VERBALIZE

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

“You must face the difficulties of your life either with fear or faith. What is the difference? Fear focuses on the storm. Faith focuses on the Savior.” ― James Merritt, 52 Weeks with Jesus

That is a good quote.

I like Merritt because he is wise, succinct, and practical.  And the book referenced in this little quote is an excellent way to spend a year.  In fact, I place this book on our display table whenever I am at events talking REFUGE, faith-based recovery, Champions, etc.

But let’s unpack that little quote.

First, we ALL MUST face difficulties.

No one is immune to the trouble or to troubles.  No one.  Regardless of status, influence, wealth, or even station, we all are going to have times when life gets difficult.  Jesus Himself inked that little truth.

In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties…John 16:33 (TLB)

But then Merritt gives some simple but very valuable insight.  While the challenges ARE INEVITABLE, we are still offered a CHOICE as to how we FACE them.

Fear?

Faith?

I think we ALL know the proper choice.  Right?

Obvious & simple.

But think about YOUR last challenge. 

What did you fixate on? 

How big it was?  How draining it was? How potentially crippling it was? How it was going to take you down?

Did you approach it in fear?  Or did you approach it in faith?

Lucado once remarked, 

“Feed your fears and your faith will starve. Feed your faith, and your fears will.”

What did you feed during the last dust up in your life?

Did fear get fed or faith?

That brings me to Beth.

My wife is a remarkable person.

She holds two jobs.  She deals with folks managing cancer and its consequences almost every day.

She has dedicated herself to training the next generation of CHRIST-FILLED care givers AND in May she will become Dr. Delaney following a brutal exercise authored and executed by the fine folks at Ohio State’s Doctoral Program. 

Yet one of the things I admire most about her is WHEN SHE faces her DIFFICULTIES, you can hear her under her breath or sometimes even “louder”, vocalizing and verbalizing “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus or Abba, Abba, Abba”.  She consistently puts the fear of failure or the fear of being overwhelmed or the fear of missing the mark on the back burner and SEEKS the SAVIOR in her tough times.

VERBALLY so.

Just last night as I was vegging watching UEFA Soccer, I could hear her muttering “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus” under her breath as she worked on a portion of her paper and with her students. 

She is teaching me to do it. 

I will tell you IT HELPS!

Sarah Young, the author of Jesus Calling says this…

…You face nothing alone—nothing! When you feel anxious, know that you are focusing on the visible world and leaving Me (JESUS) out of the picture. The remedy is simple: Fix your eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen. VERBALIZE your trust in Me, the Living One who sees you always. I WILL GET YOU SAFELY THROUGH this day and all your days.”

― Sarah Young, Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence

Therefore the question today is, are you facing some of those inevitable difficulties?

Face them in faith. 

VERBALIZE your trust.

For with just a simple utterance of Jesus’ name…

a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. 

Philippians 4:6 (MSG)

Have a blessed WEEKEND!

I love you all…

OPPORTUNITIES for HOPE