We’ve got your daily encouragement, written by Kelly Bryant.
Bible Reading:
Hebrews 11:7
7 By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
Word:
Can you persevere when you don’t know how long it will take? Usually workouts are measured by time. For example, the workout might track how many rounds you can complete in 15 minutes or how quickly you can finish 5 rounds. What if you showed up at the gym one day and the coach just told you to start running? How would you run if you didn’t know the distance or the time? Sometimes life works on timelines. There’s a minimum age or work requirement to get a driver’s license, legally sign a contract, or retire from your job.
Our minds can comprehend these benchmarks and work towards them more easily because we have an idea of what to expect. But what about the things in life that are unexpected and unknowable? How do you live your life when you or someone you love gets a medical diagnosis that rocks your world? How do you continue when it feels like everyone else met the “timeline” to get married, have kids or advance in their careers but you didn’t? How do you keep going when just getting out of bed each day feels like an insurmountable task?
Often we read well-known Bible stories without the context of time. Think about the story of Noah and the ark. The gist of the story is that Noah builds the ark, the flood comes, and he and his family are safe. However, biblical scholars estimate that it took Noah between 55 to 120 years just to build the ark. That’s more than a lifetime of work in our present day! In addition, it took over 300 days between the beginning of the flood until the water subsided enough for Noah and his family to leave the ark.
Noah was able to persevere by holding on to the promises of God. It was his trust in God that allowed him to keep building year after year in preparation for a flood that no one had ever seen. When we trust God to handle that unexpected and unknowable aspects of our life, it frees us from the crushing pressure of living life on the ticking clock of expectations. Then we can persevere, one day at a time, knowing that his mercies are new each and every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23).
Prayer:
Skillwork:
Practice putting away the clock in your quiet time with God. Instead of setting a goal to read or pray for X number of minutes, enter into His presence with no agenda other than to spend time drawing near to God as you trust Him with whatever today might bring you way.
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