Devotion Monday

 

Devotion

11-23-09

Hebrews 10:23

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful”

Looking Up

 

Every day, every single one of us faces the hard reality of life in some way or another.  Some of us find ourselves in the middle of painful trials, there seems to be no change in sight and we can become overwhelmed, weary and tired to a point of giving up.  When I stand on the stage each Sunday morning singing in the Praise Team, I see the faces of my sisters and brothers and wonder what is happening in their lives.  I wonder why the looks on some of their faces are heavy with emotion, tears and a sadness that has seemed to grip their hearts.  I wonder how I can reach out to them, to help them and to pray for them.  There are days when my eyes fall upon one person that the Lord keeps drawing me to for some reason and as I sing my heart whispers a silent prayer for that person.

 

There are so many of you right now that feel hopeless.  You have prayed and feel that those prayers are not being heard.  You are scared of what may happen next in marriage, with your children, your job, or even your life. Fear traps you in the shadows of despair and the enemy uses that to keep you from looking up.  When my children were young and going through a difficult time, sometimes I would notice that the situation was causing them to hang their heads, to become angry at God, to feel hopeless.  So I reminded them that after the storms, when it has rained really hard outside, we will often go out with our heads down, watching to make sure we don’t step in the water puddles. Yet, by keeping our heads down to carefully not get our feet wet, we fail to see what is waiting for us in the sky.  If we don’t pick up our heads and look up we will miss the rainbow. We do the same thing in our lives. The struggles get so hard that all we seem to do is keep our heads down to watch our every step.  We see only the puddles of life and are missing out on the beautiful promises (as a rainbow represents) from God.  We must pick up our heads and look up.  Look up to the Father; believe He has a rainbow for you.  It is there but without looking up you will never see it. You will miss the blessing it brings you.  

 

So don’t give up. Hold on.  Look up. Nothing in this life is hopeless no matter what any one says.  With the Lord there is always hope. Do not become weary in doing good and praying is a good thing.  Keep talking to the Father, He really does hear you and wants to show you His mighty hand at work but you must look up.  Don’t miss what He is trying to show you. Don’t miss the answers that are right before your eyes if you will only lift up your head and stop looking only at the puddles of life.  Look up, look up now! Praise Him, trust Him, He loves you.  Pray believing and watching for His rainbow and pray that those around you will see that rainbow with you. Take a deep breath, look up and say to your Father right now, I need Your hope restored in my life. Help me keep my head up, help me rest in Your arms and fill me with Your joy once more.  I may be hurting, I may be in a storm, but I will not let the enemy win, I will not look down at only the puddles of my life any longer.  Today Father, I am looking up!