Devotions

God has given us an ironclad promise for life on this earth. He says that when our enemy attempts to walk over us, “Therefore my people shall know my name; therefore they shall know in that day that I am he who speaks: ‘Behold, it is I.’” (Isaiah 52:6, NKJV). In other words, God says, “When you’re in your darkest trial, I will come and speak a word to you. You’ll hear me say, ‘It is I, Jesus, your Savior. Don’t be afraid.’”

In the gospels, the disciples were on a boat in an awful storm, being tossed about by torrents of wind and waves. Suddenly, the men saw Jesus walking toward them on the water. Scripture says, “When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, ‘It is a ghost!’ And they cried out for fear” (Matthew 14:26). What did Jesus do in that fearful moment? “But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.’” (Matthew 14:27).

I’ve wondered why Jesus used these particular words, “Be of good cheer.” Why would he say this to men who thought they were about to die?

The word ‘cheer’ means “to be relieved, happy, released from fear.” Here in the disciples’ time of distress, Jesus tied the word to his identity. Remember, these men knew him personally, and he expected them to act on his word by faith. He was saying, “The Father has promised I’ll come to you in your storm. It is written, ‘But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, and he who formed you, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior’” (Isaiah 43:1-3).

Now I’ve come to you in your storm. It’s me, Jesus, here with you in the midst of it all. So, cheer up.” Likewise, our Savior expects the same faith reaction from us, in our distressing times.

When God calls us to move forward toward a dream or into a murky situation, our internal skeptic might say, “There’s no way for you to cross over this river. It’s just not possible. We don’t have the resources; we don’t have the stuff that we need to make this happen. It’s not a bad idea; it’s just the wrong time.  Let’s just wait for a more convenient time. Let’s do this, but let’s not do it right now.”

Even though it’s a difficult season, even though we’re pressing ahead, even though we’re challenging our resources, even though the timing may seem wrong – folks, it is as much disobedience to say to God, “I’ll do it but later” as it is to say “No” to God.

You see, God doesn’t want us to say to him, “This is a good idea, but it’s not very convenient right now.” God wants us to say, “God, it’s your way, and I’ll do it your way. It’s your time and I’ll do it in your time.”

There is no better way than God’s way. There is no better time than God’s time. When Christ’s disciples were shocked by his teachings, “Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible’” (Matthew 19:26, ESV).

God likes it when he calls us into something that is humanly impossible to do and in the worst of possible timings with the fewest possible resources available God says, “Perfect! The conditions are just right for me to move now.” Sometimes you look at God and you say, “God, why would you call me to do this now in this season, in this time, when things are more difficult than ever, and I’m feeling more tempted than ever, and yet you’re telling me to make this tough decision. I’m feeling weaker than ever, and you’re calling me to be strong.”

The skeptic says, “This situation, this ask is impossible”, and God says, “With me, nothing is impossible.”

God is strong in our weakness. God is great in our lack. God becomes the most able to move in his power and grace in our inabilities.

Back when some of these televangelist con-artists were soaking the people for money, any crack addict would watch that and say, “Are you kidding me? He’s running a scam.” Meanwhile, Christians are writing checks, saying, “Who do I make this out to?” This shouldn’t be, and yet it so often happens.

Do you know that Jesus said, “For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light” (Luke 16:8, ESV)? Jesus also said, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16).

People in the world recognize when you’re being real, and people know when you’re not being real. Don’t try to be like someone else. Stop. Just be yourself. If you want to lift your hands during worship, lift your hands. If you’re going to share the gospel, don’t try to imitate others.

I struggled with this when I first started in the ministry. I’m not a great speaker; I’m just conversational, a sort of ‘what you see is what you get’ person. Back then, though, I could not believe that God could use me if I was just being Jim Cymbala. That was pride, and God had to break me of it. He humbled me in order to say to me, “Get up there and just be who you are, who I made you to be. Leave the results to me.”

This is a challenging thing to go through. A lot of us have grown up in church seeing people and preachers act in a way that Peter, James and John would never act. Jesus would never do the things that many of these people do. People do all kinds of crazy nonsense and then blame it on the Holy Spirit. People outside of the church see right through this kind of stuff. They don’t want any part of this, and who can blame them?

So be real, be honest with God and with yourself. Point people to Jesus, never to yourself. There’s only one hero in the Bible, and people need to know about him.

^{Jim Cymbala began the Brooklyn Tabernacle with less than twenty members in a small, rundown building in a difficult part of the city. A native of Brooklyn, he is a longtime friend of both David and Gary Wilkerson.}

God took the little nation of Israel and isolated them in a wilderness. He was placing them in a school of testing to produce a people who would trust in him no matter the circumstances. He wanted Israel to testify, “I can go through any test, any difficulty, even those beyond my abilities. How? I know that my God is with me in every trial. He will always bring me through.”

Consider Moses’ statement to Israel: “So [God] humbled you, allowed you to hunger…that he might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 8:3, NKJV).

One of the worst trials any human could undergo is recorded in Job. He lost all of his children in a tragic accident, and then he lost his possessions. Finally, he lost his physical health. All these things happened in such a short time that they were utterly overwhelming.

God had put Job on this path, and the Lord alone knew where it eventually would lead. It was a plan so divinely orchestrated that God even allowed Satan to afflict Job. That’s why Job couldn’t see God in any of it. “Look, I go forward, but he is not there, and backward, but I cannot perceive him; when he works on the left hand, I cannot behold him; when he turns to the right hand, I cannot see him. He knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I shall come forth as gold” (Job 23:8–10). Here is an incredible statement, especially considering the context in which Job spoke it.

Job was saying, “God knows everything I’m enduring. He knows the way through it all. My Lord is trying me right now. I’m confident he’ll bring me through with a stronger faith. I’ll come out with a faith more precious than gold.”

God has always wanted a people who would be totally reliant on him before the eyes of the world. The Lord is telling us, “I orchestrated your trial. I am waiting for you to come to the end of all your self-reliance. I’m allowing you to experience a place of human helplessness, and it will require a miracle of deliverance from me.” Today, the Lord is still looking for people who’ll rely totally on him. He wants an unsaved world to see that he works mightily for those who love him.

No one on earth can place you in ministry. You may be given a diploma by a seminary, ordained by a bishop or commissioned by a denomination; but the apostle Paul reveals the only source of any true call to ministry: “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry” (1 Timothy 1:12, NKJV).

What does Paul mean here when he says Jesus enabled him and counted him faithful? Think back to the apostle’s conversion. Three days after that event, Christ placed Paul in the ministry, specifically a ministry of suffering. This is the very ministry Paul refers to when he says, “Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart” (2 Corinthians 4:1).

Paul is telling us Jesus gave him a promise for this ministry. Christ pledged to remain faithful to him and strengthen him through all of his trials. A transfiguration is taking place in all of our lives. The truth is that we become like the things that occupy our minds. Our character is being influenced and impacted by whatever has hold of our hearts.

I thank God for everyone who feeds his mind and soul with spiritual things. Such servants have fixed their eyes on what is pure and holy. They keep their gaze fixed on Christ, spending quality time worshipping him and building themselves up in faith. The Holy Spirit is at work in these saints, continually changing their character in the image of Christ’s. These believers will be ready for the hard, explosive sufferings to come. Slothful, lazy, prayerless believers will suffer heart failure or breakdowns. They’ll be crushed by their fears because they don’t have the Holy Spirit at work in them, transfiguring them. When the hard times come, they simply won’t make it.

Here is Paul’s final word on the matter: “We give no offense in anything, that our ministry may not be blamed. But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings…. as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things” (2 Corinthians 6:3–5, 10). By shining with the hope of Christ in the midst of our sufferings, we display true riches to the world.