If you have ever been to the beach, you have undoubtedly seen the ridge of sand that lies between the beach and the land behind it. Sand dunes are formed over many years when windblown sand gets trapped by beach grasses or other vegetation. These dunes play a vital role in protecting both the adjacent beach and the inland areas behind them.

In addition, dunes provide nesting habitat for coastal and migratory birds. In some areas, man-made dunes are created by bulldozing piles of sand to the back of the beach. At the beach that was nearest our home in North Carolina, each year local residents were asked to drop off Christmas trees that would then be used build up and fortify the dunes.

We all have personal sand dunes, helping to protect us from harm. We put on suntan lotion to keep us from getting sunburned. We use bug spray to keep us from being bitten by mosquitoes and other insects. We wear hats and gloves in sub-freezing weather to avoid frostbite. To protect our yards and homes we install fencing and security systems. Hopefully you wear your seat belt when riding in a vehicle. Kids riding in cars must be secured by car seats, seemingly these days until they are freshmen in high school. I am inclined to do dumb stuff; so, thankfully, I have a wife who repeatedly acts as a dune, keeping me from harming myself or others.

One danger that many of us fail to protect ourselves against is the enemy of God, known as Satan; also referred to as the devil. (The Bible uses other names as well. Here are just five – accuser, adversary, evil one, father of lies, thief.) How Satan came to be Satan is for another day, but in my opinion, the Bible is clear that Satan does exist, and loves nothing more than to trick us, tempt us, and draw us into sinful behavior; behavior that ultimately harms us and others.

The vast majority of us have dunes in place to keep us from committing murder or robbing a bank. Where we often fail is in those things we categorize as “little” dangers; things like gossip, lust, greed, pride, stealing Post-It Notes from our employer, little white lies. Those little dangers (sins) are dangerous, no less so than the ones we consider to be big. And often when we at our strongest, it is those times that we are also at our weakest spiritually.

A good illustration of this is King David. As king, he was enjoying unprecedented success, fame, and wealth. He was seemingly invincible. Or so he thought. I am sure you are familiar with the story found in 2 Samuel 11 in which as David stood on his rooftop he saw a beautiful woman bathing, and if you know that story (even if you don’t), it went rapidly downhill from there.          

Think of it like this. We all know to lock our front door to provide safety from the big and obvious dangers. But, so often, we fail to lock our back door, thus allowing Satan quiet, and often unnoticed, access to our lives. If you are a Jesus-follower, every single day you are in a spiritual battle for your soul. Thankfully, you do not fight that battle alone. God, through the power of the Holy Spirit, is your personal sand dune, protecting you from Satan’s dangers. We find these words in 2 Thessalonians 3:3 – “But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.”

Jesus, in showing us how to pray, offers this – “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

The apostle Paul tells us to put on the full armor of God as a sand dune against the schemes of Satan (Ephesians 6:10-17).   

So, do you have a sand dune built into your life to help keep you safe? And, because life erodes away at that dune, are you continually striving to keep that dune built up and fortified? Right now, ask the Holy Spirit to be your sand dune while keeping your eyes and ears open, looking for, and fleeing from, the dangers that lurk all around you.

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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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If you were to have visited the quaint little hamlet of Bethel, New York, fifty-four years ago today, you would have found it quite a mess. The Woodstock Music and Art Fair held on Max Yasgur’s dairy farm had just ended. The festival promised “3 Days of Peace & Music.” But what was not advertised was probably three weeks of cleanup afterwards.  

For those of us old enough to remember the 1960s and 70s, the word “peace” likely conjures up a picture of the anti-war movement – Hippies flashing peace signs as they protested the Vietnam War or the “make love not war” anti-war phrase that was voiced not only by hippies and college students but also by average American families and even some who were engaged in the actual fighting in Vietnam. And by all accounts, along with an excess of drugs, make love not war and peace also flowed freely at the festival during those three muddy days in August 1969.

While peace is most often thought of in the context of a lack of conflict or violence, today I want to dig into another kind of peace, the kind of peace that only comes from Jesus. I am talking about an inner peace that brings calmness and a sense of safety, a sense of serenity, even in the midst of a warring and divisive world all around us.

On the night before He was crucified, Jesus delivers what is known as the Farewell Address (John Chapters 14-17) to the remaining eleven disciples. Early in that address Jesus tells the eleven that he will going away to the Father (14:1-11), which I am sure created quite a bit of consternation within each of them. In today’s language, maybe we say, “He rocked their boat.”

Immediately after dropping that bombshell, Jesus then tells his guys that he will be sending the Holy Spirit to guide them (14:15-26). But Jesus goes even further in trying to calm their fears. Here is what we find in v.27 – “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” Those comforting words are bookends to the is entire section, as Jesus began his address like this – “Let your hearts not be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me” (14:1).

This peace Jesus speaks of is a mystery, it surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7). This peace that Jesus speaks of is not being exempt from internal (or external) troubles. In fact, Jesus himself had been troubled by his pending crucifixion (John 12:27). Instead, what I believe Jesus is offering is a different kind of peace. Notice Jesus offers not just any peace, he offers my peace, which I truly believe gives us an untroubled and unfearful heart in a world that is full of trouble, in a world that gives us much to be fearful about. 

The world fights for peace, it negotiates for peace, but ultimately the peace found in this world is only temporary. It is a false peace, one based strictly upon circumstances. Jesus does not fight for, or negotiate for, peace, but instead, He is peace, and he freely gives it away to all who trust in Him. You can have that kind of peace in the midst of whatever trouble swirls around you today, regardless of whether that trouble lurks right on your doorstep or is halfway around the world.

So, today, make it a priority to pray for a reassuring faith that will allow you to have not just some temporary peace, like those three days at Woodstock, but a permanent peace that is offered to you by Jesus, who among other things, is called the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).

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