“Why does God want us to be afraid of Him?” asked my sweet son recently. We were reading a scripture and it mentioned how we should fear the Lord. This is a question that most of us have asked at one time or another, and one we don’t always get a satisfactory answer. I mean, God tells us He is our Father, our Abba, our friend, our protector. . . and then on the other hand He wants us to be afraid of Him? What kind of friend does that?

When we live with a chronic illness we are up against all sorts of things that we can fear. We fear going to the doctor, we fear not going to the doctor. We fear taking the medications and dealing with side effects, we fear not taking the medications and coping with the possibly damaging results to our body. The list can go on and on. Why on earth would God want us to add Him to that list of fears?

The amplified version of the Bible says, “The secret [of the sweet, satisfying companionship] of the Lord have they who fear (revere and worship) Him, and He will show them His covenant and reveal to them its [deep, inner] meaning.”

According to Merriam Webster’s Dictionary, “revere” means to “show devoted deferential honor to: regard as worthy of great honor.” When we fear the Lord, it is meant to be because we fully comprehend He is to be given such great honor.

We are to acknowledge that this God in our lives is the same God who said ‘Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3) and there was light. . . and this light was not even the sun, which He created three days later (Genesis 1:6). God is all powerful–and loving, and yet, He also can be vengeful when the situation is appropriate for this (Romans 12:19). In Psalm 6:1 David pleads “O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath.”

To acknowledge that God is God and He has the right to rebuke or discipline, can be one of the ways we “fear God.” I believe that God wants the best for me. I can expect, should expect, that there will be consequences when I start taking Him for granted, when I let my priorities slip out of order, when I spend money foolishly, when I forget to tell Him thank you for the things He has blessed me with. As my grandma used to say, “You’re getting to big for those britches.” God has a way of drawing us back to Him, and sometimes that path is full of a lot of potholes!

I like the simple version of this scripture from The Messages. It states, “God-friendship is for God-worshipers; They are the ones He confides in.” When we worship Him, remember His glory and honor Him, we create a friendship and from that He shares some of the mysteries to help us through those difficult days. We can see how He works out our messes into miracles; though our circumstances may have been the same, we likely would not have seen His hand, if we were lacking being in communion with Him.

Prayer: Lord, fearing You is having a healthy respect, a reverance to You who created the heavens and the earth–and me! It is recalling how You never leave my side through the good times and the bad. Humble me so that I have a healthy fear of You in ways that will strengthen our relationship, not add stress to it.

About the Author:
Lisa Copen is an author, speaker, and the founder of Rest Ministries which serves the chronically ill. She lives in San Diego with her husband and 8-year-old son. She is currently writing a book for Christian moms who live with chronic illness. If you are interested in sharing your stories, feedback and confessions for the book, visit her Facebook page at http://MomWithIllness.com .

You can now read this on your Kindle. Find out more at http://TodaysDevotionOnKindle.com

When you hear that we should “fear” God, what comes to mind? How have you reconciled these verses? How do you express or see your “fear of the Lord”?

By Leslie Vernick

Discouragement and disappointment are normal emotions we all experience, even as Christians.

Peter felt discouraged with himself when he realized that he wasn’t as courageous as he thought he was, even though Jesus had warned him that he would deny him before the rooster crowed (Matthew 26:31 and 74,75). We too can feel discouraged and even depressed when we fail to live up to our own or other’s expectations.

Job felt discouraged and frustrated with his friends. They didn’t get it. Trying to be helpful, they only heaped more shame and blame on Job for his afflictions. We also can feel let down by our friends and family. They don’t understand what we’re going through or don’t offer to help as we wish they would. (Read through the biblical book of Job for the story).

We can get discouraged with life’s circumstances. Things don’t turn out the way we’d hoped despite our persistent prayers. Elijah hoped that after all the miracles the Israelites saw performed on Mount Carmel, they would finally repent and put God first but they did not. King Ahab and Jezebel were as stubborn and hard hearted as always and Elijah felt discouraged, exhausted and believed his entire ministry was a waste (1 Kings 19).

Jeremiah felt angry and discouraged with God when he believed God was against him and temporarily lost hope in God (Lamentations 3). The disciples too felt discouraged after Jesus was crucified, before he rose from the dead. They said “We were hoping that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.” (Luke 24:21) They couldn’t see the bigger picture and felt that their life’s work was a waste.

Discouragement happens, even to the strongest and best of people. Here are five (5) things you can do when you start to feel the black cloud of discouragement swallow you up.

1. Be honest.
It does you no good to pretend you don’t feel what you feel. You can’t take action against a negative feeling until you first admit you have it. A strong Christian is not someone who never experiences negative feelings. It’s someone who has learned what to do with them when he or she has them and how to process them biblically.

2. Take care of your body.
If your body isn’t working, your mind, emotions and will are also weakened. I love how God tended to Elijah’s body first, before addressing anything else, and provided ravens to feed him. Sometimes the circumstances of life drain us dry and we need to press pause, stop doing, and simply rest and refresh.

3. Pay attention to your thought life.
Maturing as believers means we learn to think truthfully (Philippians 4:8) and to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).

All of us attempt to make sense of the things that happen in our lives. We try to figure out why they happen and what it all means. It’s crucial that we pay attention to what stories we are telling ourselves about ourselves, about others, about God, or a particular situation and whether or not those stories are actually true. For example, if you look at what Elijah was telling himself after he became discouraged, much of it was not true, yet because he thought it, it added to his misery (read 1 Kings 19).

Jeremiah too was telling himself things about God that were not true but because his mind believed his version of reality instead of God’s, he lost his hope. Read through Lamentations 3. Notice in verse 21 Jeremiah begins to have a change of mind and heart. He says, “This I recall to mind, therefore I have hope.” When his thoughts changed, his negative emotions also lifted even though his circumstances stayed the same.

4. Train yourself to “see” life out of two lenses at the same time.
When the apostle Paul counsels us to be transformed by the renewing of our mind, (Romans 12:2), he is telling us that our mind needs to be trained to think differently than we have in the past. Part of this training is to learn to see both the temporal (life is hard) and the eternal (God has a purpose here) at the same time.

Paul speaks honestly of his temporal pain when he says he is hard pressed on every side, perplexed, persecuted and struck down. Yet, he did not become crushed, despairing, abandoned or destroyed. Why not? Because he learned to firmly fix the eternal perspective on his spiritual eyes. He says, “Therefore we do not lose heart. …So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:8-18).

Paul never minimized the pain of the temporal, yet discouragement didn’t win because he knew that God’s purposes were at work. (See Philippians 1:12-14 for another example).

5. Press close into God.
The truth is, life is hard, people do disappoint and hurt us and we don’t always understand God or his ways. The prophet Naham talks about a day of trouble and reminds us “The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, he knows those who trust in him.” (Naham 1:7) If we’re not in close trusting relationship with God, life’s troubles can become unbearable. The psalmist cried out, “I would have despaired unless I had believed I would see God in the land of the living. (Psalm 27).

One final tip. The best way to chase out a negative feeling is with another feeling. The Bible teaches us “In everything give thanks for this is the will of God.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18) Gratitude is a powerful anecdote for discouragement. But how do we give thanks in all things? In awful things? In sinful things? That will be the subject of my next newsletter on November 22 at LeslieVernick.com. So keep watch!

Leslie Vernick is a licensed counselor with over 25 years of experience helping individuals, couples, and families. “Lord, I Just Want to Be Happy”. It’s received over 75 reviews and has 5 stars! This book will help you recognize and change habits that, day by day, keep you from experiencing happiness; make good choices and learn from mistakes without beating yourself up; develop the skills that will enable you to let go of negative and painful emotions quicker; and transform difficult circumstances so you can live with gratitude, joy, and purpose.

Visit Leslie’s web site to submit a question for her to answer!

Reprinted with permission, Copyright LeslieVernick.com

46 million people are on food stamps, 15 percent of Americans.

July saw the highest level of layoffs in 16 months, the steepest jump since the recession.

The president promises that the next few months will be about jobs. The reporters says it’s all about. . .

Jobs.

Jobs.

Jobs.

But talking about jobs doesn’t make them materialize.

People are still hungry.

I read Jeremiah 33:2-3. “‘This is what the Lord says, He who made the earth, the Lord who formed it and established it-—the Lord is His name: ‘Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’”

Life is messy.

But God is still on the throne.

He says to call to Him and He will answer and He will tell me great and unsearchable things that I do not know.

Who needs Google?

We cannot fathom what God has to tell us. I cannot even search for it, because I don’t even know what words to search for.

He made the earth. How can I doubt that He will take care of me?

Because you have seen people suffer, my heart whispers. Where was God then?

I struggle to reconcile why I see faithful servants of Christ still suffer. I see women with cancer who are abused by their husbands. I see men who can no longer provide for their families because of their illness, and their wives cheat on them. I see those with medical debt now living in campgrounds because they have lost their homes.

Where is the justice?

If the Lord loves justice (Psalm 11:7), then why does He seem to withhold justice (Job 34:5)?

The Psalmist says, “I know that the Lord secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy.” (Psalm 140:12) How does he know?

What are our options when all seems unfair?

To wait. Oh, how I hate waiting!

To believe that God is the source of justice.

“Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore He will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him!” (Isaiah 30:18)

Blessed are those who wait! So. . . I should not hate waiting. I should embrace it.

So I will wait. I will search for the ways I can see His hidden graciousness. I will expect His compassion, for He is love.

I will wait.

And in the wait, I will find His blessings.

And when I am saturated with His blessings, embraced by His compassion, I will be less concerned about justice.

Just give me Jesus.

Lisa Copen is the founder of Rest Ministries and she lives in San Diego with her husband and son. She is gradually learning how to balance motherhood, family, illness, and ministry, but she still knows it will be a lifetime lesson. You can see the books she has written, including, Why Can’t I Make People Understand? at the Rest Ministries shop.

I have been married for four years and have multiple sclerosis. My husband and I have been trying to conceive for some time and it’s not happening. I think I am capable of being a mom, despite my illness, but it’s making me nervous to see the clock ticking–and for those of us with illness, it ticks a whole lot faster! I don’t want to grow bitter about not getting pregnant yet, but my friends are having kids, doing family events, and now, not only do I feel ousted because my illness slows me down, but I am just not at soccer games and Chuck E. Cheese. How do I cope with all these mixed up feelings?

Leslie

Leslie,
My heart aches for you. I remember my own similar journey for years back in the late nineties until the day our son was born and we adopted him in 2003. And yes, it really did feel like a long journey! Like you, I wasn’t sure if God was saying, “No” or “Wait.”

I was recently asked me to write about infertility and chronic illness and it took me awhile to be able to find my voice on this topic.

I had just come from a roller coaster ride of emotions:

• First, my husband and I did our research after seeing our son struggling and gained an official diagnosis for him of ADHD (a diagnosis we are glad we’ve discovered!)
• I had also talked with two women who’d poured their heart out about infertility issues and chronic llness;
• I had the most amazing family time with my son’s birth-grandparents and his little brother who lives with my son’s birth mom (Joshua’s birth mom was sick so couldn’t come.);
• My “story” about infertility and illness came out in Janet Thompson’s new book, “Dear God, Why Can’t I Have a Baby?: A Companion Guide for Women on the Infertility Journey” (An amazing book I strongly recommend if you are on this detour in life.)

What could I share? I was a mom who was looking at her own weaknesses, not even sure if I had dealt with infertility, if the infertility was due to my use of rheumatoid arthritis medications, or I had just “needed more time.”

As Mother’s Day approaches I see the many women who long to be a mother. And why does it seem the most kind and nurturing women are the ones who seemed to fill the quiet valleys of infertility? Everything can seem personal. . . from wondering why the teenage girl who lives next door is pregnant and miserable about her situation to the woman who is in a marriage she would like to abandon, but she’s staying because she is pregnant. Every abortion suddenly feels like the death of a dream that we have of our own child. How could they?

Women who feel God has given them a craving for motherhood wonder how and when it will ever be fulfilled. For those of us with chronic illness we wonder if we crossed signals with God, because we all know with each passing day our health is getting worse, and therefore, harder to care for an infant. We don’t have the time that others mom have because we are in a race to be mommy before we lose more abilities.

What would I have wanted to hear when I was on this infertility detour? It sure was not, “give it time” or “if you just relax it will happen.” I would have wanted to hear God’s voice somewhere in the middle of the opinions of people who told me I was silly to think I could be a mom. I would have wanted to know God was in control.

And I did. I remember praying, “Lord, I need a baby and if I can’t have a baby, I don’t want to get depressed or obsessed with it. But I need a purpose while I am waiting.” And what He gave me, through a calling and resources, is now Rest Ministries.

God is in control. I don’t ever wish to imply I can speak words for God, but below is, if I had tried to write out what God was telling me during this time, I would have written. I hope you can use it and adapt it as your own. I don’t presume to know the answers to your situation or what God has in store for you, but I do know He can make miracles out of whatever we may perceive as messy situations in our life.

Lisa

Dear one,

I know your heart. And I know how your heart hurts. You rise each day and put on a smile. But underneath that smile I know you imagine how your life would be different if your dream of being a mom was fulfilled. Would you awake at 5 AM, but with joy instead of anxiety? Would you go to mommy-and-me meetings, instead of talk of your illness on the computer?

In the deepest parts of your heart I understand that you’re beginning to wonder if you have done something wrong, made some mistake, or overlooked an opportunity, to cause your heart’s longing to not be fulfilled. You are wondering if you should have taken that medication, not taken the medication, drank that Diet Coke, had that treatment, and then I would have answered your prayers. You are looking for where you have messed up, so you can fix it and be with child. You have not made mistakes, child, where I was still not in control of the outcome. I have never left your side, and My will will come to pass.

You hear girlfriends complain about how their children are driving them nuts and you bite your tongue. You try to make plans with them, but they are always busy. They have entered into “Parentland” and you can only get a temporary pass for a few hours to babysit.

Child, I do know your longing. I hear your cries; I see you. I have not turned away or ignored your pleas. I see the pain that pierces you when another friend announces her pregnancy. I see you try to hold back the tears as you walk through baby departments to buy a gift for another baby shower. I see your faith when you buy a little baby gift for yourself to hide away and call it your “mustard seed.”

Do not stop talking to Me. I know you may be tempted to allow bitterness and frustration to seep in. Many people do. But this will only lead to a hardened heart and take you farther away from the person I am designing you to be.

Remember, your hope is different because you know me. Your hope should be in Me, not what I can give to you. The world hopes for things and situations. Put your hope in Me.

You can have peace in the midst of turmoil because of My presence. So don’t turn from Me, as I am the only one who can fill that hole.

Not a moment of your misery is being wasted. The closer you draw to me, even when your prayers are not being answered, the more opportunities I will provide for you to find this hope and refreshment, even in the middle of your pain.

I know it is hard to imagine, but I have great plans for you. Remember how when I told Abraham of his children I would bless him with? His wife Sarah laughed. Even in the most unlikely of situations I can make things happen that are beyond your wildest imagination. In fact, it is in the impossible, I most delight in making miracles happen, because then you can share your joy with the world about how you saw Me at work in the crevices of your life.

Hang on, dear child. Stick by my side, as I have promised to be by yours.

Your Loving Father,
God

We all have so many different shades of darkness in our lives by just being in this world. And as the video shows, sometimes, even when we are clinging to the cross, we still feel pulled away from it.

But even as we lose our grasp, Jesus grabs us and lightens up our world. I hope you enjoy. Feel free to share it and I’d love to hear your comments below.

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“Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer.” (Revelation 2:10)

“Now, this is going to hurt just a little bit.” Most of us heard these words. Sometimes it does hurt “just a little bit.” Usually it hurts more than the medical specialist let on. Because if he said, “This is going to make you want to scream like crazy we’d yell “stop!” I’ve lost count of the number of times it’s hurt much more than just a little bit and I have a pretty high tolerance for pain.

Suffering comes. It’s inevitable in our world that is filled with sin. But consider this for a moment: Suffering does not have to be accompanied by fear.

Imagine knowing something was about to hurt more than you were prepared for but you felt a complete lack of fear. No fright, nerves, anxiety, or dread. No trembling, cold sweats, apprehension, dread, hesitation, or worry.

How is it humanly possible to know pain or suffering will come, yet not feel fear? It is not–not humanly possible. Only through the presence of the Holy Spirit can we ever feel peace in the middle of pandemonium. Only through our relationship with Jesus,  can He provide serenity instead of shock, tranquility through the trembles.

Chronic illness could leave us with immense anxiety every day. We can worry about everything from getting through our plans of the day, simply getting around, the side effects of medication, the bills that continue to arrive in the mail, disappointing those we love, and the list goes on. Don’t surrender over to the fear or it can not just overwhelm you, but envelop you.

Prayer: Lord, I praise you for the gifts You have given me access to by simply knowing Jesus in an intimate relationship. You know all the ways that I could allow fear and anxiety to take over my mind. I ask for daily strength to choose to surrender it over to you and feel that peace that can pass our human understanding.

About the Author:
Lisa Copen is the founder of Rest Ministries and she has lived with rheumatoid arthritis since 1993. Illness is fertile ground where emotions can grow that can separate us farther from God’s love. If you are struggling with people not understanding what your daily life is like, you will find a chance to grow through this in Lisa’s book, “Why Can’t I Make People Understand? Discovering the Validation Those With Chronic Illness Seek and Why.” All proceeds help keep Rest Ministries going!

You can now read this on your Kindle. Find out more at http://TodaysDevotionOnKindle.com

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