When Thoughts Hurt
No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the LORD. – Isaiah 54:17
Though it’s totally unscripted and not at all polished, I pray you hear real life thoughts on God’s Word and how to authentically apply it to our lives.
In His service, Becky White
I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise will always be on my lips. My soul boasts in the LORD; let the oppressed hear and rejoice. Magnify the LORD with me; let us exalt His name together.
Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!
Psalm 34:1-3, 8 BSB
Let us not grow weary or become discouraged in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap, if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9 AMP
I love the classic hymn, “Standing on the Promises.” In fact, I have an old combo CD and cassette player in my van (no laughing), where I regularly play the song on repeat, belting out the tune with gusto. Never for an audience of course, my voice is not for the faint of heart. Standing on the promises is a succinct way of saying, “I see this Scripture, Lord. This promise in Your Word and I stand on the truth of it. With all that I am, I trust You and Your Word. Come what may.”
But I’ll let you in on a secret, sometimes (okay, often) I sing the song w/o faith or feeling. Singing instead, to praise and proclaim my trust despite what surrounds me or my lack of feeling. I know He’s good and He’s faithful to His Word. Period. So, I belt it out.
You see, standing on the promises is so very easy to say and so very hard to do. When we look a crisis full in the face. When we are confronted with the raw reality of our fears… When our worst-case-scenario actually happens. When all our prayed-for and hoped-for expectations are ripped to shreds. That’s when we discover if we’ve been “standing on the promises” or if our faith has been all talk and no Rock.
Any of us can have faith and toss out a cutsie scripture reference when the bank account is full, the family is well and life is running along smoothly. Right? Who requires faith for that? Faith is needed in the testing hour, not the resting hour. When everything appears contrary to His promises. Is that where you are? That’s okay. I’ve been there more times than I can count. Truthfully, there are a couple “promise tests” tests confronting me even as I type these words. They are opportunities to take Him at His word and trust Him, no matter the circumstance. As a follower of Christ, If He allows it, He has promised to bring good from it.
If today finds you with a few promise tests of your own, I am so sorry. Allow me to encourage you to read His Word and while you’re at it, belt out “Standing on the Promises, of Christ My King…” A newer song that was borne from walking this out in real-life is titled, Faithfully, by TobyMac. In rawness, he sings of re-learning to trust and stand on the Word, after the tragic death of his son.
Heavenly Father, sometimes the trials of real life are all I can see … all I can feel. It’s at those times and in those moments that I am tempted to forget the Truth of Your Word and Your utter faithfulness. Cause me to praise You even as I wait for You to work Your perfect will in me and in my life. In Jesus’ mighty name I pray, Amen.
Written by Becky White for the Lord Jesus
To purchase a hard copy of the devotional, Stony Paths or Shelter from the Storm visit the products page or visit Lulu Publishing. It may also be purchased on Amazon.
Learning to trust Him as we walk along Stony Paths – $14.99 A gritty devotional that confronts the hot-mess reality of life while landing on the bedrock of the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Word.
Shelter from the Storm – 101 Messages of Authentic Hope for Difficult Times, $14.99 will remind readers that they are not alone and there is hope. Authentic hope. Not by ignoring the reality of pain but by viewing it through the lens of God’s great faithfulness.
Keep it Simple Stupid (aka K.I.S.S.)
“And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12
One of my all-time heroes is Nazi concentration camp survivor, Corrie ten Boom. When speaking to audiences, she often used the acronym, K.I.S.S., Keep It Simple Stupid. That’s what I hope to do with this short, Gospel 101 presentation. We don’t have to understand theology or be able to explain creation or the Greek and Hebrew syntax. What I have written are the basics for having a real relationship with the One Who created you. I pray that He opens our eyes and ears to hear His voice and receive His free gift. If we seek Him, He’s promised to be found by us.
Sample prayer:
God, I admit I am a sinner, by birth and by choice. I repent (turn away) from my sin and turn to You. I receive the free gift of eternal life purchased by the Blood of the Lord Jesus. I accept Him as my Lord and Savior, this day. With the help of Your Holy Spirit, help me to live a life that honors You. In Jesus, name, Amen.
Written by Becky White for the Lord Jesus
Some of the Scriptural references used:
Jeremiah 29:13, Deuteronomy 4:29 , Isaiah 55:6, Acts 17:27, Romans 3:23, Romans 5:12, Habakkuk 1:13, Isaiah 59:2, John 3:18, John 3:16, John 14:6, Isaiah 7:14, Romans 6:23, 1 John 1:9, Acts 3:19, John 1:12-13, John 14:15, Luke 7:47, Romans 8:29, Philippians 2:11-13, 2 Corinthians 6:2, Hebrews 9:7, Romans 3:20, Galatians 2:16, Hebrews 10:4-10, Isaiah 53:5, Luke 13:3, 2 Corinthians 5:21
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:3 NKJV
This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. 1 Timothy 1:15 NKJV
The daffodils are blooming, tulips are sprouting and the fresh scent of spring fills the air, that means that Good Friday and then Easter, are just around the corner. I admit, I love seeing the little ones get dressed up for Easter, I enjoy the beautiful pastels of the season and I definitely eat my share of peanut butter filled “eggs!” But I know that’s not what Easter is really about. It’s a Holy Season, set apart to remember what our Savior accomplished for us, over two millennia ago. This year, as I thought deeply of my own hot-mess, brokenness, and what Jesus did for me, the following story came rushing back to my memory. A story shared years ago at a ministry meeting.
Teaching on the topic of poverty, and with a heart-felt effort to connect with the kids in the urban ministry youth-group, the leader shared his family’s financial challenges due to recent employment struggles. Curious, one of the young men spoke up and asked the leader if “he had his lights or gas turned off, or if they were on food stamps”.
Shaking his head, the leader replied, “No.”
The young man sat back in his chair, cocked his head, and said “You ain’t po’, you just broke.”
“You ain’t po’, you just broke.” Such profound wisdom from such a young man.
There is a world of difference between being poor and being broke. To be broke is a temporary condition. It implies we just need a few bucks to get by, just a little help to make it through the month. To be poor is interwoven into every aspect of life. How we think, how we dress, where we live, what we eat and even, where we sleep. Poverty is a way of life. Shaping our very identity.
The Lord Jesus calls us to recognize that we are poor in spirit. Not broke. Poor. Every single one of us. Busted. Lint-lined, inside-out pockets. We don’t just need His help to get through a crisis, we need Him to give us new life. Or as Christ Himself put it, we “must be born again” (John 3:7). I know from experience that He often leverages the crises of our lives to lay bare our own poverty, not to shame us, but to heal us. He longs for us to recognize what He already knows; we are poor. Yet all too often, we stubbornly cling to the “few bucks” of goodness we have. Protesting that we aren’t as bad as the other guy, we just need a little help to get back on track. Telling Him in essence, “I’m not poor, I’m just broke.” Trouble is, He only saves the “poor in spirit”, not the broke.
Which are you?
He often leverages the crises of our lives to lay bare our own poverty, not to shame us, but to heal us.
Becky White
If we’re willing… the choice is ours to make…
One last point, sticking with the poor vs broke (money) theme… We’re not just poor, we’re a gazillion dollars in debt, with no hope of paying what we owe. And no one but the Lord Jesus Christ can (and also willing) to pay our debt. Completely. Not you, not another “god”, no one. Try as we might, hope all we want, ignore this Truth to our own peril. HE is The only Way out of the mess we’re in.
Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important. – C. S. Lewis
Father God, I am so thankful for Your tender-goodness towards me. You revealed my poverty and then caught me in Your arms as I fell to my knees in awareness of how poor I really was/am. I surrender my life to You anew (for some, it may be the first time) this Holy season, I need You. I receive new life through Your shed Blood. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Written by Becky White for my Lord Jesus, thank You …
Click here for a FREE pdf of Stony Paths, a gritty, real-world devotional to encourage you as you walk the Stony Paths of real life. You may also purchase a hard copy by following the link.
I have decided to share a few of my OG devos from years past, in their original form for the most part. These were written right smack in the middle of a decades -long season of great trial. I’m sure you may notice a few grammar issues or strange sentence structure. Please try to look past that, and land on the lesson He was teaching me at the time, and maybe even use it to remind/or teach you as well. The following is pulled from its pages…
For His glory and your encouragement.
Becky White
Help! I Need Encouraged!
If you’re breathing, you qualify.
To be discouraged is to lose courage. Find it in Christ and His Word.
Recall the old song, His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches over me. God’s Word says; “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies and yet not one of them is forgotten or uncared for in the presence of God. Do not be struck with fear or seized with alarm. You are of greater worth than many flocks sparrows. And in the Old Testament, “I know and am acquainted with all the birds of the mountains.”
(Luke 12:6-7b and Psalm 50:11 Amp)
”Encourage the exhausted and strengthen the feeble, say to those with anxious heart ‘take courage, fear not.’ For the Lord knows and is fully acquainted with the way of the righteous. You number and record my wonderings; put my tears in a bottle — are they not in Your book? Those who feared the Lord talked often one to another, and the Lord listened and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him of those who reverenced and worshipfully feared the Lord and who thought on His name.” Isaiah 35:3-4 Psalm 1:6 Psalm 56:8 Malachi 3:16
Be encouraged, God knows your sorrow, He is aware of the path you take. He is not impotent in your situation. He is all powerful. He is the Sovereign Ruler of the universe and He loves you. He thinks on you. He has engraved you on the palm of His hand. Trials come and trials go (thankfully!). But He is faithful. Even when He allows struggles into our life you can be sure He will at the same time provide all you need to emerge as more than a conqueror. It will not always be this hard.
I remind myself (often!) of Romans 8:28, by saying; if He’s allowed (fill in the blank) into my life, He’s promised to bring good out of it as well. The apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians1:9 “Indeed we had the sentence of death within ourselves, despairing even of life, but this was to keep us from trusting in and depending on ourselves instead of on God who raises the dead.”
Dead lives, dead marriages, dead relationships, dead finances, dead feelings….
He is THE resurrection and THE life… Behold, He [Jesus] makes all things new.
Written by Becky White for the Lord Jesus
Devotions for Difficult Days – to purchase hard copy of DDD OG devo or click here for free pdf download
ddd-og-pdf-for-downloadDownload
Please forgive the “rerun” devo. As I have walked through a bruising trial over the past month, this verse from Psalm 62 keeps running through my mind. “When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” He is my Rock. I shall not be moved.
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I have decided to share a few of these OG devos from years past, in their original form for the most part. You may notice a few grammar issues or strange sentence structure. Please try to look past that, and land on the lesson He was teaching me at the time, and maybe even use it to remind/or teach you as well.
For His glory and your encouragement.
Becky White
When my heart is overwhelmed and fainting,
lead me to the Rock that is higher than I.
Psalm 61:2 NASB
One afternoon I found myself distraught over a very difficult situation in my home, feeling overwhelmed by the crisis I reached for the phone to call my *prayer partner. Knowing she would take time out of her day to listen and then pray with me. As the phone rang, I waited in great anticipation, wanting desperately to unload this burden or at least have her share it with me. But…she wasn’t home. In tears I hung up the phone and cried; “Why is this happening, God?!”
In the words of Regis Philbin I had “no life lines left”. Or in the words of Scripture, God had brought me to “a place of wits’ end” Psalm 107:27. I had no where to turn — but to God. After a brief pity-party I realized I hadn’t even talked to the Lord yet about the problem.
Sometimes our Heavenly Father has to take away all our life lines so we will be brought to the place of wits’ end. It’s there that we realize our total dependency on God — that we experience first hand His comfort and faithfulness. So often we turn to our friends or pastors or counselors before ever turning to God. Sadly, some never seek Him out. Though God has given us friends and others to lean on in times of distress, He never intended for us to turn to them at the expense of a relationship with Him.
Once I composed myself, I went to a quiet room and sat down with God. Pouring my heart out to Him and then reading a Psalm aloud. He comforted me as no human could ever do and I learned a valuable lesson. I still called my friend the next day and shared with her my situation, but now I also had the opportunity to share with her what the Lord had taught me and give glory to God for His provision.
When my spirit is overwhelmed and fainting (throwing all of its weight) upon me, You
knew my path.” Psalm 142:3a am
“You can never learn that Christ is all you need, until Christ is all you have.”
Corrie ten Boom
Father God, I have found by experience, that You truly are the God of all comfort. I would have never signed up for the classroom You used to teach me such lessons, but am so thankful for learning it. I love You, in Jesus’ name, amen.
*Jeanne Liston
Written by Becky White for the Lord Jesus
Click here to purchase a hard copy or download a FREE pdf of the devotional, Stony Paths learning to trust Him as we walk the Stony Paths of real life.
If God is so good…
“If the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us?” Judges 6″13a
Though it’s totally unscripted and not at all polished, I pray you hear real life thoughts on God’s Word and how to authentically apply it to our lives.
In His service, Becky White
He uses our suffering
Though it’s totally unscripted and not at all polished, I pray you hear real life thoughts on God’s Word and how to authentically apply it to our lives.
In His service, Becky White
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I have decided to share a few of these OG devos from years past, in their original form for the most part. You may notice a few grammar issues or strange sentence structure. Please try to look past that, and land on the lesson He was teaching me at the time, and maybe even use it to remind/or teach you as well.
For His glory and your encouragement.
Becky White
When my heart is overwhelmed and fainting,
lead me to the Rock that is higher than I.
Psalm 61:2 NASB
One afternoon I found myself distraught over a very difficult situation in my home, feeling overwhelmed by the crisis I reached for the phone to call my *prayer partner. Knowing she would take time out of her day to listen and then pray with me. As the phone rang, I waited in great anticipation, wanting desperately to unload this burden or at least have her share it with me. But…she wasn’t home. In tears I hung up the phone and cried; “Why is this happening, God?!”
In the words of Regis Philbin I had “no life lines left”. Or in the words of Scripture, God had brought me to “a place of wits’ end” Psalm 107:27. I had no where to turn — but to God. After a brief pity-party I realized I hadn’t even talked to the Lord yet about the problem.
Sometimes our Heavenly Father has to take away all our life lines so we will be brought to the place of wits’ end. It’s there that we realize our total dependency on God — that we experience first hand His comfort and faithfulness. So often we turn to our friends or pastors or counselors before ever turning to God. Sadly, some never seek Him out. Though God has given us friends and others to lean on in times of distress, He never intended for us to turn to them at the expense of a relationship with Him.
Once I composed myself, I went to a quiet room and sat down with God. Pouring my heart out to Him and then reading a Psalm aloud. He comforted me as no human could ever do and I learned a valuable lesson. I still called my friend the next day and shared with her my situation, but now I also had the opportunity to share with her what the Lord had taught me and give glory to God for His provision.
When my spirit is overwhelmed and fainting (throwing all of its weight) upon me, You
knew my path.” Psalm 142:3a am
“You can never learn that Christ is all you need, until Christ is all you have.”
Corrie ten Boom
Father God, I have found by experience, that You truly are the God of all comfort. I would have never signed up for the classroom You used to teach me such lessons, but am so thankful for learning it. I love You, in Jesus’ name, amen.
*Jeanne Liston
Written by Becky White for the Lord Jesus
Click here to purchase a hard copy or download a FREE pdf of the devotional, Stony Paths learning to trust Him as we walk the Stony Paths of real life.
Your eyes have seen what the LORD did. Deuteronomy 4:3
“Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children. Deuteronomy 4:9
Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Deuteronomy 5:15
Be careful not to forget the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 6:12 Deuteronomy, chapters 4, 5 and 6 BSB
“Remember what your eyes have seen the Lord do.” In reading through this Old Testament book, those words grabbed my attention. “Remember what your eyes have seen.” Reading further, I noticed that theme repeated several times. In context we’re reading about the ancient Israelites, but as always, we must apply His Word to our own lives as well. So, I asked myself; “What have my eyes seen the Lord do, what was my “land of Egypt” that required deliverance and am I remembering?” The question caused my thoughts to tumble back in time to a church service, some 43 years ago.
Pushing the yellow polka-dot stroller as I walked along High Street in the Short North area of Columbus, I arrived at the store-front church that was adorned with a large bygone-era lighted cross. The old country-style church embedded in an ultra-urban setting, was affectionately called, Old Time Religion Hall. Once inside, I pushed the stroller, and my now awake young son, down the narrow hardwood-floor aisle, lined on both sides with bare wooden pews. Also, from a bygone era. Adjusting the stroller to fit snuggly beside me, I slipped into the pew and exhaled even as I breathed in a still unfamiliar, but an amazing and soul-deep peace. His peace.
Rising to my feet with the rest of the small, mostly elderly congregation, we sang songs like Amazing Grace, Peace in the Valley, and Old Rugged Cross. Songs that were unfamiliar to me, but with words that clearly articulated what had happened in my life just a year earlier. So new to this “new” life, I was stunned that someone had penned the words of my own heart, not yet realizing that millions had gone before me as new creations in Christ.
I was also, utterly unconcerned at being the lone teenager in the gray-haired crowd, or who might hear my very off-key singing. Loudly and with great enthusiasm, I belted out the words, “Amazing grace! How sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found; Was blind, but now I see.” Tears were a common occurrence as I took in the reality of the miraculous deliverance from a life of rebellion, heartache, and anything but peace. A gift that Jesus Christ had purchased for me with His Blood. So undeserved.
Remembering what my eyes have seen … not to necessarily remove my difficulties, but to walk me through them. And through them He has walked me! Not over, or around, but through.
What do you need to call to mind, what can you purposefully remember? What has the Lord done that your eyes have seen? Remember … thank Him, and then share it!
Precious Lord and Savior, though words can never adequately express our profound gratitude, we simply bow in worship and say, “Thank You.” We love You, Lord. Be gloried in and through our lives. In Jesus’ name, Amen
Written by Becky White for my Lord Jesus.
Devotions for Difficult Days 