Devotional: Faith Circle October 2007

About a week ago, I came across the following passage in Jeremiah:

If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out,
how can you compete with horses?
If you stumble in safe country,
how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?
Jeremiah 12:5 (NIV)

I’m sure my initial attraction to this verse was the reference to running. However, when I pondered the verse more and more, I found myself meditating on the idea of stumbling.

I am quite aware that my life is one of great ease and little trouble. I know I am profoundly blessed in my circumstances and, yet, I can still find things in my life to trip me up on a daily basis. That is what makes the Lord’s response to Jeremiah’s questions so thought provoking to me. If I can find stumbling blocks in this easy life, what will I do when things really get tough?

Will I be like the seed sown on rocky ground in Jesus’ parable?

"The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts
only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he
quickly falls away.” Matthew 13:20-21 (NIV)

Or, even, the seed sown among thorns?

“The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.” Matthew 13:22 (NIV)

Oh, merciful Father, I hope not!

Peter gives us hope that this does not have to be the case for us:

By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.

So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away [i.e. stumble] . Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.2 Peter 1:3-11 (NLT)

Dear Heavenly Father, According to the Psalmist:

The Lord directs the steps of the godly.
He delights in every detail of their lives.
Though they stumble, they will never fall,
for the Lord holds them by the hand.
Psalm 37:23-24 (NLT)

I pray tonight that You would direct our steps so that we might hold Your hand and continue to walk in Your ways instead of falling over the bumps we encounter in our lives. In Your Son’s most precious name, Amen.