Tag: understanding God

By Pastor Andrew Farland

I’m convinced that one of the biggest tools the enemy uses against God’s people is selfishness.

Why? Because when we’re self-focused, we miss everything going on around us: the neighbor in need, the friend with anxiety, the family member who needs prayer. When we focus too much on ourselves, we can even miss the divine appointments God has set up for us.

Honestly, the most difficult time to focus on others is when we’re tired or we feel like our tank is empty. After all, we can’t fill someone else’s tank when we are running on “E.”

Do you feel like your running on empty?

I don’t mean to be the bearer of bad news, but fatigue is just a lame excuse! When you are connected to God, you can reach into His tank, when yours is empty, and bless the people around you.

God has put something inside each and every one of you to give away. Ask yourselves what gifts, talents, skills, and passions you have that you could use for the benefit of others? They are the very things placed within you by God and He will give you the energy to use them.

In Psalm 37:34,
David gave us the two prescriptions for getting through those seasons when our tanks are empty when he wrote “Hope in the Lord and keep His way.” In other words, trust God and do good.

Do your best today to fight against selfishness by trusting God and finding ways to serve. Keep the blinders off of your eyes so that you can see the needs around you. And, if your tank is empty, lean into the gifts that God has given you to bless other people.

He will no doubt give you the strength to build others up.

Luke 10:27
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Be encouraged today because God is with you.

By Pastor Andrew Farland

In the Old Testament, we read about the Israelites, God’s people, having to travel for 40 years through the wilderness.

God had rescued them from slavery in Egypt but guided them through a challenging and turbulent journey toward the Promised Land, a beautiful country where God’s people could finally settle and enjoy their lives.

Along the way, God’s people complained and wished for the journey to end. They even wished to go back to a life of slavery because it would be easier than that wilderness.

Have you ever been there?
Have you ever been stuck in a long, difficult season?
Have you ever thought that it might just be easier to give up?

We’ve all been in that situation.

The question remains: why the wilderness?! Why does God lead us into long and arduous walks through the desert? Three truths from the Israelites’ 40-year journey can help us answer that question.

The wilderness wasn’t a place of punishment. It was a place of preparation. God sends people through the wilderness to prepare them for the Promised Land. The truth is that God’s people would not have been able to appreciate God’s blessings if they hadn’t gone through a time when God felt distant. What might God be preparing you for?
The wilderness wasn’t the last stop on the tour. There was a plan unfolding before their eyes. Some were willing to see the lessons that God might be teaching His people. Others were hardened. What lesson is God teaching you? What lessons has He already taught you in the desert?
The wilderness was the place where God demonstrated His patience and not His wrath. God let the Israelites mess up and eventually find their way back to Him. Thankfully, God gives His people time to figure things out. He doesn’t expect us to see His lessons or understand what He’s preparing us for. He just wants us to keep the faith and get back up when we stumble.

You should know that God was active in the wilderness when the Israelites were on their 40-year journey and He’s always with us in the middle of the valley.

Let’s sum everything up. Why the wilderness? God needs us to go through the desert so that He can teach us the lessons we’ll need in the Promised Land. If you’re on the other side of the wilderness, you know this is true. If you’re in the middle of one, keep the faith and look for the lessons God is trying to teach you.

Deuteronomy 2:7
“For the Lord, your God has blessed you in all that you have done; He has known your wanderings through this great wilderness These forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have not lacked a thing.”

Be encouraged today because God is with you.

By Pastor Andrew Farland

Have you ever looked around and thought, “Those people succeeded but did it the wrong way?”

Have you ever wondered if God is ignoring the injustice and confusing events happening in our world? If so, you can relate to Asaph, the author of Psalm 73.

I like the humanness of his prayer. “I missed seeing God’s goodness,” Asaph wrote, “I was looking up to the people at the top, envying the wicked who have made it.” Pampered and overfed, the people at the top were sinful but had money and fame. Nothing made sense to him.

Nothing made sense, that is until Asaph walked into the house of God. It was there in front of the Creator that Asaph made sense of the world. He wrote, “Then I saw the whole picture: the slippery road you’ve put them on with a final crash in a ditch of delusions.” When Asaph sought understanding from God, he realized that God will always bring justice even if it’s not in our timing.

The most important thing, though, to take away from Asaph’s prayer is this: he began to see things from God’s perspective when he humbled himself and entered God’s sanctuary.

Do you have questions? Do you wonder about God’s timing? Do you wonder why certain people get ahead? The best thing you can do is to lean into Him instead of leaning away. Why? True understanding comes when we seek first God’s kingdom.

Don’t be ashamed of your questions or feelings about God. He wants you to bring them into His house. Trust me. He’s God. He can handle your doubts and frustrations. Be honest with God today and seek His wisdom with everything you’ve got!

Proverbs 1:7
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools[a] despise wisdom and instruction.

Be encouraged today because God is with you.

By Pastor Andrew Farland

Peace Comes From God

People typically think of “peace” in an insufficient way.

They say that peace comes when we “let go.”

They say that peace comes when we “find ourselves.” Don’t get me wrong. There are elements of truth in both of these statements, but they aren’t complete.

Real peace comes when we let go of control and hold onto God’s promise about who we are.

I have met men and women who have spent their entire lives worried about their achievements, being good enough in the eyes of their peers, and making a name for themselves by the metrics of the world.

As successful as some of them were, they have yet to find peace. Why? Because their identity, their belief about who they are, is placed in something temporary.

Real peace comes when we let go of control and hold onto God’s promise about who we are.

The Bible is one continuous story of God pursuing the people He loves. Within that story are reminders of who God says we are. When we put our faith, trust, and hope in Jesus, we are God’s children (John 1:12), a friend of Jesus (John 15:15), good enough (Romans 3:24), accepted (Romans 15:7), and set free (Galatians 5:1).

When we believe that we are who God says we are, we find our identity in Him and not the rat race of the world. We become secure which translates to a peace that surpasses all understanding.

The amazing thing is when we give control to the Source, He promises to give us strength and peace. Keep that promise close to your heart and mind today when you forget who you are – a child loved and accepted by God.

Numbers 6:24-26
“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”