Admit, some mornings you jump out of bed and the sky is blue while other mornings you simply have the blues. The origin of the expression feeling blue might come from the tradition of ships flying blue flags when its captain or a crew member died. Another origin is likely derived from West African cultures in which mourner’s garments were died indigo blue to indicate sadness and suffering. Slaves working in Southern Plantations would sing songs of lament, songs of misery and oppression; this became the origin of “blues” music. The English poet Geoffrey Chaucer in his short poem Complaint of Mars wrote this – “With tears blue and a wounded heart.” You’ve heard some people say they have the winter blues.

Having the blues is understood to mean feelings of melancholy, being downcast, misery. And these feelings often lead to us hosting a pity party, one in which we feel sorry for ourselves. When we are, or at least when I am, feeling blue, I too often listen to the “what if” conjectures of my blue heart, leading me deeper into despair, from light blue to deep blue. It is a vortex that sucks us down and down some more.

The psalmist who penned Psalm 42 and 43 appears to be in one of those blue moods. Three times (42:5,11; 43:5) he says this – “Why are you in despair my soul and why so restless in me?” But instead of simply listening to his blue mood, he seems to be arguing with that blueness by remembering all the good that God has done – “My whole being is depressed. That’s why I remember you from the land of Jordan and Hermon, from Mount Mizar. Deep called to deep at the noise of your waterfalls; all your massive waves surged over me. By day the Lord commands his faithful love; by night his song is with me – a prayer to the God of my life” (42:6-8, CEB).

In those same three verses where the psalmist cries out “Why are you in despair?,” he also says this – “Wait for God, for I will again praise him for the help (hope) of His presence, my God.” Here the psalmist announces what he actively intends to do to combat his blueness. He will wait on God and praise Him again. Elsewhere in these two psalms, we also see the psalmist’s soul panting and thirsting for God (42:1,2) and making God his citadel, his stronghold (43:2).

So, when you feel blue, do not simply listen to your troubled soul. Instead tackle your blueness head on, arguing with it, hungering for God’s presence, remembering His love, and securing yourself in His strong tower, putting all your hope in Him.

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William Shakespeare said, “The eyes are the window to your soul.” Assuming our eyes are functioning correctly, eyes do not lie. They see things as they really are. We might perceive or interpret what we see incorrectly, but the misinterpretation problem does not lie with our eyes. Our eyes see the truth, no matter what spin we try to put on that which we see. We can look into someone’s eyes to gauge so much about them. Think about someone with a glazed-over look or a wide-eyed look of astonishment. Or how about the person with tears in their eyes or that glare you get from someone who is not happy with you.

Our eyes help us create emotions. I remember the utter heartache I felt as we walked down the street in New Bern, my eyes interpreting the devastation Hurricane Florence inflicted upon our beautiful historic town back in 2018. On the contrary, I only need to see the beach and the ocean to feel a sense of serenity. What the eyes see often helps to bring our emotions, thoughts, and imagination into focus. What we see affects our heart. What we see affects our mind. What do you “see” when you see a sunrise or sunset, falling snow, a butterfly, a flower, autumn leaf colors, a baby’s smile, a beautiful bride? What do you see when you look into the heavens?

The Bible talks about our eyes being the window to seeing or not seeing God. In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, his teaching on how to live a life full of love and grace, wisdom and discernment, a life dedicated and pleasing to God, says this – “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, hoe great is the darkness” (Matthew 6:22-23). I believe these two verses tell us that it is through our eyes that we find our way. Light comes into our body through our eyes, and we either are “see” light or we “see” darkness. Light illuminates God while darkness blinds us to God.   

Our fallen nature keeps us from seeing God fully. Our fallen nature lets darkness in, and we need the power of God’s Spirit to “see” God. We need ask God to guard our eyes from all that blinds us from seeing him. We need the revelation of God in order to grasp his goodness. The prophet Isaiah, when challenging people, whose vision had been darkened from continually looking onto the face of their idols, to look into the skies, said this – “Look up at the sky! Who created the stars you see? The one who leads them out like an army, he knows how many there are and calls each one by name! His power is so great – not one of them is ever missing!” (Isaiah 40:26, GNT).

Psalm 119:18 gives us a similar message – “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your laws.” Here the Psalter is praying for a life of fellowship with God, in obedience to God’s divine revelations, so that he can “see” the wonderful things found in God’s instruction. Psalm 119 is an acrostic psalm, consisting of a section for each of the twenty-two letters in the Hebrew alphabet. V.18 is in the third section Gimel, the third letter in that alphabet.

Today, if your ability to “clearly see” has been blinded, ask God for “clear” vision. Rather than being blinded by the darkness, ask God to help you be “Blinded by the Light.” (That is the title and lyrics of a song written and first recorded by Bruce Springsteen then later covered by Manfred Mann’s Earth Band.)

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NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Johnny Unitas is reported to have once said, “There is a difference between conceit and confidence. Conceit is bragging about yourself. Confidence means you believe you can get the job done.” We all know people who like to brag about themselves, but when the rubber hits the road their tires are often flat. We also know people who just seem to ooze confidence. They are like that scene from The Little Engine That Could, where the little blue railroad engine is chugging up the hill, trying to pull a long train over the mountain, while repeating the phrase “I think I can, I think I can” over and over again.

While we all know people who are confident, we probably know many more people who really doubt themselves. They are afraid or lack the confidence to try anything new. They think their seemingly low stature in life or the baggage from past experiences disqualifies them from being “faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.” Is it possible that the person you know who thinks like that looks back at you in the mirror each morning?

God wants to use ordinary people like you and like me to do extraordinary things. God is not concerned about your past. God sees you today and has big plans for you. Right now, you might be saying, “What can I possibly have that is useful to God? I don’t have much to offer.”

There is a scene from the Wizard of Oz where the wizard has just given the Scarecrow a diploma, the Cowardly Lion a medal, and the Tin Man a heart-shaped pocket watch. After each had received his gift from the wizard it is asked what there is for Dorothy. If you know that scene (click here to watch the video clip), then you know Dorothy’s response – “I don’t think there’s anything in that black bag for me.” Many of us probably say that same thing (or at least think it) when trying to find our place in God’s economy.

Unlike Dorothy, however, there really is something in God’s bag for all of us. Not because of us, but rather, only because of God. On our own we have nothing to offer God. He is not looking for qualified people. It has nothing to do with rich or poor, young or old, male or female, black or white, college degree or GED, or any of those other markers we use to categorize ourselves and others.

The world looks for people who are qualified. God on the other hand, looks for people who are simply available. When God was choosing the next king, he used different criteria for choosing a leader than did the world. Here is what we read in 1 Samuel 17:6 – “But the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on his height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.’”

God has a plan and a purpose for your life. First and foremost, He calls us into a personal relationship with Him through the crucified and resurrected Christ. Second, He calls us to seek after Him with all we are and all we have. God is simply looking for you and me to say, “Yes, here I am, use me.”

So, today, you can have confidence that there really is something in that black bag for you!!! In God’s economy, everyone gets to play. The question is – are you available?

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Think back to time in your life when something in your life, maybe without warning, dried up. Everything was running smoothly, then suddenly, the wheels fell off.

You find yourself in the neurotrauma ICU after suffering a stroke, leaving you wondering what lies ahead. Your until death do us part marriage ends in divorce. The police show up at your door and tell you “There has been an accident.” One day your boss walks in and informs you that your job has been eliminated. After gathering up your personal belongings you quietly leave by the back door, saying to yourself, “didn’t see that coming.” A natural disaster wipes out your entire community, leaving nothing but devastation in its wake.

Whatever the suddenly was for you, it probably left you gasping for air, with more questions than answers. If you are like me, you not only asked the why question, but you likely also wondered where God was in that moment. However, in my journey with God, I have found it more beneficial to ask, “God, what are You doing in and through this situation? What are You teaching me?” rather than simply asking “Why?” He is always at work in and through every situation, wanting to build something good, something of eternal value, in us.

Let’s look at a story found in the Old Testament. 1 Kings Chapter 17 begins with the prophet Elijah announcing that because King Ahab “did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him” (16:33), a severe drought would come upon the land. God instructs Elijah to leave town and hide in the Kerith Ravine. The word “kerith” means hidden. Elijah was cut off from the rest of the world. Sometimes God has us in a hidden place, cut off from life so we can rely solely on Him.

God also tells Elijah that the ravens will bring him food and the brook will supply his drinking water. I don’t know about you, but if God told me that birds would bring me my food, and that I was to get my thirst quenched from a little ol’ brook, well, I would have more questions for Him. The text (v.6) goes on to tell us that he had plenty to eat and drink.

However, shortly thereafter, the wheels begin to fall off. We read this in v.7, “And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.” I am sure that Elijah questioned God. But God had a plan.

In v.8, we find this – “Then the word of the LORD came to him (Elijah).” He sent Elijah to the town of Zarephath; and it was there that he had an encounter with a poor widow in which the LORD (Yahweh) turns what appeared to be not enough into not just enough, but rather, more than enough, not only for Elijah but also for woman and her son. I previously wrote about this encounter. Click here to read that post.

What nugget of truth can we take away from Elijah’s Kerith Ravine experience? It was in that secluded place that Elijah had to rely solely on God’s provisions. And it was in his time of solitude, cut off from the world around him, that Elijah received divine instructions.

So, today, when your brook dries up, when the wheels fall off, know that your faithful and loving God is using it to grow you and make you more like His Son, Jesus, fully dependent on Him. And it might also just be in those moments that you hear His voice more easily.

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Have you ever believed in someone even after everyone else gave up on them? They’ve blown it more times than anyone can count, but you care about that person enough to not give up on them. Or, maybe it is you that someone believed in, even when others did not. In some cases, you even stopped believing in yourself. It was as if the vines were empty. Nothing left to hope for.

My college football coach was an average master of the game. On game day, the coaches and players did not want him calling any plays. But Coach Carp was a master tactician, master motivator. He knew what pieces to put where in order to get the maximum out of every person in the program, from the team’s manager to the All-American superstar. He believed in all of us, even as we doubted ourselves. Over a 32-year coaching career, his teams won over 70 percent of their games, and Coach is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame. Until his death in 2009, when I needed encouragement, when I needed guidance, I knew who to call.    

Twenty-five years ago, when I applied to become a student in Vineyard’s ministry training school, I was very unsure of myself, and truthfully, wasn’t even sure why I had applied in the first place. I had never seen myself as wanting to be a pastor, let alone have anything that God was looking for. How I got to that place in my life is a story all to itself. As I was interviewing with the school’s director and bumbling my way through telling him my life’s journey, at some point he stopped me, and said these very words – “Dave, there is something in you that I just love and even though you don’t, I believe in you.” The trajectory of my life changed in that very moment.

The Bible is full of stories of God believing in, and using, people who had probably given up on themselves. People who made great messes of their lives. People whose vines were empty. Moses wandered for forty years in the wilderness while tending sheep before God called him to lead the people out of captivity. Rahab was a prostitute, yet God used her to help the Israelites capture the city of Jericho. How about King David, the adulterer and murderer. Abraham, the perpetual liar. Peter, who tripped over his own feet time and time again. God never gives up on His people. In fact, He loves to use His people, as broken and damaged as we are, to do His work.

But my question today is not does God believe in you (He does!), rather, I ask – Do you continue to believe in God, even when things don’t go your way? Sure, it is easy to trust God when the sun is shining, when your vines are full of grapes, but what happens when everything in your life runs dry, when everything seems to be in ruins, when the vines are empty?

In the first thirteen verses of Psalm 31, it is clear that, David, the writer of this psalm, faces unending troubles. He had probably given up trying to make wine from empty vines. He also probably wondered where God was. Yet, in v.14 we read – “But, I trust in you, O LORD, I say, You are my God.”

In a vision of Israel’s soon to be devastated economy, the prophet Habakkuk realizes that his aid, especially in times of trouble, comes not from temporal things, but instead, from Yahweh alone. And as a result of Habakkuk’s faith, God strengthened him not only to endure the hardship, but also to leap joyfully. That same strength is available to you and me today. Here is what we read – “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights” (Habakkuk 3:17-19).

So, today, regardless of how empty your vines seem to be, can you unequivocally say to God… But, I trust in you!

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What makes a picture perfect yard? You know, the one that could be featured on the cover of a home and garden magazine? Is it the beautifully landscaped flower beds or the lush green grass? The lawn is always mowed to the right height; it looks like the outfield at Fenway Park. Maybe the trees and shrubs always seem to be blooming. The beds are mulched, and the front porch has lovely hanging baskets filled with ferns or bright flowers.

What makes the difference between a picture perfect yard and one that might just be so-so? Yes, it could be some of the big things mentioned above, but often times it is just the little finishing touches that make all the difference.

Take for example, edging alongside your driveway or front walk. That ragged edge of grass might be the first thing people see when they pull into your driveway or walk to your front door, diminishing the beauty of everything else that is well manicured. They miss the “big, beautiful stuff” and only see what you might consider “little and insignificant.” Sometimes something as little as edging the lawn makes all the difference between picture perfect and so-so.

Often times it is the same with us. We get all the big things right, but it is the little ones that so often trip us up. You have probably never committed adultery, robbed a bank, murdered someone, or embezzled money. But what about those “little” temptations, the ones that seem to trip us up quite often? Telling the proverbial “white lie” now and then. Talking negatively about someone behind their back. “Borrowing” office supplies from our workplace. Maybe even fudge a number or two on our tax return, nothing major, but nonetheless, not completely truthful.

Before I go any further, let me say that while some sins have bigger consequences than others, God does not look at sin as being either big or little. God looks at sin and hates every single one of them, regardless of the name or size we give to it. Our relationship with God and with those around us is always damaged by the sins we commit. And while it is true that sin is totally against the nature of God and separates us from Him (Isaiah 59:1-2), it is also true that if we ask God to forgive us of our sins, He is faithful in doing so (1 John 1:9).      

We are all susceptible to being seduced by Satan, and he loves to trip us up in the little things. In 1 Corinthians 10:12 we read these words, “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall.” Here are very encouraging words in the very next verse, providing us hope that with God’s help (and accountability to others), we can ward off the sly enemy … “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” 

Because of our inherent sin nature, we need the power of God to help us clean up our ragged edges. It requires constant asking. King David, after what might have been his lowest moment, committing adultery with Bathsheba then conspiring to kill her husband Uriah in a cover up scheme, prayed this – “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast [right] spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10).

So, today, why not ask the Holy Spirit, your personal change agent, to help you do some edging in your life. The little things make a big difference!

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