Daily Sword Sharpening

January 7

The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. Zephaniah 3:17b

What causes you fear? 2020 and the COVID pandemic caused a lot of fear in a lot of people and 2021 just built on it and expanded; today it seems that fear is lingering still. Fear loves to trap you in a cage, in a sort of prison. Fear keeps you from living the life God intends for you. But there is someone whose abounding love can calm those fears. God does not use fear – it is not one of His tools, it is a weapon of the enemy. But God loves you and if you let Him, He will calm your fears. God loves you so much He wants to be able to be there for you, comfort you, and calm your fears, but you have to give Him time to do it. That does not mean it takes a while for Him to do it; we just need to give Him time, which also means that we need to spend time with Him. We must go to Him, be still, be silent, and rest in His Presence. We must read His word and know His word. He will not force Himself on us or force us to spend time with Him. He gives us that choice, the free will to decide for ourselves. We just need to slow down, give Him time, and spend time with Him. In these uncertain times, the enemy loves to use fear to drive wedges between believers and between us and God. It’s weird, I'm not afraid of the dark. I love camping and being out in nature at night, but I was walking through the church the other night and there were no lights on, and for a second fear gripped my mind, and the question, "What if some..." came into my head. At that moment I had the choice to let the question finish speaking and fear to take root or dismiss it. I dismissed it. But there are other times when I am not so in tune and fear consumes my mind and I can't sleep or focus. We are in a spiritual battle and we must take thoughts captive, all the ones that are not from above. Remember where fear comes from. My grandmother had an embroidered sign that showed fear as an acronym: False Evidence Appearing Real. That is how the enemy gets us with fear. It’s not real, but he makes it seem real. God will calm all our fears and will rejoice over us with joyful songs if we just let Him. Don't let fear keep you from living the life that God has for you. We need to trust God enough to calm those fears and know what is real and what is not. What is truth and what is deception? The Holy Spirit brings conviction and peace, so never fear. Recognize fear for what it is and allow God to quiet those fears, still them, and settle your soul. Take some extra time today to be still and know. KNOW God and feel His presence. No talking, just listen and be calmed. How are you feeling right now? What fears do you have? What is your first step in allowing God to calm those fears? What fear do you need to turn over to God for Him to calm?

January 12

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 2 Peter 3:9

If you were like a normal kid and your mom like a normal mom, you probably heard her shout at one point, “My patience is wearing thin!” Well, isn't it good that the Lord's patience doesn't wear thin on us? He is the poster child for patience, for all that He waits on us for. Peter reminds us that the Lord is not slow to fulfill His promises, but rather He is patient; patient with you, with me, with your neighbor, even with your enemy. His timing and plans are perfect, and He patiently waits for us to listen to His voice, follow the direction of the Holy Spirit, and apply His will and plan for our lives in our life. As humans, we tend to view everything according to a timeline, and we appropriate for ourselves what we believe certain timelines should be and how long they should last. But with God, He is faithful and fulfills all of His promises. The problem arises when we don't think He follows through and fulfills them according to our timeline. God promised the Israelites that He would bring them into the land flowing with milk and honey. They sinned and rejected God, so it took 40 years for that promise to be fulfilled. If God does not seem to be following through on His promises to us, we need to take a long, hard look at our own lives and see if we have done anything wrong that would prevent Him from following through. Not that we can stop God, but like a parent and a child, parents will withhold privileges while the child is misbehaving, and then when the child settles down and listens, the parent follows through. Father God, being omnipotent and knowing the future, including what lies around the corner, His timing tends to be perfect; we may want or feel the need now, but God knows we need it more later on down the "timeline." Patience is needed, and patience means we trust. Do you trust God to follow through on His promises? He never loses His patience with us and moves on to the next person; He is always there directing, guiding, and comforting. He also patiently waits for us to go after Him and not temptation. To take it up a notch, He promises to never allow the temptation to be greater than we can handle and also to provide a way out of temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13). As the years progress and technology increases, our lives tend to get busier and we tend to get more impatient. I was in college when the internet was released to the general population. We had to wait until the phone line dialed a number and we got connected; it was time-consuming and heaven forbid someone pick up the phone to call because that meant automatic disconnection. Now, sitting and waiting for what seemed to be 3-4 minutes for connection (really 30 sec to a min), this same person who waited for that gets mad if the browser icon spins for 5 seconds (seems more like 5 minutes though). The faster the internet and technology get the less patience we seem to have. With the hustle and bustle of life, when life tries to slow down, we get upset. But look what Jeremiah wrote in Lamentations 3:25, "It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord." Wait, we have to wait, and we have to be silent? How is that possible? We need to slow down long enough to be able to hear from the Holy Spirit. How can we expect to have a relationship with God if we are constantly in the passing lane, speeding down the road of life? God is patient, and so should we be. And when obstacles come our way to slow us down, we need to take those opportunities to say, "Ok God, you got my attention, what is it you want to tell me?" instead of "God, you gotta be kidding me, I don't have time for this!" And as many times as I have said it, what it really translates to is, "God, I don't have time for You. You need to wait!" When those challenges come, don't look at them as obstacles to your plans, but as tools to develop patience and deepen your relationship with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. If the Lord is patient with us, and the fourth Fruit of the Spirit is patience, maybe we should slow down and use these opportunities to grow patience in our lives. How can you use people or situations in your life to develop patience like the patience God has for you? How can you trust more and be more patient with accepting God's timing, for the sake of peace reigning in your heart?