The LORD works out everything to its proper end— even the wicked for a day of disaster.
Proverbs 16: 4 (NIV)
God can use everyday occurrences to talk to us. One of these times for me was when my son and I put up the new porch swing. This devotion looks at what God had to tell me.
Nuggets
- God wants us to read His Word so that we are prepared for trials.
- God will give us what we need to do His work.
God also wants us to use the tools we already have. - While we are in the throes of temptation, we need to be buried in God.
- We have to keep in constant communication with God.
- God takes away sometimes, but He can replace things with an upgrade.
We have moved a couple of times over the last five years. I was living in this Cracker Box townhouse when Adam moved in with me. From there, we moved into the Hollywood Hotel. It was a really nice, really big condo — with a really big price tag.
Next, we moved into Cockroach Alley — renamed the Mouse Trap. I thought it had been the premier apartment complex.
It may have been. Some day in the past. The distant past.
We really like where we are living now. It has the layout of Cracker Box with the ambiance of the Hollywood Hotel.
One of the things I really missed moving from the Hollywood Hotel to the Mouse Trap was I had to give up my porch swing. I didn’t have a back porch any more. I didn’t have a patio, and the apartment people wouldn’t let me put it on the grass.
I really liked the fact that this place has a back patio. So, right before we went on the mission trip, I bought a porch swing. It has been hot, and Adam started class, so I haven’t been pushing to get it up.
Well, we got it up today. In fact, I am sitting on it right now. I realized some things while we were putting it up.
It Is Good to Read the Directions Before We Start
“And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart” (Deut. 6: 6 ESV).
Adam took the lead on getting it put together. He likes doing “man of the house” things for me.
After we got the box off of the living room floor and out to the patio, the first thing Adam wanted to do was read the directions.
I am thinking, yes. God wants us to read His Word so that we are prepared for trials. God wants us to follow His directions. He wants us to learn them and memorize them.
God wants His Word close to us for those times that we feel He isn’t. (Yes, He is still there, but we aren’t looking right.) When Satan comes testing and God is giving us the room to decide for or against, His Word in our hearts can be a big help in choosing for Him.
God Gives Us the Tools We Need
“Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen” (Heb. 13: 20-21 ESV).
Since this was the second porch swing we have put together and I got them at the same place, we knew there would be a nifty ratchet wrench included. It really helps to get all the screws tightened up.
Adam made the comment that God will give us what we need to do His work. If He is calling us to something new, He will give us the skills and knowledge that we need to know.
Okay, it may be an as-we-need-to-know basis. But He provides what we need when we need it.
We Are Still Going to Need to Use the Tools We Already Have
“God planned for us to do good things and to live as he has always wanted us to live. This is why he sent Christ to make us what we are” (Eph. 2: 10 CEV).
Adam and I had a discussion when we first opened the box. What were we going to use to open it?
I told Adam to go down to the basement and get the utility knife — and bring up the red tool box while he was there. He just brought up the knife.
About halfway through, Adam said we needed the Philips screwdriver. So, I went down and got the screwdriver — and the toolbox.
You see, God also wants us to use the tools we already have. We may have used them before — maybe in a different way.
But God doesn’t just provide for us for the day. God is in this for the long haul — eternity.
We Are Going to Have to Read the Directions As We Go
“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed” (Mk. 1: 35 NIV).
Adam wasn’t done with the directions after he read them the first time. He would do one step, and then reread the directions for the next step. He did it the right way.
While we are in the throes of temptation, we need to be buried in God — in His Word, in prayer, in fellowship with others. We have to keep our focus on Him.
Hydrate
“pray without ceasing” (I Thess. 5: 17 ESV).
Adam was very appreciative when I brought out a couple of bottles of water. It was in the mid-80s. The afternoon sun was beating down on us.
Pray. We have to keep in constant communication with God. The connection will refresh us and help us grow closer to Him.
New Might Be Nicer
“And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before” (Job 42: 10 ESV).
I really liked my old porch swing. I would get home from work, and if Adam had already eaten or wasn’t eating what I was, I would eat on the porch swing. I would get my balance back after a long, hard day.
On the weekends, I would take all my stuff out and study out there. Yes, lap top and stats books kind of got bulky out there, but I was outside. To me that was restorative.
You know, this porch swing is nicer. It is a three-seater instead of a two-seater. The cushions are thicker and a pretty red color instead of tannish. There is a bar between the A-frame legs the other didn’t have. That should give it more stability.
Yes, God takes away sometimes (or so it appears). He can replace things with an upgrade.
Making the Connections
We have to be careful, though. Sometimes, we expect God to replace with bigger and better. We expect the “… twice as much as he had before” treatment all the time (Job 42: 10 ESV).
That isn’t always the case. God will give us what we need to further His kingdom. That is not necessarily what will have us sitting pretty in this life. It is about Him, not us.
How Do We Apply This?
Bottom line is we have to keep our eyes focused on Him. We have to let Him be Lord of our lives. He has to be the one in control.
Remember, God wants to be the God of the big things as well as the little things of our lives. He wants to be involved with us every day, not just special occasions.
God wants the relationship.
Heavenly Father. Thank You for providing for us. Your love and grace has provided a way for our relationship with You to be restored. Help us to keep that relationship as a priority in our lives. May we keep our focus on You by reading Your Word and praying to You. Amen.
What do you think?
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