“Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”

— Jeremiah 33:3

We all go through our share of difficult times. Perhaps you’re in the midst of one even now, wondering if God knows and cares about your pain. But He does. He hears your cries and wants you to know He is there for you. When we endure afflictions, when our souls despair of hope or help, when the skies turn ominously black and the green valleys wither into wastelands, then the Word of the Lord shines through like a ray of hope: “Call to Me.”

The prophet Jeremiah knew despair and darkness. Jeremiah found himself in prison, confined in the courtyard of the guard, when the Word of the Lord came to him a second time. The first time God spoke to Jeremiah, he did not hear the Lord. But now in prison, Jeremiah’s hearing was greatly improved. So often we operate the same way. When things go well for us, we allow the things of the world to distract us. But when we suffer, God’s Word resounds like a thundering voice echoing off cold prison walls. Through our pain, God commands our attention in ways we never heed when things are going well for us.

Why was Jeremiah thrown into prison? In fact, why do so many of God’s servants end up in prison? From Jeremiah to Paul to John Bunyan to saints of our own time, many godly people find themselves unjustly imprisoned. Sometimes those closest to God seem to suffer more than others. Why? Because in the long run, God has our eternal good in mind. He tests us and refines us. He molds us until we become what He wants us to be, even if it takes imprisonment to do it.

As Jeremiah despaired in prison, facing a tremendous, life-refining difficulty, God came to him in great grace and said, “Call to me and I will answer you.” He says the same to us. Not only will He answer our requests, but He will do great and mighty things beyond what we ask or imagine. When we can do nothing else, we can “call to God.”

Do you feel alone, emotionally imprisoned by the trials you face? Then call to God today, and listen for His voice. He will speak to you as you trust in His goodness, love, and provision.

“God washes the eyes by tears until they can behold the
invisible land where tears shall come no more.”
Henry Ward Beecher

“But the day of the Lord will come . . . and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.”

— 2 Peter 3:10

When life hands us difficult circumstances and dangerous situations, we all need safe hiding places. When you face the fire, where do you go to seek rescue?

A whole host of dangers lie in life’s path, and at any time those dangers can threaten to overtake us. Many say we have a multitude of places to seek safety from life’s challenges, but truly we have only one—Jesus Christ.

Consider the early pioneers who traveled across the vast plains of America. As they crossed the country, they often found themselves in a sea of grass for miles on end. In autumn, the grass turned brown and dry from exposure to the sun and lack of water. This condition caused a huge fire hazard, and the pioneers greatly feared seeing a wall of fire coming their way. They feared that they would have no escape as the wind blew the fire toward them faster than they could run. But the pioneers devised a way to survive this hazard. When they saw a wall of fire coming toward them, they ignited the grass behind them. The wind bringing the fire toward them also blew out the fire behind them, leaving a safe firebreak. The pioneers simply moved into the center of the blackened area, and when the larger wall of fire approached them, it went around them, leaving them unscathed. The pioneers’ only safe haven in the midst of the fire was where the fire had already been.

We read in 2 Peter that “the day of the Lord will come…and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.” Even as we read, the fire of God’s wrath comes upon this world, and we have only one safe hiding place. When that fire comes, we need to run to the place where the fire has already been—the cross of Christ. Through faith in Christ we realize that the fire that fell upon Him should have fallen upon us, and we find the one place of escape.

Perhaps you face a wall of fire today. If so, seek the One who has endured the fire, for you’ll find safety only in His presence.

“God’s will is our hiding place.”
Corrie Ten Boom

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

— Ephesians 2:8–9

If we likened Scripture passages to mountain ranges, I think “by grace are you saved” would be the Himalayas. This passage towers above all others because it contains the highest Biblical truth—by God’s grace we are saved. The apostle Paul said that among faith, hope, and love, the greatest is love. If Paul had included grace in the list, I have a feeling grace would have topped the list. But Paul didn’t include grace because he was comparing things which “abide.” Grace does not abide. It did not exist before Adam’s fall because it was not necessary, and it will not exist after the Final Judgment. There will be no grace for those in Hell, and those in glory will have no more need of it. Today is the “age of grace.”

We can best understand the concept of grace through illustration. This one, limited as it is, still brings part of the point home. About 125 years ago in czarist Russia, a Russian nobleman and his faithful servant traveled by dog sled across a vast expanse of frozen wasteland. They had traveled for several hundred miles, and their home lay only twenty miles ahead. After such a long and treacherous journey, they looked forward to a warm bed and hot food. Suddenly a pack of hungry wolves appeared behind them, apparently having caught their scent. Despite the dogs’ efforts to pull the dog sled as fast as they could, the wolves started closing in. The situation was hopeless—they had no place to hide and no chance of outrunning the wolves. Suddenly, the old servant threw himself backward, off the dog sled. The wolf pack stopped and attacked the servant, sparing the nobleman’s life.

Grace involves sacrifice. The greatest grace of all was God’s sacrifice of His own Son on the cross. Have you accepted His grace so that you may live with Him eternally?

“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now am found, was blind but now I see.”
John Newton
(former slave trader)

“Now as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, ‘Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you [Paul].’”

— Acts 24:25

Do you ever put off things until tomorrow? Do you wait for the perfect time and conditions before undertaking a challenge?

Many people procrastinate. The word “procrastination” comes from two Latin words that, combined, mean “toward tomorrow.” When we procrastinate, we look toward tomorrow, counting on it as a better day to face problems and difficult situations. Mark Twain once quipped, “Never put off till tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.”

Although we joke about it, procrastination can be a harmful habit with disastrous consequences. In fact, George Washington unwittingly capitalized on a British officer’s procrastination to free America from British rule. During the American Revolution, when General Washington decided to cross the Delaware River on Christmas Eve to make a surprise attack on the Hessian army at Trenton, one of the British sympathizers discovered Washington’s plan and sent a warning note to the Hessian commander, Colonel Rahl. But when Rahl received the note, he was in his tent, playing cards with his officers. So instead of opening the letter, he put it in his pocket. Rahl finished his game just as the Americans surprised his army. Rahl’s procrastination cost him his honor, his command, and his life.

But the worst effects of procrastination are in the spiritual world. Someone once said that Satan had a meeting to discuss the best way to deceive humankind. The first demon said, “I’ll tell them the Bible is a fairy tale.” Satan rejected this plan. The second demon said, “I’ll tell them there is no God, no Christ, no heaven or hell.” Satan rejected this plan, too. The third demon said, “I’ll tell them everything is true. However, I’ll tell them there is no hurry.” Satan chose this plan.

Do you procrastinate? If so, would you like to stop? Then take some advice from Dr. Neil Fiore, author of The Now Habit. Fiore says procrastinators can overcome the habit by breaking down large tasks into thirty-minute segments and handling one segment a day. This procedure helps improve a person’s self-image and gives that person fresh excitement about his or her work. Choose a task you’d like to tackle, and ask God to show you the first step toward reaching your goal. Then take that step today, and watch how God works through and in you.

“Procrastination is wasting today’s time to clutter up
tomorrow’s opportunities with yesterday’s troubles.”
Anonymous

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

— Romans 12:21

Have you ever felt so mad at someone that you couldn’t see straight? In the midst of many conflicts, you can’t talk with the person who angered you, or else you’d end up saying something you know you shouldn’t. On the other hand, you can’t stop thinking about that person’s offense against you. So you end up replaying the situation over and over in your mind like a broken record.

I know the feeling, but I’ve learned through God’s Word a great truth that transforms such feelings into opportunities to share God’s love. This truth is to turn the other cheek. Jesus told us to return good for evil. When we first hear that, we think, “What? Did I miss something?” because we naturally respond to an offense by returning evil for evil—an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. In our humanness, we can’t fathom going the second mile, turning the other cheek, or doing good to those who hurt us. Yet doing such is the art of Christian forgiveness carried through to the end.

When you overcome evil with good, forgiving your enemy and even offering kindness in return, you will experience tremendous freedom. When we respond with good, we can’t help but win the battle. And we find ourselves invulnerable to evil.

Jesus is our perfect example of overcoming evil with good. When we were still sinners, having rebelled against Him, Christ showed His love to us. He went to the cross for us, taking our wrongs upon Himself. Christ asked His Father to forgive those who crucified Him. Then Jesus descended into Hell, conquered it, and rose victorious. When we respond with kindness and love, we triumph in grace and give glory to Jesus.

Do you need to forgive someone today? Overcome evil with good by offering forgiveness, love, and kindness to that person. Then watch as Jesus brings freedom and victory to you because of your obedience.

“He who has mastered the grace of forgiveness is
far more triumphant than he who has managed to
see that no wrong to him is gone unavenged.”
Lloyd d. Mattson

“And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”

— Galatians 6:9

When you think of Abraham Lincoln, what qualities come to your mind? Compassion? Concern for the disenfranchised? Humor? While all those characteristics apply, I think if we really knew Lincoln, we’d find that the overriding quality of his character was perseverance.

Believe it or not, Abraham Lincoln was a failure. In almost every area of his life, he experienced defeat. As a young man, Lincoln ran for the state legislature and lost overwhelmingly. He went into business and failed completely. He became engaged to a beautiful, loving girl, but she died. Lincoln then married a woman who was a continual burden to him, a thorn in his flesh. Soon thereafter he decided to run for Congress but lost decidedly. After that, he tried to get an appointment to the U.S. Land Office, but he was turned down. He then decided to run for the United States Senate, but his competition pounded him into the ground. After all these defeats, he decided to become vice president of the United States. He was, as we know, defeated once again.

Abraham Lincoln lost at nearly everything he tried until he ran for and won the presidency of the United States. He persevered despite overwhelming discouragement and defeat, and because he persisted, he became one of the greatest leaders this world has ever known. Despite all the losses he suffered, Lincoln was never a loser because he never quit.

When we hear that litany of the losses endured by such an upstanding man and respectable leader, how can we not feel just a little ashamed at the number of times we’ve thrown in the towel? What a great reminder that we need never give up, because God has already promised we will triumph if we’ve entrusted our lives to Him.

Have you experienced defeat recently? My friend, keep persevering. Never give up, but instead rely on God’s promise to achieve victory in your life.

“A quitter never wins, and a winner never quits.”
Anonymous

“And the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.’”

— Genesis 2:18

When God designed the human race, He made us male and female. He recognized that it was not good for Adam to be alone, that Adam needed a companion. (If Adam had been alone, you and I wouldn’t be here.)

But God’s provision of a mate to Adam doesn’t mean that every mature Christian should marry. Unfortunately, our society views singleness as a sign of immaturity and incompleteness. As our culture sees it, if a person is truly mature, he or she will find a suitable partner and marry.

But let’s consider Jesus. Jesus never had a date. He never kissed a girl (in the romantic sense). He was never engaged. He never got married. He never had any children or any grandchildren. Yet the whole world proclaims that He is the wisest, most mature, well-balanced person to ever live, maintaining positive relationships with people of both sexes. Jesus is a model for both married and single people.

I once asked a group to tell me the names of all the married couples in the New Testament who served the Lord. The group could think of only two: Aquila and Priscilla, and Joseph and Mary. Then I asked the group to name the single people who served the Lord, and the group brainstormed quite a list: Paul, John the Baptist, Titus, Timothy, Mark, Epaphroditus, Apollos, Phoebe, and Mary Magdalene. And really, the list could go on.

Are you single? Then first of all, thank God and praise Him for your gift of singleness. Second, use your singleness as a special opportunity to serve Him, perhaps embarking on an adventure you could never experience if you were married. Third, develop your own particular gifts, skills, and interpersonal relationships. Finally, trust the Lord to accomplish His will for you in this matter, and praise Him for whatever His will may be. Whatever path God chooses for you, He will enable you to walk it well and with contentment.

“I realize now there would have been no way I could have read the
books I’ve read, written the words I’ve written, gone the places I’ve gone,
studied the courses I have studied, learned the languages I have learned,
maintained the schedule I have maintained, mended the people I have
mended—if I had been encumbered by a husband and family.”
Evelyn Ramsey
(missionary, doctor, and linguist to the people of papua new guinea)

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the Church . . .”

— Ephesians 5:25

Since today is Valentine’s Day, let me take this opportunity to focus on marriage. Whether you’re married or hope to be married someday, I hope you’ll benefit from what I share.

If there’s one thing we all need today, it’s love in our homes. The Scriptures teach that the husband must love the wife (Ephesians 5:25) and that the wife must love the husband (Titus 2:4). But how must husbands and wives love each other? Unlike the message of many pop psychologists today, love is not a warm, fuzzy feeling, although warm feelings may grow out of true love. Instead, love is a commitment shown in acts of kindness and patience. The feelings will then follow, but by themselves, feelings provide a poor foundation for marriage.

We need to actively choose to love our spouses. We should do all we can to bring joy to their days, just as we did when we courted. Do you remember all you did when you were dating? Remember writing affectionate notes and planning romantic outings? Let’s regain some of that enthusiasm and apply it to our marriages, if we haven’t already. We can show our love in many different ways, even when we don’t feel like it. We should hunt for things that will please our spouses and put some sparkle and fizz into the relationship. If our spouses like or enjoy something, we should try to develop an interest in that area too. Even if we don’t feel the same level of interest, our spouses will feel loved just knowing that we want to please them.

Remember how, when you were first married, you placed your hopes and your dreams in the hands of your beloved? If any of that enthusiasm has fizzled, try to recapture it. Above all, strive to be the spouse that your beloved would like you to be. When both of you do that, you will have made this world a little bit of Heaven.

“Domestic Happiness, thou only bliss of
paradise that hast survived the fall.”
William Cowper

“. . . a quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping.”

— Proverbs 19:13, niv

Remember the last time you took a walk and had to stop because something had worked its way inside your shoe? Isn’t it amazing how something so small can be so aggravating?

Peter Jenkins, in his book Walk Across America, chronicled his experiences traveling on foot across this continent. In his book, Jenkins explained that he never felt overwhelmed or defeated by the big things. Instead, he said, “What almost defeated me over and over again was the sand in my shoes.”

I believe many marriages suffer from the same principle. Unheralded, seldom-discussed “sand in the shoes” underlies many of the marital failures that scar this land. What do I mean by “sand in the shoes of marriage”? I refer to the abrasive sand of criticism.

When people get married, they often make the colossal mistake of supposing they can improve their spouses. Husbands and wives alike think they can achieve this goal by simply telling their spouses about their bad points. People seem quite confident that if they simply point out their spouses’ bad points often enough, their spouses will correct their faults and again become the perfect angels they were when they were first married. In other words, the marriage license becomes a hunting license for faults. But contrary to the critic’s intentions, this daily faultfinding becomes like “sand in the shoes” or a constant dripping on a rainy day.

Does this sound familiar? Perhaps you’ve recently been quick to point out your spouse’s faults. Consider this: If you emphasize your spouse’s good points, you might find that praise will take care of the bad points as nothing else will. Use your marriage license as a hunting license for good, to find virtue and not fault.

“Love looks through a telescope; envy through a microscope.”
Josh Billings

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord . . .”

— Psalm 33:12

Which describes you better: “the swift hand of judgment” or “the patient heart of grace”? If you’re like most of us, you relate better to the former. For some reason, we feel better about ourselves when we see something wrong in others.

Today is Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. This sixteenth president of the United States did tremendous things for our country, and he earned the lasting respect and loyalty of American citizens. But was he a Christian? A clergyman once asked Lincoln, “Do you love Jesus?” Lincoln responded, “When I left Springfield, I asked the people to pray for me. I was not a Christian. But when I went to Gettysburg and saw the graves of thousands of our soldiers, I then and there consecrated myself to Christ. Yes, I do love Jesus.”

Lincoln was a humble and forgiving person, and he exemplifies our need as a nation to humble ourselves before God. During the dark days of the Civil War, he declared national days of fasting and prayer (not a unique practice in that time). In one of those proclamations, he said:

It is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God; to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.

. . . We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown; but we have forgotten God.

. . . It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness. (March 30, 1863)

In our day, with terrible crime rates and immorality of every kind, we would do well to heed Lincoln’s words. Today, humble yourself before God, and ask Him to grant His mercy on this nation.

“. . . with malice toward none; with charity for all . . .”
Abraham Lincoln