A Good Healthy Struggle

God’s using your struggle to toughen you up. It’s like viewing a movie after you’ve read the book. When something bad happens, everyone else gasps at the crisis on the screen. But not you. Why? You’ve read the book. You know how the good guy gets out of the tight spot.

God views your life with the same confidence. He’s not only read your story, he wrote it. His perspective is different, and his purpose is clear. One of God’s cures for weak faith? A good, healthy struggle. “Consider it a gift when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. Under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors.” Scripture says, “Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way” (James 1:2-4). Join with Isaiah who resolved, “I will trust in him and not be afraid!” (Isaiah 12:2).

Devotion by Max Lucado | The Almighty Jehovah | https://thealmightyJehovah.com

Where Joseph Stood

On the night when Jesus was born, I wonder if Joseph prayed, “Father, this all seems so bizarre. The angel you sent? Any chance you could send another?”

You’ve stood where Joseph stood. Each of us knows what it’s like to search the night for a light. Not outside a stable, but perhaps outside an emergency room or the manicured grass of a cemetery. We’ve asked our questions. We’ve wondered why God does what he does. If you’re asking what Joseph asked, let me urge you to do what Joseph did: obey. He didn’t let his confusion disrupt his obedience.

What about you? You have a choice: to obey or disobey. Because Joseph obeyed, God used him to change the world. Can he do the same with you? Will you be that kind of person? Will you serve, even when you don’t understand?

Out on a Limb

”After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:18 NKJV).

Joseph was perched firmly on his branch in the tree. Predictable and solid, Joseph had no intention of leaving it. That is, until he was told to go out on a limb. “Conceived by the Holy Spirit? Come on! Who will believe me?” Pride told him not to do it, but God told him to do it.

Have you been called to got out a limb for God? I have a feeling you can relate to Joseph. One foot in your will and one foot in his. His or yours? Disrupting, isn’t it? You can bet it won’t be easy. Limb-climbing has never been. Ask Joseph. Or better yet, ask Jesus! He knows better than anyone the cost of hanging on a tree.

A Good Healthy Struggle