Daily Devotional - 9/13

Focus Letter - M

Pray for:
Five things that you are grateful for beginning with the focus letter
Five people whose first or last name begins with the focus letter
A place that begins with the focus letter
A characteristic that begins with the focus letter

Dear Lord - Help me to hear Your voice today and grant me the strength to obey.

Psalms 13

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Phil 4:13

"But I trust in Your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, for He has been good to me (vs 5)."

How long are we willing to do battle with ourselves and our sins/character flaws? A day, a week, a month, a season? How about a year? How about ten years? That seems like a long time. I know because I went through it.

After I became a Christian in 1983, an issue came up in my life that was deeply embedded in who I was. It was contrary to the Word of God, however, and so I took up the fight against it. I prayed. I fasted. I confessed. I did everything I knew of to deal with it and yet it still was a daily struggle for me. I would have good and bad days but the problem remained. I even saw a psychologist for help. All the things I did helped to some degree but the sin remained with me.

I felt like the psalmist. I cried out, "How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? (vs. 1)" I did feel forgotten in many ways because I was trying. I was doing everything right. But this was something more than not swearing or not getting drunk. The obvious sins are often the easiest to overcome. Many things I had struggled with for years changed overnight the day I became a Christian. Deeper heart issues arose, however. And so it is for all of us. We are not changed overnight. We are changed continually. We are slowly sculpted into something beautiful that will not be finished until the day we stand before God.

I struggled and struggled but in the end I trusted in God and did the best I could that day. That was all I could do and I kept on going. I did not know when my struggle would end or if perhaps it would not and I would deal with this particular issue til the day I died. Eventually it did not matter anymore. I decided that no matter what, I would not give up. In becoming a Christian, I had found the best thing in my life, even if it was not easy. At 17, I knew that if I walked away from God, I would be walking away from the best thing I ever had and my only hope of change.

I felt like Peter when he declared to Jesus, "Lord, to whom shall we go?Where else could we go? You have the words of eternal life (John 6:68). " I truly believed and still to this day believe there is no where else for me to go. Jesus still has the words of life. And amazingly enough, ten years later, I awoke one day to find my struggle was gone; never to return. As I look back over the ten years, now that I am on the other side of it, it didn't seem that long of a time. The relief was so tremendous that to this day it gives me chills just thinking about it. I was finally free. I am finally free. Finally.

It was all worth it. All the years of struggle, all the tears. I have no regrets. And now, "I will sing to the Lord for He has been good to me." (vs. 6) God is always good. Always.


Questions For Thought:

Is there anything in your life right now that you need to start fighting to overcome?

Have you given up working on something because it seemed impossible to change?

What can you do today to get back in the fight?

What verses can motivate you when you are feeling weak?