Asides

February 7
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Uncategorized Aside

“We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.” (Romans 5:3, NLT)

The only way to become a successful long-distance runner is to put in the miles over a period of time. Anything less, and the runner fails because he or she lacks endurance.

God is building into us endurance (perseverance) through various problems and trials as a track coach might send his runners over rough, hilly trails; and through spongy meadows, knowing that in order to overcome, a runner must first endure.

God is fitting each one of us for His purposes. Trials and problems come into our life only with God’s permission. He permits them only to the extent that they are necessary to run the course we cannot yet see — or to run beside the individual we have not yet met.

When we recall these things, we can rejoice “when we run into problems and trials.”  – Luther

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February 6
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Uncategorized Aside

“’I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.’” (Revelation 1:8, NIV)

To know God is to know that our past, present, and future are all securely in His care.

Our God is the beginning. There was nothing — and no one — preceding Him.

Our God is the end. . . without end. No one — and no thing — follows Him. 

Therefore, we need not lament the things of the past for which we’ve repented. What may be losses to us have the potential for redemption when abandoned to the eternal plan of our heavenly Father.  – Luther

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February 5
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Uncategorized Aside

“Then Moses said to them, ‘No one is to keep any of it until morning.’  However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.”  (Exodus 16:19-20, NIV)

The Lord’s prayer includes these words: “Give us this day, our daily bread.”

The daily bread of the Children of Israel’s 40-year sojourn in the desert was called manna.  The wanderers were commanded by Moses to take only what was needed each day (except on the day before the sabbath, when they were to collect two day’s worth so they could keep the command to refrain from labor on the sabbath).  But some of the wanderers paid Moses no mind, and hoarded the manna.  They should have saved the effort: The manna became inedible by morning.

Believe it or not, something as simple as eating can be an exercise in faith.  Do we trust God to supply all of our needs, or do we have our own ideas about what we shall eat, drink, and wear?  And if we’re set in the food and clothing department, do we reveal our insecurities about the future of our children, the state of our health, or the various other uncertainties of life?

God knows that we need the necessities of life, and he wants us to trust Him to provide them.  We need not hoard; God has not forgotten us.  We need not fret; our heavenly Father has not left us alone to fend for ourselves.  – Luther

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