Embraced
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I would imagine you’ve been in situations that have felt quite paralyzing as well. And it’s in these times I have to tie my heart to soul-steadying verses like Hebrews 13:5–6: “God has said, ‘I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.’ So we can say with confidence, ‘The LORD is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?’ ” (NLT).
Just like those ropes wrapped around and around my body holding me to the course from beginning to end, God’s Word can wrap our souls with steady assurance.
The peace of our souls does not have to rise and fall with unpredictable people or situations. Our feelings will shift, of course. People do affect us. But the peace of our souls is tethered to all that God is. And though we can’t predict His specific plans, the fact that God will work everything together for good is a completely predictable promise.
Bob whispered one final thing: “It’s already done.”
I don’t know exactly what he meant, but I know what my soul heard. God has already caught me. His goodness and love have pursued me and won me. I just need to jump into that reality. And without any other conscious thought, my soul kicked in where my brain could not. My feet exploded off the platform and into midair.
I touched the bar, but I did not catch it. I didn’t need to. Because trust caught me.
Lord, I can’t thank You enough for the promise that I can trust You at all times. Even though people may fail me, even though others may abandon me, You never will. I’m choosing to let that truth steady my heart today. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
50
IS GOD GOOD?
The Eternal is on His way:
yes, He is coming to judge the earth.
He will set the world right by His standards,
and by His faithfulness, He will examine the people.
—PSALM 96:13 THE VOICE
I used to have a cautious approach to God. One look at the news, and one can quickly wonder, How can a good God allow all this craziness, tragedy, and hurt? For years, I would have answered, What do I believe about God? with a tilted head and a narrowed expression. “I believe He’s unpredictable and slightly scary.”
I didn’t doubt God’s power. I didn’t doubt God’s authority. But I did very much doubt God’s goodness. However, when we go to the truth instead of our feelings for the answer to this question, we can understand God’s goodness in a whole new light.
His goodness has been apparent since creation. When He formed and shaped and painted and sculpted this world and its creatures into being, His goodness seeped in with every thought and touch. “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day” (Genesis 1:31).
When Adam and Eve chose to sin, their sin infected and infiltrated the goodness of all God had made. So, while there are still good things in this world, the world is no longer a perfect reflection of God’s goodness. In Romans 8:21 Paul explains that the world is in “bondage to decay” or, as some versions say, in “slavery to corruption” (NIV, THE VOICE). This decay and corruption are evidence of the brokenness of this world. I personally see this evidence every time swimsuit season cycles back around. Y’all, the cellulite is real! My body is in bondage to decay. But this is a conversation for another day.
God is good. His plans are good. His requirements are good. His salvation is good. His grace is good. His forgiveness is good. His restoration is good.
The world is in a state of decay and corruption. We see it in deadly weather patterns, natural disasters, and famines that were not part of God’s good design. Cancer, sickness, and disease were not part of God’s good design. Car accidents, drownings, and murders were not part of God’s good design. The first sin did those things. When sin entered the world, it broke the goodness of God’s design. And sin absolutely breaks God’s heart. But in no way did sin affect the goodness of God. He has a plan, a good plan to rid this world of every effect of sin.
The Eternal is on His way:
yes, He is coming to judge the earth.
He will set the world right by His standards,
and by His faithfulness, He will examine the people. (Psalm 96:13 THE VOICE)
Though we may get our hearts broken from the effects of sin in this in-between time, God’s goodness will eventually set the world right. In the meantime, we must hold fast to the truth of who God is and His unchanging nature: God is good. His plans are good. His requirements are good. His salvation is good. His grace is good. His forgiveness is good. His restoration is good. That is what I believe about God. God is good.
Dear Lord, You are good. Help me keep sight of Your goodness in the brokenness of this world. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
51
IS GOD GOOD TO ME?
Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.
—ROMANS 8:5–6
It’s hard when you’re a little girl desperate to be a treasured daughter but your dad makes it abundantly clear he never wanted a daughter.
I remember the prayers I would lift up when the darkness of night made my heart hammer in my chest. Tucked underneath my Holly Hobby blanket I would whisper over and over, “God, don’t let my daddy leave me. Just don’t let him leave me.” Because if he did leave, who would I be? A girl without a daddy felt to me like a girl without a place in this world. After all, if he couldn’t love me, who would ever love me?
I have to keep my mind focused on what the Holy Spirit whispers, not what my flesh screams.
I also remember the day my dad finally did stop coming home. The last bit of what held together my security and my identity splintered as he packed his things without so much as looking at me. I pressed my face against the front window and watched his car fade into a blur. Then he was gone.
Rejection settled deep into my heart. And I came to one earth-shattering conclusion: I don’t matter. I am worth nothing to my dad. And even more disturbing: I fear I am worth nothing to God. The sum of my feelings became my new identity.
Who is Lysa?
The unwanted one.
The years that followed only served to reinforce the hurt and questions residing in my heart. Based on my experiences with my dad not wanting me, I wondered what my heavenly Father’s attitude was toward me. After all, how could God just stand by and allow so much heartbreak into one little girl’s world? It seemed every three years starting the year my dad left, there was some kind of awful tragedy that cast lingering, dark shadows into my life. Abuse. Abandonment. Mental illness. The death of my sister. The cycle just kept going and going.
Even after I’d been a Christian for a long time and knew God loved me, I still had this nagging question about why the hard stuff had to be so painful. Was God really being good to me in this? I think C. S. Lewis said it best: “We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be.”1 And it’s at this point someone at Bible study whips out Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” I like that verse. And I think it helps shed some light on the reality that even if something doesn’t feel good, God can still work good from it. But verses 5 and 6 from this same chapter give me another layer of assurance: “Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.”
What doesn’t feel good in my flesh won’t make sense in my flesh. But if I have the Holy Spirit in me, my spirit is different because God is there—His indwelling presence with me. He speaks reassurances in the spirit. He speaks comfort in the spirit. He reminds me He i
s right there with me in the spirit. Others might disappoint me and leave me . . . but God never will. Therefore, I have to keep my mind focused on what the Holy Spirit whispers, not what my flesh screams. And in my spirit I know God is good to me.
Dear Lord, thank You for Your goodness to me. When I am in pain, please help me remember Your past faithfulness. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
52
DO I TRUST GOD TO BE GOD?
You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD himself, is the Rock eternal.
—ISAIAH 26:3–4
After my dad left, I tried to prop up what was left of me so I wouldn’t collapse into the broken place inside. Good grades. Achievements and accolades. Fun friends and good times. Boys who made me feel special. I tried to steady myself with anything that helped me feel better.
But it wasn’t just a better feeling that I needed; I needed a completely new way of defining my identity. I needed truth to inform what I believed about myself. Otherwise, what I believed about myself would become a fragile, flimsy, faulty foundation. The beliefs we hold should hold us up even when life feels like it’s falling apart. So my old patterns of thought had to be torn out, and a new way of looking at the core of who I am using God’s truth had to be put into place.
Our identity must be anchored to the truth of who God is and who He is to us. Only then can we find a stability beyond what our feelings will ever allow. The closer we align our truth with His truth, the more closely we identify with God—and the more our identity really is in Him.
In our previous two devotions we stabilized our identities by replacing old feelings with the solid truths that God is good and God is good to us. Now we have to answer one final question: do I trust God to be God?
Our identity must be anchored to the truth of who God is and who He is to us.
This will not just stabilize our identities, but it will fully anchor us. I love these verses, Isaiah 26:3–4:
You will keep in perfect peace
those whose minds are steadfast,
because they trust in you.
Trust in the LORD forever,
for the LORD, the LORD himself, is the Rock eternal.
The Hebrew word for steadfast used in verse 3 is samak, which means “to brace, uphold, support.” Amazing, huh? In other words, those with minds fully braced, upheld, and supported by truth and trust in God will be kept in perfect peace.
Will I trust that God sees and knows things I don’t? Will I trust Him when I don’t understand? When circumstances are hard? When people betray or reject me? When my heart gets broken? Will I trust Him to the point where I fully turn the control of my life and those I love over to Him?
If God is good and God is good to me, then I must fill in the gaps of all the unknowns of my life with a resounding statement of trust: God is good at being God.
I don’t have to figure my present circumstances out. I don’t have to know all the whys and what-ifs. All I have to do is trust. So in quiet humility and without a personal agenda, I make the decision to let God sort it all out. I sit quietly in His presence and simply say, “God, I want Your truth to be the loudest voice in my life. Correct me. Comfort me. Come closer still. And I will trust. God, You are good at being God.”
Dear Lord, I am so grateful that You are God and I am not! I trust in Your goodness. Thank You for the peace You give me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
53
THE CRUSHING TIMES
We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
—2 CORINTHIANS 4:8–9
No one wants to have their heart crushed. But being wounded in deep places happens. Sometimes it just seems to be part of the rhythm of life.
And when these hard times come, we feel it all so very deeply. And we wonder if others have these hard, hard moments. After all, we don’t snap pictures of the crushing times and post them on Instagram.
We just wonder if we have what it takes to survive . . .
. . . when the doctor calls and says he needs to talk to me in person about the test results.
. . . when the teacher sends one of “those” emails about my child.
. . . when I feel so utterly incapable and unable and afraid.
I suspect you know the tear-filled place from which I speak.
So, let’s journey to the olive tree and learn.
To get to the place I want to take you, we must cross the Kidron Valley in Israel.
John 18:1–2 tells us, “When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was a garden, and he and his disciples went into it. Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples.”
Jesus often met in the shadow and shade of the olive tree in the garden.
This garden is the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus, just before his arrest, said to Peter, James and John, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” (Mark 14:34).
Jesus knew the crushing-heart feeling. He felt it. He wrestled with it. He carried it.
And I don’t think it was a coincidence that the olive tree was there in this moment of deep sorrow for Jesus.
The olive tree is such a picture of why our hearts must go through the crushing times.
The crushing times are necessary times.
First, in order to be fruitful the olive tree has to have both the east wind and the west wind. The east wind is the dry hot wind from the desert. This wind is so harsh that it can blow over green grass and make it completely wither in one day.
The west wind, on the other hand, comes from the Mediterranean. It brings rain and life.
The olive tree needs both of these winds to produce fruit—and so do we. We need both winds of hardship and relief to sweep across our lives if we are to be truly fruitful.
The crushing times are processing times.
Another thing to consider about the olive tree is how naturally bitter the olive is and what it must go through to be useful. If you were to pick an olive from the tree and try to eat it, its bitterness would make you sick.
For the olive to be edible, it has to go through a lengthy process that includes:
washing,
breaking,
soaking,
sometimes salting,
and waiting some more.
It is a lengthy process to be cured of bitterness and prepared for usefulness.
We need both the winds of hardship and relief to sweep across our lives if we are to be truly fruitful.
If we are to escape the natural bitterness of the human heart, we have to go through a long process as well . . . the process of being cured.
The crushing times are preservation times.
The best way to preserve the olive for the long run is to crush it in order to extract the oil. The same is true for us. The biblical way to be preserved is to be pressed. And being pressed can certainly feel like being crushed.
But what about 2 Corinthians 4:8, where it says we are “pressed . . . but not crushed”? Let’s read verses 8 and 9 in the King James Version: “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.”
This was one of the biggest “aha” moments for me standing in the shadow of the olive tree: crushing isn’t the olive’s end.
Crushing is the way of preservation for the olive. It’s also the way to get what’s most valuable, the oil, out of the olive. Keeping this perspective is how we can be troubled on every side yet not distressed . . . pressed to the point of being crushed but not crushed and destroyed.
I need to revisit these truths often:
When the sorrowful winds of the east blow, I forget they are necessary.
When I’m being processed, I forget it’s for
the sake of ridding me of bitterness.
And when I’m being crushed, I forget it’s for the sake of my preservation.
I forget all these things so easily. I wrestle and cry and honestly want to resist every bit of this. Oh, how I forget.
Maybe God knew we all would forget.
And so, He created the olive tree.
Dear Lord, I’m so thankful that on the other side of the process of being broken and waiting is a useful heart free of bitterness. Help me to hold fast to You when the days are especially hard. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
54
WHAT I NEVER NOTICED ABOUT JESUS
Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.
—MARK 6:51–52
I ran my hand over the large rock and closed my eyes. What an incredible moment it was for me to stand where Jesus once stood in the Holy Land. I opened my Bible and let the full reality of all He was facing fall fresh on me.
I wanted to read the Scriptures leading up to this moment where He sat on Mount Arbel and prayed and watched the disciples, just before walking on water.
But I cautioned myself to read the uncommon sentences. Too many times I highlight verses telling of Jesus’ miracles but skim right past those telling of deeply human realities.
In Mark chapter 5, we see Jesus interacting with a woman desperate to be healed from her bleeding disorder. He frees her from her suffering and gives her peace. And we find Him healing the young daughter of a synagogue ruler.
Miracle!
But we also find in verse 40, “But they laughed at him.”
In Mark chapter 6 we see Jesus sending out the twelve disciples and as they preached, “They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them” (v. 13).