Aching

Wilderness Day 8 The Empty Undoing

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Genesis 17:15-21
Genesis 18:9-15
Genesis 21:1-7
Hebrews 11:11-16

Wilderness, Day 8

Longing. Waiting. Aching. Barren.

These are not words we think of when we begin following Jesus. We hear about new life, joy, and abundant life, and we are eager to experience them! Yet, in times of wilderness suffering God meets us, reminding us He is faithful and He keeps His promises. 

Imagine you lived in the time of Abraham. You are a wife and expected by everyone in society to take care of your home, bearing and raising children. You wait, year after year, but your womb remains empty. How would you feel?

This is the condition in which we find Sarai in Genesis 11:30. In her culture, a woman who was unable to conceive was subject to shame and disgrace. Children were considered a blessing from God, as well as heirs to their father’s possessions.

In addition, God promised Abram his offspring would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. (Genesis 15:5) For Abram, with no street lights to dull the brightness of all the stars, this visual of God’s promise must have been stunning!

. . . And confounding.
How was this possible for a couple who were beyond child-bearing age?

Faced with this apparent impossibility, Sarai attempted to “help” God fulfill His promise by offering her slave girl, Hagar, to Abram, in order to build a family through her, which was a common practice at the time. (Genesis 16) However, Sarai’s plan only created more pain.

But God’s promise was still in place! He met again with Abram, reminding him that He would multiply his offspring through Sarai. As symbols of His promise, He changed their names to Abraham and Sarah. (Genesis 17:15-21) God promised He would bless her!

Overhearing God’s words, Sarah laughed. (Genesis 18:9-15) I imagine her muttering, “Yeah, like that’ll happen.” Yet, just as He promised, she conceived and gave birth to Isaac, who became the father of Jacob, later named Israel, who would become the father of a great nation. (Genesis 21:1-7)

Can you relate to Sarai’s story?
I’m sure we all can, as we experience difficult, wilderness seasons.
Maybe like Sarah, we long for a child.
Perhaps we’re in a situation where we thought God was giving a direction, but it sure isn’t working out like we planned.

I don’t know what you may be experiencing, but through my own wilderness wanderings, I have learned God is faithful and He keeps His promises.

After giving birth to our first daughter, I knew I wanted more children. I was sure I was made for motherhood, and enjoyed most moments (just being real here, moms!). But I had no idea how difficult it would be to conceive again.

After two years, and multiple negative pregnancy tests, I became discouraged. What was wrong with me? I thought I was a good mom with a happy child, and didn’t the Bible say children are a blessing? I prayed and prayed. I saw the doctor, and tried some medication, praying and hoping it would work.

It did not. The despair I felt was unlike any I’ve felt before, but in my wilderness, God met me. He reminded me that while it seemed He was far away, He was present with me in my excruciating pain. I did not get pregnant in the years following. But that moment of wilderness meeting will always stand out to me.

It would be several years before I would experience motherhood again with the adoption of our youngest daughter. We happily welcomed her into our family, and yet, I’ve also had some pretty sad moments, wishing we could grow our family more. I know the ache. But I also know the joy! In the midst of the struggle, God is so good to comfort and to show me how He has loved me through the years.

In my longing for a baby, I felt barren. Forgotten. However, the Holy Spirit reminded me I am not barren! In fact, God has given us an amazing legacy. Recently, my husband completed nearly 20 years of ministry in our church, and we spent some time in reflection. The Lord brought to mind the faces and names of so many students we have had the honor of knowing over the years.

I have had the privilege of walking through some really hard times with students, parents, and even leaders.
I have had the honor of listening to stories, both of pain and of celebration!

God is good! He knows our hearts and will accomplish His purposes. He is with us in wilderness seasons of sadness and doubt, walking beside us in comfort. Even if life doesn’t look exactly as I imagined, God has blessed me with an abundant life. He can be trusted to bring good out of suffering.

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Kneel Day 10 Why God?

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Daniel 9:1-19
Ephesians 6:10-20
2 Corinthians 12:6-10

Kneel, Day 10

History repeats itself.
Not in the sense that the same events happen over and over, rather that we have been dealing with the consequences of sin since it first marred God’s perfect world.

Today, we’re diving into the prayers of Daniel, who was no stranger to the suffering of life. As part of the Jewish nation, Daniel joined his people as they were exiled from their homeland in Jerusalem and sent to live under the rule and the captivity of Babylon.

Daniel was acutely aware how the exile and captivity were direct consequences of Israel turning away from God to focus on the fleeting rewards the earth has to offer.
He saw suffering magnified in the oppressive rule of Babylon and yet,
he chose faith in the midst of hardship.
With God’s righteous judgment in play, Daniel pleaded to the Lord on behalf of the Jewish people for their forgiveness and reconciliation back to Him. (Daniel 9:1-19) He confesses his sins and the sins of his people. He recognizes God’s judgment upon His people as just and warranted.

Can we say the same today? How often do we wrestle with the weight of the world and ask, “Why, God?” We see the consequences of sin run amuck around us, and we find our hearts aching for something beyond this world.

The battle we experience with sin isn’t against human enemies, but against the forces of the spiritual realm. (Ephesians 6:12) In the battle for our hearts, our only hope is to focus on our merciful God, the only One able to rescue us from the turmoil.

Daniel had some pretty intense first-person experiences with God’s grace and mercy (in a fiery furnace and a lion’s den). (Daniel 3 and 6) He knew the power of the ever-present mercy of God, so he called on those attributes of God and pleaded on behalf of his people for an end to their suffering.

In his prayer, Daniel acknowledges God is righteous and just, while also merciful and gracious. He seizes this opportunity, while experiencing God’s wrath, to confess, to point to God’s greatness, and to remind himself God keeps His promises, including His promise to deliver His people.

Daniel realizes God is enough. There’s no pretense Daniel will receive all the answers, or possess the power to deliver himself or his people from judgment; instead, he recognizes God alone will provide and sustain.

Daniel shows us through his prayer what it means to be in true, intimate relationship with God:
It’s trust.
It’s a confident hope.
It’s surrendering control.
It’s remembering God is for us.

Like Daniel, I find myself currently in a season of loss and missing all that was familiar and safe. I have been asking myself, “Is Jesus enough? Is the hope I see glimmering beyond these struggles enough to sustain me through the valley? Is a relationship with Him all I need?”

God doesn’t require us to have all of the answers, and we can rest knowing we don’t need them. He simply welcomes us, right now, as we are, to trust Him for the Journey.

For our questions, the Lord provides Himself.
“Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God–who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly–and it will be given to him.” (James 1:5)

For our longing for justice, again, the Lord gives Himself.
“This is my servant [. . .] I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring justice to the nations.” (Isaiah 42:1-2)

For our weariness from suffering, the Lord offers Himself.
“Rise up, Lord God! Lift up your hand. Do not forget the oppressed.” (Psalm 10:12)

Consistently, the Lord God invites us to lean into His mercy and compassion, remembering He alone is enough.

What are you waiting on?
What are you wrestling through?
What are your hardships?
Where are you asking, “Why, God?”

Let’s bring these struggles to the Lord. Let’s experience His grace and mercy flooding our hearts as we confess our sins and dive deeper into relationship with Him. Let’s embrace the only One who is enough. He’s already waiting for us!

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Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus. Tap and hold from your mobile device to download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!

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Alive Day 9 The Groaning: Digging Deeper

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Digging Deeper Days

Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!

Yesterday’s Journey Study connects with today’s!
Check out The Groaning!

The Questions

1) What were the sufferings of the present time, and what future glory was Paul referencing? (verse 18)

2) How does the “groaning of creation” point to truth? (verses 19-20, 22)

3) Who are the firstfruits of the Spirit? (verse 23)

Romans 8:18-23

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation eagerly waits with anticipation for God’s sons to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility–not willingly, but because of him who subjected it–in the hope 21 that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage to decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together with labor pains until now. 23 Not only that, but we ourselves who have the Spirit as the firstfruits–we also groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.

Original Intent

1) What were the sufferings of the present time, and what future glory was Paul referencing? (verse 18)
Persecution of the church began as soon as it was birthed. Immediately in Acts we find the temple police and Sadducees putting apostles in prison (Acts 4) and stoning the Christians, including Stephen. (Acts 7) Some of this was under the leadership of Saul (later Paul). Paul suffered greatly after his salvation. Right from the start, he was blinded and needed to find his way to Ananias for prayer in order to be healed. Some think that poor eyesight was the suffering “thorn” he bore, or perhaps his health issues contributed to his poor eyesight. (Acts 9:15-16, 2 Corinthians 12:1-6) (Blue Letter Bible) He wrote to the Corinthians concerning his many trials throughout his ministry. (2 Corinthians 4:8-12) He was beaten, imprisoned, stoned, shipwrecked, weary, sleepless, poor, hungry and thirsty, cold and naked. Yet, through Christ, he prevailed. (2 Corinthians 11:23-28) (Bible Charts.org) He often shared, however, that these sufferings not only kept him humble, but also cultivated his faith. God used Paul’s sufferings to further God’s Kingdom and spread the Gospel to the Gentiles. These persecutions continued not only for Paul, but for all believers in the first century leading up to all the horrific acts of Nero and many others against Christians. Paul’s letters, which were already circulating by the time of Nero, would become a great source of encouragement to the early Church, reminding them of future glory with Christ. We often think of “future glory” as being “when we all get to heaven” where sorrows and tears are gone. But Paul shared with the Romans of the peace available now as well as the certainty of knowing that God was working through their afflictions to produce His character in them. (Romans 5:1-5)

2) How does the “groaning of creation” point to truth? (verses 19-20, 22)
“The heaven declares the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.” (Psalm 19:1) God’s creation is so wonderful that it alone can draw us to God. Just from observing creation, all people can see that God is Truth; we are all without excuse of understanding a Creator exists. “Ever since the creation of the world His eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things He has made.” (Romans 1:20) Yet, creation has been groaning since the Fall of Man. (Genesis 3) The ground was “subjected to futility” (verse 20) because of sin and it began to decay even as our bodies decay; aching to be restored to its original state. Creation waits, just as we wait, to be fully redeemed. Isaiah shares how it once was in the Garden of Eden before sin entered the world, and how it will be again one day, ‘The wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the goat. The calf, the young lion, and the fattened calf will be together, and a child will lead them.” (Read more in Isaiah 11:6-9!) The Psalmist wrote of the second coming of Jesus as well saying all creation would praise God and truth would be revealed,  “Let the heavens be glad, and the earth rejoice! Let the sea and everything in it shout his praise! Let the fields and their crops burst out with joy! Let the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord, for He is coming! He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with justice, and the nations with his truth.” (Psalm 96:11-13, NLT)

3) Who are the firstfruits of the Spirit? (verse 23)
When Moses spent 40 days on Mount Sinai, God gave instruction for building the tabernacle and how to celebrate the feasts. (Leviticus 23) The feasts were periods on the Jewish calendar to stop and worship the Lord, it was a time to remember what God had done. I found the study of the feasts very exciting as they each pointed to Jesus, even though they were instituted centuries before He was born. The Feast of Firstfruits directly followed Passover, which was a celebration of spring and new crops. Everyone offered up to God the very first of their crops during the Feast of Firstfruits. It was no coincidence that Jesus rose from the dead on the Feast of Firstfruits as the ultimate celebration of new life. He was the first to rise from the dead and live forever. (Matthew 28) All who trust Christ for forgiveness and salvation will experience this same resurrection from the dead! “For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits; afterward, at His coming, those who belong to Christ”. (1 Corinthians 15:22-23) (Finding Christ in the Feast of Firstfruits) Something I find interesting is that an earthquake (creation groaning) was the first to celebrate the resurrection. The earth groaned exceedingly during the crucifixion, (Matthew 27:45-54) but creation shook again, this time with anticipation, at His resurrection. (Matthew 28:2)

Everyday Application

1) What were the sufferings of the present time, and what future glory was Paul referencing? (verse 18)
Paul wrote of his sufferable “thorn in the flesh” to the church in Corinth saying, “…so that I would not exalt myself, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to torment me so that I would not exalt myself. Concerning this, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it would leave me. But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:7-9) We can’t identify exactly what Paul’s thorn was, but this unknown is for our advantage; we can relate his sufferings with our own regardless of their source. Christians from many generations have benefited by his reference to the thorn while applying it to their specific problems. (Dr. Thomas Constable) The thorn of which Paul speaks gives us an understanding of God’s perspective concerning physical infirmities and suffering. (Blue Letter Bible) Personally, I have suffered from chronic pain for over 10 years. At times the pain is excruciating, but I have found complete trust in God despite the intensity. Turning to God in my pain has resulted in a much deeper relationship with the Lord of Lords than I would have had before. At one point, I had the same conversation with God that Paul records. “Please, Lord, take this pain away from me. I have learned my lesson.” (2 Corinthians 12:8-10) But God reminded me that I, like Paul, needed this pain to keep me humble. So, we walk hand in hand, day-by-day as I learn to trust Him more. It’s a wonderful hope of glory! I look forward to the day when He will wipe away every tear from my eyes. (Revelation 21:4) Then I will leap with the lame, see with the blind, hear with the deaf, and shout with the mute! Oh! What a glorious day!

2) How does the “groaning of creation” point to truth? (verses 19-20, 22)
Today, we are seeing the teaching of Jesus on the Mount of Olives fulfilled. He said mankind would become increasingly evil, fighting brother against brother. “There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these events are the beginning of labor pains.” (Matthew 24:3-8, emphasis mine) We are certainly seeing those labor pains in our day through earthquakes, tsunamis, famines, mud slides, volcanoes, fires, and other “natural disasters”. We hardly recover from one tragedy before another comes. Earthquakes alone have been increasing over the 120 years they have been recorded. You may remember the deadly earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean in 2004. (World Vision) That year there were 1,672 earthquakes around the world. After that, numbers increased steadily through 2011 which topped at 2,481. We have had a slight drop since then, ranging between 1433 and 1808. But still, that is at least 4 earthquakes somewhere in the world every day. (Statista) All that without mentioning other “groanings of creation”! Obviously, the earth groans for the coming inheritance promised in Revelation by the Creator God Himself. The Apostle John wrote down what He saw as the new heaven and earth. (Revelation 1:1-2) Certainly, what we see in John’s book of revelations is only a glimpse of what we will experience in perfected Glory with God such as, clean water, the Tree of Life bearing all kinds of fruit, and the curse removed. Revelation 22:1-3 says, “Then he showed me the river of the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the city’s main street. The tree of life was on each side of the river, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree are for healing the nations, and there will no longer be any curse.

3) Who are the firstfruits of the Spirit? (verse 23)
When we accept Christ as Savior, we become a new creation. (2 Corinthians 5:17) His Holy Spirit works within us to remove our carnal spirit and to become new in Him. The things in our past are now gone! We are now alive in Christ. “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace! He also raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:4-6) Paul takes it one step further… “so that in the coming ages he might display the immeasurable riches of his grace through his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:7) One day, all who trust Christ for forgiveness of sin and have repented (turned away from) of their sin will rise! We will be raptured into Heaven ever to be with the Lord. This is our very certain future hope! “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel’s voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are still alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17) And that time, our adoption in Christ will be finalized and our bodies will be gloriously changed. (1 Corinthians 15:50-58) So, in conclusion, dear sisters, I urge you, just as Paul did the Corinthians, “Be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:58)

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Digging Deeper is for Everyone!

1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
several times
3) Write down your questions
as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you
other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God
in your everyday!

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Why Dig Deeper?

Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!

Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.

Study Tools

We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.

Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))

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