Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – January 25, 2020
Then David ordered all the leaders of Israel to help his son Solomon. He said to them, “Is not the Lord your God with you? And has he not granted you rest on every side? For he has given the inhabitants of the land into my hands, and the land is subject to the Lord and to his people. Now devote your heart and soul to seeking the Lord your God. Begin to build the sanctuary of the Lord God, so that you may bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord and the sacred articles belonging to God into the temple that will be built for the Name of the Lord.” 1 Chronicles 22:17-19
Attempting great things for God in our own strength is pridefully arrogant and recklessly foolish. And as a culture obsessed with self and an inflated view of our abilities, it’s easy for us to rush ahead and leave God behind! However, it’s also possible to swing the pendulum too far in the other direction, and in the name of “humility,” fail to attempt great things in the Lord’s name and in his strength.
The leaders of Israel were staring down an impossible task, a “God-sized dream,” as we like to say. It would have been incredibly easy for them to decline the invitation, to say it’s simply too big, too impractical, too expensive. Yet David, mindful of their fear and anxiety, posed to them a singular rhetorical question: “Is not the Lord your God with you?”
What dream has the Lord placed in your heart that you’re afraid to acknowledge, let alone pursue? How might your heart change if you truly believed that the Lord was with you, not simply in the areas that we expect him to be or can get our heads around, but that he is with you in the most impossible of dreams? What if, in fact, he is the very reason you have the dream in the first place?
One of the great mysteries of life is that God chooses to use us to accomplish his purposes. It is certainly not the most efficient way forward! Yet God in his unspeakable love and patience, invites us, broken and weak as we surely are, to share in his work of creation and restoration.
It is interesting to me that David exhorts the leaders of Israel to “devote (their) heart and soul to seeking the Lord (their) God,” not in private isolation or a quest for personal fulfillment, but in the context of an impossible mission. When you and I pursue the Lord in prayer, worship, and scripture reading, it is never simply for a sense of personal peace, though that certainly is a gift the Lord gives to us.
We pursue God with our hearts and souls so with confidence we can join our hands and feet to his mission in the world. The Lord wants to use you to be a blessing to others, and will stir your heart in countless ways to this end. Will you have the courage to respond?
Prayer
Father, thank you that you choose to invite us into your work of reconciling the world unto yourself through Christ. Give me the grace and courage I need to join you today in that holy work. Amen.
Application
What God sized vision has the Lord placed in your heart that you need to tend to and trust him to bring to fulfillment?
Related Reading
Deuteronomy 12:10-11; Joshua 10:42; Romans 8:31
Post/Tweet today
One of the great mysteries of life is that God chooses to use us to accomplish his purposes. #WisdomHunters #vision #truth #Jesus
Worship Resource
5 minute video – Celtic Worship:
Donate
If you are blessed by these daily devotionals please prayerfully consider a donation to support Wisdom Hunters Resources. We are trusting the Lord for His provision.
Download our app!
