Take Saul, for example. When God decided to settle accounts with the Amalekite nation for opposing Israel when they came from Egypt, He gave Saul specific orders: “Now go and completely destroy the entire Amalekite nation—men, women, children, babies, cattle, sheep, goats, camels, and donkeys.” Any questions?

So Saul sets out with nearly a quarter million soldiers. Somewhere in the midst of the battle, he forgets—either accidentally or intentionally—what God said. Or perhaps he figures God wasn’t serious. And so, he wipes out all the Amalekites…except King Agag. Oh yeah, he also keeps “the best of the sheep and goats, the cattle, the fat calves, and the lambs—everything, in fact, that appealed to them. They destroyed only what was worthless or of poor quality” (1 Samuel 15:2,9).

Huh? Why did Saul think he could fulfill only part of God’s command and not all? Perhaps he thought it was okay so long as he could justify his actions. When Samuel confronted him about those actions, he said cheerfully, “It’s true that the army spared the best of the sheep, goats, and cattle…but they are going to sacrifice them to the LORD your God. We have destroyed everything else” (v. 15).

See what I mean about the human heart being a bit skewed at times? We knowingly do our own thing and then justify our behavior thinking God will recant: “Okay, I see your point. You’re right; I was wrong.”

When God saw that Saul had not fulfilled His command completely, He was sorry He’d ever appointed him as king. The story would have had a much happier ending if Saul had simply done as God had commanded.

What is God telling you to do? Remain faithful to your spouse? Give generously to those in need? Sell your business and take up career ministry? Do what He says, every part. Don’t settle for less thinking you can justify your actions.

I’ll commit to doing the same. The last thing I want is for God to be sorry He’s given me the position of leadership He’s entrusted to me. How about you?

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Sometimes I wonder how often we settle for less than God’s best. He might have great and glorious plans for us, but we never see them realized because unbelief steps in:

• We doubt His ability to provide financially.
• We doubt His wisdom in asking us to do a specific task.
• We doubt His strength to perform whatever’s necessary to get the job done.
• We doubt His sovereignty over every detail.
• Ultimately, we doubt His love. If that weren’t true, we wouldn’t have an issue with trusting Him implicitly.

The Hebrews doubted and settled for less, too. Psalm 106:24,25 says, “The people refused to enter the pleasant land, for they wouldn’t believe his promise to care for them. Instead, they grumbled in their tents and refused to obey the Lord.”

I read those verses and feel sadness for the Hebrews. They chose to wander through the wilderness for 40 years rather than believe God and enter the Promised Land. How sorry is that? And yet, we often mimic their behavior.

• We settle for less than God’s best in a marriage partner because we doubt His ability to provide a spouse for us.
• We settle for a job we don’t like because we doubt God’s ability to provide financially if we follow our passion.
• We settle for a ho-hum faith because we doubt God’s ability to care for us if He asks us to take a divine risk.

Those are just a few examples of how we settle for less than the Promised Land. I’m sure there are many more. Can you think of some?

“God, please give us the faith to believe You and trust Your promises so we can live the abundant life You’ve promised. We want the Promised Land; we don’t want to settle for less than Your best!”

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Recently I read about the prophet Samuel’s boyhood. One word—meanwhile—popped up several times in the account. It reminded me that, no matter what life looks like, God’s at work behind the scenes to accomplish His purposes.

• “And the Lord gave Hannah three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD” (1 Samuel 2:21).
• “Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew taller and grew in favor with the LORD and with the people” (1 Samuel 2:26).
• “Meanwhile, the boy Samuel served the LORD by assisting Eli. Now in those days messages from the LORD were very rare, and visions were quite uncommon” (1 Samuel 3:1).

Events both good and bad unfurled on a daily basis at that time. Meanwhile, God was quietly raising up a prophet who would honor Him and faithfully proclaim His word.

The beauty of meanwhile remains true today. A couple years ago, Stonecroft Ministries asked me to produce a DVD-based Bible study to accompany my book, Moving from Fear to Freedom: A Woman’s Guide to Peace in Every Situation. I had no funds and no clue how to do this. The thought of producing such a resource made good sense, but it also unnerved me. And so I prayed: “God, if You want this project done, then You’ll need to bring me a team of skilled people to help. And you’ll need to work out all the details including funding.”

For the next year, I went about my usual business of writing, speaking, and ministering overseas. Meanwhile, the bi-weekly women’s Bible study that my daughter-in-law organized lost its teacher.  “Can you teach it now, Mom?” asked Cheryl. “Preparations won’t take long if you teach from Moving from Fear to Freedom because you already know the material.” I thought about the DVD study. Using this opportunity as a test run seemed divinely orchestrated, so I agreed and started writing the lessons.

Meanwhile, I met a man in my church who’d specialized in audio-visual work while a missionary in Africa many years prior. He had a local friend who owned two filming cameras. Both agreed to help.

Meanwhile, a national women’s ministry set aside money for projects such as this. One day the president handed me an envelope containing a grant application. “Fill out the form and ask for funding,” she said. I applied, and the committee approved. Within a year, the DVD-based Bible study became a reality.

Perhaps you’re facing a challenge today. Pray and take courage in the Scriptures, especially in the word meanwhile. You work. You wait. Meanwhile, God is on the move behind the scenes to fulfill His plan.

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Some folks cringe at the thought because their fathers abandoned them. Or beat them. Their fathers drank themselves into oblivion and then climbed into the driver’s seat. Or lay sprawled on the living room sofa, beer in one hand and TV remote in the other. The thought of God being like a father makes these folks determined to disconnect themselves from Him and run the opposite direction.

Other folks find great consolation in knowing God is like a father. Their dads protected and provided for them. They offered wise counsel. They disciplined in love, and they remained committed to their families. They weren’t perfect, but they were humble and willing to admit their mistakes.

In a perfect world, every father would be like the latter and mirror the character of our heavenly Father. Unfortunately, we don’t live in a perfect world. Therein lies the problem. We see God through the lens of our life experience, and when it’s been a difficult one, our impression of Him is sadly skewed.

The enemy of our souls loves keeping our understanding tainted with lies about who God is and what He’s like. He knows that a wrong understanding will hinder us from fully trusting God. It’ll cause us, then, to try to do life on our own. And that often leads to a lot of heartache and ultimately not seeing God’s purpose for our lives fulfilled.

No matter what our life experience with earthly fathers, it’s vital that we focus on the truth about God’s character. What is that? Psalm 103:3-14 describes Him:

“He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He redeems me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle’s. The Lord gives righteousness and justice to all who are treated unfairly. He revealed his character to Moses and his deeds to the people of Israel. The Lord is compassionate and merciful. Slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He will not constantly accuse us nor remain angry forever. He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. The Lord is like a father to his children. Tender and compassionate to those who fear him. For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust.”

How do these words compare with your understanding of God’s character based upon your life experience with your father? Hopefully they correct false understanding and plant healing and hope in your heart.

Question: What part of the description above means the most to you today?

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“He” refers to Gideon, a mighty man of God who risked his life to rescue the Israelites from the Midianites. After he died, his wicked son Abimelech killed his 70 half-brothers and commandeered control over the population. Jotham, the youngest son, escaped. He’s the guy who posed the question to the people who’d benefited from Gideon’s actions.

The answer to this question was obvious. No, the people hadn’t treated Gideon with honor. In fact, they’d thrown out his legacy when they cast a vote of confidence in Abimelech’s favor. What was with that?

Jotham’s question really convicts me. It makes me wonder how often I’ve failed to treat people with the honor they deserve for their accomplishments. Take my mom, for instance. She raised me (and somehow survived), prayed for me, sewed new clothes for me, cooked, cleaned, and did laundry for me. When my dad suffered a paralyzing stroke, she kept him at home and cared for him for six years. Have I treated her with the honor she deserves for all she accomplished?

What about pastors and their wives? Or missionaries who sacrifice financial security, the comforts of home, and closeness with their families to share hope and healing in cross-cultural settings? Or friends in the business world who uphold integrity day in and day out? Or the senior couple who celebrate 65 years of marital fidelity?

The busyness of life makes it easy to overlook others’ accomplishments. This question, however, wakes me up to realize the importance of honoring them. After all, who doesn’t love positive affirmation or a simple word of appreciation?

I think I’ll begin by giving a note of thanks to the postal worker who delivers our mail every day, rain or shine. How about you? Who can you treat with honor today?

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If you’ve ever felt the burden of busyness, then this article is for you. http://www.extantmagazine.com/moving-beyond-a-treadmill-existence/

Enjoy the weekend. Take a rest. Play with a child. Savor a cup of coffee or tea and a good book.

The more life experience I gather, the more I’m convinced that the core of our overall well-being and especially our spiritual health lies in our mind and the thoughts we entertain. Author John Ortberg writes, “The way you think creates your attitudes; the way you think shapes your emotions; the way you think governs your behavior; the way you think deeply influences your immune system and vulnerability to illness. Everything about you flows out of the way you think.”

If everything about us flows from the way we think, then it’s no wonder God tells us to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30). He knows that when our minds are filled with thoughts that honor Him, our lives will honor Him, too. We save ourselves (and others) a ton of heartache when our attitudes and behavior please Him. Unfortunately, the opposite is also true. When we harbor thoughts that are self-centered or downright sinful, our behavior will sooner or later reflect what’s in our minds.

My heart aches when I hear of Christian leaders wiping out spiritually because of moral failure. Having an affair doesn’t happen accidentally—it begins with an inappropriate thought, a lustful fantasy. It’s watered as the fantasies increase. It takes root when private, inappropriate actions follow the imagination. Unless those thoughts are stopped and replaced by the truth of God’s word, moral failure is almost certain. I’ve seen it happen ‘way too many times.

I know I’m not immune. And so, I refuse to watch soap operas or TV shows that promote inappropriate sexual behavior (yes, this seriously limits my choices). I refuse to read books that might cause me to fantasize about any man other than my husband. Years ago, I stopped listening to music that turned my thoughts aside from living a holy life. The effort’s been worth it.

Philippians 4:8 works like a tea strainer for our thought life: “Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” If the thoughts we entertain don’t fit through this strainer, then it’s time to change them.

How’s your overall spiritual health? If you’re struggling in some area, take a good look at your thought life. Are you loving God with all your mind? Do your thoughts measure up to the standard set in Phillippians 4:8? If not, make whatever changes are necessary. And make it quick, before you do something you’ll later regret.

Love God with all your mind. Keep your spiritual core strong! Stay tuned–on Friday, I’ll share specific strategies for doing this.

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For instance, we ask God to bless our kids. Perhaps we should add something like, “God, fill our kids with an unquenchable love for Your word. Give them hearts that joyfully obey Your commands. Grant them a longing for wisdom and a passion for sexual purity.”

We ask Him to bless us. Maybe we should stretch that to say, “God, teach me to walk in moment-by-moment revival. Teach me what it means to abide in You, the Vine, so that my life will honor You by producing abundant fruit. Give me the privilege of leading my unbelieving friends and neighbors to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.”

I also wonder if we truly understand how eager God is to answer our prayers. Sometimes I tiptoe into His presence and hesitate to ask lest my request sound selfish or outlandish. I wonder whether He’s really interested in my concerns. After all, He’s swamped with other matters of greater importance than what’s on my mind. Can you relate?

My prayer life has been challenged by reading about a young woman named Acsah. She was the daughter of Caleb—the gutsy guy who encouraged the Israelites to enter the Promised Land. It seems Acsah inherited her dad’s boldness DNA.

Caleb had already given Acsah a piece of land in the Negev. She could have been content with that. After all, it set her up nicely as she began her marriage to Othniel. But this little gal dared to ask for more, and she was very specific.

“Give me another gift,” said Acsah to her dad when she visited him one day. “You have already given me land in the Negev; now please give me springs of water, too.” You know what happened next? “So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs” (Joshua 15;18,19).

I love these verses! Here are some insights I’m clinging to:

• Caleb was in tune with his daughter’s heart. When she showed up that day, he took one look at her face and asked, “What’s the matter?” Does not our heavenly Father care about our concerns even more than this earthly father understood his child?
• Acsah acknowledged her father’s gifts already given. She demonstrated a thankful heart. We must do the same.
• Acsah asked specifically and wisely. Her requests weren’t foolish or self-serving. She wanted land with a water supply—smart cookie. Our requests need to be wise and specific, too.
• Caleb granted his daughter’s request. So will our heavenly Father grant our requests when we ask according to His will.

From now on, I’m going to view prayer through a different lens. I hope you will, too.

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Expressing thankfulness—what a great exercise! It makes the heart healthy and puts a smile on our faces. It even lifts a weight from our shoulders. Why, then, do we often neglect to do it?

I think of the 10 lepers who cried to Jesus for physical healing (Luke 17:11-19). He granted their request. What happened? Nine healed and happy men ran off. Only one thought to say thank you.

This guy fell to the ground at Jesus’ feet in gratitude. The other nine guys appreciated being healed, too, I’m sure. After all, their lives were forever changed. They’d be accepted into society again. Allowed to live in community, to work, to worship, to come and go like everyone else. They may have felt like they’d won the lottery, but they failed to extend even a common courtesy for this extraordinary event.

Jesus noticed their oversight. “Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?”

I’d like to think that if we’d been healed from leprosy, we’d pause long enough to express gratitude to God. Better yet, I’d like to think that we express thankfulness not just for the big things but also for the little things that we enjoy every day.

God does so much for us every day. He gives us our next breath, and the next, and the next. He gives us clean water, food, clothing, health, safety, homes in which to live. He gives us sight, hearing, minds to think and reason. He gives us His written Word, the promise of His presence, forgiveness for sin and the joy of a clean conscience.

Some of these things we take forgranted. No doubt we appreciate them but sadly we often neglect to extend the common courtesy of saying thank you.

Let’s choose to follow the one leper’s example and express gratitude. I’ll start: “God, thank You for the rain—liquid sunshine—that’s forecasted this week. Because of it, we can enjoy the lush greenery that makes our location so beautiful.”

Now it’s your turn. For what will you give thanks today?

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• Perhaps you apply for a new position at work. You have all the right credentials and long for a new challenge, but the boss bypasses you and chooses someone else. The door to the new opportunity closes.
• Maybe you feel led to write a book. You attend writers conferences to hone your skill. You network with editors. You even find an agent willing to represent you. Your book proposal is submitted to the publishing house you really want to work with but, sadly, it’s rejected. The door to working with that publisher closes.
• How about this scenario? Your family has grown and you need a larger house. You find one that seems perfectly suited for your needs but before you can take action, someone else makes an offer and it’s accepted. The door to buying that house closes.

Closed doors often spell disappointment or frustration. I’ve experienced it in regards to my writing pursuits many times. I’ve also experienced it in regards to potential speaking opportunities—an event planner contacts me, asks about my topics and availability, and then chooses a different speaker. The door to that opportunity closes. Ouch.

One thing I’ve learned, however, is to change my perspective about closed doors. Rather than dwell on the disappointment, I now thank God that He’s in control. He uses closed doors to steer me the right direction. And when He wants a door to open, then nothing hinders that from happening. There’s huge peace in trusting His sovereignty.

Joshua 6 tells the amazing story of Jericho. Verses 1 and 2 say, “Now the gates of Jericho were tightly shut because the people were afraid of the Israelites. No one was allowed to go out or in.  But the LORD said to Joshua, ‘I have given you Jericho, its king, and all its strong warriors.’”

These verses bring me a lot of encouragement. They remind me that, yes, I’ll face closed doors. But God is bigger. If He wants to bring a new opportunity into my life, then He’ll ensure that happens in the right time and in His way. He’s also wiser than me. He knows what’s behind that closed door and whether or not it would do me more harm than good. There’s a reason it’s closed. I only need to trust and obey (and be willing to wait patiently).

I hope this insight encourages you today. Remember—closed doors might seem like a sad end to our hopes and dreams, but they’re nothin’ for God! If He wants them to open, they’ll open.

Have you ever faced a closed door? What lesson did you learn from that experience?

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