Tag Archives: wisdom

My Size, God Size

Posted in Daily Devotions: Chapter by Chapter by

sizeup

Today’s Devotion: Numbers 13

They say I’m petite. I find myself looking up when talking to other people. Sometimes, standing amongst a crowd can be very intimidating because it becomes even more obvious that I am significantly shorter and that’s both with or without heels.

Does size matter? I’ve been in martial arts long enough to know that I will never win a fight with strength. Perhaps its my size or perhaps its my gender, but even when I was in the best shape of my life, I never took for granted that most people, just in mere size, were stronger than me. I most certainly recognize that the fight I have the best chance of winning is to not be in the fight at all.

So here we have the Iraelities, spying on the land that they were told, by God, that they would conquer. Instead of trusting God, they size up the enemy and become intimidated. Verse  33, “We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

Grasshoppers? That’s the best they can do? Describe themselves as poor, helpless grasshoppers? Talk about losing a fight before you ever step into the ring!

What problems do we face in our lives that seem “too big?” Our minds are a battlefield and the older I get, the more I am convinced that the mind will take the easy way out or assume the worst most often. This survival tactic then leads us to one conclusion – avoidance.

Sure, that can be wisdom as a result of having done things the hard way before or had bad things happen when we had the best of intentions, but this is really not where God wants us when it comes to faith. He wants us to do what is right, not just take the easy road, and He wants us to trust in Him because through Him all things are possible. (Matthew 19:26).

As we continue to read though the books of the Old Testament, we will continue to see how man is weak and God is strong. If we depend on Him, trust in Him and obey Him – life will be much more fulfilling and we’d get to our goals expeditiously. Instead, we avoid [perceived] challenges, let the enemy intimidate us, and delay God’s goodness that He has planned for us. Next time we see a situation that appears to be too big, too hard or too overwhelming – let that be our Que to know that we don’t have to do it alone – God will get it done.

Death and Taxes… Our Only Guarantees?

Posted in Reflections From My Heart by
God is in Control

God is in Control

Matthew 10:30  …And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. (NIV)

I was having lunch with a couple co-workers the other day and the subject of death came up. Within the last 2 weeks, 2 people from my hometown of Marinette, Wisconsin passed away unexpectedly – prematurely in my opinion.  Working in an industry that proactively helps people prepare for the unexpected, achieve financial security and proper legacy planning,  I asked myself, “Did they have their estate in order? Will their families be o.k.?”

Confession: I don’t handle death very well. When it comes to death I withdraw, cower, detach. I feel such a deep sense of grief and take on the emotions that are associated with loss; regardless of whether it is my own personal loss or loss for the survivors of the deceased.  When I mentioned that over lunch, my co-worker caught me by surprise when he responded, “That’s weird, since you are a Christian!”

How am I supposed to react to that statement? Just because I’m a Christian I should be able to handle death easier? Perhaps as Christian’s we know that death is only a gateway from this life to the next, but there are two ways that I take that; either grieving over NOT knowing that they are truly went to heaven or (selfishly) grieving our earthly loss. It’s hard to let go of people to have made a significant impact for the Kingdom – they inspire me!

In Genesis chapter 23, the whole chapter is about Abraham’s wife, Sarah’s, death. It describes Abraham negotiating the appropriate place for her burial with Ephron. With all of the sensitivity that I have around the event of death, I had that same struggle with this entire chapter – it’s so sad. That is until I learned that this chapter had a greater significance.  According to Bob Deffinbaugh recorded in www.bible.org, he states, “By determining that Sarah, and later he and his descendants, would be buried in Canaan, Abraham “staked his claim” in the land which God had promised. The land where he would be buried was to be the homeland of his descendants. The place that God had promised him was the place where he must be buried.”

So I now have a new perspective. Not so much on death itself, because let’s face it – it’s hard stuff. Yet, the world says that Death and Taxes are our only guarantees in this life, but I have one addition: God’s greater plan! Each one of us, for whatever time we are given on this earth, is a part of a greater plan. If God knows the hairs on our heads and the number of breaths we will take while we live upon this earth, we can count on God’s plan to prevail and I’m putting my beats on that… not death and not taxes.