Broken Pieces

Reading for today: Romans 8:28

Retrieved from elizabethhagen.com

Every summer my parents, sister, and I would crowd into our small car and head south from New Hampshire to visit family. After the first few hours we would be sweaty and grumpy, drinking ice water from a thermos to keep cool.

I remember when my parents finally bought a car with air conditioning, a sky blue Dodge Spirit. We were excited to hit the road that summer. Unfortunately, by the time we crossed the Massachusetts border, we heard a loud crunch and dad noticed in the rear-view mirror that something had fallen out of the bottom of the car.

He pulled over, grabbed the pieces of our car, and prayed the car would start. It did. But the air conditioning we were anticipating never came on again.

Nine hot, sweaty, and grumpier than usual hours later, we arrived at my grandparents’ home. My dad drove the broken car to the nearest mechanic.

The mechanic asked my father what seemed to be the problem. My dad replied, “I’m not sure, but I think these have something to do with it.” He laid the broken pieces of his car on the counter.

The mechanic laughed, recognizing the pieces. He fixed our car and we had air conditioning from then on.

While life can be full of joy, it can also be full of broken pieces. When you break down, don’t forget to grab the pieces. Bring them straight to God. Lay them on His counter. He’ll recognize the pieces and know exactly how to fix them, but usually in ways you never expected.

Dear God, I am broken in this area:________________________. I need you to put my pieces back together. Fix it, Lord. Make me new. Show me the good you have intended for my life. Amen.

As you meditate on God’s power of redemption, listen to Ellie Holcomb’s testimony and song, The Broken Beautiful.

Day 2 – Psalm 51:10-12

Day 3 – Psalm 34:17-19

Day 4 – Psalm 147:3

Day 5 – 2 Corinthians 4:6-10

 

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Something for Nothing: Lent Series – Week 5

Reading for today: John 2:1-11

I used to teach adult ELL classes. One of my students (from India) told of a time his American professor had stopped by his home. My hospitable student offered his professor tea and coffee. His professor gladly accepted the offer, asking for coffee.

My student panicked because in his culture and in circumstances like this, people usually never accepted the offer for tea or coffee. Furthermore, he had no coffee!

As my student relayed the story to the rest of us, he laughed and said, “I had to send my wife out the back door to go buy some coffee.”

At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, Jesus is at a wedding where the beverage of choice – wine – has run out halfway through the festivities. “They have no wine,” Jesus’ mother says.

In Old Testament culture, wine was a symbol of joy, hope, and abundance. And like our own culture, running out of wine at a social event would have been devastating and offensive to guests.

Jesus uses this moment not only to save the face of his hosts, but also to perform his first sign. From simple water, poured into large, empty, purifying jars, Jesus creates over 120 gallons of the best wine.

Later, Jesus will refer to wine as “my blood of the covenant, which that is poured out for many the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26: 28). Jesus’ blood, like wine, has become for us joy, hope, and abundance.

Dear God, You worked a miracle with water and wine. And you worked a miracle with your blood and your Spirit in our lives. Thank you for loving us so deeply. Amen.

Easter is coming! In these last two weeks, let’s read more stories of how God uses our nothing to work something big, specifically through Jesus.

Day 2 – Luke 7:1-10 – Healing of the centurion’s servant

Day 3 – Luke 7:11-17 – Raising of the widow’s son

Day 4 – Matthew 9:18-26 – Raising of Jairus’ daughter and healing of a woman

Day 5 – Matthew 17:24-27 – Provision of tax, and John 21:1-14 – Catch of fish

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Something for Nothing: Lent Series – Week 3

For these weeks leading up to Easter, we are studying how God works miracles out of nothing.

Riddle for today:

The poor have it. The rich need it. It’s bigger than God, and if you eat it, you’ll die. What is it? (Scroll down for the answer.)

Reading for today: 2 Kings 4:1-7

“And she said, ‘Your servant has nothing.’” ~2 Kings 4:2

Despair is that unanticipated moment where hope (that warm fire you had become accustomed to and may have forgotten was even there) has gone out (either suddenly or slowly over time), and despair (the lack of that precious warmth and light, and something that you never want to become accustomed to) threatens to be the only thing you feel.

The interesting thing about despair, though, is that it has the potential to be not an end, but a beginning. It has the potential, if you let it, to be the beginning of your search to find God and to cry out for his merciful, necessary grace. What else can we do, when we find ourselves with nothing, but to seek help from the only one who can give it.

The widow in our reading for today had no husband, and her children were about to be taken as slaves to pay all her debts. She had nothing left but a small jar of oil and a desperate voice.

Elisha, God’s prophet, told her to bring her “nothing” to God, and to go get lots more nothing (empty jars) from the neighbors. Then, out of her despair, out of her nothingness, God brought forth enough oil to fill every jar she could find. Enough oil to buy her sons’ freedom. Enough oil for a family of three to live on.

Praise God that when he chooses to rework hope into your life, he demands absolutely nothing but your willing heart to do it.

Dear God, make my hope strong. Send me to you if I despair. And give me a willing heart. Amen.

Let’s see what God has to say.

Day 2 – James 4:1-10

Day 3 – John 15:4-5

Day 4 – Philippians 4:4-7, 10-13

Day 5 – Psalm 55:16-17, 22

*Answer: Nothing

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a heart after You: week 5 (final week)

Reading for today: Psalm 139

David was a man after God’s own heart. For the last few weeks, we have been looking at the stories of David to figure out what it means to have a heart after God.

It doesn’t mean that we are better than the average guy. It doesn’t mean that we have it all figured out. It doesn’t mean that we’ll always do the right thing. And if we screw up, it definitely doesn’t mean that we’ve lost our chance.

You see, having a heart after God’s own heart is simply seeking Him above all else. And when you seek God, He will be found and He will change your heart.

So that when you are facing giants, you hold onto Him. When you are in the middle of an I-don’t-know-what-to-do situation, you beg Him for guidance. When you are in the wrong, you listen to Him and you adjust back to His will. When you recognize His blessings, you dance for joy.

And if you break His heart by turning completely away from His will, His Spirit will allow your heart to break as well. He will humble you, and you will ask for forgiveness, which He will graciously give. And then you will understand what is at the heart of God – His mercy, His forgiveness, and His unbelievable love.

Dear God, Please give me a heart like yours. Teach me Your mercy, Your forgiveness and Your amazing love. Amen.

This week begins the season of Lent, what better way to learn of God’s heart than to study and meditate on the mercy, forgiveness, and love that God showed through His Son, Jesus.

This week, as we prepare, we will read through some of the Psalms of David.

Day 2 – Psalm 25:4-10

Day 3 – Psalm 37:3-6; 23-24

Day 4 – Psalm 86:1-12

Day 5 – Psalm 103:1-13

 

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a heart after You: week 3

Reading for today: Psalm 86:11-13

 

Abigail kneels before David by James Tissot

Hot-headed David grabbed his sword and called his 400 men to do the same. Without consulting God, David planned to bring down judgment on his worthless neighbor, Nabal. In the eyes of the world, he had every right to teach Nabal a lesson, but it was not the right that God had given him.

Thank God for Nabal’s discerning wife, Abigail. Her quick-headed thinking not only stopped David and his army from decimating her entire household, but she also saved David from bloodguilt.

Sometimes we stand at the intersection of God’s desires and our own. If we are so blessed to have someone intervene on our behalf, pay attention. Stop what you are doing, and thank God for his unsolicited guidance.

*Hint: As you chase after God’s heart, know that He is already chasing after yours.

Dear God, Thank you for putting people in my life who show me Your heart. Amen.

This week, let’s read David and Abigail’s full story.

Day 2 – I Samuel 25:1-13

Day 3 – I Samuel 25:14-31

Day 4 – I Samuel 25:32-42

Day 5 – Psalm 15

 

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Help!

Reading for today: Psalm 121

Last night I dreamed that I was in a small diner, eating homemade peanut butter cups. While I was enjoying this precious “me” time, the phone rang at the front desk. The manager of the diner answered the phone, looked around until she saw me, and then said with surprise, “It’s for you.”

I took the phone and heard my daughter crying. “Are you ok?” I asked. She couldn’t answer. “What happened?”

More crying.

“What happened? Are you okay? Do I need to come home?”

No answer. Just crying.

My daughter was in need of help, but couldn’t ask for help. When I woke up from my dream, I knew exactly what that meant. Because one of my biggest fears as a parent is that my children will need help, but won’t know how to ask for it.

My mother has said, if you are ever in need help, but have trouble talking to God, just cry out one word: “Help!” It doesn’t sound like a prayer. But it is. And God, our Father, has promised to hear our prayers, even the hurt, desperate, confused one-word utterances. And when we cry out to Him, He has promised to help.

Dear God, Help! __________________ Amen.

This week, let’s read about others who have cried, “Help!” For each story, record how they cried out, then if told, explain how God responded.

Day 2 – Exodus 3:7-12

Day 3 – Jonah 1:17-2:10

Day 4 – Luke 22:31-34; 22:54-62; John 21:15-17

Day 5 – Mark 9:20-29

 

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