BIG Life Devotional | Daily Devotional for Women

  God sees things we can’t see from our current place and position. Our perspective is grounded in reality, while God’s perspective is in light of eternity. His picture is a gazillion times larger than ours. We are limited to here and now and what we think we know. God actually knew every day of your life before your first breath, and how your breath would affect generations to come. You were perfectly placed in this moment in time for a destiny you cannot fathom, but God knows intimately. This weekend I experienced the phenomenon of perspective. A seemingly magical shifting of space and time that changed reality. For the first time in over 30 years, I returned to my childhood home. My brother and I walked the same woods we explored as kids. We found the spring where we spent every day of our summers playing. We stood in the location of the teepee we built and relived our greatest memories. My mama and I found the exact spot on our old 40 acres where we used to sunbathe, clothing optional. We stood in front of the first home my Daddy built us with his hands and marveled at his fingerprints still all over his creation that now outlives him. The barn where he taught me how to milk a cow was still there. The trees he planted are now stately fixtures in the front yard we all worked so hard in. But space and time shifted yesterday when we walked down the rocky road Daddy made to the pond. The pond was our family gathering place for 6 years of my childhood. Nightly, the 4 of us would pile on our old gray tractor, ride that bumpy steep road all the way down the mountain, and find the catfish gathered at the shoreline waiting for their feeding. But my favorite part of the pond was the finish line it represented on my little white 50 Yamaha dirt bike. When I made it to the pond, I knew I had survived the long dangerous ride down the mountain to my waterside destination. As a little girl, standing at the pond looking back up the hill through the trees, I could barely see our house. My brother and I felt as if we were explorers of a foreign land, far far far from home. To my absolute shock and surprise, the walk down to the pond yesterday with my 44 year old legs was short. The view of the house from down below looked completely different with my 44 year old eyes. Standing at the pond I wasn’t far from home, the house was right there. I was just in the back yard, not some foreign land far far away. And the climb to return, nothing. It wasn’t the hard climb I remember. How had the landscape changed this much? What had happened to the mountain I remember from my childhood? The mountain had not changed, I changed. My perspective is now larger than the perspective I had as a 10 year old little girl. I now return having climbed real mountains high above the clouds, putting this little hill in it’s rightful category. The pond seemed so much smaller than I remember, because now I return having lived on the shores of the ocean. I’ve seen bigger things now. If we haven’t seen more, experienced more, survived more, our perspective is limited and little things are blown out of proportion. Could the very thing you’ve been so worried about simply be blown out of proportion? You’re looking at this problem with a zoom lens when there’s so much more to the picture you’re missing. Zoom out. Step back. Look around. Life is still beautiful, isn’t it? As you continue to live and experience life, you will begin to understand what God has always known, this isn’t nearly as big of a problem as you think. The mountain you face now will one day be an easy climb with the proper perspective. Your life is currently growing. Your perspective is expanding. The life you live is getting bigger, and as it does, you begin to see things differently.

Even when things seem confusing, God’s divine plan is unfolding for your good. Even when things seem out of control, God is in complete control. Even when you are uncertain, God is absolutely certain. He’s absolutely certain of the potential he placed within you, the power available to you, and his plan of victory before you. What you don’t understand right now is the absolute VICTORY ahead. You can’t see how this is all working together. You have no idea how the cut outs and jagged edges of this piece allow the next piece to fit perfectly. This all appears broken right now, but precious daughter of the almighty King, you’re about to be put back together again. Kintsugi is the ancient Japanese art of taking broken pottery and putting it back together again using liquid gold. A broken bowl is of no value or use, however, when gold fills the cracks the once broken bowl becomes not only a work of art, but of tremendous value. The beauty is found in the brokenness. The uniqueness is displayed in the gold which now outlines the pieces being put back together. The things that once broke you, the shattered hopes and dreams which have become a handful of pieces with sharp edges, these are the very things God wants to use to make your life more valuable. He fills the cracks. He puts you back together. He brings beauty and value to the very things you were about to throw away. Nothing is wasted with God. Every piece of your story has it’s place. Yes, even the worst pieces. Even the pieces you try to hide. God says give me that piece of your life, give me that shame and guilt, give me that mistake and hurt, and let me place it perfectly to make you whole again. God needs it all, then he uses it all. Hold nothing back from him. Your complete surrender of the broken pieces allows the complete redemption of God’s victorious work in your life. You don’t have to hide where you’ve been broken. God puts what was once broken on display as a priceless work of art that is your life filled with purpose. We’re all seeking purpose in life. It’s a yearning we were designed with to continually lead us to our destiny. Think of purpose as the wine inside a pitcher. If the pitcher is broken, it cannot hold the wine. Only if the broken pieces of the pitcher are put back together again and sealed, can it contain the wine. Your life can only hold it’s purpose if all the broken pieces are surrendered to be put back together. The one piece you’re holding back could be the missing piece that has always prevented your fulfilling purpose. God doesn’t use perfect people. He uses broken people he can put back together again. Never once do we see Jesus drawn to someone who didn’t need him. Never once do we see Jesus perform a miracle when there wasn’t first a need for a miracle. Jesus responds to the need. He goes where the brokenness is. He shows up where the pieces are on the floor and there’s no way to pick them back up again. He comes in when it seems too late and proves he’s right on time. If you’re pretending like you’ve got this all together and you can hold it together … girl, you must be exhausted. If you’re putting on a show like you’ve never screwed this thing up royally, please know this … your show probably isn’t worth watching. Nobody wants to see your perfection. No one is inspired by your spotless record of success. You know why … because we all know that’s not real. What the world needs to see is the Jesus in you. The Jesus that filled your cracks and empty spaces and put the pieces back together again. The Jesus that used it all for good so you could now hold a purpose in your life. 1 Peter 1: 6-7 “In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in a...

Are you waiting? Waiting on an answer? Waiting for something to change? Waiting for something to happen? And as you wait, your entire life feels like it’s on hold. Why the delay? Why this stagnant time where nothing seems to be happening? Why is there so much uncertainty about your future? What is God doing here? Honey, if you could see what God is doing for you, you wouldn’t question. If you could understand what he is working, you wouldn’t be so frustrated. But sitting here today, you only see today, and maybe today you’re not where you hoped you would be or where you though you should be by now. Timing. We have a timeline … then there’s God’s timeline. We have a way … and God has a way. Which one is better? Which one will you put your hope in? Ecclesiastes 8:6 says “There is a proper time and procedure for every matter, though a person may be weighed down by misery.” You may be waiting and the wait may be hard, but God is still working. God’s plan is still in progress and at the proper time, the BEST TIME, it will happen. Make friends with this now and your misery will be lightened … you do not know the way or the time better than God. I have some great plans working for the next phase of my life. In 3 weeks we are selling everything, leaving our little downtown empty nest loft in Missouri, buying a house in El Paso as our homebase to be near our soldier boy stationed there, and traveling the country on countless adventures hosting retreats in Colorado, California and Tennessee. Dang, that sounds like an amazing plan and we’re just 3 weeks away from stepping into it. And boom … half of our retreats are rescheduled. Change of plans. Okay, we’ll focus on buying that house and spending time with our soldier boy. Yesterday we find out he is getting deployed. Well, there goes our entire plan. Now we’ve sold everything, about to be homeless and we’re waiting on a new plan. And I believe God says “you’re right where I want you!” Whatever you’re waiting on, understand this, WAITING IS NOT A PUNISHMENT, IT’S A PROCESS. I know this wait feels like a punishment. Nobody likes being stuck in limbo and being delayed in progress. This isn’t time out. You haven’t been sent to your corner in punishment. You haven’t been forgotten or looked over. This is time for unfolding. This is time for developing something greater than you had planned. There’s something happening you can’t see and it’s bigger than you can imagine. When you plant a seed, you don’t sit and watch the soil for immediate growth, do you? You understand the seed is going through a process in the depths of the soil. In the darkness there is change happening you can’t see. If you dig up that seed because you grow impatient, you damage it’s progress. And so you wait, knowing the evidence of change will come, but it won’t happen quickly. Just as the seed isn’t being punished in the waiting, neither are you. This is just a process. It’s easy to believe when our plans gets ruined, or our timeline gets thrown out, that we’re being kept FROM something. We had something good working and now we’re being held back from it. This is where frustration and disappointment settles in. It’s normal to feel that way. I’ve felt that way lately. However, we must be strong enough in our faith to resist the urge to act like a 5 year old throwing a temper tantrum demanding her own way, and remember THERE’S MORE WE CAN’T SEE. Frustration and disappointment are often the enemy’s seeds of destruction. Our impatience grows, our depression grows, hopelessness grows, and soon we find ourselves infested with weeds instead of the good seeds we pl...

I watched a bird meticulously build her nest for several days in our backyard pergola. Every morning I would go out to find she had added more to the nest until it was perfection, awaiting her precious eggs. Then a storm came through overnight and the next morning I found her perfectly constructed nest laying on the cement below. Everything she had worked for was gone. The babies would be coming soon and she had no nest for them. Imagine the panic. Poor mama must have been stressed the heck out. Have you ever felt that way? Maybe you even feel that way right now. You worked so hard, you were so close, then it was gone. You’re left wondering what you’re going to do and how this will ever be okay again. But honey, look at your track record. You have a 100% survival rate so far. You’ve made it through every single thing that has ever happened to you. And whether you acknowledge him or not, that was God getting you through. That was God’s provision. That was God’s blessing. That was God’s divine work in your life. Let God’s proven provision bring you peace today. He has proven his faithfulness to you. He will care for you through this too. After finding the fallen nest, I quickly noticed one bird flying through the air with a long piece of straw. There she was, rebuilding her nest. She was working quickly to prepare for the eggs she was about to lay. What she needed was provided. That day, I saw God’s hand at work, caring for this bird. Providing what was needed, even when things had gone wrong. Why aren’t we able to see this better in our daily lives? Why do we assume the burden and stress when God so clearly demonstrates not only his ability, but his desire to care for us? There’s a paragraph in my bible with the title “DO NOT WORRY”. The words are directly from Jesus so their power is life altering. His words are for you and for me, for today. Matthew 6:26-27 “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” The birds trust what they need will be there when they need it, even when disaster hits. We can too, and even more so. Jesus says you are valuable. He says you are priceless. He says your heavenly father will make a way for you. And your worrying will not help anything. Watch the bird once those eggs hatch and there are hungry little mouths to feed. She flies out of the nest searching for what is needed for that day. Food is needed to take back to her babies. If she sits in her nest and worries about how hard it will be to find a worm, are the babies fed? If she chirps away and sings a sad song to the babies about the stress of flying out once again to feed them, does she help anything? If she worries too much about leaving the babies and circling the nest like a helicopter parent, she can’t bring back dinner. So, she trusts. Every day she trusts. She leaves the nest with confidence knowing the babies are hungry and she will come back with food for them. Daily trust for their daily provision. And Jesus says, look how Papa takes care of that bird. Look how he has exactly what she needs as she goes out to find it. Look how she trusts and he provides. And won’t he do even more for you? Won’t Papa take care of you? Oh my sister, why are you singing that sad song? Why were you worrying yesterday? Why sit and dwell on what is lost when God has given you the opportunity to do something today? I slept with my windows open last night. The birds woke me with their songs this morning. Their joy is evident. They are happy to be alive. They were cared for yesterday, and they are preparing to go out and find what God has provided for them and their family again today.

Jesus extended an invitation to two brothers who were fishing. The invitation was simple, “Come, follow me.” He wasn’t inviting them to a business meeting. It wasn’t a 3 day conference or a weekend trip. The invitation was for an adventure. An adventure with Jesus. Today, you and I receive that same invitation. Come, let’s follow Jesus. Will it be easy? No. Will it be comfortable? No. Will it always make sense? No. Will it be the adventure of a lifetime? Absolutely! Jesus told those fishermen if they would follow him he would make them fishers of men. What they had been doing would be elevated to a whole new level of meaning and impact. The skills they had would be used for a greater purpose. We each long for a greater purpose. Something of deeper meaning than just earning a paycheck and watching it go. More than doing what we’ve always done where we’ve always done it. Do you know why you long for more? Because you were created for more. It is by great design of the master that you desire a greater purpose. It’s not you being selfish or ungrateful for where you are, it’s the result of a calling on your life. A calling every single one of us are beckoned by. The calling of an adventure with Jesus where we become someone more and do something greater. Now, this is important … how would these simple fishermen achieve this higher level of living and find greater purpose? Jesus said “I WILL MAKE YOU FISHERS OF MEN.” Jesus does the making. Here we are trying to remake ourselves while we contort into some twisted shape hoping the new thing sticks, and we’ve missed the invitation. If we will follow Jesus, he will make us into something greater. Simon and Andrew were nothing more than fishermen. They had the very basics of skills and job titles. Catch fish and sell the fish, repeat again the next day. Yet, they were qualified for MORE. Why do we disqualify ourselves, assuming we could never do anything great for Jesus? It’s easy to see the speaker on the stage, the author of the book, or the band singing the song and believe they were created for something bigger than you … BUT YOU WOULD BE WRONG. Everything you need to do is summed up in Jesus’ invitation. Follow him and he will do the making! I’m a little country girl without a single day of college, just following Jesus on a great adventure while he makes me into more. I’m a follower. He’s the maker. Simon and Andrew had one skill, catching fish. Jesus would use their skill for a great purpose and instead of drawing in fish, they would draw in souls. They weren’t great speakers or authors, they weren’t powerful or influential, they didn’t have wealth or status. They were simply willing. Willing to follow. Follow Jesus. And … Jesus did the making. He took what they could do and multiplied it beyond their wildest imaginations. They not only witnessed miracles, they were part of the miracles. They traveled, they experienced, they grew, and they became. Became who only Jesus could make them become. Who could Jesus make you become? What could he do with your life? Where could he lead you? What could you experience? You want to see miracles? You want to be part of miracles? The invitation is yours … come, follow Jesus. As you follow him, he will do the making of YOU. The transformation will happen so gradually you won’t even know it’s happening sometimes. But you will begin seeing things differently. Your perspective will be changed. Your thoughts will change. Your words will be affected. Your heart will be turned. Then your actions will be impacted. Your habits will change. Your desires will shift. Your courage will build. The opportunities will come, and one day you’ll realize you’re doin...

If God isn’t getting you out of it, then he’s giving you the strength to get through it. If it’s not good yet, then God’s not done yet. Your understanding is not required. Your trust however is. Trust him and keep on doing good. Some things in life simply don’t make sense. I don’t understand how we’re standing on the earth at this moment as it spins 1,000 miles per hour and we don’t feel a thing. My hair isn’t even moving! I don’t understand why my daughter, the little girl we fought so hard to rescue when she was an orphaned 4 year old, has chosen to walk away from our family a year ago, and not come back. I know God could stop her in her tracks, but he doesn’t. I don’t understand that. Have you ever been there? Standing in this place in life where you don’t understand WHY and HOW this could happen. Left questioning if God is really for you, then why did this happen? Asking how a God who loves could sit and watch and do nothing. What if he isn’t watching and doing nothing, but he’s doing EVERYTHING. He’s doing everything you can’t see. He’s doing more than you could ever imagine. I have a friend who lost her 6 year old daughter to cancer. She has gone through the unimaginable. She has experienced pain on a level no mom should ever experience. With deep wounds now filled with words of wisdom she once told me “I live every day knowing that it may not make sense now, but some day I will understand it all.” I’m left looking at the things in my own life that I don’t understand, saying YO PAMELA GET IT TOGETHER … GIRL LIVE YOUR LIFE. How many times do we get hung up on why and how, and we waste perfectly good days of life being angry or frustrated? Have you ever let a broken appliance rock your world? Seriously the washing machine goes out and the dirty clothes quickly pile up. The refrigerator stops working and $200 worth of groceries spoil. The garbage disposal jams and there’s unknown objects awaiting your hands in dirty water. It’s like a personal attack on you as a human being! We lose our wallet. We get a speeding ticket. Our phone takes a flying leap out of our hand onto the concrete and the earth stands still as you pick it up and ever so slowly turn it over, holding your breath saying please no, please no, no, no, no and yip, it’s shattered. Dang it! Why?!!!! Why me? Why today? Then we spend the remainder of the day ticked off over our bad luck and what it will cost us. GET A GRIP WOMAN! SERIOUSLY. What first world problems have you let get your panties in a wad this month while others with life altering truths are choosing to wake up each day and say “I don’t understand it now, but I trust one day I will.” This is the kind of faith we’re called to. This is the kind of trust God is working to develop in you. He doesn’t expect you to understand it because you won’t. My entire life I’ve been told God would never give me more than I can handle. And you know what, that’s absolutely wrong. God will give you more than you can handle time and time again. Why? So you never forget HIS power in your life. What he will not do, is he will never give you more than HE can handle. Who has something in their life out of their control right now? Something to heavy for you to carry? Something you can’t fix? Something you can’t handle? What if it’s supposed to be that way? This is for God to handle, and for you to trust. I Peter 4:19 says “Those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.” The Message translation says “So if you find life difficult because you’re doing what God said, take it in stride. Trust him. He knows what he’s doing, and he’ll keep on doing it.”

Are you currently content? Do you feel at peace and satisfied right now? Some would say our current circumstances prohibit being content. Our world has been turned upside down. Ya’ll I haven’t had a Starbucks in 6 weeks. Schedules are all out of whack, some jobs have been lost while other jobs never seem to be finished. These are crazy times! Is it possible to be content in the crazy? Paul is our biblical mentor on contentment. In a thank you letter to those who had sent him a bit of financial support, he wrote the famous scripture Philippians 4: 11-13 “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” He wasn’t being dramatic. This man knew hardship. He had been whipped 5 times, beat 3 times, stoned once, lived through 3 shipwrecks, and thrown in prison a few times. In fact, he was writing this thank you letter from a prison cell. AND YET HE WAS CONTENT. Make a list of your current hardships. I’m pretty sure Paul’s would be longer. Life hadn’t been fair to him and it continued to be unfair sitting in prison for something he didn’t do. But he hadn’t grown bitter. In fact, he is saying through it all, he has found a way to get better. “I have LEARNED to be content.” Is that what’s happening here my bored or overwhelmed, stressed out or worried sisters? Are we LEARNING TO BE CONTENT? This is a learned emotion. We aren’t born with contentment. From infancy, we cried to get what we wanted. Then we just moved on to complaining about it. We sit and think about what we do not have and we feel unsettled and unhappy. And in it all, we are students here learning a lesson. Contentment isn’t a theory that can be taught. It isn’t something we can master while getting our way and having more than enough. Contentment is only learned in the trenches of hardship and difficulty. Think of contentment as a 6 pack set of abs. We all want the abs. Dang, wouldn’t a set of washboard abs look good on you?!!!!! Crop tops for life if you could replace your 6 chubby belly rolls for 6 abs. How does a person with abs get them? Did they buy them? Were they born with them? Did their mama give them those abs? Was it a pill that created this magical transformation? No. We understand there’s one way to get rock hard abs … a ridiculous amount of situps, crunches, flutter kicks and other torcherous painful moves that leave you laying on the floor in tears. Most of us simply aren’t willing to go through that kind of torture to get that kind of stomach. But some are, and those are the ones with the abs! And contentment is the same way. It is a RESULT of going through the hardship. It is a result of repeated problems and disappointment. It’s having something, then losing it, then working to get it back knowing you may not always have it. Oh, we don’t like that training plan. That’s a high price to pay for contentment. So what … we settle for misery? Paul said I HAVE LEARNED TO BE CONTENT in all these ups and downs of life. He didn’t learn it from a book. He didn’t learn it from a movie. He learned it because he lived it. He had food, then he didn’t have food. He had money, then he didn’t have money. His plans worked, then his plans didn’t work. A continual training of learning what was important. Another lesson in where happiness does and does not come from. With each crunch, the abs grow stronger. The pain brings growth. The pain of your current circumstances also bring growth … IF YOU USE IT...

When you imagine the life God created you for, and the journey to living that life, what do you see? If it’s a journey to travel, what does that journey look like? We often assume the “right path” in life will look like a highway through the flatlands of the midwest. God will go before us, he will remove any obstacles, and he will make it crystal clear we’re on the right road because there will be signs. Yes, signs from the Almighty reading like road signs on the highway that say “you’re doing good Sarah”, “this is the right way Kim”, “keep cruising along Angela.” So we think when we get on this right path, life will clearly be easier, we’ll set the cruise, speed along and arrive safely at our destination which God has planned for us. And we assume if we’re not speeding along, if we’re not seeing the signs, if we’re not finding a big broad highway through the flatlands for easy traveling, clearly we’re not on the right path. Crap. I seem to be on some backroad through ghettos most of the time. I keep finding obstacles in my path and delays along the way. Does this mean I haven’t found what God has planned for me? Does this mean you haven’t found what God has for you? Do struggles and delays, hardships and obstacles represent the WRONG path for your life? Or do they represent the REAL life, not the Hollywood version, for a follower of Christ? Is there a single story in the Bible of a godly person who seemed to be traveling easy? Is there even one example of a person fulfilling their purpose while everything worked perfectly for them? I can’t think of a single one. Not one. You know why? BECAUSE THAT’S NOT HOW GOD WORKS. God works in messes. God works in hardship. God works in deadends. God works in highway closings and backroad detours. Just because this isn’t easy, doesn’t mean this isn’t right. Just because you’ve had to fight and struggle your way to keep this together, doesn’t mean it’s meant to fall apart. Maybe it means it’s worth fighting for. Maybe it means this is exactly where you’re supposed to be because this is where God is working. You’re looking for the signs to get you to the highway for easier traveling, and God says “honey, I never made you for the highway. I made you for roads that go right through these mountains. Roads that cross these rivers. Roads that twist and turn. That’s what you’re made for. Yes, it’s the harder way of travel, but I’ve equipped you for it. We’re taking the scenic route and travel won’t be fast, but I’m going to show you so much along the way.” That’s what God is saying today. Yes, today as you would rather just have a straight shot to joy. Today as you would rather have a clear answer and know the goodness he has planned for you, so you could speed on through this part to get to the happier part. And here on this rocky path you find yourself on, where travel is slow and you can’t see what’s around the bend, there are signs. Not the signs you imagined that would tell you exactly where you are and where you’re going. Not signs that tell you with certainty you get to exit in 5 more miles. If not a single person in scripture had those kind of signs, my guess is we won’t either. But isn’t it funny how we assumed the right path in life where we’re finally going in the direction we need to go, would somehow be more certain than it is. We assumed signs would be everywhere and traveling would be easier. The signs we see say one thing “the best is yet to come.” We haven’t arrived yet my sisters. We must keep going. There is so much more ahead, joy awaits, but the journey continues.

God put his best in you. You are lacking nothing. He didn’t cut corners or go cheap when he created you. He envisioned all you could be, then he put exactly what it takes within you to make it possible. We’re all on a journey, a journey to becoming who we were created to be. There is a path that makes us better and unveils the best version of ourselves. We can over complicate the process and get stuck in the overwhelm of all the details, or we can just get on the right path. The wrong path takes us further away from what God intended for us while the right path leads us to becoming who he imagined we could be. Lord, help me get on the right path and stay on the right path. My desire is to become who you created me to be. Romans 12:2 gives us a simple 3 step plan to becoming our best: (The Message) “Fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.” Now, let’s break down those steps. Step 1. Focus on God I once believed focusing on God meant remaining in a never-ending prayerful meditation state where my mind never wandered off to other things. Ya’ll my mind wanders a lot. I chase squirrels, lots of squirrels. Gray squirrels, brown squirrels, flying squirrels, squirrels with big puffy tails … I find it nearly impossible to stay in a prayerful meditation state for more than 20 seconds at a time. Do you struggle with the same? What if focusing on God is more about just LOOKING for him? Yes, that’s it, you’re looking for God! Looking for his fingerprints on the details of your life. Looking for evidence of his presence. Looking for blessings that remind you of his care for you. Look for him. And when you find him, acknowledge him. Acknowledge that warm sunshine on your face is from your Father. Acknowledge the air that fills your lungs is the very breathe of God. Acknowledge every single good thing in your life today is straight from his hands. Look for God and acknowledge him. You can do this anywhere with everything. Even while chasing squirrels in your head because God made those squirrels, acknowledge him! Whew, didn’t we just take the pressure off focusing on God? We simply look for him, recognize him and give him credit. God, my car started today! I know that was you!!!! God, I have money for groceries today, that was surely you! God, my legs work today. That was you too, wasn’t it?!!!! What happens as you work on step 1 of looking for God? YOU’LL BE CHANGED FROM THE INSIDE OUT! Anything you want to change in your life starts with seeking God in it. God is the master of change. Seriously, if you’re struggling with a bad habit or something you want to overcome, have you asked the master of change for a little help? Yesterday I was chatting with one of the BIG Life girls I mentor and she was asking for advice on being a better listener. She often offends her husband by interrupting him and cutting him off mid-sentence. She doesn’t mean to, it’s just her habit. She’s tried to change a hundred times, but quickly falls back into old ways of talking before listening. I relate to this issue. I have a tendency to get overly excited about a conversation and speak before my turn. And when you’re married to a quality time man, that makes him feel unloved and unheard. Like you don’t have time to listen and you’re trying to rush through to your point. I gave her some advice and practical tips I’ve been working on myself, but you know what the best thing to do would be? Duhhhh … talk to the master of change! He can change us from the inside out!

Whatever your problem is, your solution is nearby. God does not promise a problem free journey, he promises provision for every problem along the way. Look around, your solution is likely less miraculous in appearance than you imagined and more practical in nature. It’s the offering of the little you have which somehow becomes enough to feed thousands. It’s the marching in circles that brings walls down. It’s the singing of praise that makes chains fall off. God works miraculously through the practical. Don’t miss the solution he is offering you today as you wait for something that appears more miraculous. Yesterday we read about the Israelites escaping slavery and crossing the Red Sea. On the other side of the sea, they broke out in celebration and Miriam whips out her tambourine and praises God. She had prepared her praise and premeditated her celebration by bringing her tambourine along. The very next verse after this celebration brings us to the next problem. Now the Israelites are in the desert and what’s lacking in a desert? Water. That’s a problem. Exodus 15:22-24 “Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?” Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became fit to drink.” Here we have a real problem. No drinkable water in the middle of a desert. Imagine walking from Yuma Arizona to Tuscon with no water. That’s a problem. God offered a solution. The solution could not be found in complaining. As the people complained, dying of thirst and facing the disappointment of finding water that was undrinkable, the water remained as it was. God did not respond to their complaining. How much are we complaining right now, and how much is it helping anything? God isn’t drawn in to our complaints, instead I believe it proves we’re not ready for what he is offering. Our complaining proves the lesson hasn’t been learned and the bitterness is still within us. The bitter water represented the bitterness of the Israelites. Even after witnessing the miraculous work of God as they crossed the Red Sea and were saved from the Egyptian Army, they fall back into complaining and wanting to return to Egypt as soon as they faced the next problem. Isn’t that us … we go from praise to complaint in the same day. Whew God you are so good … to …. Oh my gosh this sucks and I hate it. From shaking our tambourine to shaking our head. God did not respond to their complaining. Mamas, how do you respond to your kid’s complaining? Are you eager to jump in and help when they’re whiny? No! That’s what time out is for. Little girl, sit your butt down over here for a hot minute and work on your attitude. After a little time out and attitude adjustment, my kids would typically come back with a different attitude and a tender voice saying “Mama, can you help me now?” My answer … of course honey, now I can help. Papa, can you help me now? I love the Message translation of the Bible because it often refers to God the Father as Papa. That’s who he is, he is YOUR PAPA. Papa, can you help me now? The people complained and the water remained bitter. Moses cried out to God, and God guided him to a solution. Maybe your complaints in the past proved you weren’t ready, but now you’re here with a better attitude, ready to seek God for help. And THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING. God says, of course honey, now I can help. The solution a piece of wood that would turn the bitter water sweet a...

You may be going through hardship now, but are you prepared for victory? What will you do when this struggle turns to success? Prepare yourself now for the other side. Exodus tells us of the great exit of the Israelites from their 430 years of slavery under the rule of Egypt. After plagues troubled Egypt, the Egyptian ruler Pharaoh believed it was because of their slaves, and he demanded they leave overnight immediately. Scripture tells us the Israelites packed up so quickly and left in the night, they didn’t have time to add yeast to their bread, they simply grabbed what they had and ate unleavened bread on the journey. They left in a hurry. And wouldn’t you after spending your entire life in slavery? Freedom was offered overnight, and they ran. Moses was their courageous leader, and God led Moses. Exodus 13: 21-22 says “By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.” And you likely know the rest of the story. As they ran, their captor changed his mind and ran after them with a great army. God led the Israelietes with the pillar of fire at night and the pillar of cloud in the day and he intentionally led them to the shores of the Red Sea. They came to the place where they were sure death awaited them. Swim the sea and drown, turn back and face an angry army. But this is where God had led them because he had a plan. A plan they could not see and a plan they would not understand. Maybe that’s where you are right now. You are right where you’re supposed to be in this hardship and struggle. God hasn’t forsaken you, he has guided you. And this dead end you face, this impossible, is by the order of the Almighty. Why? So he can do the impossible on your behalf. There’s only one way you’ll ever know your God is the God of the impossible, and that’s to stare down impossible and watch him make a way. Were the people scared? Absolutely. Even after seeing how God was guiding them with the pillar of clouds and the pillar of fire? Yes. Wouldn’t you be scared? This is a dead end. It’s completely normal to be scared in your situation. It’s normal to lose sleep. It’s normal to fret and worry. However, remember how Jesus was sound asleep in the boat during a storm? That’s the peace he offers us! His spirit now lives within us, and that’s not a freak-out, panic spirit. It’s a spirit of power and peace. We don’t have to freak out right now. You don’t have to worry yourself sick. Not when the spirit of Jesus dwells within you. You can trust he is with you and he will not leave you. He is making a way through this. Just when the Israelites are freaking out, certain they’re facing death, Moses, led by God, says “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Are these words you need to hear today? DO NOT BE AFRAID. STAND FIRM AND YOU WILL SEE THE DELIVERANCE OF THE LORD. THE LORD WILL FIGHT FOR YOU! Moses then stretches his staff out to the water and the sea is split in two and stands up on it’s end. A perfect path of dry land was made through the sea. Did the people do anything to create this miraculous way? No. They stood and faced their impossible. They didn’t jump out into the sea and start swimming. They didn’t run back to their captors in a panic begging for their lives. They stood on the edge and waited for God to fight for them. Maybe that’s where you are today … on the edge.

You have a balance. What’s remaining of your life. The number of days you have left to live. We all have one, this unknown balance. A number we can’t see, but everyday is another one down. What we can see are the ones we have already spent. We can look back and count the days that turned into years and do nothing about them now. Now those days are spent. Proudly or poorly, either way, they’re done. I had the honor of sitting with my Daddy at the end of the Summer and recounting his life. He shared with me his greatest days and proudest investments of time. And he told me about the part of his life he spent poorly. The investment he made in a job where he was miserable and he could never get that time back. What awaited him was an amazing and successful business he would build on his own, but before then he was afraid to take the leap and spent years working for an unfair man in a dead end job. But he couldn’t see what was ahead, and looking back he realized that part of his life was spent poorly. How are you spending your life? Can you look back and see times spent poorly? Will you look back on today, right now this season you’re in, and see it was wasted? Or will you be proud of your investment of time and how you spent it? You have a balance of your days allotted, and every day you’re spending one, no matter what you do. You can’t save up this day and hold it’s availability for another day. No, hour by hour it’s being spent. Time is running right through your fingers and you can’t hold it back. All you can do is spend it better. Our prayer today is, Father, show me how to spend this life. Show me how to see this treasure for what it is. The value of a day. The preciousness of a moment. The speed of it all. Life goes by so fast, and the older we get, the faster it goes. Do you understand why time seems to go faster and faster? It’s not a phenomenon only you experience, we all do. It’s because the older you get, the more you have in your spent column. When you compare today to what you’ve already spent, today gets smaller and smaller when the spent column grows longer. I’ve lived 44 years. When compare this one year to those I have already lived, it goes fast because I so much to compare it to. When I was 22, there was half the amount to compare a year to, so it went about half as fast. Life is NOT going to slow down for you. It only goes faster from here. You imagine you may have 20, 30, 40 good years of life left and you estimate their speed at your current pace, but you’re wrong. They will go by faster. Faster and faster and faster. Just like money used to go further than it does today, a day used to go further as well. We have less and less time with an ever shrinking balance. Show me how to spend this life. David Dunn sings these lyrics: All I have is what you gave Watching seconds turn to days I was made for more than just to watch it fly A few more turns around the sun Could be hundreds could be one Show me how to spend the treasure of my time Show me how to spend a life We get one of these. One life. We have been spending it whether intentionally or not. There’s no Dave Ramsey savings plan here. You can’t save up your life. You can only spend it well. How many of us are saving up life? Saving up for that special occasion where we will light the candles and break out the fancy dishes. Saving up for some day in the future when we will wear the expensive perfume and try those fake lashes. Living day after day as our favorite fancy panties go unworn. I grew up with a box of dishes that followed us to every new house Daddy built for us. This box was unopened. These dishes were being saved for a special occasion, and literally untouched.

Anyone feel like the tension in your home is so thick you could cut it with a knife? People be all testy after spending this much time together. Everyone’s on edge. Little things annoy the snot out of you and you’re like one loud chew of that sandwich away from slapping someone with it! How many arguments broke out in your house yesterday? Any slammed doors or mad stomping off to get no further than 10 feet apart because no one can go anywhere? I remember the days when all 3 of my kids were in that “alien came and snatched my baby” stage. The stage of 12-14 years old when you understand why some animals eat their young. Overnight my sweet boy turned into the most disgruntled, difficult, defiant ball of raging anger at 13. And my girls … oh mercy! I shiver at the thought of the daily drama. And all of this was without a lock down! So, my heart goes out to the families going through tough stages of life right now. Now, when there’s no escape. Now, when there’s no where to go. Now, when the house seems entirely too small for all these attitudes to fit under one roof. To all the mamas who lost their crap yesterday… To all the households who came to blows and a few doors are barely hanging on the hinges. To all the couples who are annoyed by the sound of the other one breathing now … this devotional is for you. James 1: 19-20 “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.” In the words of a wise little boy, “Listen Linda.” Listen first. It’s always our mouth that gets us in trouble. I’ve never seen a fight break out when both parties are just listening. Listen, don’t speak. Your theme song for the day is the old 90’s hit from Gwen Stefani in No Doubt, “Don’t Speak”. Don’t speak, I know just what you’re sayin’ So please stop explainin’ Don’t tell me ’cause it hurts Don’t speak, I know what you’re thinkin’ I don’t need your reasons Don’t tell me ’cause it hurts Would there be more peace in your home today if you said half of what you said yesterday? If you would just zip your lips, bite your tongue and stop the incessant flow of words spewing from your mouth? Don’t speak. You control one person in your house. One. That one person is you. And you are the person who can change the atmosphere today. How? Simply by listening more, speaking less, and letting anger be your very last emotion. How quick are you to jump to anger? Can you go from chill-lax to fire breathing dragon in 2.0 seconds? Has that ever helped anything? Like ever? So how about we try something different? Girl, put the crazy eyes away for a day. Scripture is clear, your anger isn’t producing what God desires in your life. God’s desire for you is righteousness. Now, don’t get confused and think that means you climb up on your high horse and toot your horn of always being right. Quite the opposite, righteousness looks more like mercy and loving kindness. Oh yes, this can be your guide for navigating the minefield that has become your home. One wrong step, and we have a massive explosion, so let’s not be stepping wrong today sisters. Let’s be quick to listen and slow to speak. As you listen, instead of formulating your snappy comeback in your head or squinting your eyes in the look that could kill something dead, repeat to yourself “mercy with loving kindness”. Mercy with loving kindness. She needs my mercy with loving kindness. He doesn’t need my anger, he needs my mercy with loving kindness. This is what god desires of me.

Have you ever gotten your way and realized your way wasn’t best? Have you ever pushed your point, only to see in the end you were wrong? It’s humbling to come face to face with the fact you don’t have this whole thing figured out. There have been times in my life when I acted like a bull in a china cabinet. I was raging and running, and causing a mess in my wake. My intentions weren’t to hurt anyone, I just thought I knew best as I plowed through everything in my way. Now with a few more years under my belt, I understand what we are to plow through are our own excuses, not people, not warning signs, and not God’s will. We always have our own free will. That’s how life gets messed up. God has a beautiful plan for your life. A plan that accounts for all that currently is and takes you right to where he wants you to be, but that plan is susceptible to your free will. You’re not a robot. You’re free to come and go. Free to mess up, screw up, fall down and stay down. God doesn’t interfere with your free will, however he is forever offering you a way back to his. What would a fully surrendered life to God’s way look like? Where could he take you? What could he do? I honestly don’t know, but here’s what I do know … it would be better than anything I could work up on my own. Right now, you’re imagining a scenario for your future that you believe would be best. Your summer plans wouldn’t be cancelled. Your job would continue and your finances would be secure. Within a few weeks you could hit up the TJ Maxx and max the heck out of your shopping experience cause Lord knows you’ve been missing wandering those isles! The kids would go back to school and you could go back to a world where you’re not forced to play teacher/principle/counselor/coach/cafeteria manager and janitor. The whole family would go back to their regularly scheduled days and you would be happy. Right? Right. Until it all became normal again. Until it was no longer happy. You know what’s funny is, the very things we’re so desperate to get back to are the same things a whole lot of us were dreading and complaining about in February. Hey fellow bull in the china cabinet, running, raging and rushing, CHILL THE HECK OUT FOR JUST A MINUTE. Let’s not mess this up. Let’s not cause a bigger mess. Imagine for just a moment God actually knows what he’s doing. Really. Imagine that. Imagine he sees the bigger picture and he knows exactly where this crazy jacked up piece you’re stressing over right now goes. It all fits together. I mean it would if you would quit coming in and clearing the table. It would if you would quit throwing your hissy fits and full grown woman tantrums. It would if you would surrender, take a breath, step back for a moment and get some perspective. What if your ideas for the future are good, but God has something better? What if that better plan means more things change and more time is required? What if that means this touches your precious summer? Would you still want God’s plans over your own? This is truly a moment of reckoning. Whew, God is stretching me ya’ll because I had big plans for this summer. And in my head those are ridiculously good plans. I had a retreat in a mountain mansion in the Smoky Mountains. I had a move out date in 2 weeks from our little loft in Missouri, and a plan to buy a house in Texas, fix it up like a doll house and put it on AirBnB for fellow adventurers. I had climbing the Rocky Mountains and whitewater rafting adventures planned for 2 retreats in Colorado. I had an entire month planned in California, surfing with my boy, beach sunsets with my husband, an awesome wedding on a yacht, then 3 more retreats in Northern California hiking the coastal trail,

Ya’ll I’m falling in love with Jesus. I’m beginning to see him in a way I’ve never seen him before. Strangely enough, this new found love is the result of a YouTube series. Have you heard about the new series called “The Chosen”? Few people in my circle have seen it, but after hearing one person talk about their new found love with Jesus after watching, I went on a hunt for this series. Turns out, you can’t find it on Netflix or Prime, it’s solely on YouTube. 8 episodes, about 1 hour long each are there to watch for free. I’ve simply never seen Jesus portrayed in such a beautiful human form with divine power and yet loving gentleness. Now that you’ve binge watched Tiger King and you’re looking for your next show, I highly recommend you check out the real king and watch “The Chosen.” I’m completely stricken by this man Jesus. And to think, this is the one who loves me! “The Chosen” doesn’t follow the normal timeline of most Jesus movies. It doesn’t end at the cross or the resurrection. Each episode is an in depth, detailed account of a familiar story in the bible. Episode 4 is my favorite so far. The account of a man in trouble and in over his head. Simon had a tax bill he couldn’t pay, a wife angry for hiding it from her, and only one thing he knew how to do … fish. In desperation he spent the entire night fishing. His friends joined him that night in an effort to help bring in enough fish to pay his debt. But, the entire night was spent dragging in empty nets. They were exhausted and Simon was desperate, knowing the deadline was now here and he had nothing. This is what you call “the end of your rope.” When you’ve done all you can do and it still isn’t enough. When you’ve run out of time and out of resources, and definitely out of luck. I have to wonder if anyone is there today? At the end of your rope? Where what was bad got worse and you don’t see a way out? You have a need, a true need. This is where Jesus shows up. Jesus responds to need. His place is smack dab in the middle of your need. Now I know the story of Jesus showing up on the shore after Simon’s night of futile fishing. I know what happens next, but watching it unfold in this series impacted me like never before. I’m not a professional fisherman by any means. I don’t so much like fishing as I like catching. I’m all in if I’m reeling them in, but sitting for hours without a bite isn’t necessarily my idea of awesomeness. My husband on the other hand, well he can fish for days on end and find pure bliss. Catch or no catch, he’s just happy to be fishing. I’ve been guilty of growing inpatient and throw out a hail Mary prayer like it’s a long shot and ask God to give me a fish. Bring a big one right to my hook and let me reel him in. I know God could do that. It’s not ridiculous to think it’s possible. But it’s never happened. But maybe that’s because I’m not in NEED of a fish. I have no true need of catching a fish, I’m just bored from my unsuccessful attempts. Jesus responds to NEED. What is it you NEED? Simon needed fish. Fish were his livelihood, not just his weekend fun. Without a catch, he did not have what was needed to survive, and his entire night of fishing had left him without a single fish. Nothing had worked. Here is his need … enter Jesus. We read in John 21, Jesus is standing on the shore and asks, “hey boys, did you catch anything?” As if he didn’t already know. The fact that they hadn’t caught anything is exactly why he was there. Then he tells them to go back out and put their nets on the other side of the boat. It’s all familiar right?