Where Life Meets Faith
Weekly devotionals for the
year
Kimberley J. Payne
Scripture
taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. Copyright © 1973, 1978,
1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing
House. All rights reserved.
The
“NIV” and “New International Version” trademarks are registered in the United
States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society. Use of
either trademark requires the permission of the International Bible Society.
All
rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the
prior written permission of the publisher and author.
All
devotions were first published as “Today’s Faith” column in the Millbrook
Times and Cornwall Seaway News between 2003-2007.
All
inquiries should be addressed to:
Kimberley
Payne
RR#3
Millbrook, ON, Canada L0A 1G0
Acknowledgements:
Above all, I would like to thank and give all the glory
and praise to God.
Loving
thanks to my husband, Bob, and my children, Kristen and Daniel for their
support and patience during my writing.
Special
thanks to Jan Cox for editorial assistance, and Pastor Jamie Nelder and Roger
Keyzers for biblical advice. Thanks to the members of my writing group, The
Writer’s Crucible, for their advice and critique suggestions. Thanks to all my
friends and family for their loving support. Any omission of credits and
sources is unintentional.
Table of Contents
Problems
Perfect Christians
Who Am I?
God First
Be With God
Good And Bad Times
When In Doubt
Passions
Neither The Present
At All Costs
No Greater Love
With Thanksgiving
True Riches
Lemonade On A Hot Afternoon
God’s Purpose
Control Freak
Daytimer Daze
The Clock Is Ticking
Those Closest to Us
Believe, Know and Serve
Grow Where You are Planted
God Speaks
Life Is A Puzzle
Thorn In My Side
What’s In It For Me?
Tithes And Offering
Audible Voice
Dwell In His Presence
Judging Others
Christianity 101
The Fellowship of Believers
God’s Word
It’s a New Year
Listen Closely
Actively Waiting
Good Samaritan
Busy
Love your Enemies
Does it matter?
Denial
Acceptance
Covered
Planting Seeds
Envy
Complaining
Path to Prayer
Taming the Tongue
Five Senses
Security
Alone But Not Lonely
Agape Love
In Spirit and Truth
Problems
I
remember one night at the cottage; slumber was elusive because I was worrying
about a problem. I was playing with the puzzle in my mind, spinning solutions,
and repeating scenarios in my head. At the same time, a little fly had made its
way into my bedroom and was buzzing around my head, distracting and annoying
me. I realized that many problems are like this common housefly. The housefly
is an irritant at best, buzzing around your head day or night, landing here and
there, creating a tickle and disturbing your work or slumber.
That
evening, I found myself tossing and turning to avoid the noise of the fly and
hiding under the covers. If this kept up, I knew I would wake in the morning
feeling exhausted and achy. However, if I made the effort to get up and turn on
the light, I could find the pesky bug and get rid of it.
I came to the same conclusion about my problem – I needed
to illuminate it. I needed to turn on the light to get rid of this ticklish
issue. God is this Light. He says, “Do not worry and let Me take care of it.”
The problem I was facing was just like a pesky fly. There will always be flies
in my world. No matter what I do, whether I close the windows tight or wear bug
spray to bed, they will be there. I need to turn on the Light before I go to
bed to search them out before I am vulnerable. I need to let the Light help me.
If I let all my thoughts and strength go into worrying about my problems, when
will I think about God? If I am consumed with the housefly, when will I listen
to the voice of God and do His work? I need to let trust be the flyswatter of
my problems. God created me to enjoy life. He reminds me to look to Him for the
answers instead of worrying.
That
night at the cottage, I got out of bed, turned on the light, and rid myself of
the pesky fly. Then I got down on my knees and prayed to God to help me with my
problem. After that, I crawled back into bed, put my trust in God and did not
give a second thought to my problem. It was the best sleep I had in a very long
time.
May your unfailing love come to me, O LORD, your salvation according
to your promise; then I will answer the one who taunts me, for I trust in your
word (Psalm 119:41-42 NIV).
Perfect Christians
Her jaw dropped in utter disbelief, “You did not do that!”
I could only reply with a weak whimper, “I did.”
“No! I mean, how could you? Well,
I understand how you could, but I mean you’re a Christian!” my friend
stammered.
With a red face I admitted I had made a mistake. “Christians aren’t
perfect.”
Christians are not perfect. We have the same anxieties, illnesses and
political struggles as non-Christians. Our children face the same temptations
that other children do. We all struggle with conflicts and health concerns. Christians,
too, make mistakes.
Somehow, some time ago, I assumed Christians were perfect. And to be a
Christian, I assumed that you first had to be this perfect person, and then you
submit to God. I have since learned that it is the other way around. You first
submit, and then you aim for perfection. And perhaps perfection is even too
strong a word. It should be process.
Our lives
are a journey that start in infancy where we learn to hold our heads up, then
to crawl, then to walk with the help of furniture. Finally, we can walk on our
own. But it doesn’t stop there. We then must learn to run, to jump, and to
skip. Then we add in new challenges such as riding a bike or learning to alpine
ski, skate or water ski. It seems that we are continuously learning new, more
exciting ways to move our bodies.
The journey
of a Christian is a similar process. We all start out as infants. I, myself, am
just learning to hold my head high and I am both excited and scared about what
the future holds for me. I do know, however, that just as a parent will run
beside a child mastering the art of riding a two-wheel bicycle, so too, will
God be with us on our journey. When we fall and scrape our knees, He will be
there to make it all better. He will forgive us and hold our hand as we try
again and again to master the bike.When we feel that we can ride without
training wheels, and we have put many miles on our bike, we can still grow in
our Christian character with new challenges. It is a process. It is a
journey.
If the LORD
delights in a man’s way, He makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will
not fall, for the LORD upholds him with His hand (Psalm 37:23-24 NIV).
Who Am I?
Have
you ever thought, “Who am I?” Have you ever wondered, “Why am I here?”
I
have. It was a question that had haunted me especially after my car accident
back in the 1980s. My car was crushed in a near head-on collision, which ended
in my vehicle rolling over and collapsing on the roof. By all accounts I should
have died. Instead, I suffered an injury that required six operations over the
course of the next two years. The memory of my injury is a constant reminder of
my brush with death and a daily question mark on why I was allowed to
live.
My
life continued with this question starting and ending my days, as I
relentlessly pursued the answer. I thought a university degree would be the
solution. Then I thought a career would provide the answer I was seeking. Both
of these attempts to find my identity and a reason for my existence failed
miserably. Being a rational thinker, I thought I would try it on my own, so I
started a small business. This business grew and was building to be a great
success, but it still did not answer my question.
Each
project I had tackled, I excelled at. Each goal I had set, I achieved. But at
the end of the day, as I admired the awards, the certificates, and the degrees
on the wall, I still felt empty. “Who am I?” loomed heavier the harder I tried
to find the answer.
Fifteen
years of searching and I had come up with nothing. I was exhausted. I had
nowhere else to go and no one else to ask. It was here, in this resigned and
defeated state that I realized I did not have all the answers. In an act of
desperation, I looked up and asked God Himself, “Why am I here?”
He
had been waiting for me to ask. In His loving patience, God had allowed me to
look for the answer on my own and pursue every reason I felt that might have
led me to the reason for my being. But in the end, only God, in His ultimate
wisdom, had the true answer.
The
reply God fed me might be different than what He gives you. But don’t spend
your limited time chasing empty reasons like I did. Don’t spend your energy
looking for answers in your own strength. God has a plan and a purpose for all
of us. What you need to do is spend time pursuing God and He will provide you
with your identity.
Where
can you start? It’s easy. Commit time to listening to God. Prayer and reading
the Bible are the ways in which God communicates with us. It’s taken me many
years to finally stop being who I thought I wanted to be and start being who
God wants me to be.
For I know the plans I have
for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to
give you hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV).
God First
I
have a friend who planned to seek God only after he got his affairs in order.
He would rather spend energy on himself and his family first. He wanted to
first figure out how he was going to handle his current financial situation and
get his business off the ground. These things were priority for him.
I
wondered if this was right thinking. Wouldn’t it make more sense to have God on
his side before he tackled these things? Wouldn’t it be better to petition the
One who knows the future?
Wouldn’t
it be better for him to ask God for help?
I’ve
learned to seek God first instead of saying, “After this or after that, then I
will.” Because there will always be a “this” and a “that”. There will always be
trials – that is life. But trials without God on your side can feel stressful
and exhausting. With God, the load is lighter. Having faith in Him relieves the
stress.
Once
I wrote on the importance of routine and especially on keeping the habit of
time with God first and foremost in my day. But then I changed my routine that
very same day! That afternoon, I drove up north to present a workshop. I drove
instead of walked; I visited instead of exercised. On the very day I had
resolved to stick to a routine, my routine was shaken up.
However,
I realized that my resolution wasn’t really to stay on track. It was to devote
time to God. My resolution was to pledge my life anew to Jesus. Although my
routine changed, and life threw a curve, I resolved to spend quality time with
God first and foremost every single day. This I did.
On
the long drive, I listened to a Christian radio station. I listened to the
words and even sang along. I felt in the company of God for the whole trip.
Once there, I went about my business as I had to, but for an hour in the early
evening I stole away to a quiet room to read my Bible. It was refreshing.
My
day was not routine. I was in a different city, eating different foods, with
different people. But I felt great. I spent time with God and this alone made
the difference in what could have been an anxious time. I could have stressed
about the drive by myself in very wintry conditions. I could have focused on my
anxiety about the important presentation the next day. Instead, I chose to
focus on God.
When
I look to Him, I find peace and comfort. When my day starts with God all else
falls into place. I have learned not to worry about the time spent with God –
it is the best-spent time of my day. I must make a conscious decision to start
every day with God.
If
My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek
My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will
forgive their sin and will heal their land (2 Chronicles 7:14 NIV).
