Standing Up

When they had departed from him (for they left him very sick), his own servants conspired against him because of the blood of the son of Jehoiada the priest, and murdered him on his bed. So he died, and they buried him in the city of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings. 26 Now these are those who conspired against him: Zabad the son of Shimeath the Ammonitess, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith the Moabitess. 2 Chron 24:25-26 (NASB) Joash was responsible for the death of the prophet who spoke against his evil deeds. But, there was not a single Judahite who stood up and was willing to avenge the death of the prophet! Instead we find the sons of two foreign women. Their fathers are not even mentioned, and we have no idea if there was even any Israelite blood running through their veins. Yet they were the ones to stand and avenge the death of the prophet of the Lord. Last night Doug showed me an article about an atheist who has stated that the only true solution for Africa is not more social reforms but the true heart change that can only be brought about by a relationship with God! I am convicted and challenged that oftentimes I am not the one standing up for my faith or for the things of God. Many times the people who really have no reason to put forward the message of my Savior are the loudest voices in His favor. Where am I? Why am I not standing up and taking action? I must be! I must take my stand and be bold for my Savior. It is my job, for I am His child.

Words of Encouragement

But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Heb 3:13 (NASB) I have been greatly convicted of the need to be more "vocal" in my encouragement of others. When I know of a need, I am very quick to pray. Anyone can be assured of my prayers, that I guarantee! I find great delight in that. I love being behind the scenes, lifting people up and then seeing the answers to prayer and being able to rejoice in that. I'm not a call, write a note, sit with you kind of person. If I can shoot you a quick email, I probably will. Beyond that, though, I tend to stand back and just pray. God has been challenging me that I am not interacting with others as I should. When I pray for someone, that person needs to be told! If there is something specific that the Lord has laid on someone's heart to pray for me, and I'm seeing God work in that way, it is a huge boost to my faith to be told that someone was praying in that direction. I must do that for other people! I must verbalize the encouragement. That means stepping out of my comfort zone in a huge way to make phone calls and write notes at the very least. Sometimes it means going to someone. I am challenged to put social interaction behind my prayers.

Go to Him First

I don't have a specific verse this morning. Just read the second half of 2 Chronicles, and I think you can probably discern where a lot of my conviction and challenge is coming from right now. When faced with a challenge, I'm seeing the difference between seeking God first and acting or choosing other sources of wisdom first. God always works when we seek Him, no matter when it is, but His intervention is so much more amazing and powerful if we just seek Him first. And, when we go to Him before making any other decision, there is no rebuke. I am, at this moment, in a situation where I need to trust Him in this way. Are there ways I can try to solve this problem on my own? Yes, but once I've solved the immediate problem, there is still the long-term issue that has to be dealt with - an issue only He can ultimately solve. I must admit that I've gone over the "we can do this or this" solutions, but there is still a great deal of anxiety with those. Ultimately, my challenge is to realize that with the problem in His hands, I have so much more peace! So, I am challenged to make sure that I don't delve into human solutions first, but instead seek God and His wisdom and direction first. When I do that, it's up to Him to choose whether He allows it to be handled in a totally miraculous way or in a perfectly practical manner.