5 For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. 6 He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. 7 On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God.

Psalm 62:5-7 (ESV)

Is God alone our refuge, our mighty rock, our fortress, and salvation? Ponder these verses today to decide if God alone is all of these things for you. That means we fully rely on God, and we don’t have a backup plan, just in case God doesn’t do what we think He should. This passage certainly challenges my faith. How much do I put my trust in God? Do I wait in silence before him, and recognize that my hope is from Him?

Charles Spurgeon wrote, “No eloquence in the world is half so full of meaning as the patient silence of a child of God. It is an eminent work of grace to bring down the will and subdue the affections to such a degree, that the whole mind lies before the Lord like the sea beneath the wind, ready to be moved by every breath of his mouth, but free from all inward and self-caused emotion, as also from all power to be moved by anything other than the divine will.”

This imagery of lying before the Lord like the sea beneath the wind is powerful. Wind creates waves. That’s it, just wind. All of those millions of drops of water that make up waves don’t control where they go – the wind does that. Are you willing to be like one of those drops of water, relying solely on God to move you? God is faithful, and will guide our steps if we rely on God alone.

By: Marcus Steury

Imagine living the same day over and over again with nothing new occurring. You wake up, eat breakfast, take a shower, drive to work, go home from work, eat dinner, and go to bed. Over and over again. Imagine how boring life would be - not to mention, how little you would learn or grow if you did the same thing everyday. It would be a pretty miserable life. You would learn very little, you would meet no new people and you would have a very simple life. Now take this same scenario, but think about it in the context of your spiritual life. You don’t do any extra devotions, you don’t ever step out of your comfort zone (even when God calls you too) and you never take any new leaps of faith. You sadly wouldn’t grow a whole lot closer to the Lord, if you just did the same things over and over again. 

God not only wants us to grow closer to Him, but He wants us to step out in faith and trust Him. We are so blessed to live in America where so many things come easy, but it’s easy to get caught up in the same day to day things without ever really stepping out of our comfort zones. God doesn’t call us to be comfortable, He calls us to be obedient and to bring Him glory with our lives. Isaiah 43:7 tells us, “Everyone who is called by My name, whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him.” God made each of us and He certainly has a purpose for us as well! We just have to trust Him, step out in faith and do what He calls us to do, to ultimately bring Him the glory He deserves! Think about your life this week and maybe take a chance or take a step out in faith. See what God wants to show you. God bless!

By: Pastor Kevin Troyer

6 For the people of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, the men of war who came out of Egypt, perished, because they did not obey the voice of the LORD; the LORD swore to them that he would not let them see the land that the LORD had sworn to their fathers to give to us, a land flowing with milk and honey.

Joshua 5:6 (ESV)

Have you ever felt like you were walking through your own type of wilderness? One contributor to the Desiring God ministry writes that “the wilderness can cultivate in us that quality so beneficial to living faith: desperation”. When life is comfortable, we can sometimes go through the motions, and give lip-service. In these times, we might find ourselves replacing our personal devotions with things like sleep, or something else we enjoy. He writes, “We live as if sin no longer crouches at the door and Satan has ceased to prowl. We become careless with that one part of us we cannot afford to lose: our soul.”

Desperation we sometimes encounter in the wilderness on the other hand can lead us to seek God like never before. If we learn from the wilderness, we will certainly grow. If we seek God in the wildness, I believe we will learn more of who God is, and that He really does love us. Finally, we will “enjoy God’s gifts, not abuse them; delight in them, not put their hope in them; bless God for them, not forget him in them.”

By: Marcus Steury

Quotes from Scott Hubbard, “God Awakens Us In the Wilderness”, www.desiringgod.org