Tag: trust

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

The reality rather than the feeling of security

Posted on by William Douthwaite

A “through the bible” devotion from 2 Chronicles 32.

About once a week, someone knocks on my door encouraging me to install their security system in and around my house. Their spiel always includes the sobering report, “Many of your neighbors have had break-ins lately.” I used to be annoyed by them, but now I look forward to it. I want to answer the door barely restraining my Great Dane who can be insistent about getting to know our visitors. I’m pretty sure she just wants to make friends, but the salesperson doesn’t know that!

On a typical day, someone I know will say something about hand weapons. They will speak about a gun they’ve purchased or the price of ammo or a shooting in their neighborhood. It seems that I know very few people who aren’t carrying!

And how often do I pass through a metal detector? They’re built into just about every hospitals, stadium, theme park, and government office building, no to mention airports and cruise ports.

The business of home and self-protection is huge, and we’ve all bought into it.

Sennacherib and his Assyrian armies have invaded Judah, besieging the fortified cities. It looks like Jerusalem will be next.

Judah’s King Hezekiah stops up the springs the Assyrians could use for water, builds extra walls and amasses extra weapons and shields.

His pep talk to all his commanders went like this:

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the horde that is with him, for there are more with us than with him. With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God, to help us and to fight our battles” (2 Chronicles 32:7-8)

Hezekiah doesn’t overlook the need to prepare for a siege, but that’s not the source of his security. He knows God’s people have an advantage. The bottom line: we’ve got God on our side.

I know it’s easy to forget that simple truth. The imposing threats around us block a distant God from view. In the same way, if we stay close him, danger shrinks to a manageable size. Scripture, worship, and prayer reinforce Hezekiah’s faithful statement, “With us is the Lord our God.”

A big dog might bring a feeling of security. But if I turn those letter around to “God,” that security becomes a reality.

Posted in Advent devotions

A spy, a witness, and salvation

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

I like watching movies and reading books about spies. I’m fascinated by the way they blend into a community or corporation, earn the trust of many, and gain access to information that benefits their country.

When Joshua sends spies into Jericho, they find their way to the house of Rahab, a prostitute. She hides them and helps them escape after receiving the promise that she would survive the Israelite conquest of the city. When the walls come down and Israel wins it’s first contest in the promised land, she and her family are preserved.

According to Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus, Rahab is mentioned in the family tree of Jesus the Messiah. Unknown to everyone, including her, she became a part of God’s plan of salvation.

I like to spy on people. What I mean is, I like to sit and eavesdrop on conversations at Starbucks or Panera. I admit to glancing at people’s phones to see who they are texting. I’ve watched a few people tap out their PIN when they checkout. I’m not much of a spy. But I enjoy watching and listening to people.

I believe that if we just watch and listen closely, we’ll see or hear an opportunity to communicate God’s love in some way. We’ll help, we’ll listen, or we’ll be able to share a story about our faith and our God.

I love to think of myself as a spy from God, infiltrating a world in which many don’t know him. It makes everyday an adventure or a mission. I’m sneaking behind enemy lines with mercy, love, or hope that some have never experienced. Isn’t that cool?

Anyway, Rahab is a great example of how anyone can be grafted into God’s people. The scarlet thread hanging from her window was her subtle confession of faith in the God whose power and love was greater than anything she had witnessed before. “The Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath” (Joshua 2:11).

Rahab gets an ornament on the Jesse Tree for her willingness to help the spies from Israel and her confession of faith in the one true God.

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

Outnumbered

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Piret Ilver on Unsplash

A “through the bible” devotion from 2 Kings 6.

It’s a terrifying moment. The armies of Syria are surrounding the Israelite city of Dothan. That’s all Elisha’s servant can see. But Elisha can see more.

“Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them” (2 Kings 6:16). After Elisha prays, “The Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha” (2 Kings 6:16).

This is definitely one of my favorite bible verses. Whenever I feel overwhelmed or even just whelmed, I remember this verse. I remember that God is always more than anything this world has to offer. He is always more than any earthly threat. He is more.

In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus told his disciples to stand down. When the disciples want to fight the mob, led by Judas, Jesus tells them to stand down. “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:53).

In any situation, God is always more. Stronger, faster, and smarter. More dependable, knowledgable, and creative. He’s more merciful, forgiving, and loving. He is the ultimate expression of any bodyguard, defense, or security force.

God’s forgiveness always exceeds my sin. His compassion is more than my hurt. His presence is more than all the other people around me. His love is more than any other affection given me.

He is more.

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

That’s easy

Posted on by William Douthwaite

A “through the bible” devotion from 2 Kings 3.

I was fiddling with my grandson’s Rubik’s cube a couple of weeks ago. I’ve never really tried to solve one. I felt pretty accomplished to get one whole side solved. However, I’ve watched videos of kids solve the whole cube in less than a minute. They make it look so easy.

So three kings, from Israel, Judah, and Edom, assemble armies to fight with Moab. But after a week, they run out of water. Are they destined for defeat? Only one way to find out. Go get Elisha. He’s in touch with God. Let’s hear what he has to say.

Elisha tells them to dig trenches, because water is coming. It won’t come from a rainstorm. It will come from the Lord. Then he adds, “This is an insignificant thing in the sight of the Lord (2 Kings 3:18). And by the way, you’ll defeat Moab, too.

We underestimate God on a regular basis, don’t we? He creates simply by speaking. Water in a desert? Easy. Walk on water? Not really that hard. Healing? You name it, he can cure it.

The Lord asked Abraham, “Is anything too difficult for the Lord?” (Genesis 18:14). It’s a rhetorical question. Nothing is challenging for the almighty.

The challenge is believing that. The challenge is believing that my prayers and petitions are significant. God wants me to ask, seek, and knock, so he can delightfully (and quite easily) give, reveal, and open up daily blessings and new morning mercies.

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

Waiting just a little longer

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Dima Solomin on Unsplash

A “through the bible” devotion from 1 Samuel 13.

What if I had waited just a few more hours?

We had no power because of the most recent hurricane. The electric company estimated our service wouldn’t be restored for another five days. Great. Life-threatening? No. Inconvenient? Very much so.

I headed out in the morning and filled up six two-gallon gas cans for the generator. I bought two more long extension cords to bring a little power into different parts of the house.

About 3:00 in the afternoon, the lights in the house lit up and the AC turned on.

What if I had waited just a few more hours?

King Saul found himself in a tight spot. The huge Philistine army is bearing down on him. His own army has dwindled to six hundred as more and more went home. It’s been seven days and Samuel hasn’t show up. Saul has to do something. He’s king. He’s the leader. Everyone is looking to him for direction.

So Saul offers up the pre-battle burnt offering himself. As soon as he does, Samuel shows up and asks, “What are you doing?”

Saul said, “The people were scattering, you didn’t come, the Philistines were on their way, so I did what I had to do” (1 Samuel 13:12).

Samuel says, “That was foolish and disobedient. Say goodbye to your kingdom. God is going to find someone else to rule his people” (13:13,14). God is going to find someone who trusts him.

I am much more like Saul than I like to admit. I’m patient, but I’m not that patient. I trust God, but I’m on a schedule. My souls waits for the Lord, but you’ll often catch me glancing at my watch.

Ultimately, the only one who can really take care of God’s people is Jesus, who is God himself. Ultimately, he’s the only one I can trust. Not me. Not my judgment. Not my capability. Only him.

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

Somebody

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by The Jopwell Collection on Unsplash

A “through the bible” devotion from Judges 6.

God says to Gideon, “Go in this strength of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian” (Judges 6:14).

Gideon responds, “O Lord, how am I to save Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house” (6:15). In other words, “How am I going to do that? I’m nobody.” God says, “Don’t worry about it. I’ll be with you.”

Never underestimate the value of someone who says, “I’ll go with you.” To the doctor. To the funeral home. To lunch. To the store. Suddenly, you’re somebody. And so are they.

God has always been “somebody” to me. But how often do I think about me being “somebody” to God? When I pray, he listens – to me. When I’m reading scripture, he is speaking – to me. He created everything, and he created me.

I don’t have to work that hard to be somebody. I already am.

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

More than a memory

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

A “through the bible” devotion from Judges 2.

It only took one generation. The people were serious when they promised, “We will serve the Lord” and got rid of their foreign gods (Joshua 24:22,23).

I turn one page in the bible and read, “There arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel. The sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals” (Judges 2:10,11).

How could that happen? Did no one tell them? Or weren’t they listening? It was probably a combination of both. The powerful accounts of crossing the Jordan on dry ground and watching the wall of Jericho fall were interesting and inspiring. But it wasn’t their experience.

I don’t fully understand my father’s experience of being away from home in the South Pacific for eighteen months during World War II. In a similar way, my grandchildren will never know what it felt like to watch the Twin Trade Towers collapse on September 11, 2001. The youngest of my grandchildren will look at pictures one day and ask, “What were you wearing a mask?” They didn’t live through the uncertain times of a pandemic.

That reality sounds sad until I remember that His story is different than history. The biblical accounts of God at work open our eyes to see him at work in our lives. As we gather for worship and live out our faith in the world, it becomes our experience, too. It is our story.

Someone is always watching you, learning from you. They might be related. They might not. Let them see someone affected by the God who was, and is, and always will be. Let them see someone who loves because they’ve been loved.

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

Fake ID

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Lydia Matzal on Unsplash

A “through the bible” devotion from Joshua 9.

How does the world know you are who your are? Much of the time, a driver’s license is adequate ID. Sometimes you need a second form, like a passport. My phone and computer need my fingerprint. Some phones take a look at your face. Some websites make me answer security questions.

Apparently, fake IDs are still a thing. I read that one third of college students have used a fake ID to get into a bar. But that’s not new. Joshua encounters people with fake IDs as Israel fights to take possession of Canaan.

It was so obvious. These poor people have been on the road forever. All of their supplies are used up and worn out. They aren’t a threat. They aren’t on God’s most wanted list. They aren’t Hittites, Perizzites, or any of the other enemy “-ites” God told you to be wary of.

“The men of Israel…did not ask for the counsel of the Lord” (Joshua 9:14). Instead, they made a covenant with the people of Gibeon, who deceived them by dressing up like worn and weary travelers from far away. It was their form of a fake ID.

This account implies that Joshua should have asked God for advice. As hard as it is to accept, there’s really only one person (I know, God’s not a person, but you know what I mean) you can trust. He is faithful and true, and in fact, he embodies the truth. You better do a deeper dive with everyone else.

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

The day the manna stopped

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Conscious Design on Unsplash

A “through the bible” devotion from Joshua 5.

A whole generation has grown up in a world with smart phones. Apple sold the first iPhone in 2007, so anyone born after that has never seen a world without the pocket technology we use every single day.

Manna kept a nation alive for forty years. God faithfully gave his people this daily bread, just as he promised. A whole generation grew up on manna. They never knew life without it.

Then one day, the manna stopped.

“The manna ceased on the day after they had eaten some of the produce of the land” (Joshua 5:12)

They would never eat manna again.

I wonder if anyone would miss it. Before long, I am sure folks would be telling stories of the manna they ate when they were kids. Just like we talk about foods we ate growing up you can’t get anymore. Like Swanson’s TV dinners, Carnation breakfast bars, Hunt’s Snack Pack pudding cups, Jello pudding pops, and Bazooka bubble gum.

No more manna? The good news is that the produce of a land filled with milk and honey was amazing.