I had been putting it off. I basically just avoided it at all costs. I’m super busy so it isn’t too difficult to justify not doing it. And it has been so hot that it was the push I needed to ignore it. Today, though, was the day. It was the day to work in the yard and pull the weeds. As much as I love being outdoors, pulling weeds may be my least favorite part of yard work. To give you an idea of how long I had waited, the weeds had taken over everything including the patio. It was bad enough that even Wendy noticed it was time to get it done. Wendy doesn’t go outside except for the trash. She wanted to know when I would take care of it. The was the final indication that it had gotten way out of control. So I got it done today.
I started with the weed-eater. That worked for a while. It knocked the major parts down. It couldn’t get it all. I almost let that be it. It already looked so much better, what would a few weeds matter? But, I could hear my mother’s voice in my ear. She taught me to do the difficult parts, it makes it worth it in the end. And she was working in her own yard next door (showing me up, nonetheless) so I kept going. But something interesting happened today. Something I can’t remember happening before when I have pulled the weeds. I found life. Life actually existed among the weeds.
There were worms and bugs crawling about as I had disturbed their cover. They had to find other places to rest. I found little flowers that would not have been detected when walking by. They were so very small that they would go unnoticed even if there were no weeds. Because I was on my knees pulling the weeds so close, I had the joy of finding these beauties. This all made me smile. It did my heart good to know that even in the middle of a mess, God had placed beauty and life. Even when it seemed as nothing existed except large ugly weeds, there was life hiding, waiting to be found.
Our lives can seem full of weeds, it can be difficult to imagine there is still any life left. When nothing seems to be going right, there is actually beauty down deep. There are joys that are hidden, waiting to be discovered. Sometimes we have to get involved and take the weeds out. We might just find so much more than we thought could ever exist. God has given you joys unspeakable – even among the weeds. May you find life and beauty today. It is waiting to be discovered.
Focus Scripture:
3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
Photos included in Devotions are captured by David Cain – The Cain Gallery. Photos are available for sale by contacting The Cain Gallery
At some point, it seems we gain a sense of confidence about the things we know. We develop a knowledge base and choose to become satisfied with our current state. It is almost as if we cut off our ability to learn and to grow because we feel like we have matured to the point that we no longer need it. We become confident, maybe overly confident, about the things that we know and do not allow any other information to be considered. We know what we know and we become stuck in this. Anything that challenges what we know, we dismiss or become angry. We defend what we know with all our might. And, in turn, we lose the ability to listen, grow and learn. This seems to especially happen with our faith. And the chances of it happening seem to grow exponentially if we were raised in church. We become less willing to hear and learn and dismiss anything that doesn’t coincide with what we think we know. We look for people that think like us and dismiss all else. What happens, though, is we grow stagnant. When we are not learning and growing, we become stuck and unable to live out our faith. We can even become frustrated and angry. We are no longer teachable.
An easy example of this is when we look at scriptures we have heard over and over again. We have heard them taught every way you might can imagine. For instance, the parable of the prodigal son is one. This has been taught from a thousand different angles. So when this becomes the scripture for us to read or we hear a message about it, we can begin to tune out. We can turn off the switch and go into autopilot because we know the answers – or at least we think we do. If we do decide to listen and something is unusual that we hear, we just dismiss the entire message. We are not growing and we are not teachable because we have decided we know it all.
But that really isn’t how God’s Word works. This isn’t really how the Christian faith is to be lived out. This isn’t why God has given us this guide we know as the Bible. It isn’t so that we can look at it and memorize it and quote it but not live it. It isn’t so that we can use it to judge others or beat others over the head with facts we aren’t even willing to accept ourselves. It isn’t so that we take this Word and decide one way of looking at it and stop growing. We are given God’s Word that speaks to us where we are. If we believe that the Word is alive and active, then we cannot know it all. It requires us to be teachable, all the time. It means we are never an expert. We never have all the answers. It forces us to listen, even when we think we know it all. God gave us this Word so we could become more like him – not more confident in who we think we are.
If we are going to be teachable at all times, it means we must be willing to listen – really listen. Listening requires active tuning in without trying to answer all the questions. It means keeping our mouths closed and minds open because we do not know it all. We do not have all the answers. And that is hard – especially when we have grown up studying the Word. But since we are not God, there is still so much to learn.
Today’s scripture is Romans 13:8-14.
In this scripture, Paul is teaching what it means to live in the way of Christ. He is challenging believers to wake up – to pay attention – to listen to the direction of Christ. He is pushing them to go beyond where they already are and not to become stagnant in their faith. Don’t stay in one place, stuck in your beliefs. Grow and stretch – and these words certainly do stretch us.
Romans 13:8-14
13:8 Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
13:9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
13:10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.
13:11 Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers;
13:12 the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light;
13:13 let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy.
13:14 Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
Love one another. It seems so simple. It is written so many times in the Bible that we could identify this as one of the major themes. Jesus said that to love God and to love others is central to it all. We know that we are to love our neighbor. And so, when we hear this again, we could easily hear…blah, blah, blah. It could be like the teacher on Charlie Brown – wank, wank, wank. We tune out all the rest because we think we have it. We feel sure, because we have heard it so often, that we understand it. Yet, I wonder if we are living it. Understanding it, hearing it, knowing it is completely different than living it.
That may be why God has it so many times in his Word. This may be why the Bible repeats it and there are stories of it over and over again. God taught it, Jesus lived it, but do we? Do we really get it? Do we really love our neighbor? Do we really live honorably? Do we live without quarreling and jealousy? Do we live without hatred and meanness? Do we live without judgment and name calling? I don’t think so. I think that even after all the lessons, we still don’t get it. And it could be because we aren’t willing to hear it any longer. It could be that we have decided that we know it all and cut all the rest off. It could be that we are no longer teachable. And that should scare us.
Loving our neighbor requires us to love without judgment. If we only love those that look like us and believe like us and act like us, we haven’t really done anything. If we gang up together with other people that are just like us, we look like the enforcement rather than love. Jesus constantly went to those who were different, who were not accepted, who were the least – and brought them love. He tried to love the religious people but they were often so stuck in their own worlds that they could not understand what love really looked like. Have we become the religious people? Are we so determined that we are right that we cannot reach out to others? Have we become an exclusive club rather than a welcoming home for those that are weary? Have we decided who belongs rather than showing the love of Christ to all?
I’m not sure we reach many people with God’s love when we become forceful or hateful or malicious. I’m not sure we set a good example when we look like we know everything and everyone else is simply stupid. I’m not sure that approach solves anything. And it could make us a bit overconfident about the things we think we know.
The challenge really becomes – what does it really look like to love our neighbor? And I think it looks differently than we imagine. I don’t think it only means to love those who look, think, believe or act like us. I think it means exactly the opposite. And that may be the greatest challenge of all.
Who do you ask for directions? Some of us would drive for days before we would ask anyone. Some would ask anyone we saw – no matter who they were. When we are lost, we might become more willing to ask. There are always those who are “never lost” even when they have no idea where they are. Surely the next turn will reveal the right path, we tell ourselves.
We often seek direction in all the wrong places, though. If someone is asking me for directions, for instance, they are likely to get a look of confusion. I am not the one to ask how to get somewhere. I will always do my best to get help, though. I will not lead you the wrong way. I have no trouble admitting I have no idea. And there are those that just have the gift of knowing which direction is best and guiding in just the right way. I am thankful for those people.
Today, though, I want to think about our direction in life. We listen to others about what we should do, where we should be, and how we should do things. We measure success by others expectations. We allow other people to tell us how we are doing and what we should do differently. We don’t always consider the value of their input. We just accept it.
What if we measure ourselves by different standards? What if we, instead, used a reliable guide to determine our success? What if we listened to an authority that has been proven right over and over again? What if I told you we have access to this authority at any time and any place? We have the Bible and the example of Jesus. We have this amazing resource we can draw direction, but we instead listen to people around us that have no clue. We have an example of how to live peaceably but we choose to do it our own way. We have the guide on how to love, but we allow others to tell us the right way to love. Why? We do it because those voices are loudest. We do this because those around us are always in our path trying to direct us. What if we put the Bible in our path more often? What if we sought the direction of God rather than the direction of other people? We might find we are on the better path. We might find we aren’t lost as much. We might even find the way of love. It is certainly worth the effort. Guide us, God. Guide us.
Focus Scripture:
John 16:13-14
13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
Photos included in Devotions are captured by David Cain – The Cain Gallery. Photos are available for sale by contacting The Cain Gallery
In a world where we can have anything brought to us in less than a couple of days, we do not adjust well to slow. When a line is slow at the store, we are not happy. When traffic is slow, we are ready to take another route. When people drive slow or talk slow or walk slow, we are ready to move around them in whatever way we can. Sometimes I look over at people that are driving slow and they look terrified, like they are doing the best they can just to not get clobbered. We don’t do slow. Yet, how much of our progress comes slowly? How many of the most valuable things come to us when we take our time and energy? We often want to avoid those things though. Or we want an easy solution. If it can’t be fast, we aren’t interested.
Think about healthy eating, for instance. When we begin to switch to a better way of eating, we do not lose weight right away. We hit plateaus. We have times when we don’t lose any weight. We may feel better, but we want to lose weight when we want at the rate we want. If we don’t, it must not be working. We forget that it took time to put on the weight and it takes time to come back off. Or how about exercise? I really love to run. I have run for years. But if I don’t train regularly, I can’t run the distance. Running long distances takes many practice miles. It takes effort to get out there when I don’t feel like it. I have to endure the training all along the way if I want to achieve my ultimate goal. Those times aren’t always fun. It is slow progress. Sometimes it feels gruelingly slow. But it comes. It is like that when we want to learn a new trade or we want to begin a new career. It is a slow progression before we are up and running at full speed. It is slow, methodical training.
When we think of our spiritual lives, there is slow progression here as well. We aren’t automatically more like Christ. We are not all of a sudden doing what we were created to do. We do not reach our peak on the second day. It takes time. It takes consistent effort. It takes listening to God and continually coming back again. It takes a constant refocus to become more and more like a disciple. It is slow but it is beautiful.
What are we trying to rush along that will just take time? Why are we trying to find shortcuts to things which are found with time and effort? What can we do differently to have a daily, constant focus on being more like Christ? What is it that we can do slowly to grow and learn? Slow just might be the way.
Focus Scripture:
Psalm 119:73-77
73 Your hands have made and fashioned me; give me understanding that I may learn your commandments. 74 Those who fear you shall see me and rejoice, because I have hoped in your word. 75 I know, O Lord, that your judgments are right, and that in faithfulness you have humbled me. 76 Let your steadfast love become my comfort according to your promise to your servant. 77 Let your mercy come to me, that I may live; for your law is my delight.
Photos included in Devotions are captured by David Cain – The Cain Gallery. Photos are available for sale by contacting The Cain Gallery
Forgiveness is one of the most difficult things we are asked to do. True forgiveness, releasing the thing that we have held, pushes us and our faith. We learn forgiveness early on in our lives. We are taught to say ‘I’m sorry’ and to move forward. As we grow up, we learn that not forgiving becomes like a disease that eats slowly away at our peace and our joy. So we learn what it means to forgive others and do the best we can with it.
What I think is even more difficult is to learn to forgive ourselves. We know our mistakes. We know the things we have done – even if no one else does. We know our intentions. We know our own heart. We know our past. And it seems our past can haunt us at the worst times. Our insecurities creep up and consume us when we aren’t even looking. We can’t seem to escape our past so we don’t understand the importance of forgiving ourselves. Yet, it is one of the most freeing and loving things we can do.
God reminds us that he forgives us. He tells us that he does not hold our past against us. We are forgiven by an Almighty God that knows all our bad stuff. He knows our anger. He knows the things we hold inside. He gets that we should have done things we didn’t. He understands that we didn’t do something we should. And yet, he loves us anyway. He is the provider of mercy and grace. He is the greatest One to forgive. We can release those things which are hurting us. We can begin to forgive ourselves of those things which are holding us back and causing us harm. We can know that the past is just that – the past. We have a bright future ahead. We have more opportunities to love and be kind and do the right thing. We have so much ahead – and it all begins with forgiveness – from God and for ourselves. If God has forgiven us, why are we holding those things inside. Today is the day to release – be set free – and move forward in God’s love, mercy and grace.
Focus Scripture:
Psalm 103:8-12
8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 9 He will not always accuse, nor will he keep his anger forever. 10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. 11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far he removes our transgressions from us.
Photos included in Devotions are captured by David Cain – The Cain Gallery. Photos are available for sale by contacting The Cain Gallery
To hear someone is to offer your time and attention. To really listen takes effort. It takes concentration and focus on what is being said. It is often more about what is left unsaid that speaks the loudest. We can hear fear in someone’s voice even when words of courage are spoken. We can hear hurt come through even when all seems to be okay. To hear someone is a gift we do not offer often enough. Yet, it is one of the greatest gifts we could present to another person. So many times, anger and hurt and fear come out in different ways because people feel unheard.
Today, I challenge you to offer someone this gift. It doesn’t cost you anything except your time and your attention. I do understand time is precious. But this will be worth it. Offer someone the gift of hearing them. Listen to what they tell you. It may be a really general conversation, but give them your undivided attention. That means putting down the phones. It means turning off all the distractions. It also means listening without thinking of how you will respond. Sometimes we listen to just enough so we can tell our story. We don’t let the other person finish before we want to tell them what happened to us. We listen just to interject what we think they should do or how we feel about the situation. This is not listening. Today, simply listen. No response is needed – and actually no response is preferred. This is not about us. We are not there to fix or solve or change anything. We are simply there to offer the gift of hearing someone else.
You may find this challenging – but give it a chance. It may feel uncomfortable because we don’t always want to hear what someone else is offering. It can feel restrictive because we have so much to say. But giving someone the gift of listening can be one of the most powerful things we can do today. We all want to be heard. Today may be the day to simply listen.
Focus Scripture:
Matthew 13:16
16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.
Photos included in Devotions are captured by David Cain – The Cain Gallery. Photos are available for sale by contacting The Cain Gallery
Our local coffee shop has a theme that really speaks volumes: “Do Good Things”. I love it. It is simple yet so powerful. Kristen, the owner, lives it out as well. Her bright smile and kind personality bring life to the statement. I think it goes without saying that great coffee helps me to do good things. If I have enough coffee, maybe even great things happen. The cookies and desserts don’t hurt either.
Could doing good things be our theme? What if this was a part of our lives? What if we took ownership to do good things? What would it look like if we made a commitment to do good today? There might be more smiles. There may be more kind words. There may be more of an effort to encourage. I think equally important is there may be less hatefulness. There might be less rudeness or slander or gossip. If we are going to do more good things, that would mean we do less bad things. Doing good things leads to good experiences with good people. Good people following a good God can do exceedingly abundantly more than we could think or imagine. And it all begins with doing good things.
You have the ability to do good today. I’m going to make it my mission to do good things. How about you? Thank you, Gypsy Bean Coffee Shop for encouraging me to do good things.
Focus Scripture:
Hebrews 13:16
16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
Photos included in Devotions are captured by David Cain – The Cain Gallery. Photos are available for sale by contacting The Cain Gallery
Our days can be filled with joys and laughter, excitement and celebration. They can also be filled with loss and difficulty, grief and tears. Both are okay. There are times for both. There are moments that hold both. There are also days of neither. Those days of “hanging on” are part of life too. We could be having just an okay day, one that is simply about making it through. And that’s okay too. There are gifts in each of these days. We are not prisoners of despair. We have been given a glimpse of promise.
We can easily identify the gifts of a joyful day. We physically feel the uplifting of laughter. But there are times when tears cleanse. There are days when grief is speaking to us in our darkness and reminding us of the light. There are occasions when having a moment to just breathe is all we could ask or hope. And those are gifts too.
With all that goes on in our lives, it is difficult to be okay. It can be challenging to find the time to simply be. We can be pushed for the opportunity to enjoy what God has given us. Some days, it is enough to simply be okay. No fireworks or excitement needed. No pep talks or dream catching required. It is okay to simply be okay. To live today, to take a deep breath, to feel God’s warmth and presence is more than enough. To know that we are loved beyond measure is more than we can comprehend – but it means we can be okay. To know that we are not alone in our battle is enough for today.
If you struggle today, know that you are not alone. You do not fight these battles alone. God is with us. He is holding us up even when we feel like collapsing. He helps us to melt into his presence knowing that we are okay. For today, okay is more than enough.
Focus Scripture:
Psalm 42:1-3, 11
1 As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God? 3 My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me continually, “Where is your God?”
11 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God.
Photos included in Devotions are captured by David Cain – The Cain Gallery. Photos are available for sale by contacting The Cain Gallery
We all feel it, we all experience it, we all find a way to deal with it. Some seem to glide through while others seem to get stuck in quicksand. But no one gets to avoid it. Grief is something we all encounter at some point in our lives. Someone we love passes away and we are left with a void which cannot be filled. If that is not enough, we can find our grief compounding. Little things which would not have otherwise hurt us much now make a huge impact. Small changes have a much larger meaning. Changing our home or getting new neighbors can throw off the whole dynamic. Larger changes have a much larger impact. Divorces, health problems, children or grandchildren going off to college, or job changes can all pose a greater challenge. They can evoke emotions we are not expecting. To top it all off, dealing with the pandemic layers on our grief in an often unbearable thickness. When we are forced to change our regular habits that order our day, it can feel devastating.
If you are feeling this way, know that you are not alone. There is nothing wrong with you. What you are experiencing is normal and expected in times like these. You have lost someone you love. You are trying to figure out what it means to move forward without this person in your life. It can feel like venturing through a strange and unfamiliar land with no map and no clear direction. Anything that you approach can feel even more difficult. It is okay. You are not alone in your journey. This is not unusual. These times may be difficult and unusual, but you do not face this alone.
As you travel this journey of grief, be kind to yourself. Allow yourself to grieve. Know that it is okay to be angry about your current situation. It is okay to be mad that things are not normal and that your normal has been balled up and thrown in the trash can. It is okay to feel lost and not know where the next step will take you. Don’t try to move too fast through the journey – it isn’t helpful. Don’t worry about other people’s timeline. It doesn’t matter what a family member did when she lost her spouse. It doesn’t have any impact how quickly he was getting out and doing things after losing his loved one. You are not them. They are not you. You are traveling this journey in your time and in your way. Other people’s journey and timeline does not impact you. You are okay. Go at your pace. Find your rhythm.
On this grief journey, it is helpful to stay tuned to the goodness that is around. There are small yet powerful ways that God speaks to us in our grief. It may be the song of a bird that reminds us of our loved one. It may be a sunrise or a gentle breeze. It may be the sound of rain on our roof or the majestic thunder that awakens us to life. There are so many subtle but powerful ways that God is reminding us that we are not forgotten. We are not alone. We do not travel this journey without God by our side.
For me, most importantly, know that God is with you through it all. He does not adhere to social distancing. He speaks to us when we cannot hear any other. He has ways of reaching out to us when we don’t know where else to turn. I pray you feel his presence today. I pray he fills you with his love and reminds you of just how precious you are. And I pray he brings you peace on your journey – if just for a moment.
My bushes were completely out of control on the front of my home. They looked diseased. They were overgrown. And then an aggravating vine began to wrap up everything, putting its sticky tentacles on the entire landscape. Enough was enough. I finally chose to have them all dug up, the whole thing. Whatever was there had to go. I needed a fresh start. I needed a clean slate. I wanted to be able to rethink how to make it beautiful again.
We do that with our closets, with our garages, with our cars, and our out-buildings. We clean out. When we have had enough of looking at it all, we finally begin to get rid of the unnecessary. We eliminate the things which carry a heavy weight. Sometimes it takes an event or a friend to encourage us to get rid of the excess. Sometimes it is because we are just so tired of looking at it.
We do this with so many things, why not with our lives? Why don’t we look at the things which are holding us back and begin to clean up? Why not look at the things we are reading or hearing or taking in and begin to evaluate the usefulness of it all? What about looking at the mistakes from our past that continue to haunt us or the things we wish we had done and start to clean out our hearts? Maybe it begins with forgiving ourselves. Maybe it begins with forgiving someone else. Maybe it is a matter of making better choices. It could be picking something valuable to read or hear. It might be allowing God to clean us up so that we can live free, really free.
I don’t know what your situation is, but you do. You know what needs to go. You know what is damaging your heart, suffocating your spirit, and keeping you from loving God and loving others. You know what needs to be cleaned out. Today, I pray that God shows you how to begin…one step at a time. Let’s clean up, clean out, and live free.
Focus Scripture:
Psalm 51:1-2, 10-12
1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and rightspirit within me. 11 Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willingspirit.
Photos included in Devotions are captured by David Cain – The Cain Gallery. Photos are available for sale by contacting The Cain Gallery
SEEING THE EXTRAORDINARY 
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