TrustInTheLord | Kristi's Morning Devotional

May 30, 2021May 30, 2021

Trust is Progressive

As with most things, trust is not a one time experience, it’s progressive.

Any adult who has tried to coax a child or grandchild into jumping into their arms in the swimming pool knows what I’m talking about. The child stands timidly on the side, while you are tell them repeatedly, “It’s ok, I’ll catch you”, knows it takes time for them to trust.

Each time it gets easier for them…trust has been built. There’s a track record that they can count on.

Do you have a track record with the Lord? Have you trusted Him in the small things of life and found Him always faithful? If so, your trust has grown and matured and you have a confidence that He will never let you down.

Perhaps you are standing on the edge for the first time and hearing the Lord say, “Trust me, I’ll catch you”.

This morning I would like to share a few of my favorite trust verses. Write them down, screen shot them, keep them handy. You’ll rely on them again and again. I know I have.

“God’s way is perfect. The Lord’s promise always proves to be true. He protects those who trust in him.” II Samuel 22:31 ERV

“It is better to trust in the Lord than to trust in people.” Psalm 118:8 ERV

“Trust the Lord completely, and don’t depend on your own knowledge.” Proverbs 3:5 ERV

Early in our marriage we were really struggling financially. Two small children to care for, Dave was working long hours but there was barely enough to cover household expenses and even less for groceries. I remember the first time I prayed over my grocery list.

My prayer went something like this. “Lord, you know I need to feed my family. I don’t know what I’m going to do. I only have $25 . I need a miracle. I trust You.” And off I went.

I was learning to trust.

I did not deviate from my list. The first item, bread, had a 2 for 1 special. Next was eggs, this week’s price 79 cents a dozen, milk, cheese, potatoes, flour, sugar…90% of the items were on special and if I remember correctly, I spent $23.74.

“Don’t worry and say, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ ³²That’s what those people who don’t know God are always thinking about. Don’t worry, because your Father in heaven knows that you need all these things. ³³What you should want most is God’s kingdom and doing what he wants you to do. Then he will give you all these other things you need.” Matthew 6:31-33 ERV

I wish I could tell you that from that day forward I always trusted the Lord but that wouldn’t be true. There have been times, more than I’d like to admit, that I have done my own thing, trusted in my own knowledge and resources and have neglected to trust the Lord. The outcome was far from stellar.

But when I returned to trusting in my Father’s provision, He was always there waiting to help.

“So whenever we are in need, we should come bravely before the throne of our merciful God. There we will be treated with undeserved kindness, and we will find help.” Hebrews 4:16 CEV

Trust the Lord with the small things and soon you will be trusting Him with everything! It’s progressive.

May 22, 2021May 22, 2021

In Capable Hands

When I was very young, I remember my Dad letting me sit on his lap as he was driving.

Now, before anyone starts to tell me how dangerous that was I will remind them this was 65 plus years ago. It was on dirt roads, with no other cars in sight and for two or three minutes at the most.

What stays in my mind and my heart is the love and laughter that we shared in those moments. I trusted my Dad and I knew he would never do anything that would knowingly harm me.

I was in capable hands. I learned to listen and to trust.

Some days, I still feel like that little girl sitting on my Daddy’s lap. There are new situations, new joys, new adventures, new dangers that present themselves. I find myself reaching for my Father’s hand and wanting to crawl up on His lap, listening to His voice and learning from His words.

Of course, now, I’m not speaking of my natural father but of my Heavenly Father.

“Jesus understands every weakness of ours, because he was tempted in every way that we are. But he did not sin! ¹⁶So whenever we are in need, we should come bravely before the throne of our merciful God. There we will be treated with undeserved kindness, and we will find help.” Hebrews 4:15-16 CEV

We are in capable hands.

We are told to come to the Father WHENEVER we have a need and we will find help! He won’t refuse us. He doesn’t just want us to come when we need something He wants us to come and learn from Him. In this way, He will teach us how to avoid the dangers and pitfalls that are waiting to ambush us.

“With all your heart you must trust the Lord and not your own judgment. ⁶Always let him lead you, and he will clear the road for you to follow.” Proverbs 3:5-6 CEV

Trust the Father’s capable hands.

“Turn to the Lord for help in everything you do, and you will be successful.” Proverbs 16:3 ERV

“I say this because I know the plans that I have for you.” This message is from the Lord. “I have good plans for you. I don’t plan to hurt you. I plan to give you hope and a good future. ¹²Then you will call my name. You will come to me and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³You will search for me, and when you search for me with all your heart, you will find me.” Jeremiah 29:11-13 ERV

We have the Father’s word that when we turn to Him with a trusting heart He will be there to direct, guide, instruct and provide. He won’t break His word.

There are a few things that I have been talking to the Father about. Things that I need His wisdom and leading in. My knowledge is limited and sometimes I feel like a little kid again, a kid who needs my Father’s help. Maybe you’re experiencing the same kind of thing. I can assure you that when we take these to our Father He will listen and lead us to a good future.

We’re in His capable hands.

May 20, 2021May 20, 2021

Making the Bitter Sweet

The last two days I have shared some of the struggles the Israelites encountered as they left Egypt and ventured into the wilderness. There is so much we can learn from their story.

These were a people who had been in slavery and hard labor for a good four hundred years. The Lord had made a promise that He would bring them into their own land hundreds of years before. They had let their hope die.

Then Moses comes on the scene and says the Lord sent me to lead you out. Their basic comment was “don’t stir things up Moses”. But Moses obeyed the Lord and went to pharoah and asked him to let the people go out from Egypt three days journey to offer sacrifices and worship the Lord.

You know the story. Pharoah had a hardened heart to anything that had to do with the Lord and he refused. The plagues came – flies, locusts, frogs, water turning to blood, hail, thick darkness, boils, dead livestock and finally death.

Deliverance came.

They marched out of Egypt, only to be pursued by pharoah’s army. The Israelites complained, “you brought us out here to be killed, we should turn back”. The Lord brought them safely through the Red Sea and destroyed the Egyptian army.

Then came the party.

Singing, dancing, praising God for being so great and wonderful. These were a fickled people – faith filled one moment and faithless the next.

“Then she sang to them: “Sing praises to the Lord for his great victory! He has thrown the horses and their riders into the sea.”

²²After the Israelites left the Red Sea, Moses led them through the Shur Desert for three days, before finding water. ²³They did find water at Marah, but it was bitter, which is how that place got its name. ²⁴The people complained and said, “Moses, what are we going to drink?” ²⁵Moses asked the Lord for help, and the Lord told him to throw a piece of wood into the water. Moses did so, and the water became fit to drink. At Marah the Lord tested his people and also gave them some laws and teachings. ” Exodus 15:21-25 CEV

From singing and dancing to murmuring and complaining. How quickly they turned.

Let’s not be to harsh on them. We’ve done this too. God answers our prayers and we sing His praises and then the next hardship comes and we begin to ask “Lord, where are you?”.

Let’s learn from them and what the Lord did. The Lord loved these people. He had no evil intent toward them. He brought them out of Egypt to save them, not destroy them. Natural circumstances gave them bitter water, the Lord made it sweet.

Sounds like the old expression “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade”. Our Father is good, kind and loving. The Lord loves us too. Why is it so hard for us to trust Him?

“Yes, it is God who is working in you. He helps you want to do what pleases him, and he gives you the power to do it. ¹⁴Do everything without complaining or arguing” Philippians 2:13-14 ERV

Are you in life’s desert right now? Do circumstances look bleek and bitter? Refrain from complaining and trust the Father.

He will make the bitter sweet.

May 19, 2021May 19, 2021

Flash Mob Style

Every once in a while Dave and I will sit and watch flash mob videos on YouTube. They make us smile!

It’s a large group of people breaking out in “spontaneous” song and dance in what seems to be a completely random moment. (However, they really have been practicing behind the scenes for weeks.)

Yesterday morning I found a flash mob moment in the Bible. I know, I’m as surprised as you are.

“Then Moses and the Israelites began singing this song to the Lord: “I will sing to the Lord! He has done great things. He threw horse and rider into the sea. ²The Lord is my strength.
He saves me, and I sing songs of praise to him. He is my God, and I praise him. He is the God of my ancestors, and I honor him. ³The Lord is a great soldier. The Lord is his name.
⁴He threw Pharaoh’s chariots and soldiers into the sea. Pharaoh’s very best soldiers
drowned in the Red Sea. ⁵The deep water covered them, and they sank to the bottom like rocks.” Exodus 15:1-5 ERV

Their song continues for twenty-one verses and ends with the women playing tamborines and dancing.

“Then Aaron’s sister, the woman prophet Miriam, took a tambourine. She and the women began singing and dancing. ²¹Miriam repeated the words, “Sing to the Lord! He has done great things. He threw horse and rider into the sea ….” Exodus 15:20-21 ERV

All of this occurs immediately after they cross through the Red Sea. They have just seen the Egyptian army drown as the waters covered them over. They had been worried and complaining just hours before but they did what the Lord said. They stood still, and saw the Lord win this battle for them.

Now comes the singing and the dancing. Praising the Lord for His mighty deliverance!

The Bible is filled with stories of people just like us. People who worry and complain when the circumstances aren’t right – people who think they have a solution to their circumstances and don’t seek God’s help. People who are more willing to live in a bad situation then to trust God, who is leading them, and go into unknown territory.

I’ve been so guilty of all of this. I stayed in the wrong job for years because in my mind it was better there than in the unknown of where will I go. And then there are the times that I basically said “I’ve got this God. I know how to handle this” and so I went forward without praying and having the Lord’s leading and things fell apart.

But then the Lord would come to my rescue and it was a flash mob of one but I was singing and dancing and praising God for the way He rescued me! Does anyone relate to this?

Maybe you’re in a place where the Egyptians are behind you and the Red Sea is in front of you and you’re worried. Trust God!

Or maybe you’ve just been delivered and are in your Flash Mob moment. Trust God!

Remember always, He is our strong tower, our defense, our deliverer and our Savior!

“The Lord is my strength. He saves me, and I sing songs of praise to him. He is my God, and I praise him.” Exodus 15:2 ERV