2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
A major earthquake struck Taiwan over the weekend, which triggered a tsunami warning as far away as Japan.
This reminded me of when we first moved to Israel in 2003.
I was in my Hebrew class downtown, and my wife and one-month-old baby were alone in our Jerusalem apartment. My wife called me immediately, and this is what she told me; I'll never forget it.
She was sitting in our bedroom with our 1-month-old in her arms when out of nowhere came a sudden loud roaring sound, followed by a shaking of all four walls and all the contents within banging back and forth against them rapidly and with great force. So many things were going through her mind at that moment as she tried to remember what you're supposed to do in a scenario like this. Are you supposed to get under the bed? Or maybe get outside? Yeah, outside! But it would be three flights of steps to get outside, and with a newborn baby in her arms -- how?! She just froze in fright, thinking about what could happen next. But in the midst of it all, Riv looked down at Elianna in her arms. Would you believe she was perfectly content -- happy, smiling, even drifting off to sleep as the whole earth shook all around her. Wow.
Each of us can take a lesson from Elianna. Even in the midst of all the chaos, distress, or crises beyond our control, we must rest, trusting that we're safe in the loving arms of the Father. We shouldn't have a care in the world.
Is your world being shaken right now? Know that God is holding you today. No matter what you're facing, you can trust Him to cover you. Just lay back and enjoy the ride!
Copyright 1999-2024 Worthy Devotions. This devotional was originally published on Worthy Devotions and was reproduced with permission.
How to display the above article within the Worthy Suite WordPress Plugin.
[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]Psalms 34:1 I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. In Budapest, a man goes to the rabbi and complains, "Life is unbearable. There are nine of us living in one room. ...
In the 4th century lived a Christian named Telemachus, in a remote village, tending his garden, and spending much time in prayer. One day, he believed he heard the voice of God telling him to go to Rome, so he obeyed, setting out on foot. Some weeks later, weary from his journey, he arrived in Rome about the time of a great festival.
A survey asked mothers to keep track of how many times they made both negative and positive comments to their children. The surveyed mothers admitted that they criticized at least ten times for every one time they said something favorable. Another survey taken in one city's schools found that the teachers were negative seventy five per cent of the time. This study concluded that it takes four positive statements to a child from a parent or teacher to offset the effects of one negative statement. Wow, when I think about how many times I've said negative things to people in my lifetime, I have some positive paying back to do!
In today's society fast food is making billions. It's slogans are "have it your way" and "have it hot and and have it now". How easy it is for us to fall into this "fast food mentality". It has almost become who we are. But in God's kingdom there's no fast food. We can't always have it our way and now. When we are caught up in this fast food mentality, we lose the true meaning of patience. True patience is the ability to wait on the Lord through trials without complaining and worrying; it is to be tested and persevere through trial.
Have you ever noticed that most of our phone conversations go something like this? You call, say a word or two, they'll say a short thing or two in reply and then something like "Ok, in the middle of something, gotta run, talk to you later"! That's a good example of most of our telephone conversations with people when we were living in the United States.
Yesterday, there was a fascinating article in Bloomberg about how the prices of some paintings are falling rapidly. As I read the article I wondered just how much paintings actually go for.
During World War 2, a staggering 75 million died during those years. In those fateful years, the world fought against the greatest evil it had ever seen, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime.