When you plant calla lily seedlings, what do you expect to grow? Tulips? Roses? Of course not. You expect to grow flowers with smooth almost sword-like foliage. These beautiful flowers are native to South Africa. The word “calla” comes from the Greek word for beauty, and despite its name, the calla lily is not actually a lily; instead, it belongs to the Araceae family of flowering plants, to which philodendrons and elephant ears (caladium) also belong.  If, when you plant calla lilies, you end up with tulips, well, you better request a refund from the garden store from which you purchased the seed pack. And when you grow tomato plants, what do you expect to pick off the vines? Peas? Beans?

Now I ask you this – if you sit around in the evenings regularly eating potato chips and bacon horseradish dip, what do you expect the results to be? You surely don’t anticipate losing weight. And if the only exercise you get is walking from the couch to the refrigerator, that is not really an effective fitness program. But on the contrary, if you eat healthily and exercise regularly, you can expect to gain strength and flexibility, improve your mental and physical health, and probably even control your weight.

In order to plants to grow, they need periods of sunlight and darkness, food, water, and proper care. And for us to be healthy, we need a proper balance of work and rest, physical activity and exercise, well-balanced diet, proper amount of sleep, and abstinence from unhealthy habits.

Common sense tells us that we reap what we sow; we understand that principle for growing plants and caring for our natural (physical) life, but we sometimes forget that principle when it comes to our spiritual life. We need to regularly engage (sow) in spiritual practices in order to experience (reap) spiritual growth.

Galatians 5 gives us a list of both acts of the flesh and fruit of the Spirit. (I encourage you to read Galatians 5:13-26.) Engaging in the acts of the flesh often produces a momentary burst of pleasure but ultimately leaves you dissatisfied and empty, while the fruit of the Spirit produces growth and fruitfulness. The former brings death while the latter brings life.

One chapter later, in Galatians 6:7-9, we read this warning, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”     

So, what are you expecting to grow in your soil (soul)? Today, ask God to help you cultivate the soil of your life, so what you hope to see is what you do see – beautiful flowers blooming on a regular basis, ones that bring a sweet fragrance to you and those around you (calla lilies do not have much scent, but you get the point), and ones that others want to plant and grow in their own gardens (soil)!

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When my wife and I lived in North Carolina, we experienced firsthand the effects of hurricanes. The winds, the rain, the flooding, all of those caused us great distress, wondering when the roof would blow off or when a flying object would come through our window or when one of our many trees would come crashing down.

During one storm we did have the top half of a 120-foot tall tree snap off in the wind. Our wooden deck and patio took a direct hit, but thankfully, our house only had minor damage. Our safe place that day – sitting in our living room, fearful, hearts racing, praying.

Two months later, the bottom half of the tree also came down, this time however, not by the wind, but safely, by tree removal experts.  

In advance of another hurricane, we were forced to evacuate. Our safe place during that very devastating storm was in a hotel 140 miles away.

Where is your safe place? Where do you run to when you feel threatened or in need of rest? We all like those places of safety. As a child, the first place you probably wanted to run to when you were afraid was into the arms of a parent. Those comforting arms wrapped around you, holding you tight, offered a safe haven in the face of danger and fear. As a young boy living in Columbus, Ohio, my friends and build hideouts out of plywood, dirt, and tree branches. Without the secret password nobody could enter our fort. We were safe from grownups and girls. Maybe you ran and hit under your bed when your abusive father came home from a night of excessive drinking. As adults, we sometimes “run” to alcohol or medication to “hide” from the pain of life.  

Every one of us has a place we go, or an activity we engage in, when the storms of life begin to toss us to and fro. We all desire an anchor to hold us fast when the waves grow dangerous.

The truth is, no matter how secure we think that safe place is, it is not permanent; it can only bring temporary, not lasting, safety and security. The living room we sat in was only “safe” because the tree didn’t come crashing through the roof, potentially injuring or even killing us. The hotel room we sat in only provided us with safe shelter for a few days, then we had to return to New Bern. Those comforting arms, they only hugged you for so long. That fort we built as kids usually collapsed within days, despite our architectural expertise. Your abusive dad found you hiding under the bed and you were safe no more. That bottle of wine you drank to soothe your pain, all it did was leave you with a nasty headache in the morning.

There are many names for God in the Bible. Just a few are: Elohim, which means the Creator God; El Shaddai, the Almighty God; Jehovah Jireh, the Lord Will Provide; Jehovah Rohi, the Lord My Shepherd; Jehovah El Elyon, the Lord God Most High; or how about, Emmanu-el, which is God With Us.

Today I want to look at another name, one found in Psalm 62:8; God Our Refuge – “Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God (Elohim) is a refuge (Machase Lanu) for us.”

Psalm 62 is filled with other phrases, such as: God alone is my rock, my salvation, my fortress, my hope is from Him, and, in Him I will not be shaken. Do you believe that today?

We find this in Proverbs 18:10 – “The name of the LORD is a strong tower, the righteous runs into it and is safe.”

So, today, will you run to Elohim Machase Lanu, God Your Refuge? And will you thank Him for providing you shelter both in the storm and from the storm? God is your refuge, your protection, your unfailing and trustworthy strong tower.

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Our culture tells us the faster the better, and if fast is better, then faster must be even better. Well, unless you are a race car driver or a sprinter, fast is not always best. We all seem to sprint through life from one thing to another, oftentimes those things are good and noble, but amid that breakneck speed what we miss is the beauty of life. Faster and faster. Dizzying. Exhausting. Impossible to sustain. Round and round we go, like hamsters in a hamster wheel, but we don’t get anywhere. 

This quote by Eddie Cantor sums up what I am trying to say – Slow down and enjoy life. It’s not only the scenery you miss by going too fast – you also miss the sense of where you are going and why.”

Who is Eddie Cantor you might ask? He was a singer, comedian, vaudeville star, actor, and radio and television personality. Eddie got his start in show biz with the Ziegfeld Follies in New York City in 1917. Maybe as important, if not more important, Eddie was involved with The National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, founded in 1938 by President Franklin Roosevelt, and that foundation’s main fundraising event was setting up booths at Christmas asking people to donate a dime to fight polio and other birth defects. From that, Eddie coined the term, The March of Dimes, and in 1976 the organization adopted March of Dimes as its name.

If you are like most people, you run faster and faster in the hamster wheel, then collapse into bed at night, only to get up tomorrow and start all over. Round and round.

I am not saying all of life is intended to be spent sitting in a rocking chair on the porch or in a beach chair at the ocean. What I am saying is look over all the things you do and ask yourself; “what things are most important things to me, and what stuff can I dump over the side of the boat.” Yes, there are times in your life when the pace is fast and you do fly around at high speed, often while juggling many balls, but even then, take time to enjoy the scenery as it whizzes by.

Since my stroke in 2021, due to some neurological deficits, I have been forced to both slow down and as much as possible, avoid situations that create unneeded chaos in my brain. One of the things I have fallen in love with is JOMO – the joy of missing out, disconnecting as a form of self-care.

I love the words of Jeremiah 2:25, as translated in the Message – “Slow down. Take a deep breath. What’s the hurry? Why wear yourself out? Just what are you after anyway? But you say, ‘I can’t help it. I’m addicted to alien gods. I can’t quit.’”

Life shouldn’t be about doing more. Instead, about doing what matters most. The apostle Paul gives us a powerful reminder of the value of time. We are to use our time wisely, making thoughtful choices about how we spend the limited time on earth we have. Here is what we read – “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15-16).

So, today, look to God for meaning and purpose, and don’t buy into the world’s roadmap of “faster and faster.” That roadmap is nothing more than a hamster wheel that just goes round and round.

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Have you ever accomplished anything by sheer will? You achieved something through your own strong determination and willpower, without relying on external assistance or factors.

Or possibly you achieved something by your unwavering determination, despite significant obstacles. People like Rosa Parks or Nelson Mandela both overcame significant obstacles in their push for social justice or ending apartheid. Rosa Park’s refusal to give up her bus seat was the catalyst for the Montgomery Bus Boycott and Mandela’s refusal to let decades of imprisonment deter his push to end institutionalized racial segregation and discrimination are testaments to their determined sheer will.

Maybe you have overcome an addiction or debilitating illness, started a business, or achieved a goal with unwavering will power and determination. I could give several examples in my own life. I can think of one early example. I was a junior in high school. I ran track, running the sprints and relays. I had lost six straight 440 yard dashes to an athlete from a neighboring school. I was determined to not let that streak continue. He always ran a better race than me, out strategizing me every time.

It was the last track meet of the season before the league meet. We were running against that school. Leading up to the meet, I worked by butt off, training and working on “last 100 yards” strategies, the part of the race where he had excelled in our previous races. He was a much better quarter miler than I was, but that day, by sheer will, guts and determination, leaving everything I had on the track, I won the race by five or six steps. I did it! He beat me a few days later in the league meet, and while that was disappointing, I was satisfied that I beat him at least once. (He was a senior, so we never ran against each other after that.)

I think many Jesus-followers often try to live the life we are called to live by that same sheer will. We say, if I just try harder. It is not mind over matter. It is not with Superman’s sheer force of will. That approach usually, if not always, leads to frustration. While there is great truth in us playing a part in our own changed life, it is not simply about stopping old habits and instituting better religious ones. The Christian life doesn’t come through self-improvement, or through sheer will. Rather, we are transformed into the people God desires us to be by the saving power of Jesus Christ – ^“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

It is through grace that we were saved in the first place. And it is by that same grace that, if we truly trust in the words and works of Jesus, our lives become transformed lives. It is obedience that allows God to work in us and through us. We become an empowered person. Empowered to turn away from the old. Turn away from the old things and become new creatures – “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

We play a part in helping the “old to pass away,” but permanent change only comes in God’s initiating grace, through Jesus who is our implementing change agent, and because of the Spirit’s energizing transforming power. Any other method is fruitless. It is not sheer will. Instead, it is grace. Embrace and live in that truth!

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Have you had moments where you felt as if you safely fled from a bear only to come face to face with a lion? You know, you finally get out of one bad situation only to find yourself quickly in another one. You find yourself wondering which way to turn.  

No matter how you choose to describe it, there are times when life just seems to be a constant uphill battle. Trouble seems to track you down, no matter how hard you work to hide from it. Trouble comes at us from all directions. It comes in many shapes and sizes, in a variety of colors. Sometimes we find trouble. Other times, trouble finds us. A sense of isolation often accompanies trouble. We wonder if anyone sees us, or even cares.

No matter where trouble is located, or whether it finds us or we find it, God is an always present God. In Psalm 139, David considers the truth that his God, who is our God, is present everywhere, and there is no corner or dark space hidden from Him. Click here to read what David wrote about this ever-present, everywhere God.

When Joshua needed a boost of confidence, taking over the reins upon the death of Moses, probably wondering if trouble (or how much) was ahead, Yahweh said this to him – “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9). This was the third time Joshua was challenged by God to be strong and courageous (see vv. 6 & 7).

We find these words in Isaiah 41:10 – “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

Zephaniah, one of the twelve minor prophets, said this amid his warning Judah and encouraging the people to repent – “The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing” (3:17).

And now the very familiar words of Psalm 23, in which we find our Good Shepherd caring for us day in and day out, in life or in death, in times of plenty or want, in times of trouble or safety, in and though every situation that comes our way. Here I have broken down the six verses of this beautiful psalm into seventeen digestible pieces. I encourage you to read one at a time. Pause after each one, sit quietly, asking God to reveal the promise offered to you in and through the words you just read. Then move on to the next one. Maybe do one a day for seventeen days.   

The LORD is my shepherd

I shall not want

He makes me lie down in green pastures

He leads me beside quiet waters

He restores my soul

He guides me in paths of righteousness

For his name’s sake

Even though I walk through the valley of death

I will fear no evil

 For you are with me

Your rod and your staff, they comfort me

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies

You anoint my head with oil

My cup overflows

Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life

And I will dwell in the house of the LORD

Forever

So, today, and every day, even when it seems like all you do is flee from a bear only to be confronted by a lion, have comfort, have assurance, that God is right there with you, ready to fight with you and for you. Let me end by sharing these words of hope found in Deuteronomy 20:1-4. 

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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.

Your doctor delivers the news none of us ever want to hear; “You have cancer.” 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. Or that marriage ends when your spouse unexpectedly dies. The police show up at your door and tell you, “There’s 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. Uncertainty in world financial markets suddenly eats away at your investment portfolio, just months you plan to retire.     

Whatever the suddenly was for you, it probably left you gasping for air, with more questions and 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) tells 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 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. Last year I 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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