great reminder for us as we pray! That when we ask God for wisdom and take time to listen, He can give us the right words, the words that bring eternal perspective and eternal life. “Speak Lord, Your servant is listening, because you have the words that give eternal life.”

What are some of the words of Jesus that have been most helpful to you in your life?

Recalculating Devotional: Day 3

Samuel did not yet know the Lord because he had ever had a message from the Lord before. So the Lord called a third time, and once more Samuel got up and went to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?” Then Eli realized it was the Lord who was calling the boy. So he said to Samuel, “Go and lie down again, and if someone calls again, say, ‘Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went back to bed. And the Lord came and called as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel replied, “Speak, your servant is listening.”
1 Samuel 3:7-10 (NLT)

Have you ever spent time with someone who’s idea of conversation is doing all the talking? You can feel like the only time they listen to you or ask for your opinion is to set up the thing they want to say next (FULL DISCLOSURE: I am sure that I am that person who won’t stop talking sometimes). When I am in a conversation like that, I feel like an adult in a Charlie Brown cartoon. Whenever I am talking, all they hear is, “Wawawawawawawaa….” Maybe that’s why James says in the New Testament that we should be, “quick to listen and slow to speak” (James 1:19). Often, I am so eager to say what I want to say that I don’t always hear what I need to hear.

I think that same principle carries over into prayer. Prayer is a conversation with God, but we often do most of the talking in that conversation. We share our questions, our needs, or wants, even our complaints, but how often do you or I LISTEN when we pray? Answering for myself, I will say, “not enough.” In 1 Samuel 3, Samuel was a young man who would eventually become the spiritual leader of Israel. God wanted to speak to him and he wasn’t sure what to do. So he followed some good advice from his mentor, Eli, and simply said, “Speak Lord, your servant is listening.” What a great way to approach God! What would it look like if the next time you prayed, you focused on listening before you began speaking? Or if you shared your heart with God and then waited, expecting Him to answer you? Today, when you pray, try James’ advice: be quick to listen and slow to speak. Allow God to give you the divine direction you need.

When can you set aside some time to be quiet and say to God, “Speak, your servant is listening?”

Finding Freedom From Fear

It was cold and overcast in Washington DC on March 4, 1933, as Franklin Delano Roosevelt prepared to deliver his first inaugural speech. The United States, as well as the rest of the world, was mired in the depths of the Great Depression. Between the day FDR was elected and when he took office, 4,000 banks in the US were forced to close. At the Capitol, Roosevelt braced himself on his son James’ arm and made his way to the podium to deliver hope to the nation. It was at the beginning of this inaugural speech that Roosevelt uttered one of the most famous lines in American history, “…first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” That line stuck in the heart of every woman and man, giving them hope that things could change.

While those words are still inspiring today, they are easier said than done. In the same way listening to the song Don’t Worry, Be Happy doesn’t make all your problems go away, telling yourself (or being told by someone else) not to fear doesn’t always help. Yet from cover to cover in the Bible, God repeatedly says to us, “Don’t be afraid.” There are 365 “do not fear” statements in the Bible—that’s one for every day of the year. Over and over again, in all kinds of situations, God instructs and even commands individuals and groups not to be afraid. These statements aren’t based on the circumstances (“It’s not that big of a deal”) or the ability of the person who’s afraid (“You’ve got this!”). God tells us not to fear because He’s got this, and we can trust Him. 

While God tells us repeatedly not to fear, there is actually one type of fear that the Bible tells us to embrace. It’s the fear of the Lord. Proverbs 1:7 tells us, “Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.” So, what are we supposed to do? Fear not or fear the Lord? The answer: yes.

The key is understanding what the Bible means when it says “fear” the Lord. When that term shows up in the Bible, it’s not talking about an unhealthy fear that is disproportionate to the danger. That’s the kind of fear that makes a mountain out of a molehill and causes us to worry, stress, and give up. 

When the Bible talks about fearing the Lord, it is talking about a healthy fear. It means having an understanding of who God is compared to us. It means respect, reverence, awe, and honor. It can even be translated or seen as worship. It’s like the healthy respect we have for our parents. It’s the fear that a good electrician might have for the power of electricity. It doesn’t keep them from doing their work, but their fear of its power causes them to handle it cautiously and respect its power. 

Nicky Gumbel, an Anglican pastor in England and the author of the Alpha Course for discipleship, writes, “Fear God and you need not fear anything else or anyone else.” When we have a proper respect for the power and majesty of God, we realize that we don’t have anything else to fear. It is what inspired the Apostle Paul to write in his letter to the Roman church, “If God is for us, who can ever be against us?” (Romans 8:31) Like a child who walks down the street completely unafraid because her father is holding her hand, when we honor and fear the Lord, we don’t have to fear anything else. When we see God for who He really is, our problems get a lot smaller and our fear subsides. The Gallup polling organization demonstrated that first hand in our crazy 2020.

A Gallup Poll released in early December 2020, showed a serious decline in mental health and anxiety among Americans during 2020. Given how crazy 2020 was, it’s not a shock. In the poll they found that every group they surveyed, regardless of gender, political party, race, age, marital status, or income had experienced a decline in mental health of -1 to -15%. Except one. One group had a positive mental health change of +4% in 2020. That group: people who attended religious services on a weekly basis. While they were living in the same circumstances and experiencing the same upheaval as everyone else, they were like salmon swimming upstream against the current when it came to mental health and peace of mind. If you needed another reason to make church a priority this weekend, there you go. 

Fear God and don’t need to fear anything else. Allow Him to take on the weight of those things that are stressing you out and making you want to run away and hide. How? A great way to start is by following the instructions that Paul gave to the church in Philippi: “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)

What can defeat fear? The peace of God. The peace of God exceeds anything we can understand. In other words, God will give you a peace that doesn’t make sense. You should be freaking out, but you aren’t. Everyone else in your social media feed is losing it about the latest crisis in the news, but you’re not. Why? Because God is covering your mind and heart with His peace. He’s got this. You don’t have to be afraid. To paraphrase FDR, “We have nothing to fear but the Lord Himself.” And when we do that, we don’t have to fear anything else.

Recalculating Devotional: Day 2

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind.
James 1:5-6 (NLT)

When I was a kid, I went garage sale-ing with my mom and for 25 cents I picked up a treasure – a Magic 8-Ball! Remember those? They’ve been around since the 1950’s and they are still making them today. The “magic” of the Magic 8-Ball is that you ask it a yes or no question, shake it up, then look at the window on the side of it to see what the answer is. You could get anything from, “It is decidedly so,” to, “Ask again later,” to, “Outlook not so good,” as an answer.

While it was fun to ask the ball goofy questions and see what it would say, most of us didn’t use the Magic 8-Ball to help us solve real problems or figure out our futures. My guess is that you didn’t use a toy that you can purchase for under $10 when you decided to propose or say yes to a proposal. You didn’t shake it up before choosing a college, a career, or a city to live in. But where do you turn when you need direction in your life? How do you make wise decisions?

James was the half-brother of Jesus and the author of the book of James in the New Testament. His instruction to us in James 1:5 is that when we need wisdom, when we are not sure what to do and need insight that will help us make the right decision, we should ask God for it. When we do, James writes, He will give it to us and He won’t rebuke us for asking. If you’ve ever had a teacher, a coach, a parent, or a boss bite your head off for asking a question they thought you should already know the answer to, you know how uncool that is. But James says God is not like that. He wants to give us divine direction. He doesn’t want us to be like a wave in the ocean that gets tossed back and forth all the time. If you need wisdom about how to handle a relationship, a situation, or a decision, ask the Lord for help. He wants to give you the direction you need.

Who or what do you usually turn to when you have to make a decision? When is the last time you turned to God for that wisdom? Today is a great day to start.

Recalculating Devotional: Day 1

"We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps."
Proverbs 16:9 (NLT)

At the beginning of my senior year of high school, I thought I had all of my future plans set. While I grew up going to church with my family, during my junior year my faith became real and personal to me. That summer I felt like God was directing me to go to a Christian college and prepare to become a pastor. So I applied to a college our denomination had, got accepted, and was all set. Then, in the middle of the school year, I got a letter informing me that the college was closing and merging with another school on the other side of the country. All of the sudden all of my plans went up in smoke.

Because of that decision, I began to look around at other schools (which I had not done earlier because I had a plan) and ended up going to North Central University in Minneapolis. That change ended up being a great opportunity for me – apart from experiencing a type of cold I didn’t know existed. I had the opportunity to learn from some of the top professors in their field and made relationships that have opened doors of opportunity for me throughout my life. And all of that happened at a school I had never really heard of or known about before a closed-door caused me to take a look around.

Proverbs 16:9 reminds us that while we make plans, it is ultimately the Lord that will determine or direct our steps. Maybe you’ve had an experience like mine. You had a plan that made all the sense in the world – until it didn’t work out. Maybe you have had a job you hated or lived somewhere that you didn’t want to be and in the moment you wondered why. But later, you were able to look back and see how that job was a step that got you to where you are now. We tend to focus on our big plans, while God is moving us where He wants us to be by determining our steps. When you read Proverbs 16, you find several verses about our plans and God’s purposes. If you are in the middle of making a decision right now and you’re not sure what direction to go, ask the Lord to help you understand the next step to take.

Is there an area of your life where you are looking for direction? Ask God to show you the next small step to take.

Are We There Yet?

Melissa Kitcher was excited to complete her first-ever half-marathon in 2016. She trained. She prepared. She prepped. And then, she got lost.

During the Trail Hog Half-Marathon near Sarasota, Florida, Kitcher went missing for nearly twelve hours after missing some turns and running off the course. She ended up six to seven miles off course with no way to contact anyone or get directions (her phone inconveniently froze two minutes before the start of the race). Kitcher ended up running over 16 miles instead of the 13.1 miles of the race by the time she was found, uninjured but very thirsty.

Have you ever had an experience like that, where you got lost on a hike or missed a turn on your vacation trip and ended up in the wrong city or state? Nowadays, since everyone carrying a smartphone, our GPS is only a tap away, and getting really lost is a thing of the past. Most of the time we don’t even worry about getting directions when we need to go somewhere, we just plug it into our GPS and follow the step-by-step directions to get us to our destination. It makes travel so easy.

Wouldn’t it be great if there were a GPS for our lives?

Wouldn’t it be great if we could get step-by-step directions to help us make all of our big decisions? Answers to questions like, “Where should I go to college? What should I major in? Is he or she ‘the one’?” If someone could invent an app that would lay out a route for our lives, that would become the most downloaded app in history. Having a clear road map to follow would make life a lot easier and get rid of a lot of life’s stresses.

This month at Journey, we’re starting a new series called “Recalculating.” Throughout this series, we’ll talk about how each of us can receive divine direction in 2021 as we navigate the stops and starts and crazy turns of life.

While the Bible doesn’t offer us a simple, neatly packaged answer for navigating life, it does show us that God wants to walk with us and provide us with the direction we need for life’s journey.

Proverbs 16:9 tells us, “We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.” As humans, we tend to focus on our plans, our hopes, dreams, goals, and aspirations. We want to reach the end of the road and arrive at our destination. But God is more concerned with the steps it takes to get there. Like little kids in the back seat during a road trip, we keep asking, “Are we there yet?”, and God responds, “You are right where I want you to be.” While we focus on the big picture, the Holy Spirit wants to help us take the steps and make the turns that will get us there. We may want to see the whole route, but God wants us to trust Him as He helps us take the next turn.

Imagine that you and I hopped into my car to drive from my house to your house for the very first time. Before we took off, I wouldn’t sit in my driveway and ask you to give me a detailed, turn-by-turn route to your house then try to drive there based on my memory of what you told me. I would just back out and start driving down the street. When we got to the corner, you would tell, me, “Take a right.” At the next intersection, you would tell me to keep going straight or to turn, and so on. Eventually, we would pull into your driveway. I didn’t need to know the entire route to your house ahead of time because you were in the car with me and could tell me where to turn and when we had arrived.

In the same way, God won’t often show us the whole route for our lives. But He will travel with us through life, helping us to find our way step-by-step and turn-by-turn. We just have to be willing to listen to His divine direction. You may be waiting on God to show you the final destination in an area of your life, when He is simply saying, “Take a left at the next corner.”

Melissa Kitcher’s wild adventure in her first half-marathon didn’t discourage her from trying again. When she was interviewed by a local paper about her experience, she already had another upcoming race in mind to try again.

Maybe you have gotten lost at times in your life and felt like giving up. I want to encourage you to try again, to ask God to determine your steps and help you make the next turn. Like Melissa Kitcher, don’t let your past mistakes keep you from pressing on.

I hope you will join us in January for Sunday messages, small group discussions, and individual devotions that will help you learn to listen to God’s divine direction.

Let the journey of 2021 begin!

Resolve to Become, Not Just Do

Well, we made it. The end of 2020 is just hours away, and most of us can’t wait to turn the page on this ______________ (insert your own word here) year. A year ago, we were wrapping up 2019 and looking forward to a new year with “2020 vision,” with lots of hopes and dreams for a new year and a new decade. Well, it certainly was a year to remember, even if most of us would rather forget it.

As we get ready to head into 2021 hoping, “it’s got to be better than last year,” you may be following the time-honored tradition of setting some goals or resolutions for the new year. A new year, like a new month, a new week, or even a new day, seems to hold a ton of possibility. A clean slate. A chance to start over.

It is ironic that we make new year resolutions, which mean, “a firm decision to do or not do something,” and then give up on 75% of them by the end of January. I know we go into those resolutions with a sense of determination, but often that resolution fades in relatively short order. Goals that seem really important on January 1st don’t seem to matter as much on February 1st. Fun fact: The desk in the Oval Office of the White House is called the “Resolute Desk” and was constructed from timbers from the HMS Resolute, an English ship used for exploring the Arctic. At 1,300 pounds, it is definitely ‘resolute.’

Why don’t our resolutions seem to hold the same weight?

I believe one of the major reasons is that we often focus our resolutions on goals or habits—things we do. We take our already busy lives and we add more things to do or projects to get done. It’s like we are trying to keep a bunch of plates spinning in our lives, and we set a goal or make a resolution to learn how to spin more plates. But what if we made a different resolution this year?

What if, instead of resolving to DO something, we resolved to BECOME something? 

To become more generous.

To become a better listener.

To become more encouraging.

To become a better spouse or parent.

To become a better employee or boss.

For example, if you made it your resolution to be a better spouse this year, you could focus on the words of the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 5:21, where he tells husbands and wives to, “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” With that as your resolution, what could that look like in 2021? Maybe it means planning regular date nights. Or maybe it’s choosing to put your phones away in the evening when you get home from work. Maybe you plan a vacation or getaway together or choose a devotional that you can read together.

The possibilities are endless, but the goal is significant: becoming a better spouse. You can take that same approach with many areas of your life, but starting with a significant “why” (becoming something) can be the motivation for taking action and forming habits that will get you there. Saving more and spending less is a common new year resolution, but without a purpose, it often goes by the wayside. But if your reason for spending less and saving more was to become a more generous person, you would find it easier to pursue that resolution. 

Resolving to become someone rather than just doing something is a concept that falls in line with what we understand about God from Scripture. When you read the Bible, you’ll often find that the people in the stories are trying to get something done or reach a place. But in those stories, God is more interested in helping them become someone. King Solomon wrote it this way in the Old Testament book of Proverbs:

“We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.” – Proverbs 16:9

We make plans—places we want to go, a timeline for when we want to get there, etc. But it is God who determines or guides our steps in the process. We focus on the destination, God focuses on the direction, the steps we take in becoming who He has made us to be.

So, as we turn the page to a new year, be resolved. Not just to crossing off your 2021 bucket list, but to becoming someone, someone that God is calling you to be. When you become that person, you’ll be amazed at where God takes you and where you end up.

Happy New Year!