journey onWord with us

A month of reading through familiar portions of the Old Testament has taken us from a garden to a wilderness, from family struggles to a nation’s unbelief, all the while reminding us of the frailty and selfishness of mankind, the power of God, and His great patience.  We have seen faith exhibited and certainly significant examples of failure in trusting God. From Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Jacob and Esau to Joseph, Moses, Gideon, Samson, Samuel and Saul, the Old Testament has reminded us that God can be trusted. No matter how men and women of all ages have battled sin, selfishness, doubt, relational struggles and trust issues, God has always been trustworthy.

February’s journey through Scripture (from David’s battle with Goliath all the way to Jesus’ profound teaching in the Sermon on the Mount), will show again God’s profound grace and trustworthiness … and man’s struggle to trust Him.  In your continuing journey with us, know that there is nothing that can encourage, strengthen and prepare us for each day’s battle like the Word of God.  Nothing!  And if your life is anything like mine, there is a deep need to receive daily insight from His Word.

As you read and seek God through His Word, I am trusting and will pray for a year of defining moments in your life. Moments of growth and deeper faith for the journey ahead!  I would like to share such a moment from the life of Hudson Taylor that I have personally just revisited. I believe Taylor loved His Lord and wanted to fulfill God’s design for his life. After all, he landed in China in 1854 and started the China Inland Mission. But, for a season, he also struggled mightily in his faith. Then, as I recall, a letter from a friend birthed a defining moment. From that point forward, he stopped striving to be faithful and would instead trust the Faithful One. In essence, he shifted the weight of his faith journey from himself to the Faithful One!  Something all of us need to do.

Think of struggling with faith issues and doubt and then, as the result of the shift …

 “I am no longer anxious about anything … for He, I know, is able to carry out His will, and His will is mine.  It makes no matter where He places me, or how. That is rather for Him to consider than for me, for in the easiest position He must give me His grace, and in the difficult His grace is sufficient.  It little matters to my servant whether I send him to buy a few cash worth of things or the most expensive articles. In either case he looks to me for the money and brings me his purchases.  So, if God should place me in great perplexity, must He not give me much guidance; in positions of great difficulty, much grace; in circumstances of great pressure and trial, much strength? No fear that His resources will be unequal to the emergency!  And His resources are mine—for He is mine, and is with me and dwells in me.”
Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secrets, Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor
(emphasis is mine)

You and I may never claim to be a Hudson Taylor, but we have God’s love letter to us, and in Christ, His power within us.  Could it be that as we read through His Word in 2021, we sense the grace to stop striving and begin to daily lean on the Faithful One? That will be a defining moment.

Continue the Journey in Scripture with us this month!