Feb 01 2022

The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

At any point in time, dozens of armed conflicts are raging throughout the world. The causes of war are often religious differences, territorial issues, economic gain, revenge, and/or nationalism. Whatever the cause, such conflicts have likely existed since humans first walked the Earth.

In Exodus 14:14, Moses is facing a tremendous challenge. He has led the Israelites out of Egypt, where they were living in slavery. Pharaoh and his massive army angrily chase after them in an attempt to recapture the Israelites. Now, God's chosen people are standing at the edge of the Red Sea with nowhere to go. Moses reminds the people that this isn't their war to fight, it's the Lord's. They simply had to trust God to fight for them.

Many times we face a crossroads where our options are to fight or to hold our peace. These conflicts may result from our actions, or from the consequences of others' actions. Still, we are free to choose between taking our own path, or trusting God to lead us in His ways.

The best option is always to trust God and know that He can see the beginning, middle, and end of every situation. Sometimes it may seem like we have lost a battle, but God knows what will take place as a result of our apparent defeat. Only God can see what is happening behind the scenes, and He is always working His plan. The question is... are we willing to hold our peace and allow the Lord to fight for us?

Dear God, you see every conflict in life that I face. Some situations are a result of things I have done, while others may be undeserved. I know I am unable to change my past decisions, but help me trust in you as I face whatever comes my way. Give me wisdom and strength to trust you no matter what. Teach me to allow you to fight for me. In Jesus' name, amen.

Jan 31 2022

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. :

In the average year, firefighters respond to nearly a half-million structure fires. These range from homes to commercial buildings to barns. The job of a firefighter is to rescue people from fires and extinguish the fire from doing further damage. Often, fires are caused by human error—a dropped cigarette, a child playing with matches, a candle left burning overnight, and so forth.

When a firefighter rescues a family caught in a fire, there is much rejoicing when everyone has escaped. Even if the fire was started by somebody's mistake, that is not the focus at the time of rescue. The overwhelming peace that everyone is okay outweighs the reason why it started.

When God sent Jesus into the world, humanity was in a place where we were doomed. We needed a Savior. God didn't send Jesus down to make us aware of all of the fires we had started and to reprimand us—He came to rescue us. There is much rejoicing when someone is saved from the results of their sin. The focus then becomes knowing God and growing closer to Him. The focus is not on the wrongs of the past.

This can be difficult to understand because our human nature wants retribution. We do something wrong and we are punished to the extent of the law. But God operates differently. He is aware of everything we have done but still offers us His unconditional love.

The next time we have the urge to condemn others for the bad choices they have made, we should remember the pain that we have been spared and the grace we received ... even when we were sinners.

Jesus, there was a time when I was starting a lot of fires in my life. Without your help, they would have burned out of control and destroyed me. Thank you for salvation. I'm so grateful that you offer grace without condemnation and love without hesitation. Help me to do the same even when I don't feel like others deserve it. Thank you for saving me, Jesus. In your name, amen.
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