//Encouragement in the Lord//
Making Sense of Your Life
The Bible is Filled with People Just Like You
//Rivers of Living Water//
Daily Devotion – Deepest Longing
“O God, You are my God; with deepest longing I will seek You; My soul [my life, my very self] thirsts for You, my flesh longs and sighs for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” – Psalm 63:1 AMP
Considering his situation, David felt hopeless. He was outnumbered and overwhelmed with problems. Writing this psalm in the wilderness of Judah, he felt alone, without any sense that help was on the way. He was “in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”
It would have been easy to give up. Instead, he determined to seek God with intensity and a sense of desperation. His heart was full of emotion. He was so desperate that his soul thirsted for God. His flesh longed for Him, eager to see His power and glory. David realized that God’s lovingkindness was better than life itself. So, He praised God, lifting his hands in His name.
Looking at your life, you might face similar situations. Does it feel that you are in a dry and thirsty land? Does it appear that there are no solutions to your problems? Do you feel alone and hopeless? Discouraged? Frustrated? Uncertain of where to turn?
Following David’s example, these are times to focus on God with renewed determination. Thirst for His presence. Seek His presence with urgency. Pray with passion. Hunger for His Word as you would crave food if you had not eaten for days.
In your desperation, worship Him. Lift your hands in His name. His lovingkindness is better than life. Seek Him. Trust Him. Praise Him for what He will do in your life.
Prayer
Father, You are my only hope. I cry out for Your help. Thank You that I can trust in You. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Extended Reading
Psalm 63
//Inspiration Ministries//
Daily Devotion – Outnumbered
“He took six hundred select chariots, and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them.” – Exodus 14:7 NASB
Pressured by the results of the plagues, Pharaoh finally agreed to give the Israelites their freedom. Then, he changed his mind. He was so serious that he pursued them with a mighty army, including hundreds of “select chariots.” The size and firepower of that force filled the Israelites with fear. They must have felt overwhelmed! Trapped, they had no other choice but to depend on God.
We all know what it is like to feel overwhelmed, especially when facing strong opposition that is well-equipped, able to draw from abundant resources. Like the Israelites, we may feel vulnerable, inadequate, and hopeless. It’s easy to be discouraged or filled with despair. But these are moments to turn to God, cry out for His wisdom, stand on His Word, believe His promises, and trust Him to provide everything we need.
The Bible teaches that He is the God of miracles. He may allow us to experience seemingly impossible situations, so we learn to depend on Him and not on ourselves.
No matter what you face today, don’t allow fear or doubt to cripple you. Commit the situations you face to God. Then have faith. Believe His Word. He is on your side. With His help, you can be victorious in any situation. That was true for Israel as they faced Pharaoh’s army. And it’s true for you in all of the circumstances you face.
Prayer
Father, I commit these situations to You: ______. I depend on You. Thank You for bringing me peace and victory. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Extended Reading
Exodus 14
Choose Hope…
If you’ve watched any TV news lately, you’ve seen reports of the stress and hopelessness many people are experiencing today. Layoffs, unemployment, foreclosures, bankruptcies, and natural disasters are putting enormous pressure on families to give up hope and succumb to despair.
This is not just the experience of unbelievers. I meet many Christians who face difficult times in their finances, health, family, or emotions. Like Job and many other men and women in the Bible, they’re at the end of their rope, and their faith is being tested.
At such times, we need to know where to turn for help:
“I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:1-2 NIV).
Friend, no matter what difficult circumstances you may be facing, God wants you to know you can turn to Him as your “very present help” in times of trouble (Psalm 46:1). Even though you may feel surrounded by problems on every side, the Lord wants to be your HOPE—“the One who lifts [your] head” (Psalm 3:3).
When the Brook Dries Up
Sometimes we forget that men and women in the Bible often went through trials very similar to those we face today. For example, even though God provided Elijah with food brought by ravens and water from a brook, “it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land” (1 Kings 17:7).
Have you ever felt like your “brook” dried up and God’s help and provision were nowhere to be found? Perhaps you’re feeling that way today, struggling to make ends meet and wondering whether God will be faithful to meet your needs.
At times like these, it’s important to remember that whenever you ask the Lord for a miracle, He will give you an instruction. In Elijah’s case, God told him to go to Zarephath: “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you” (1 Kings 17:9).
Without debate or delay, Elijah “arose and went to Zarephath” (v. 10). He chose to obey, knowing that obedience was his only hope of unlocking God’s supernatural provision in his life.
It Only Takes a “Handful”
Just as Elijah had to choose whether or not to obey God’s instructions, so the widow he found in Zarephath faced a difficult decision when the prophet told her, “Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand” (v. 11).
This may not seem like a very difficult request, but you have to understand the woman’s situation: “I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die” (v. 12).
What a dilemma. This widow had almost nothing left…only a “handful” of flour and a little bit of oil. But you see, this “HANDFUL” was the key to her miracle!
“Faced with a seemingly hopeless situation, the widow could’ve surrendered to fear and unbelief…but instead, she CHOSE HOPE and obeyed God’s instruction!”
As long as the woman held on to her meager supply of food, that’s all she had. But when she obeyed God’s instructions and released what was in her hand, God intervened in her circumstances and released the supernatural abundance that was in HIS hand!
Although the Lord’s instructions to this poor widow must have seemed totally unreasonable, His purpose was not her demise but her BLESSING! Elijah assured her that if she would obey, “The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the LORD sends rain on the earth” (v. 14).
She chose to obey the prophet of the Lord, and the result was MIRACULOUS provision: “She and he and her household ate for many days. The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke by Elijah” (vs. 15-16).
What an amazing miracle! In a time of drought and famine, this desperate woman went from having “not enough” to having “more than enough.” From the brink of starvation and death, she experienced life and abundance—all because she chose to obey the man of God and believe the Lord’s word to her.
What’s in Your Hand?
Remember: The key to a turnaround in your life is not in some far-off place—it’s right there in your hand! But here’s the problem:
“What you have in your hand must be transferred into God’s hand!”
How much food does it take to feed more than 5,000 hungry people? Only five loaves of bread and two fish, IF they are transferred into Jesus’ hands and blessed by Him (Matthew 14:14-21)! But how many people could have been fed without Jesus’ blessing on these loaves and fish? Maybe five or ten!
In Exodus 4:2, God asks Moses the same question He’s asking you today: “What is that in your hand?”
All Moses had in his hand at that point was a simple wooden shepherd’s rod. But after he laid it down and surrendered it into the Lord’s hand, it was transformed into “the rod of God” (Exodus 4:20)—able to part the Red Sea (Exodus 14:21), bring water out of a rock (Exodus 17:5-6), and gain supernatural victory over enemy armies (Exodus 17:8-13).
God Wants to Bless You!
During this difficult season in the world’s economy, it’s more important than ever to keep God’s commandments, Sow your financial Seeds into the Good Ground of His Kingdom, wrap your faith with expectation, and be fully persuaded that He will bless you!
God promises that if you keep the words of His Covenant, you will “prosper in all that you do” (Deuteronomy 29:9). And as you are blessed, you can BE a blessing to others—sending the hope and salvation of Jesus Christ to the nations of the world.