Gentle Reminder

“You were wearied by the length of your road, Yet you did not say, ‘It is no use.’ You found renewed strength, Therefore you did not grow weak.”  Isaiah 57:10 AMP

Encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble.  Say to those with anxious heart, “Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, He will save you.” 

Isaiah 35: 3-4 AMPC

All of us need a reminder now and then. When life hits us square between the eyes or when a challenge grows from weeks to months to years… We need reminded that God is in control, that He is at work, that He has a plan. The challenges, set-backs and real-world reality of life have a way of draining our strength, weakening our resolve, even obscuring our view of our Father God’s love. Like the dripping of water eroding a mountainous rock, trials that are long in duration can erode even the mightiest among us.

If HOPE has become a 4-letter word to you. If a painful circumstance has gone from a simple set-back to a way of life. If anxious thoughts fill your heart, robbing you of His peace. If the unthinkable has touched your life…

May I gently remind you? Not with syrupy, I-feel-your-pain, empty words – but with His inerrant and infallible Word. The same Word that has sustained me, and countless others, through some of life’s toughest challenges. He has promised never to leave or forsake us and to be our Mighty Fortress. He promises that though we walk through fiery trials, we will not be burned, neither will the flame kindle upon us. He is behind and before us. And that when the enemy comes in like a flood, He will lift up a standard against him and put him to flight. Though He allows for our free will, He assures us that no plan of His can be thwarted and His sovereignty rules over all.

Our trials aren’t proof that He doesn’t care or is impotent to act. In whatever form they take, our trials are opportunities to walk out the reality of our trust in Him and learn by experience that He is good, He is faithful and He is enough.

“The secret is Christ in me, not me in a different set of circumstances.”

Corrie ten Boom

My Lord Jesus, As You have strengthened me, not by the absence of trials but in the midst of them, I pray You will infuse strength into Your weary ones today. Grant the ability to arise to new life and fresh hope, and a knowing that You have it all under control…whatever the outcome…we can trust You. In the mighty name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen

Written by Becky White for the Lord Jesus

When the Extraordinary becomes Ordinary

Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.

Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken.

1 Peter 5:7 Berean Study Bible   Psalm 55:22 NASB

Because He cares for you.…

Familiarity breeds contempt. The extraordinary becoming ordinary. In the era of social media, the Truth of Scripture can be lost on us as we scroll past another artfully crafted meme with a feel-good phrase. Even when that phrase is God’s Word.

That nearly happened to me recently as I read my “verse for the day” pocket calendar and quickly recognized this often-quoted and meme enhanced Scripture. Mindlessly thinking, “Oh, I know that verse…” yawn… (I’m being totally authentic with you here.) But this time, as I read the verse, the Holy Spirit stopped me in my tracks as the words Because He cares for you leapt off the page and washed over my heart.  I read and reread those words… Holding them up to take in each facet of meaning.

He could have ended the prayer directive with, “because I said so.”  … He is God, afterall. But He didn’t.

It struck me so strongly and so emotionally. What a tender phrase added to the instruction of casting all our anxieties on Him.

On Him to carry.

On Him to handle.

On Him to work out the myriad of beyond-our-ability-details.

Yet He wasn’t just academically providing direction on what we ought to do with a religious, legalistic pattern to follow.  He wants us to know the why… Because He cares for us. Such love and tender compassion embodied in that phrase. The Amplified Bible reads, He cares about you [with deepest affection, and watches over you very carefully].

Whatever burdens our heart, burdens His.

Becky white

Whatever burdens our heart, burdens His. He longs for us to bring our every need, our every concern, our every question, our every fear, our every what-if and even our every “why?” and cast them onto the One who cares for us.

Oh Father, It is face-to-the-floor astounding how You tenderly care for what concerns my heart. I lay my anxieties and burdens in Your strong hands and rest in Your sovereign care and control over all that grazes my life. In Jesus’ name, Amen

Written by Becky White for the Lord Jesus

Salsa and Life

“Lord, do You not care…?” Luke 10:40 ESV (38-42 for entire story)

Homemade Salsa

“Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.”  Job 13:15 NKJV

This year, our daughter’s small backyard garden produced a bumper tomato crop, so with great anticipation, we set aside an entire day for me to show her the finer points of canning homemade salsa.  As we washed, diced and jarred the tomatoes, onions and peppers, we talked about life and family and our world. In the midst of it all, she asked one or two heavy questions that still linger in my thoughts. Before I share the questions, allow me to give you part of the short answer I gave her. “I don’t know. But I know we can trust Him.”

With obvious emotion she asked, “Mom, why did God allow a woman with several young children to die of cancer?” The heartfelt question that came amid the dicing of tomatoes and jalapenos, demanded more than a memorized theological answer. Keeping my hands busy with the task of canning, I thought/prayed how to answer her question. Even as I was secretly thankful she intuitively understood the larger issue of God’s control over all circumstances. Even tragedy.

Have such questions ever lodged in your heart? Have you ever thought deeply about why a divorce or why singleness? Why an addiction or why a betrayal? Why financial ruin or a broken relationship? Why the death of a child or the death of a hoped-for dream? Pain begs for an answer.

In today’s verses, we see two contrasting examples of facing the inevitable pain of real life. When Martha was confronted with the minor irritation of no help in the kitchen, she spoke almost harshly to the Lord Jesus, when she asked, “Lord, don’t You care?” By contrast, we read of Job, who has just been given the news that everything he owns has been stolen by an invading army, and all his servants killed. As this news hits his ears and before there’s time to digest the reality, another servant shows up to tell him the devastating news that all his children have perished in a freak accident. (Read Job 1 and 2). Job’s first response is to worship God. He knew he dare not give priority to his emotions; he spoke out what he knew to be true rather than allow his emotions to do the leading. A couple of chapters and several more trials later, we hear Job say, *“Though the Lord slay me, yet will I trust Him.”

Perhaps Martha was too self-focused as she rushed and hurried and grumbled… Whatever the reason, she snapped at the Lord Himself and accused Him of not caring.

Though Job didn’t understand the why of his horrific pain, he knew his God and he knew His character. So even in the midst of such guttural ache … he trusted.

Back to my daughter’s heartbreaking question – I could have offered to bullet-point Bible verses that academically explain God’s sovereign control over all things, or sin’s impact on our broken world, or God’s ability to bring good out of even the vilest circumstance, etc. But I did none of those. Now wasn’t the time. I admitted to her that I did not know the why of such tragedy, but I did know that we could trust God with it. Reminding her of the story that she’s heard repeated since childhood. Of her own brother and sister who died as babies, and how such tragedy taught me (still teaches me) to trust my Father God even when, (especially when), I don’t understand.

The best answer to a hurting heart is simply, “I am so sorry for your pain.”

Becky White

The truth is we may never know the why of a particular trauma this side of eternity. It’s enough to know our God is good and faithful and He can be trusted. Even with, and in, our pain. If He gave the life of His Son for us, surely we can trust Him when we don’t understand.

Father, I know You are good, and You are faithful, but there are times when life’s pain blinds us of that truth. Please enable us to rest in You as we walk through tragedy, or as we walk with others in their pain. We choose to trust You even when we don’t understand. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

I lay my “whys” before Your cross in worship kneeling, my mind too numb for thought, my heart beyond all feeling: And worshipping, I realize that I in knowing You don’t need a “why”.

– Ruth Bell Graham

Written by Becky White for the Lord Jesus

*Some may say that God did not cause Job’s pain, but surely, we must agree that his trial came as a direct result of God’s permission.

Stop, Drop and _______

Recently, when an unexpected trial showed up in my life, the Lord reminded me of this decades-old devo. Written in 2009, much has happened since that day nearly 20 years ago, but one thing remains the same… Life will always provide us with tests, trials and challenges. Sometimes of our own making and sometimes not. The question is how will we respond when they show up in our life?   – Becky

(This OG devo from 2009 has been left in its original form).

Stop, Drop and Worship!

Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped. He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.” Job 1:20-21 NASB

Then the king was very pleased and gave orders for Daniel to be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den and no injury whatever was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. Daniel 6:23 NASB

Job lost all a man could lose in one fell swoop. His fortune and family, his health and his home; gone. Job’s response? He literally fell to the ground and worshipped God. In pain mind you — but he worshipped as an act of obedience.

Daniel was thrown to the lions for his obedience to God and spared because of his unshakable trust in God. Not a I’ll-trust-You-as-long-as kind of thing. No. Daniel trusted in God’s faithfulness regardless of his outward condition. His confidence in God didn’t keep him from being thrown to the lions but did keep him from being eaten by the lions!

Worship and simple trust. That’s what the Lord Jesus wants from us as a response (natural reflex) to our trials. Not the most polished or eloquent prayers. Not our promises to do this if He’ll do that — that’s bargaining. No. He wants us to simply worship Him and trust Him, right in the midst of whatever trouble we’re facing. The Lord provided me with a living example of this as I have been eyewitness to a friend enduring a great injustice. He’s handling it with all the pain you would expect while trusting and worshipping all along the way. What a powerful example of God’s ability to carry His people through whatever trial they might face (not necessarily around or out of).

Do you have your own version of a lion’s den or a Job type experience? Has the Lord allowed you to be “thrown to the lions” or have you jumped right in due to your own bad choices? Have you “lost it all” as Job did? How are you handling it? If it’s not through worship and trust, please — stop right now and drop to your knees. Pour out your pain, your confusion or even anger, then — lift your hands in surrendered worship. Your Father God will make a away where there seems to be no way, count on it. He is worthy of your absolute trust.

Life with God is not immunity from difficulties, but peace in difficulties. – C.S. Lewis

My Father, I lay my burdens at Your feet, I surrender this “lion’s den” experience to You and CHOOSE to trust You through it. I choose to worship You in the midst of it. Where there was once turmoil and confusion, cause Your peace to fill me. I love You, Lord.  In Jesus’ name. Amen

Written by Becky White for the Lord Jesus

“Where is this God of Yours?”

Day and night I have only tears for food, while my enemies continually taunt me, saying, “Where is this God of yours?”

Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! … Now I am deeply discouraged, but I will remember you—

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God.

Psalm 42:3, 5a,c NLT   Psalm 42:11 ESV

Recently, while at a funeral – My eyes scanned the small, crowded room, filled with photos and flowers and chatter. And crying. The tears were mingled whispers of “Why?” and “Before his time.” We took our seats and prepared to listen with the soberness required in such settings, my heart breaking for the hurting family around me.  

Real pain. Real tragedy.

Depression and pain and sadness are all around us. Added to this layer of heart ache, the enemy often whispers in our ear, “Where is this God of yours?” Just as in Psalm 42, listed above. The trial in front of you may not be literal death, maybe it’s the death of a relationship or the death of a longed-for outcome or death of your health or the devastating death of hope itself. Sinking you to the depths of despair. The enemy hopes to push us to despair, and in the end, hopelessness. 

Though you’d hate for others to know, do you relate to the Psalmist when he says, “My tears have been my food day and night”? Is the emotional ache buried deep, rearing its head only when life gets still, so you try to stay busy or distracted? Have the enemy’s taunts of, “Where is this God of yours?” invaded your thoughts?

I’ve been there. If we’re honest, most of us have a time or two. And just like the Psalmist, I talk to myself (Hey, no laughing!); I speak the truth to myself. I ask myself questions. I encourage myself with His Word. And in the end, I remind myself to hope in God. Not in hoped-for outcomes or good health or pleasant circumstances (as if those can be relied upon!). Hope. In. God. Read aloud His word, and talk to yourself. Why not start with all of Psalm 42? It’s not that long. Take in each word. In the end, you will find He is faithful, not to always remove our difficulties, but to walk us through them.   

Where’s God? Beside me. In front of me. Behind me. Inside me. He has laid His hand upon me. I am never alone. And neither are you. (See Psalm 139 and John 14).

In the end, you will find He is faithful, not to always remove our difficulties, but to walk us through them.   

One last take-away. Look around. Ask questions. Listen to the pain stories of those around you. And take the risk of being real about your own struggles. Let’s direct each other to the only real hope there is – Jesus Christ Himself.

Father God, I ask that You would push away hopelessness and despair, replacing it with the Truth that You promised never to leave or forsake us. We are never alone. Never without hope. You are at work, no matter what our eyes see. We love You, in Jesus’ mighty name, Amen.

Written by Becky White for the Lord Jesus

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A “Recipe” for Bitterness?

An Audio only devo.

Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many. Hebrews 12:15 NLT

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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Songs in the Night

The Lord will send His goodness in the daytime; And His song will be with me in the night, a prayer to the God of my life.  Psalm 42:8 NASB

…My God, Who gives songs in the night.  Job 35:10b

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God (while in prison), and the other prisoners were listening to them. Acts 16:25 NIV

Lean hard into him bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me bless his holy name. Why are you in despair oh my soul put your hope in him I will yet praise him the help of my countenance and my God. Psalm 103

The thick night darkness hid the emotional ache that permeated me as I mentally surveyed my life’s circumstance.  My throat sore from stifled tears, in a near whisper, I sang as my declaration … “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name… (Psalm 103:1) The whispered Scripture turned prayer, fell from my lips as I sang to the Lord, and to my own spirit.

That painful, yet powerful, decades-old memory surfaces as my eyes land on the scripture that speaks of “songs in the night.”

The apostles sang songs in the night as they lay shackled in a Roman prison cell … singing God’s praises in the midst of their painful circumstance. Right there in the ongoing unfairness and cruelty, simply for doing the right thing. And Scripture tells us that “the other prisoners heard” the praise songs, and most importantly, they listened.

There’s something about a person walking through pain and trial,  who still turns to God … in trusting praise. Maybe through tears and a cracking voice, perhaps, but turning to Him anyway. Others take notice and stop to “listen” as we sing our song in the night. Not a life that never encounters a night, but those who choose to “sing” in the midst of it all.

From a bad hair day to the death of a loved one to an all-encompassing loneliness and everything in between, whatever our night season looks like, if we turn to Him, He will provide a song in our night. An authentic song that others will stop to listen to, and perhaps turn to The song Giver.

If God would make manifest the fact that “He giveth songs in the night,” He must first make it night.

—William Taylor

My Father, as “night” swirls around us, enable us to turn to You rather than away, to Your Word and Your soul-deep Comfort and Peace. We love You. In Jesus’ name, Amen

Written by Becky White for the Lord Jesus

Tethered to Truth

This I know, that God is for me. – Psalm 56:9b ESV

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul. Hebrews 6:19a BSB

Though the years have now faded into decades, the tidal wave of emotional pain I experienced that day, remains embedded within my mind. The gut-punch, this-can’t-be-happening trial that began unfolding before me definitely didn’t line up with what I had been praying for or what I thought I understood about God. The beginnings of what would become a multi-year trial assaulted my mind with doubts about God’s goodness and even His existence. “How do I make sense of this?,” was my heart’s subconscious cry….

Probably more out of panic than faith, I began to recite what I definitely did know. Like desperately looking for a landmark, my heart and mind scanned the horizon for an anchor to tether myself to. A lighthouse to direct my way. I recognized that I needed to remind myself of the Truth before I fell off the cliff into despair. These words came spilling out of my heart and mouth:

“He gave the life of His Son for me.”

“I know I’m a new creation in Christ. I remember the me before Jesus, and I see the me after Him.”

“He’s promised to bring good out of all I face.”

“He promised, “Call to Me and I will answer you.””

“He said He will never leave me or forsake me.”

“He told me not to fear.”

“He said I should walk by faith and not sight.”

As I spoke the Truth to my own heart, the grip of doubt and despair began to lift. Not forever. But for that moment, His Word kept my heart and mind tethered to the Truth. I have had to repeat this scenario more times than I can count (still do on some days). Often, the best response to a gut-punch tragedy or a trial that rolls on into years is to start with what we know.

Start with what we know. He loves us and gave the life of His Son for us. He is good and faithful. His Word is true. Truer than our feelings or circumstances or momentary doubts. He can be trusted even when what we see doesn’t seem “fair” or just. He has not forgotten us and He will never leave us.  Trials don’t equal abandonment.

In a world filled with heartache, gut-wrenching disappointment, the raw reality of life or the ache of regret, it’s imperative that we stay tethered to the Truth. Truth found in His Word*. You can be sure that our own thoughts mingled with the enemy’s lies will seek to bring confusion and doubt, the answer to such an assault is to get back to foundation, to the very basics.  

I’ll wrap this up with a sports analogy (Thanks to my husband, I have many of these roaming the halls of my mind!). At the beginning of each season, Vince Lombardi, legendary coach of the Green Bay Packers, would often hold up a football and say, “Gentlemen, this is a football.” He did this at the start of training camp to remind his players to focus on the fundamentals. He began using this illustration after a season that revealed a clear lack of basic fundamentals, though fancy moves or trick plays abounded, it was clear that the basics had taken a hit. While I’m admittedly not an expert on football (Or sports of any kind!), I think his words provide a great point for us as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let’s get the basics down. Let’s start with what we know.

Hold up your copy of God’s Word, and remind yourself, “This … is The Truth.”

Father God, when the circumstances of life cause me to doubt Your goodness or my emotions scream that that I’m all alone, help me stay tethered to the Truth in Your Word. I love you so much, help me lean hard into You until these difficulties pass by. In Jesus’ name, Amen

Written by Becky White for the Lord Jesus

*Pull specific truths that you personally need reminded of.

Additional resource to read and an audio to listen to.

Some of the verses from today’s devo:

2 Corinthians 5:21, John 3:16, Romans 8:32, Psalm 100:5, Lamentations 3:23, Psalms 33:4, 119:160, John 17:17, 2 Corinthians 5:7, Habakkuk 2:4, 1 John 3:20, Psalm 145:13, Psalm 37:13, Isaiah 49:16, Numbers 23:19, Titus 1:2, Hebrews 6:18, Psalm 57:1, Jeremiah 33:3

Peace

So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

Peace I leave with you; My [own] peace I now give and bequeath to you.

John 10:19 NASB   John 14:27 AMP

Has an everyday challenge morphed into a seemingly hopeless circumstance?  Has a crisis become an unexpected tragedy? Have your best laid plans fallen apart before you? Have your expectations been dashed by reality? Are you bent low in emotional pain even as the world sees you “standing” deceivingly tall?  Has something brought you to a room “with the doors locked for fear?” 

Political chaos

Loneliness

Isolation

Relational struggles

Emotional trauma

The unknown

Death

Despair

O precious one – The only Sovereign, the Omnipotent One, the Lord Jesus Christ, stands in your midst. In the midst of your tragedy, your crisis, your fear, your worse-case-scenario and speaks, “Peace be with you.” Receive that today.

I don’t know what you’re walking through or what crisis has caused you to “close and lock the door” in fear, but I encourage you to trust His *Word more than what you see around you. The enemy wants us cringing in fear as if our Lord had been caught by surprise…He has not. He is aware and has already made provision. Dear one, stand in His Peace as the storm swirls and then passes.

Peace be with you.

My soul finds rest in God alone.

Psalm 62:1

Father, Cause Your peace to overflow and overtake our soul.! I exhale in peaceful calm…. not because the storm has ended but because You are in it with us and are in complete control. I choose to walk in Your Peace. Thank You Father. In Jesus’ name, Amen

By Becky White for the Lord Jesus

#Peace

*If you’re not sure where to begin in the Bible, start with the Gospel of John or the New Testament book of Romans. If you’re looking for comfort and encouragement, start with the Old Testament Book of Psalms.

Offering God “Advice”

When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” …. And even the rulers were sneering at Him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God, His Chosen One.” The soldiers also mocked Him, coming up to Him, offering Him sour wine, and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!” One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!”

Luke 23:35-39 NASB 1995  (Also see Luke 24)

Recently, a friend and I were discussing how God could easily craft the perfect ending to a particular tragedy engulfing a close family friend. If God would just do “A” and then, “B”, and maybe a little bit of “C,” I’m sure that “D” will be the outcome. Mentally rubbing our hands together in a job-accomplished finish, “See, God. All figured out. Let me know if You need any more suggestions.”

I can hear the laughter from here! However, I bet it’s a familiar mental conversation to some of you. Or maybe you’re too spiritual to have ever secretly thought God could use some advice. But many of us have secretly thought we knew more than God. Let’s admit it and then unpack the truth of the matter. Because the truth is that God declares the end from the beginning, He knows what He’s doing and He can be trusted – even when it looks like a hot, tragic mess. Just hold on.

While Scripture offers many examples of this, let’s take in the scene described in today’s Scripture. Jesus Christ, the Man who declared Himself to be the Son of God, the Man who raised the dead, healed lepers, fed thousands with sardines and crackers and gave sight to a blind man … His bloody and beaten-beyond- human-recognition body is hanging on a cross, nailed there by mere humans (Isaiah 53). Mingled with that sight, we hear words of mocking accusation, “If He really is the Son of God, let Him save Himself, then we’ll believe. He saved others. Let Him save Himself.” At this point, if this were an action movie, the star would rip his muscular arms free from the iron nails and leap from the splintery wooden cross as he lunges forward and drop kicks the sneering guards. But this is no Hollywood movie. And Jesus Christ is no mere man. He is God in the flesh. And He always has the long (eternal) view in mind.

He allows what He hates to accomplish what He loves and longs for. He did not save Himself, so that He could save us. Eternally.

He often allows what He hates to accomplish what He loves and longs for. He did not save Himself, so that He could save us. Eternally.

So too, in our own lives, He may allow what He hates to accomplish what He loves and longs for. A new level of no-matter-what-happens kind of trust, or the salvation of a family member or possibly a living example of what it looks like to walk through tragedy, even as God holds our trembling hand.

Just as in the scene at the cross, there is a lost, and watching world all around us. The onlookers are wondering, is our trust only as deep and wide as a full bank account or good health or sunny days? Will we trust, even when God does not take our advice, that He is still good and He is still faithful and that He has a plan? This truth is something that always needs refresher courses.

Whatever the challenge today, let’s remember the cross. He’s got this.

Father, I know it’s both hilarious and idiotic to think we know more than You. That somehow, I understand and see, what You do not. Forgive me Lord. Help me stand on the truth that You sit as King over all that floods my life and are at work in all I bring to You. Great is Your faithfulness to me, O God. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Written by Becky White for the Lord Jesus.

“Save” in Greek σῶσον (sōson) To save, heal, preserve, rescue. From a primary sos; to save, i.e. Deliver or protect.

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