Grains of Sand

Pixabay I ran across this brief devotional while sifting through some articles I had written on the FAITHWRITERS website. I wrote it in 2005 but its truth still remains current for today. “ Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water .” ( Matthew 14:28 NIV ) You have to admire the audacity of Peter. As for me, I don’t like small boats. I prefer my water in a glass or at least in a form that comes with a tap. If I had been Peter, I probably wouldn’t have even been in the boat, much less trying to walk on water. But sometimes the events of life don’t give us a choice. Unlike Peter, we don’t even get the opportunity to ask permission to take a walk on the wet side—we get tossed out of the boat and seemingly left to sink or swim. A serious illness, a financial setback, a ministry turned misery, a relationship that fails, a past that haunts us, a present that overwhelms us and a future that defies us—who would ask to walk on these turbulent waters? For P...

rightnow.ph (Google Images) Ezra, the priest, gathered up his fears and took courage “ because the hand of the Lord my God was on me ” (Ezra 7:28). During the same period another man felt that same power infusing him with the courage to ask huge favours of scary people. Nehemiah was cupbearer to King Artaxerxes (Nehemiah 1:11). This was a dangerous job if this particular king, like those of his kind, needed someone not just to approve the bouquet of his wine, but to make sure that wine wasn’t poisoned. Nehemiah, as a Jewish captive in Susa, was expendable should someone have evil intentions. But that wasn’t what sent chills up and down Nehemiah’s spine. He had heard about the state of Jerusalem and the news devastated him (1:4). What made him afraid was the urge he felt to approach his master and ask for permission to go to Jerusalem and rebuild its walls. Such effrontery might cost him his head. We are told in Nehemiah 1:11 that he prayed for favour before the king. But when he ap...

rickhiggins.org (Google Images) “ Because the hand of the Lord my God was on me, I took courage… ” —Ezra 7:28. It only takes a few words to say a lot. Ezra the priest, teacher of the Law of Moses, was one of the exiles serving out the Hebrew nation’s time in captivity. He has been sent back to Jerusalem with the task of rebuilding the temple. He has the imperial stamp of approval and support of the king of Persia whose favour was divinely inspired (Ezra 7:6). But even with the support of the king and with the help of all those who journeyed with him, Ezra’s task is huge. The invasions of Israel’s enemies has left behind nothing but ruins and a hostile population of foreigners who have been been exiled to Israel to keep the weeds from overrunning the place. Ezra, as a teacher and a priest, is likely given to quieter and more solitary pursuits. But here he is. And as he faces the challenge he senses again the presence of the Lord. He remembers how God has already moved to make all th...

Google Images Today marks the anniversary of the Halifax Explosion in 1917 that killed thousands of people and leveled a good part of the city. ( http://daisiesfrommymeadow.blogspot.ca/2012/11/90435.html ). After the disaster the good people of Boston Mass. sprang to the rescue and rushed supplies and personnel to Halifax to help. Since that time, and in gratitude for what the citizens of Boston did, Halifax sends them a giant tree every year for their Christmas celebrations. Some unwise decisions taken by a sea captain in 1917 brought disaster down on the heads of Haligonians. There are times when the unwise, and sometime nasty, decisions of others cause us a lot of grief too. I was reminded of this truth this morning as I created a new blog for my Spanish-speaking friends. I used a meditation from my book Diseño Divino Para la Vida Diaria , to launch the blog. Today’s reading was from Acts 27 and described Paul’s sea voyage to Rome. God wanted Paul in Rome but the apostle warned ...

Google Images They are familiar images to anyone who has spent time studying the Scriptures. Paul reminds Timothy, his son in the faith, that there are three examples he needs to follow, that of a:     1.    soldier (2 Timothy 2:3)     2.    athlete (2 Timothy 2:5)     3.    farmer (2 Timothy 2:6) A good soldier is focused on the task, obedient to his commanding officer. The battle is not easy—or safe. An athlete obeys the rules of the competition. He can’t expect to win if he cheats and looks for an easier road to victory. A farmer is rewarded according to how hard he works. And even then the harvest is not guaranteed, as any farmer knows. All of the three examples, as diverse as they are in life, carry a common theme. They picture people who persevere in difficulty: through war, through pain, through uncertainty. In the end Paul pushes Timothy to do the same, to endure: “ Theref...