day 20: brave in the struggle

for my IRL friends & family - this was written a few months ago. Things have turned around and we are doing better. This was written right at the end of the summer. 


Lately I have been discovering that there is something worse than unemployment - underemployment.. It has been such an intense learning experience about what I really believe. Is it really God who is my provider? Do I really trust Him? Even when I can't see my hand in front of my face for the thick fog? When I don't know how we are going to make it through this months bills? When we are doing everything we can but nothing is coming through? Do I still trust God? 

Here is one thing I'm learning right this minute: difficulty has a way of turning up the color, like when Dorothy steps into the world of Technicolor. I am listening to Amanda Cook's album "Brave New World" and even though I have been listening to this album for a year and yet today these songs are vivid. The words mean ten times more than they did last month. 

Read Daniel 3: 

Read verses 13 through 15: what stands out to you in these verses?

Read 16-17

Daniel 3:17 "Our God is able" 

Is there a circumstance or struggle in your life about which you need to begin to say "my God is able"? 

Read Matthew 9:27-31 Do you hear Jesus speaking to you? He is saying "Do you believe that I am able?" Sit with these words for a moment, talk to Jesus about these words.

“The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.””Exodus‬ ‭14:14‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Other translations replace the word "still" with calm or quiet. What does it mean to you to be still in the middle of this struggle?

Why are you struggling to be still in this circumstance? Is there something that is keeping you from trusting God? Is there something you need to quit? Cease pursuing? Let go of and watch God at work in your circumstances? 

See: Ephesians 3:14-21 (esp 20) 

Write out some of the words from these verses that stand out to you. Remind your soul that the struggle is real, but so is God - and He is a great BIG God who can totally handle all of our problems and hard times, even the really huge ones. 

See also: Psalm 37:39, Psalm 50:15, 2 Samuel 22:29, Micah 7:7-8

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