All posts tagged isaiah

Simple Peace

Posted
September 20, 2011
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Today was one of those days where, even though nothing went wrong, stress managed to keep piling up. And as I reached the end of this slowly stressful day, and all of those individual stresses were adding up into one big knot in my stomach, I managed to save over the wrong file and I lost a document I’d just spent about an hour and a half working on.

At that point, I was starting to feel a little bit of despair. I would now have to go home, work on this work project in my free time at home just to finish it up on time, and that would end up pushing back a personal project I’m already working on in my free time.

As I walked in the door of my house, I wasn’t sure what I should even do next. It seemed that, no matter what action I took, it would culminate in some sort of stress for me. I mean, the rest of the day had gone that way, so why would it change now?

And for whatever reason, I decided that my next step, before I did anything else, was going to be reading my Bible. I figured it was the only possible thing I could invest my time in that wouldn’t end with me feeling worse about things.

I was right. I didn’t find the “perfect verse” to help me relieve my stress or anything like that. I wasn’t blown away or amazed by the two chapters I read in Isaiah. There was nothing about reading my Bible (this time) that totally rocked my world off its axis.

But it did help me clear my head. And I think that might be what God was going for this time. He doesn’t always have to rock us to the core to have an impact on our lives. Sometimes He just wants to remind us he’s there.

So thanks for being there, God. And thanks for being a blessing, not a stressing. (I know stressing isn’t a noun, I really just wanted that to rhyme.)

If you’re feeling stressed about something, open up your Bible. You might not find that “perfect verse” it seems like people in stories and sermons always manage to find, but you might be surprised at what you do find in there.

-Mike

Photo by Baer Tierkel. Thanks Baer!

Is God’s Cell Phone on Vibrate?

Posted
January 15, 2011
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I’m reading a book called “My Utmost For His Highest.” It’s supposed to be a daily devotional thing, but I read it in chunks of like, 8 days at a time. Anyway, Oswald Chambers is the author and he brings up a lot of interesting points throughout. Most I agree with, some I don’t, but it’s all thought-provoking either way.

One of the random things he talks about is from a verse in Isaiah (Isaiah 40:26, to be exact) that reads:

Look up into the heavens.
Who created all the stars?
He brings them out like an army, one after another,
calling each by its name.
Because of his great power and incomparable strength,
not a single one is missing.

In the discussion element of this devotional, Chambers writes, “One of the reasons for our sense of futility in prayer is that we have lost our power to visualize. We can no longer even imagine putting ourselves deliberately before God.”

So here’s my question for all of us – myself very much included: When we’re praying, do we truly visualize ourselves standing (or bowing) before God? Or do we simply feel like we’re in a dark room, calling out to Him with the hope He’s hearing us? Because that happens to me, and my guess is that it might have happened to you once or twice as well.

But this is the thing to keep in mind: He’s always hearing us. He’s always there. As Hebrews 13:5b tells us, “God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’” Instead of talking to God as a friend, we call out to Him as if He can’t hear us or something. When really, that’s like desperately calling out to someone who is sitting next to you on the couch. They’re right there. There’s no need to panic.

From here on out, I hope you can try to treat prayer as if you are always in God’s presence. Because you are. He’s listening and waiting to hear from you. It’s not like He’s out of the house and you have to leave a message hoping He’ll call you back later. It’s not like He’s not out and about, not noticing his cell phone vibrating when you try to get in touch with him.

God is right there with you. Always.

{mike}

Photo by Oracio Alvarado. Thanks Oracio!