Letters To My Wife

—

Arthur Tappan Pierson

(via

yourdailyinspiration

Charles Stanley (via risinghopeandstrength)

Amen.

- Saint Augustine (via lostinthegreatestlove)

I

continued from dear elijah, listen to me

God didn’t speak to Elijah in the business or the hustle and bustle. He spoke to Him in a still small voice that shook the bones.

And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” (1 Kings 19)

”What are you doing here?” Without censure, God invited Elijah to reevaluate the place he was in. You see, Jezebel did not drive Elijah to a cave, he did that himself. The truth is that God had everything under control in that situation - just as He does with ours. The opposition of a pagan enemy did not have the capacity to destroy God’s kingship or to harm God’s man - neither does our current predicament. 

When God asks, “what are you doing here?”, He was really asking “What are you accomplishing here in this place you are in? What are you focusing on? What are you giving your attention to and what has your mind? Why are you isolation yourself here? Why have your brought yourself to this place to hide?” 

God had a promise to Elijah, a promise He was going to see through. But now it was on Elijah to see through what the Lord had planned for him. No matter the opposition he was to face, Elijah had a race to finish, and a good race it was. (click to tweet)

Elijah took his eyes off himself and faithfully fulfilled all the Lord had for him to do. If Elijah could have seen the final exit that God had in mind for him, when he went through those dark days of running and despair, how foolish he would have felt. Elijah’s departure in 2 Kings 2 with a chariot of fire coming to take him to heaven is one of the most spectacular in the whole Bible. We truly serve an amazing God, who comes to us in our weakness and restores us and our destiny.

Determine today to finish magnificently, as Elijah did.

In our weariness, I hear God whispering “What are you doing here, child?” We have spent more than enough time and energy on the “why” of our situations. We have looked at our circumstances and what brought us to these caves of weariness and despair. If we allow them to do so, the “why” of our cave experiences will overshadow all our lives and cause us to be ineffective for the sake of God’s kingdom. They will shut us down at our cave’s door. It is time to move past these things, past our limitations and fears, to ask “What are we going to do here?”

“Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Hebrews 4:16

“An idle mind the devils playground”. This is the theme of the #yondrpassion contest being run by @nathanyoder. It reminds me of the verse where Peter warns us to be self-controlled and alert, because our enemy the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion. If we’re not careful, the battleground of our mind can be easily turned into a playground of the enemy. He also says that we should be clear-minded so we can pray. It seems that mental discipline and prayer are key weapons against the the enemy.

That’s why I love this verse in Hebrews. No matter how far we feel from God and no matter how much our mind is being run amok by the devil—we can always go to God in prayer. He is ever-present, ever-faithful, and only a prayer away. His Word says that we can approach his throne of grace with confidence. And when we do, we’ll receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Living out this promise is one of the best ways to resist the enemy. And when we resist the devil, he will flee from us (James 4:7).

So when our minds go idle, and the devil pushes his way in—let us run quickly to our faithful God. He will give us the strength we need to focus our minds on that which is true, noble, lovely and pure. And may we develop our self-control so we can stand firm against the schemes of the enemy. An idle mind is the devil’s playground—but let us remember that the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will also guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7)