Once upon a time there was a farmer who wanted to grow strawberry plants in his garden. After he put the small plants in the ground, he prayed, “God my plants need rain to begin growing, so please let it rain.” The next morning a gentle rain shower provided water for the plants. He then prayed, “Okay God, now my plants need the warmth of the sun.” The sun shone brightly all afternoon. The farmer knew that his plants needed cool damp nights to take in carbon dioxide that is essential to convert sunlight energy into chemical energy. So, he prayed for cool nights, and the nights were cool and damp, just what the plants needed.

This process went on for weeks, with the farmer praying for what he thought necessary for the plants. But soon the strawberry plants stopped growing, and they wilted and died.

One day down at the feed store the farmer shared his sadness with a friend, who was also a farmer. This other farmer said that he also planted strawberries, and this year’s plants were producing sweet deep red berries, maybe the sweetest in years. The farmer whose plants wilted asked for advice. His friend answered this way: I plant my berries at the proper time and then I simply pray, “God, you know what my plants need for proper growth so please send what is needed.”

That story is fictitious, but it is a story of how we sometimes pray. We take our request to God and then we proceed to give Him the ways we want Him to answer. It is as if we are asking God to bless and prosper our plans rather than asking Him to reveal His plans to us. We need to entrust our lives, and yes, our plans as well, to God. It is He who knows best.

In Psalm 25:5-6 we read – “Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long.”  

“Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track” (Proverbs 3:5-6, MSG).

And, staying in Proverbs, we read these words – “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purposes that prevail” (19:21).

Jesus shows us how to pray and what to pray – “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” He goes on to pray “Give us this day, our daily bread.” This daily bread reference would have been understood by Jesus’ early followers because it directly pointed back to the Old Testament in which God miraculously supplied the Israelites in the wilderness with that day’s manna from heaven. (Exodus 16; shorter version in Numbers 11:1-9)   

Do you want delicious sweet deep red strawberries? Then ask God to bring sunshine, rain, and cool nights when those conditions are most needed, not when you most want them! Don’t put a lid on what God can and will do.

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Think of the last vacation trip you took? It was hopefully to a destination where you could unplug for a few days, resting, relaxing, recharging. While away, did the pace of life slow down? Could you step away from the crap of life and simply be peaceful in the moment? Were you able to find moments of calmness, moments of quiet, moments of contentment, full well knowing that the world around you was still very chaotic? For my wife and I, that place is anywhere near the beach and ocean.

I write regularly about inner peace. In a world that spins faster and faster, seemingly spinning out of control. Let’s be honest – it is difficult to find and keep any kind of peace, let alone inner peace. Let me define what I mean by those two terms. Peace being a lack of conflict whereas inner peace is a state of feeling content, having a calm spirit, even amid turmoil. I will go so far as to say I do not think we can experience (outer) peace unless we first have inner peace.

There are endless suggestions and methods in the marketplace for us to find peace of mind, peace of soul. The marketers of this kind of “inner” peace point to oneself as being the source of this peace. They say, “Look within to find all you need.” Of course, in addition to buying their book, taking their seminar, listening to their podcast.

Without a doubt, there is value in each of us tending to our own souls, caring for ourselves, finding peacefulness within us. But, in my opinion, self-help is inherently flawed. It looks to “self” for help, when in fact we cannot permanently “help” ourselves, outside of God. We cannot find true inner peace apart from God. The apostle Paul calls God “the God of peace” (Romans 15:33). Jesus is called the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). Peace is one of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22).

In the parting words to his disciples, known as the Farewell Discourse (John Chapters 14-17), Jesus alluded to this different kind of God-given inner peace – ^“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27). Inner peace is heart, mind, and spirit, collectively all at rest (calm, content), not dependent on external surroundings or circumstances.

In a story found in three of the four gospels (Matthew 8:23-27; Mark 4:35-41, Luke 8:22-25, Jesus models inner peace for us. He and his disciples were on the lake heading to the other side when a fierce storm came upon them. The men were terrified but they found Jesus sound asleep, blissfully peaceful, despite the dangerous storm swirling around them. In their fear, the disciples woke Jesus, crying out (probably with some anger in their voices) – “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing” (Mark 4:38). What did Jesus do next? Did He panic along with them? No. The One who is in control over all circumstances made the wind and lake perfectly calm. He then questioned the faith of the disciples.

Dr. Lloyd John Ogilvie, Chaplain of the United States Senate from 1995-2003, put it this way, “Sometimes the Lord rides out the storm with us and other times He calms the restless sea around us. Most of all, He calms the storm inside us in our deepest inner soul.”

Jesus wants to give you the same inner peace that kept Him calm in the storm. Do you trust He is in control? Do you have that kind of faith?

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Have you ever heard someone say, “Be careful of so-and-so, they have baggage”? What they really mean is that person has stuff, they have junk, in their life that they will carry into their relationship with you, and most often, that baggage will cause problems.

The truth is, we all have baggage. We all have a past, and that past is filled with successes and failures, both big and small. That past is filled with smiles and also with tears. It is filled with things we are glad to share with others, and it is filled with things we keep hidden from others, or at least “hidden” until someone posts it on social media.

In part, our past makes us who we are today. While we are all influenced by our past, we do not have to let our past dictate the present or the future. Sometimes we allow our past, our baggage, our junk, to be like carrying all of our possessions in suitcases on our back. It is hard and tiring work. It weighs us down. The longer we try to carry that baggage, the more it weighs us down, the more hunched over we become. I remember our daughters carrying backpacks in high school that weighed almost as much as they did at the time. Imagine lugging that kind of weight around all day long.

Sadly, oftentimes, others just watch us struggle and do nothing.  

But unlike those who see us struggling and never offer assistance, we have a God who does not sit idly by and watch us struggle. You might right now be thinking, “Oh you don’t know my past. The pain is too great or the hole is just too deep to climb out of, God can never help me.” The truth is, God loves you and is interested in redeeming and restoring you, no matter how broken you feel; He wants to unload the baggage off your aching back. He wants to empty your suitcases that are filled with the junk of life.

David wrote this in Psalm 40:1-2 – “I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.”

So, when you feel weighed down, drag yourself to Jesus and dump your baggage at His feet. It is in that divine transaction that Jesus promises to give you rest. Here is His promise – “Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).  

Let me end with this challenge – It is easy to sit idly by when we see others struggling since we are already hauling around our own stuff. And besides, who needs loaded down with the junk of others anyway. But sitting idly by is not what Scripture calls us to. Here is what we find in Galatians 6:2 – “Carry (to bear, meaning take up not take on; there is a difference) each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” You ask, what is the law of Christ? Well, just one chapter earlier, Paul is quoting Jesus (from Matthew 22:34-40) – “For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Galatians 5:14).

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So he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerebbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.” Zechariah 4:6.

Picture yourself rowing your boat in the rough seas, working extremely hard and not really getting any closer to shore, all the while right behind you sits an idle outboard motor just waiting to be used to power your boat back to shore. Sounds silly, right? But it is true, that is how we sometimes operate, under our own power and strength. We so often find ourselves working harder and harder, but not necessarily smarter. There is a saying that re-surfaces from time to time that goes like this – “It isn’t the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.” 

The same can be said of the things we do for God. It can be said that God is often pleased with our path but sometimes disappointed in our approach. We find ourselves simply trying to push through the waves under our own power, often rowing into the wind, our muscles tiring, our energy drained from the endless exertion, and really getting no closer to the shoreline than when we started. I am sure that is true of me at certain times in my own life and ministry. But the work of ministry is from overflow not from overwork.

Before you think only clergy (this group has many different names depending upon one’s faith tradition) do ministry, making this post irrelevant to you, let me say that by ministry I mean not just what that select group of people do, but rather, it is what every Christ-follower does in serving God. This is called the priesthood of all believers. When we use our gifts, talents, and abilities to help other people, that’s ministry in its purest sense. There is nothing fancy about it. It is just serving others in God’s name. Cutting an elderly neighbor’s grass or walking along a friend who is struggling are ministry just as much as preaching on a Sunday morning.

Scripture is clear that when we have Jesus we also have His power source, the Holy Spirit. (Read John 14:15-17 and 1 Corinthians 3:16.) That power is readily available, we just so often fail to tap into it! And as the verse at the beginning of this post tells us, we will accomplish bigger and better things when we rely first and foremost on the Holy Spirit, and let Him direct our path, rather than simply working harder and harder and harder.

Not only do we get the indwelling presence (permanence, possess spiritually) of the Spirit as part of the package deal, we are promised His power as well. In response to whether he was going to restore the kingdom to Israel (Acts 1:1-6) now that he (Jesus) had risen from the dead, here is what Jesus said – “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (vv.7-8).

That same power is available to every Jesus-follower today. Power to do more than we might think possible (Ephesians 3:20).

So today, stop operating under your own power and strength. Tap into the power source within you and begin to be amazed at what you can accomplish when you work from His overflow rather than your overwork. Rowing is hard work.

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A number of years, when we lived in North Carolina, we removed some unsightly shrubbery in our front yard. That left a large bare spot in which we wanted to plant grass seed. But before we planted the seed, we needed to cultivate and prepare the soil to make the ground ready, thus not inhibiting the new grass from growing. If we had simply spread grass seed on hard dirt, it would not likely grow. We worked the soil to break it up and to help us find rocks, twigs, weeds, and roots still left behind after digging up the shrubs. After making the ground ready we then planted grass seed, but even with proper conditions it was slow to germinate and grow. It did eventually fill in nicely,

The same can be said of our daily walk with Jesus. We need to cultivate a proper lifestyle that will then be conducive to growing closer to Jesus. The author of 2 Peter (Maybe Peter? See side note below.), in outlining how to grow in spiritual maturity, says this –

“By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.

The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins” (1:3-9, NLT).

As a side note, in the opening verse of both 1 and 2 Peter, the author identifies himself as Peter (Simon Peter in 2 Peter). However, for centuries there has been much debate and disagreement as to the Petrine authorship of the second epistle. In my opinion, confidence in the authenticity of 2 Peter does not depend upon our human desire to assign an author to it. Instead, it is canonical (accepted as genuine), because, just as with the whole of scripture, it was written under the inspiration of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Are you doing the necessary things to produce the proper conditions for Jesus to grow in you? Are you spending time with Jesus every day? Are you reading and meditating upon Scripture? Do you listen for the voice of God? Do you seek His guidance and wisdom? Do you pray regularly (conversation with God, not simply “asking” for things)? Those are just some of the questions you should be asking yourself.

So, no matter how closely you walk with Jesus today, it should be your desire to walk even closer – to have properly cultivated and ever-improving soil so that Jesus’ presence can grow in you. Ask Him today to help you work your soil so that His presence fills your entire being, and watch how those bare spots begin to fill in.  

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Have you ever had one of those moments when time seemed to stand still? In today’s increasingly fast-paced world, it seems like entire days, entire weeks, even entire months, fly by without us even noticing. One day blurs into the next, leaving us wondering where time has gone.

But every once in a while, something grabs our attention, and time seems to stand still. My wife and I love watching sunrises and sunsets. Time seems to slow down for us in those brief moments. Maybe for you it is a piece of music or artwork. I think back to seeing my soon-to-be-wife for the first time in her wedding dress. Time stood still in that moment.

Awe-inspiring moments influence our perception of time. In essence, when we focus on the present, time gets sliced up into smaller segments, making each moment seem more expansive. Those moments tend to keep us from rushing off to the next thing. 

We know that time does not really stand still. It just seems that way sometimes. However, many years ago, there was once a day when time did stand still. Actually, it was the Sun that stood still. Let me explain.

Earth rotates on its axis once a day and orbits the Sun once a year. The Sun appears to rise and set due to Earth’s rotation. So, does the Sun move too? While it appears to be stationary, the Sun does in fact move, rotating on its axis once every 27 days. And it takes approximately 225 million Earth years for the Sun to make one complete orbit around the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. 

Now, the context for today’s writing. As found in the Old Testament book of Joshua, upon entering the Promised Land, the Israelites conquered the cities of Jericho and Ai. Soon thereafter, they would engage in two more campaigns against the wicked nations of Canaan. As the Israelites battled the five kings of the Amorites and their armies at Gibeon (Joshua 10:5), Joshua needed more time to defeat the armies. What did he do? He asked for more time. Haven’t we all asked for more time at some point. Joshua needed more daylight. So, he asked for it. Do you ask God for what you need?

Here is what we read – “Then Joshua spoke to the Lord … sun, stand still at Gibeon, and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon” (Joshua 10:12).

And how did God respond? – “And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day” (v.13). The Book of Jashar is a collection of ancient Israelite poems quoted throughout the OT.)

Let’s keep reading – “There has been no day like it before or since, when the LORD heeded the voice of a man, for the LORD fought for Israel” (v.14).

You can find this extended narrative in Joshua chapters 9-12.

We are not told how God stopped the Sun any more than we are told how He miraculously fed thousands of people with only five fish and two loaves of bread. The book of Joshua is a historical book filled with real people, places, and events. It is not a book of poetry or prophecy, filled with figurative language. I see nothing in this narrative that suggests we take the stopping of the sun as anything but literal.

Maybe right now, you need a miracle, an answer to prayer. Joshua prayed. God supernaturally provided the light needed to win the battle. Do you believe that God can answer your prayers? He can act in ways that you neither imagine nor understand. God can and does listen to the cries of His children when we pray according to His purposes (Psalm 145:18; Matthew 6:9-13; 1 John 5:14).

The Sun stood still for Joshua. God might just do the same for you!

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