God had just routed the mightiest army of the ancient world on Hezekiah’s behalf, then healed him from a terminal illness—and somehow, facing the next threat, Hezekiah forgot both and went looking for an ally he could hold onto. Isaiah 39 traces how that forgetfulness works in a believing heart, and why it’s the sneakiest danger of all.
When we read about God’s judgment, we can wonder if God is the one putting us into bad places and how it could possibly be that someone who is loving would do that. Scripture helps us see things are actually a “tad” different than that.
A special fifth anniversary Steadfast takes us to the next part of Psalm 9.
As the Israelites finds themselves out in the wilderness for years, Numbers 20 shows a people in a fog of discouragement — even Moses himself loses sight of what God is doing. But even when the discouragement feels overwhelming, we don’t have to let it get the final word.
God cares for the lowly — like us — and wants us to follow Him in showing that care.
Why do the Psalms keep taking us back to God’s strength? Because we (rightly) yearn for security and he is the one who provides it.
We lose focus on what God has done for us and then aren’t able to do what He really wants us to do.
We lose focus on what God has done for us and then aren’t able to do what He really wants us to do.
When you prepare a small dinner and twenty guests arrive unannounced, you wish you’d known what was coming—yet knowing what to prepare isn’t the only kind of readiness that matters. Luke 1 tells of a righteous priest who knew exactly what God expected of him, yet when God himself appeared with news he’d prayed decades to hear, he found himself unprepared to simply listen.
We’ve all wanted to write that resignation letter—to let the world know the hurt isn’t our fault. Joseph faces that exact urge in Matthew 1, betrayed and confused after he finds out Mary, the woman he is betrothed to, is pregnant — forced to choose between saying his peace and keeping it.