When The Walls Are Closing In
by Gwen Smith
Today’s Truth
Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.(Psalm 62:5)
Friend to Friend
There’s a scene in Star Wars Episode IV – A New Hope – where Princess Leia, Hans Solo, Chewbacca, and Luke Skywalker find themselves on the detention level of the Death Star in a trash compactor whose walls are closing in quickly. Their efforts to slow the walls down were ineffective. Leia and Hans tried every way conceivable to brace the walls with something to stop the progression of eminent death. Chewbacca tried to use brute force. Steel poles were snapped like toothpicks as Luke desperately called out to C3PO on his com-link to shut the system down.
Meanwhile, in another area of the Death Star, C3PO thought that Storm Troopers might have captured the crew, but he couldn’t hear Luke’s cries because he had forgotten to turn on his com . He asked R2D2 to look for the missing friends and began to search for and call out to Skywalker.
Just seconds before the four heroes became pancakes, squeaky little R2D2 reminded C3PO to connect with Luke via his com link. Thank you! As soon as C3PO turned on his com device, he heard Luke’s cries for help and quickly shut down the trash compactor, saving the four panicked good guys.
They all took a deep breath, hugged one another then looked for a way out. And then the next scene began. Just like that. Crisis averted. Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy. All is well.
IF ONLY life were so simple!
I want every blessing of God’s presence and every ounce of power He has for me – but I’m going to be honest with you: I feel like I am in that trash compactor with the walls closing in and I am fighting tooth and nail to experience that all-is-well peace.
This is a battle that can only be fought on my knees.
Today I’m praying for my husband who was downsized from his company recently and is actively searching for employment. I’m also praying for a 44 year-old friend of mine who is weak with stage four cancer and fading fast. She’s the matriarch to a household of boys. She’s a rose among thorns. Thorns need their rose.
And there are other loved ones struggling too. So many others.
I pray…and at times feel like curling up in a fetal position.
The walls are pressing hard. The aches are real. The groanings are raw.
Under the weight of it all, I’m thankful for what I know of God. For what I know of His power.
I know that God is in the middle of it all. That He is right beside me. Right beside them. I know that He is more than able to handle complicated challenges and is faithful to provide the grace needed for each broken moment.
I also know that without His strength I crumble. Without His presence I panic. Without His Spirit I wander and wonder and wane. When David was in duress, he often spoke to himself in the Psalms. I love that…because I do it too sometimes.
“Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.” (Psalm 62:5)
I turn my heart toward His and talk to myself.
Keep calm, Gwen. God is still on the throne – and you are free to approach Him at any time, with any ache, with any question, with any weakness.Thank you, Jesus.
No matter what you and I face, we never face it alone. I love the way The Message paraphrases the encouraging verses of Ephesians 3:20. “God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.”
There is power in prayer, power in His nearness, power in the pouring out of emotions, and power in the picking up of His Word.
God’s Word speaks strength to wilted souls.
“When I said, ‘My foot is slipping,’ your love, O Lord, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.” (Psalm 94:18-19)
“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (Psalm 73:26)
Press into the Word when the walls of life press in on you.
Press into prayer – even when it is hard to pray. Even when you want to shout to the heavens, Turn your com on, God! I need you here!
Even when your prayers seem to go unanswered.
Or when you receive a different answer than the one you were hoping for.
There is never a time when God does not hear the cries of His children.
Believe it. He hears your prayers and can be trusted.
When we press past the pain in prayer, when we press into Jesus, grace flows directly from the Living Water to our parched and thirsty places. Peace sutures bleeding hearts and holds them tenderly until they heal. Agony is attended to by the One who knows the wrenching sting of pain, betrayal, and loss. By the One who understands. The compassionate One who reaches for the trembling hands of a struggler, picks her up, and carries her to a place of rest, wholeness, and healing. By the One who fights for His child when she is too weary and worn to engage in the battle. (Exodus 14:14)
Though walls press in, God is able and available to work within – deeply and gently – with a grace that gives strength and is sufficient for your every need.
Every. Need.
All is well.
Let’s Pray
Dear Lord, I choose to trust You with the pains and strains that are weighing heavy on my heart today. Thanks for being faithful, loving, and strong.
In Jesus’s Name I pray, Amen.
Today's Devotional Sponsor:
Tender Words to the Tired Heart
by Max Lucado
Brook Besor. Don't feel bad if you've never heard of the place. Most haven't, but more need to. The Brook Besor narrative deserves shelf space in the library of the worn-out. It speaks tender words to the tired heart.
The story emerges from the ruins of Ziklag. David and his six hundred soldiers return from the Philistine war front to find utter devastation. A raiding band of Amalekites had swept down on the village, looted it, and taken the women and children hostage. The sorrow of the men mutates into anger, not against the Amalekites, but against David. After all, hadn't he led them into battle? Hadn't he left the women and children unprotected? Isn't he to blame? Then he needs to die. So they start grabbing stones.
This could be his worst hour.
But he makes it one of his best.
David redirects the men's anger toward the enemy. They set out in pursuit of the Amalekites. Keep the men's weariness in mind. They still bear the trail dust of a long campaign and haven't entirely extinguished their anger at David. They don't know the Amalekites' hideout, and, if not for the sake of their loved ones, they might give up.
Indeed, two hundred do. The army reaches a brook called Besor, and they dismount. Soldiers wade in the creek and splash water on their faces, sink tired toes in cool mud, and stretch out on the grass. Hearing the command to move on, two hundred choose to rest. "You go on without us," they say.
How tired does a person have to be to abandon the hunt for his own family?
The church has its quorum of such folks. Good people. Godly people. Only hours or years ago they marched with deep resolve. But now fatigue consumes them. They're exhausted. So beat-up and worn down that they can't summon the strength to save their own flesh and blood. Old age has sucked their oxygen. Or maybe it was a deflating string of defeats. Divorce can leave you at the brook. Addiction can as well. Whatever the reason, the church has its share of people who just sit and rest.
And the church must decide. What do we do with the Brook Besor people? Berate them? Shame them? Give them a rest but measure the minutes? Or do we do what David did? David let them stay.
He and the remaining four hundred fighters resume the chase.
David and his men swoop down upon the enemy like hawks on rats. Every Israelite woman and child is rescued. Every Amalekite either bites the dust or hits the trail, leaving precious plunder behind. David goes from scapegoat to hero, and the whooping and hollering begin.
And what about the two hundred men who had rested?
You might feel the way some of David's men felt: "Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except for every man's wife and children" (1 Sam. 30:22).
A Molotov cocktail of emotions is stirred, lit, and handed to David. Here's how he defuses it: "Don't do that after what the Lord has given us. He has protected us and given us the enemy who attacked us. Who will listen to what you say? The share will be the same for the one who stayed with the supplies as for the one who went into battle. All will share alike." (1 Samuel 30:23-24)
Note David's words: they "stayed with the supplies," as if this had been their job. They hadn't asked to guard supplies; they wanted to rest. But David dignifies their decision to stay.
David did many mighty deeds in his life. He did many foolish deeds in his life. But perhaps the noblest was this rarely discussed deed: he honored the tired soldiers at Brook Besor.
Someday somebody will read what David did and name their church the Congregation at Brook Besor. Isn't that what the church is intended to be? A place for soldiers to recover their strength?
If you are listed among them, here is what you need to know: it's okay to rest. Jesus is your David. He fights when you cannot. He goes where you cannot. He's not angry if you sit. Did he not invite, "Come off by yourselves; let's take a break and get a little rest" (Mark 6:31 MSG)?
Brook Besor blesses rest.
Brook Besor also cautions against arrogance. David knew the victory was a gift. Let's remember the same. Salvation comes like the Egyptian in the desert, a delightful surprise on the path. Unearned. Undeserved. Who are the strong to criticize the tired?
Are you weary? Catch your breath. We need your strength.
Are you strong? Reserve passing judgment on the tired. Odds are, you'll need to plop down yourself. And when you do, Brook Besor is a good story to know.
From Facing Your Giants
Copyright (Thomas Nelson, 2006) Max Lucado
ROASTED GARLIC CHICKEN PUFFS
Ingredients
• 1 lb chicken
• 2 oz package of cream cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded Swiss
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 tbsp fresh chopped garlic
• 2 tsp chives
• 1/2 cup green onions
• 3-4 Canned Crescents
Directions
1. Cook chicken and shred into fine chunks.
2. Add minced garlic to cooking chicken and cook until garlic is browned/reduced.
3. Place remaining ingredients in a mixing bowl, add warm chicken mix and incorporate.
4. Spoon apps 2-3 tbsp of filling into canned crescent roll and cook as per directions.
5. It is better to over stuff the rolls and have it ooze from the sides.
6. I recommend buying at least 4 cans of the large flaky rolls as the mixture goes a long way. Enjoy!
Source: Allrecipes.com
DAILY SMILE:
How To Use A Chain Saw
Farmer Jokes
Submitted by barber7796
A farmer walks into a hardware store and asks for a chainsaw that can cut down 6 trees in one hour. The salesman recommends the top of the line model. The farmer is suitably impressed, and buys it.
The next day he brings it back, complaining that it would only cut down 1 tree and it took ALL DAY!
The salesman takes the chain saw, starts it up to see what’s wrong, and the farmer says, “What’s that noise?”
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