Your Steadfast Love
Do you ever feel like everything in this world changes so rapidly that it feels almost impossible to keep up? With 24/7 news, social media, family, friends, and co-workers with solid opinions, how hard is it to keep up with what’s happening today?
I remember in early 2020 there was a massive debate about whether zinc would help build your immune system. Some experts said yes; others said don’t waste your money. Is cow’s milk better than nut milk? What about raw dairy? Or one of my favorite debates is whether carbs or fat are the true enemies of weight loss!
There’s just so much new information, outdated information, and old ways of thinking that it’s hard to make informed decisions and opinions today. Not only is it hard to make an informed decision, but many are looking for the next best thing, which typically leaves us feeling empty and defeated. But what we can always count on is God’s love for us. King David says of the Lord,
Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep; man and beast you save, O Lord. Psalm 36:5-6 (ESV)
While the world always has something new, God is steadfast and unchanging. His love for us is precious and strong. So, if you feel overwhelmed with what’s on the news or the latest press release from the White House, remember that God is constant. He does not change. In Hebrews 13:8, the writer sums this up so well, saying,
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
What a relief that the God of the universe is unchanging. He does not get swayed by politics, feelings, or world events. He is constant, and He is good.
How precious is Your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings (Psalm 36:7). Thank You for being constant in a changing world. Thank You for allowing us to take refuge in you when we feel overwhelmed by the world. Thank You for providing all the answers we need. Father, when we get caught up in the world’s ways, remind us that You are steadfast, and we can always find refuge in You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Passing Through the Waters
Roy Berkenbosch, author, Today Devotions
SCRIPTURE READING — ISAIAH 43:1-7
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. . . .”
These words about passing through waters had a special meaning for the people of Israel. When they fled from Egypt, they came to the impassable Red Sea, and it seemed they would be trapped by the pursuing Pharaoh and his army. But God miraculously opened a way so that they could cross on dry land (Exodus 14). Later they also crossed the Jordan River on dry ground to enter the promised land (Joshua 3-4). So the idea of passing through waters became a shorthand way of saying that God would watch over them through all kinds of adversity.
These words have special meaning for the people of Satkhira in southern Bangladesh. They live on a huge flood plain near the world’s largest mangrove forest. They often experience cyclones and storm surges that cause massive flooding. Rising sea levels are also flooding miles of rice paddies with saltwater, destroying farmland, displacing families, and leading to economic hardship, food insecurity, and climate refugees.
As these folks “pass through the waters,” they are not alone but are being accompanied by Christian organizations who help them learn new skills, find new employment, and adapt their farming techniques. And they are learning to trust God.
All of us can trust God in the storms and challenges of life. He is right there with us.
God, grant your mercy in the lives of everyone facing challenges. As you promise, be with us all as we “pass through the waters.” Amen.
Believing is Seeing – Streams in the Desert – July 24
- 202224 Jul
Then believed they his words; they sang his praise. They soon forgot his works; they waited not for his counsel; but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert. And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul (Psalms 106:12-15).
We read of Moses, that “he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.” Exactly the opposite was true of the children of Israel in this record. They endured only when the circumstances were favorable; they were largely governed by the things that appealed to their senses, in place of resting in the invisible and eternal God.
In the present day there are those who live intermittent Christian lives because they have become occupied with the outward, and center in circumstances, in place of centering in God. God wants us more and more to see Him in everything, and to call nothing small if it bears us His message.
Here we read of the children of Israel, “Then they believed his words.” They did not believe till after they saw–when they saw Him work, then they believed. They really doubted God when they came to the Red Sea; but when God opened the way and led them across and they saw Pharaoh and his host drowned–“then they believed.” They led an up and down life because of this kind of faith; it was a faith that depended upon circumstances. This is not the kind of faith God wants us to have.
The world says “seeing is believing,” but God wants us to believe in order to see. The Psalmist said, “I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”
Do you believe God only when the circumstances are favorable, or do you believe no matter what the circumstances may be?
–C. H. P.
Faith is to believe what we do not see, and the reward of this faith is to see what we believe.
–St. Augustine
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