Jesus – Erin Ulerich

When Christmas is Difficult

What do we do when the most wonderful time of the year doesn’t feel so wonderful?

I have found that holidays seem to amplify daily struggles. It may be that we are busier than usual, but I think it’s also because we have expectations of happiness, peace, and perfection – standards that we don’t require our every-day lives to meet.

We have these hopes that just for a moment life will balance in perfect peace and harmony, you know, like they do in the Hallmark Christmas movies. We want our meals to look Instagram perfect, and our Christmas craft projects to make it on Pintrest, and not be a Pintrest fail.

So with all this pressure, it’s not surprising that we struggle during the holidays.

What’s your top holiday struggle?

My biggest struggle at Christmas is remembering why we are celebrating and how that connects to my every-day life.

To be honest, it gets lost under the mad dash of secret Santa presents, real presents, school programs, parties, decorating, luncheons, get-togethers, and the pressure to somehow stay in budget. (Why is there math in Christmas?)

My joy gets lost in the busyness and I have trouble remembering that Christmas really is about Jesus coming, experiencing life in this broken world, and making a way for us to be in relationship with God.

God opened the folds of time and stepped into our world as one of us. It’s unheard of. It’s mind-blowing. And yet, even as I’m writing this, it feels far away.

But far away was the last thing on Jesus’ mind.

He came to be with us.

We have an enemy that works overtime to make us feel isolated, misunderstood, abandoned. Who knows that when we feel alone and vulnerable, we are more apt to listen to his lies.

We were made for connection and intimacy, so when we feel alone it is easy for our hearts to make this false conclusion: I am not known, therefore I am not loved.

Jesus is with us, out of love for us, to draw us into relationship with Him. In Jesus we are known, loved, connected—the very things we were created to experience.

So when Christmas is difficult, breathe in deep, look at the sweet baby in the manger and speak this beautiful truth: I am loved. I am not alone.

He came for you, my friend.

O Little Town of Bethlehem: The Loudest Quiet

My family loves to watch America’s Got Talent. You never really know what is coming up next.

AGT has the Golden Buzzer, a feature where, if a judge thinks a person or group is talented enough to go straight to the final round, they can push the literal golden buzzer to let everyone in the audience know that this group has special status. When they press it, golden confetti rains down.

There’s music and tears and much, much celebration. Everyone in that building knows when the golden buzzer is pressed. And everyone knows who was chosen.

And then, in sharp contrast, we have the little town of Bethlehem on that first Christmas, where something that had never happened…happened. God took the form of man, parted the curtain and stepped into human history.

Tthere were no cameras, no confetti, no fireworks, no parade.

In fact, it was just the opposite. No recognition. No room.

The Bible doesn’t describe what it was like for Joseph to register himself and Mary in the census. But I’m picturing long lines of people waiting, dust blowing in the hot breeze, kids pulling at their mother’s skirts. Mama, are we done yet?

When Mary and Joseph finally made it to the front of the line, I imagine the census workers checked off 2 adults and 1 child-to-be and yelled NEXT without even knowing Who this child actually was. That this child, whose presence they just checked off on a clip board, was the Messiah.

Suddenly I’m picturing the sloths at the DMV from Zootopia. Are you?

I think it is significant that Jesus came in the middle of a busy time – census, chaos, when Bethlehem was filled with people, weary people. He was lost in the crowd so to speak. He fell through the cracks. It looked as if He were insignificant.

He was born in a stable. Born in extremely poor surroundings. Even the best accommodations this world has to offer, when compared to heaven, would have been inadequate, but a messy stable?

And then there were the angels, the ones who actually grasped the significance of what Jesus left behind to come to earth as a man. They were so happy that they broke out in a glorious concert. Not in the middle of Bethlehem, not where the Jewish leaders would see it, but out in the countryside, with only a group of shepherds to witness it. And the shepherds… well, they weren’t really the right crowd to get the word out to the right people.

There were a few people who grasped what was happening. When Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem, Simeon and Anna knew who Jesus was because they had been waiting for Him.

Two people.

God did this amazing thing and then went about the marketing and PR all wrong.

Or did He?

I’m not the first one to think this. Jesus pushed against this idea during His entire ministry. The Jews were picturing a more aggressive Messiah, one who would take down the Romans.

But Jesus spoke to the weak, the looked down on in society – He healed those society had forgotten.

Jesus ate with sinners, talked to women, poked at the religious leaders. He chose a group of rag-tag men to be His disciples.

He did not behave right. He was doing it all wrong.

Or was He?

The greatest irony was that He came to show us what God is like and the ones who were supposed to know God didn’t recognize Him. The demons he removed from people recognized Him, but His own people didn’t really get it.

So what does this tell us, as we sit on this side of history? We who have the benefit of seeing how Christianity spread from this ragtag group of unlikely disciples to our lives today. Across the years, around the world.

At the very least, in the understatement of the year, It tells us that God’s ways of doing things are not the same as our way of doing things.

As we look closer, it also tells us that Jesus knows what it’s like to be looked over, to be misunderstood, to fall through the cracks, to not measure up to others’ expectations.

But He didn’t come to please others. He came to follow the Father’s will, to rescue the very ones who rejected Him.

And He kept His purpose always in front of Him.

The baby in the manger makes it possible for every heart to have peace with God. Every heart is important to Him, not just the ones the world deems important, not just the golden buzzer people.

He comes to those who acknowledge their need of Him. The people who know they are a mess and know they can’t fix the mess. And just when the hopelessness of that begins to sink in, that’s when He shows us that He came for our mess.

No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive Him still, the dear Christ enters in.

If you enjoyed this post, I know you will enjoy the devotions in my new book, In Unexpected Ways: Christmas in Everyday Life. Available on Amazon in Kindle and paperback. This is an affiliate link.

This post can also be found in video form on my YouTube Channel.

Ready For A Little Christmas?

I love Christmas.

But sometimes the Christmas story feels distant, removed from our everyday life. The star, the stable, the wise men, feel like they belong in our childhood, or in church plays, but have no bearing in “real” life.

Every year, the Christmas season ends, the decorations are put away, and we turn our attention to the next thing. But if we pack the peace and joy and wonder of Christmas in the attic with our decorations, we have missed Christmas altogether.

It was for our after-Christmas life that Jesus came.

You know, the normal days, where we meet deadlines, work, hang out with friends. The days when we struggle to get out of bed and the days when we feel like things are coming together. All those days between the Christmas trees, decorations, and figuring out the perfect gifts to give.

My devotional book, In Unexpected Ways, was written for those days.

These devotions were written during moments when my heart held more questions than answers. When I doubted God’s love for me, when I struggled through the murky waters of grief, when I let go of hope and discovered that the God of hope never let go of me.

I wrote this book to show that there is hope, even in the middle of brokenness, to challenge the way we think about and respond to God, and to remind my readers that we were made for more than this world can ever offer.

Will you help me spread the word about my book?

I am building a launch team to get the word out about In Unexpected Ways. It will be a short launch, from July 11-August 3, but it will be filled with fun! There will be giveaways, videos, and simple Launch Team tasks (many take less than 30 seconds to complete).

ALL Launch Team members will receive exclusive access to:
✨ our Facebook group
✨ fun Launch Team giveaways
✨ a digital copy of In Unexpected Ways
✨Specially recorded audio songs

PLUS: We will be giving away FREE audiobooks for Launch Team members who share their review during launch week.

As a Launch Team member, you’re agreeing to:

Purchase a copy of In Unexpected Ways
Be present and engaged in the Launch Team Facebook group.
Spread the word on social media and in person with family and friends.
Review the book on Amazon and Goodreads during Book Release Week.

✨ The application form will close at 11:59pm EST on Tuesday, July 13th.

Click here to apply and be on the lookout for my first launch team email on Sunday!

I do hope you’ll consider joining my team. I’d love to have you!

When Jesus Turns Things Upside Down

Jesus often said and did the unexpected.

He turned things upside down and left people perplexed.

When the rich young ruler approached Jesus, he was confident that he was in good standing with God. The prevailing thought of the day was that riches proved that God was pleased with you. Add that to his rule-keeping, and he was practically guaranteed to inherit eternal life, right?

This man was trusting in what his religious culture said about his wealth.

And then Jesus asked him to give away the very thing that his trust was wrapped up in to the poor- the very people that he was certain God was not pleased with.

In one simple conversation “Jesus exposed in that man the thing that he treasured more than he treasured God.”

Jesus turned things upside down.

Nicodemus wasn’t confident he was in good standing with God, but he knew he was on the right path. He was, after all, a respected Pharisee.

And yet something in Jesus’ teachings led him to go to Jesus in secret.

In one statement, Jesus rocked the world Nicodemus had carefully built during a lifetime of serving the Lord.

Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

The despair in his response leaps off the page. How can a man be born when he is old?

Seeing the kingdom of God was the focus of Nicodemus’ entire life.

“What if Jesus had told Nicodemus,’You need to work harder and trust God more’? Nicodemus could have gone home and tried to do better. But Jesus was emptying Nicodemus of any hope he had of fixing himself.

One sentence emptied Nicodemus of all of his self-centered schemes for rightness with God.”

He spent his life seeking God, but his trust was in the seeking, not in God.

Jesus turned things upside down.

The Samaritan woman at the well knew she wasn’t favored by God. She definitely knew she didn’t have a chance of being right with God.

After all, she had messed up way too much, searching for a relationship that would make her feel loved. Everyone, including her, knew that for a fact.

And yet, when Jesus revealed that her hope in relationships would always leave her thirsty and pointed her toward Himself, she recognized her need for Him.

When Jesus turned things upside down for her, she saw that things were finally right.

Jesus turned things upside down for these three to reveal that what they were trusting in could never fully satisfy. He poked holes in their false hopes so they could see that their need of Him, the source of lasting Hope.

And He does the same for us.

Sometimes we are the young ruler trusting in social status or rule-keeping.

Other times we are Nicodemus, hoping that our service to God, our sacrifice, our theological knowledge will make us complete.

And, more often than not, we are the Samaritan woman, hoping to find love and a sense of worth through relationships.

Jesus loves us too much to let us keep searching for fulfillment in things and people. He turns things upside down so that we can see Him clearly, run to Him readily, and find what we are searching for in Him.

Words in italics are from the workbook Behold Your God: Rethinking God Biblically by John Snyder. Used with permission.

In Unexpected Ways: How God Answers the Questions of Life

I am not sure if we, as a collective body living on planet Earth, have ever entered the Christmas season this worn down, weary, and filled with questions.

The events and months of 2020 have highlighted the truth that life is fragile, and we have precious little control over the things that matter most to us. And by highlighted, I mean surrounded by harsh flashing bulbs that light up the sky.

In the final months of a year filled with too many unprecedented events are you wondering if you can even trust God anymore?

We need the wonder of Christmas, the joy, and the peace more than ever. And, in some ways, we have never been more prepared to see it.

Could the disappointments, the grief, the uncertainty of this calendar year have us searching for something that will last?

As we sit in shadows of uncertainty, a warm glow fills the air.

Light breaks through darkness, allowing things to be clearly seen. And on that first Christmas, God stepped into history in an unexpected way to show us that He is the answer to our deepest needs.

He still answers the questions we ask in the quiet of the night:

Am I alone? Does God love me? Does God have a plan for me? Can I trust Him?

And He responds:

His Name answers Am I alone?

His Presence answers Does God love me?

His Purpose answers Does God have a plan for me?

And these provide the answer to the question that lies at the center of it all:

Can I trust Him?

The Christmas story is part of a larger story, a story that began before God said, “Let there be light.” A story that includes the Garden of Eden, the Cross and Resurrection. A story that is still unfolding.

We celebrate Christmas with an eye on the climax of the entire story. We celebrate the sweet baby in the manger because He is the suffering Savior on the cross, and the risen Savior who defeated the enemy of our soul out of love for us.

If you have thought This is not the way it should be,

If you’ve worried about health, finances, or the future,

If you’ve secretly wondered if you’ve missed out on the good in life,

If you feel like you are stuck in survival mode,

This book was written with you in mind.

In Unexpected Ways: Christmas in Everyday Life is a compilation of devotions written during moments when my heart held more questions than answers, when I wondered if God loved me, and when I felt like nothing would ever change.

God answered the questions I was really asking by whispering truth to my heart, truth from his Word that revealed His Presence, His love, and His purpose. Truth whispered from his Word changes us more deeply than the shouts of the world ever will.

God stepped into history in an unexpected way to show us that He is the answer to our deepest needs.

He has not changed. He still works through the unexpected to draw us to Him.

And drawing us to Himself is always the purpose for the unexpected.

In Unexpected Ways: Christmas in Everyday Life is available on Amazon.

Not the Way It’s Supposed To Be

When it comes to dealing with grief, God doesn’t leave us to our own strength or resources. He walks through it with us. Jesus felt the same “This isn’t the way it’s supposed to be” feeling that we feel when He stood in front of Lazarus’ grave.

“This just feels wrong. This isn’t the way it’s supposed to be.”

I’ve said this many times in my life.

I said it in 8th grade when a friend committed suicide.

I said it when I watched Grandma sobbing beside the body of the man she’d loved her whole life, clutching his wedding band in her delicate hands.

I said it in 10th grade when I stood beside Pappaw’s grave, staring at the trees in the distance as the pastor spoke, clinching my fists to keep the tears from falling.

This time I was in my early 30’s sitting with my Daddy outside King Daughter’s Hospital in Yazoo City, MS where Grandma was losing her battle with Leukemia.

The familiar mixture of sorrow and anger welled up as I spit out the words.

Daddy put his arm around me while I sobbed. He waited until I was quiet, and in his deep gentle voice, he said, “Nothing about death is right. Death didn’t exist until sin entered the world. It doesn’t feel right because we weren’t made to experience death.”

Through the years I’ve often thought of Daddy’s statement. And now, as I am walking through another time of grief, the words come back to me. We weren’t made for this.

We weren’t made for this, yet we still experience it. What are we supposed to do since we don’t have the resources or strength within ourselves to walk through these shadows?

In His mercy, God doesn’t leave us to our own resources or strength. He walks through it with us. He put on our flesh, He put on our feelings, in order to be with us. And He felt this exact feeling as He stood in front of the grave of His friend Lazarus.

Jesus got mad, like we do when death strikes our loved ones. But He didn’t get angry at God, like we often do. He directed His anger at the source of the problem. He was angry at death and sin. And when He wept, He didn’t leak out a few tears or get a lump in His throat. He burst into tears.

He felt angry that the people He loved had to undergo such pain. He was indignant that sin dared to wreak such havoc. And He grieved. Rev. Wally Bumpus puts it this way. “Jesus was grieved at what death had done to the crown of God’s creation.”

Jesus was saying “This is not the way it is supposed to be.” He acknowledged the pain-filled reality.

Then He called His friend out of the grave.

Jesus felt the anger, the soul-deep turbulence that we feel when death invades our space. He is qualified to walk through grief with us. As the One who destroyed death by rising from the dead, He has the power to comfort us like no other.

Knowing that my Jesus felt this same “this isn’t right” feeling changes the way I handle my grief. Instead of trying to push it aside and ignore it, I can follow His example and acknowledge this pain-filled reality. My grief can be mingled with hope because the way things are now is not the way things will always be.

Because of Jesus, one day death will be fully dead, we will be fully alive, and things will be the way they are supposed to be for all eternity.

Who Needs Jesus?

So who in this broken world needed Jesus to come?
The hurting, the broken, the running, the far away, the pretenders, the wounded, the helpless, the guilty, the trapped, the ones needing to be rescued. The baby in the manger makes it possible for every heart to have peace with God.

Stefani Carmichael got me thinking about the world Jesus stepped into on that first Christmas in her post The World Jesus Enters.

It was a broken world, like ours.

What about the people? What were they like? Did they need Jesus to come?

They were a lot like you and me, like the people we see at Walmart, in the line at the bank, and the ones we work out next to in the gym. People looking to rules, religion, or relationships for purpose.

This broken world has been filled with hurting, broken people for a very long time.

Let’s scoot back to the beginning where the story really begins.

The backdrop of the manger scene is the Garden of Eden. That is where our need for a Savior began.

God created this beautiful world, and created man and woman in His image. As part of His image, He wove into our DNA a need for relationship, connection, belonging.

Satan didn’t bring an army in and confront God head-on. Instead, he slithered in and convinced Eve that the face-to-face relationship she had with God wasn’t enough. His words cast a shadow in her mind about the goodness, love, and intention of God.

O how he must have celebrated as she and Adam bit into that fruit. The precious souls God created and loved had rejected Him. With that bite the beautiful world God spoke into being became enemy territory.

“The serpent told the human race that disobeying God was the only way to realize their fullest happiness and potential, and this delusion has sunk deep into every human heart.” – TIm Keller

The world God made grew dark, the people He loved grew blind. His people became deaf to His words and the enemy’s hold on them grew stronger and stronger.

The people made in God’s image, made for connection, belonging, and love, knew, even while sitting in the darkness that something was missing.

They yearned deeply for what they were made for, even though they had been in the darkness for so long that they didn’t know what to call it. They only knew something was missing and they couldn’t find it in themselves.

Some turned to worshipping idols, literally turning pieces of wood and stone into objects of worship. Some turned to worshipping life in this world, living in the moment, keeping busy, or filling their lives with pleasure. Some turned to worshipping control with rigid rule keeping.

All this worship was an effort to stop the yearning and longing. But only one Person could fulfill that longing for connection, belonging, and love.

Because God is the only one who can answer this longing, He is the only one who can set His people free.

That freedom began with a baby. Jesus, who takes away the sins of the world.

He saves us from our sins. Not just the ones we think are really bad, but our daily sins, our daily hurts, our daily messes. He is with us.

The baby in the manger makes it possible for every heart to have peace with God.

So who in this broken world needed Jesus to come?

The hurting, the broken, the running, the far away, the pretenders, the wounded, the helpless, the guilty, the trapped, the ones needing to be rescued.

We need Jesus. And we are the reason He came.

Helping Others Fight for Hope

I am excited to have Stefani Carmichael as a guest today. Not only is Stefani is one of the Hope Warriors in my life, she is also a Hope Warrior in the lives of the teen girls that live in her dorm.

She is gifted at helping the girls see the lies that they are believing, and encouraging them to replace those lies with truth. For some of these girls, she is the first person in their lives to teach them how to fight for hope, especially when their circumstances feel hopeless.

Stefani also blogs at heartsoulstrengthandmind.com , so be sure to jump over to her site and check it out.

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Helping Others Fight for Hope

What is harder than being in a black hole?

Harder than being in the middle of a fog in your life and not seeing your way out?

In my experience, the only thing harder than that is seeing those you love sink down into that pit and knowing you cannot pull them out.

Recognizing that you cannot pull someone out of the pit is really the first step of being able to help them. I learned this the hard way. If you will expend all your energy trying to pull them out, you might get pulled into it in the process.

At the same time, you can help someone who needs hope. You cannot force them to have hope. You can’t manhandle them into feeling better.

You can inspire, encourage, and support them in their fight. You are not Rocky Balboa, you are one of those in his corner.

I am approaching this topic with lessons I have learned through experience. In the process of gaining experience we often make mistakes along the way, and I certainly have. When I write about what not to do, it’s because I have probably done it at some point in my life. I hope anytime I have made mistakes in this area, that those battling with me will extend me grace and understand the heart I have had to help.

It would be incredibly difficult to help someone fight for hope if you have never been in a situation in which you felt hopeless. I imagine we have all been to that place, but if such a time doesn’t come to mind, you might first want to take a step back and remember.

When you remember the weight of your own battle, you will be better equipped to support someone in their own time of need.

This time of remembering prepares you to listen.

This sounds easy, but Iistening well is often the hardest part. When someone you love is in a pit, you want so much for them to be out and back to normal. You may be tempted to think you know what is wrong and just jump to solutions. Don’t.

You may even know what they need to do. You may even understand. But telling them is not going to get them where they need to be. Because someone who is hopeless is not going to automatically believe you know what you are talking about and can help them.

From their perspective, there is no way out.

From their perspective, things could probably not look any bleaker.

For them to listen to any suggestions or advice, they first have to know you understand the serious position they are in. You show them this by intently listening to them, rephrasing what they have said to make sure you really do understand.

This process is also essential, because you may not understand as much as you think you do. You may have experienced a similar situation, but that doesn’t mean that your pain is the same as their pain.

There is no timeline for how long you stay in this stage with someone. There may be a lot of listening involved with some people before they believe you understand.

It may take one conversation or several before you get to the point to move forward.

When you understand well, it is time to share. The point of sharing is not to say, “That’s nothing, look at all I have been through.” Its not to compare pain. If it comes off looking this way to the person who is struggling, it will do more harm than good.

The point of sharing is to let the other person know you also have suffered in your life, and while it may have been a very different situation, you found your way out of the suffering.

This is the point where you can begin to offer hope.

The hope comes in the message that if you walked through the blackness and found yourself back in the light, against all appearances, they also can find themselves in the light again.

This doesn’t have to come from just your story. The Bible is full of stories of those who were in seemingly hopeless situations, sometimes for a very long time, before God’s deliverance.

The stories of Abraham, Joseph, the Israelites in the wilderness, Ruth, Esther, Nehemiah, and countless others attest to incredibly bleak situations that did not remain bleak.

God’s word provides encouragement to those who are in the middle of dark places. These stories entailed long periods of difficulty and do not look anything like the band-aid fixes people often offer those in the middle of serious struggles.

People in the middle of difficulty don’t need to be led into a false hope that everything will change quickly. They need a surer hope that keeps them moving when they do not see the end of their struggle in sight.

They need the hope of a 75-year-old Abraham who still doesn’t have the child of promise and won’t for over 20 more years. They need the hope of Joseph whose troubles did not end with his promotion as a slave, or even when the chief cupbearer was restored to his position. They need the hope of Esther who saw a 360 degree change from complete despair to rejoicing overnight.

Point them to the Hope-Giver

All these stories offer hope because situations changed dramatically. Dark situations are so pivotal, because in the middle of them we can give ourselves over to despair if we let ourselves.

The stories above do not simply offer hope because they show that we might find our situation change if we just keep going. They offer hope because the people in these situations have a relationship with the Hope-Giver.

The God who we can trust, who has the power to change things for our good gives hope, because he is the only one who can really change our darkest situations.

At the beginning, I wrote how understanding that you can’t pull someone out of their dark pit is essential in offering hope. But, it is also essential to understand that God can.

God is fully able to change things. And he gives promises to do just that. When a fellow brother or sister in Christ is in the pit, you can offer hope-giving promises to them.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28

This verse is used so much for a very good reason. It has inspired people in their darkest hours for centuries. If you love God, this verse is a message of hope for you. Its not a band-aid to stick on a problem. It shouldn’t be thrown to someone before you have sat with them in their grief. All of Romans 8 is an encouragement to those who suffer deeply. If you read it through in entirety you see in verse 38 that this promise meant for the most difficult of situations:

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38

We are hearing this from a man who is currently under house arrest, has faced beatings and being pelted with stones. He has survived a shipwreck and has a perpetual “thorn in the flesh.” Paul knows suffering when he writes this.

Do something Tangible

God’s sovereignty is a huge comfort, but it is not an excuse for inaction. You know you can’t lift someone from their pit, but you can help.

The good Samaritan did not pass by, and if our heart is aligned with God’s heart, neither will we.

Pray and ask God to show you what you can do in the person’s situation. It may be as small as flowers, or as big as getting church leaders involved to help someone financially beyond what you are capable. Sometimes there are actions we can do to help another significantly in their distress. While you don’t want to enable destructive patterns, there is a time and place for significant help.

Tangible assistance can also be things that help with their mental battle—these things need not be physical. Perhaps they are believing lies that are destructive. Have them write them out on paper, and then work with them to change each lie to a true statement that offers hope.

Walk with them

Finally, stay in the picture. Hope warriors are in a battle. Don’t just show up for the first round of the fight, stick around to see the victory.

They may need help planning steps in the right direction. Have them write out their goals and see if there are proactive steps they can take now to move in that direction. Help them plan those steps in, and cheer for them when they get past an obstacle or do something that leads them in the right direction.

There will be days when they will struggle again. They will need fresh encouragement along the way. We are all works in progress, but thankfully God’s work in us will one day be complete.

Pray

Throughout the entire process, pray. God is the one who can change things. He is the one who can give hope. He is the one who can give wisdom both to you and to the one struggling. Cry out to him, and rely on the promises he gives to his children.

“But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31

Stefani Carmichael is an author, counselor, wife, daughter, mom and houseparent of teenage girls. She blogs at heartsoulstrengthandmind.com

God’s Vision for their Future

Day 7

God’s Vision for The Helpless

It is dangerous to our comfort zones to pray about something that is close to God’s heart, to use God’s Word to remind Him of what He has said He would do for the helpless.

Stepping into the brokenness of the world is not meant to be comfortable. It will stretch us and test our faith, but it is what we are called to do.

When we plead with God to remember His promises to be a helper to the helpless, a father to the fatherless and a refuge to the oppressed, we just may hear a still, small voice asking us, Will you be the way I keep my promises?

His vision for the helpless includes you and me.

“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their afflictions, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” (James 1:27)

The concept of visiting in James 1:27 is the idea of helping, of stretching out a hand of relief. What will this look like? The answer to that question is as varied as our gifts and abilities.

It may be helping with physical needs, encouraging through notes and birthday cards, prayer, through giving financially, or a combination of these.

When we answer God’s invitation to become part of His plan of redeeming the brokenness, acknowledging His sovereignty means that we listen for His voice and follow His leading. The more our view and vision matches with God’s, the more we will see His hand at work.

Because of God’s sovereignty, we don’t have to feel rushed, or desperate or pressured. We can prayerfully and purposefully respond to the needs He places in front of us.

As we follow God’s leading to reach out to the helpless, we can pray that through the twists and turns in their life, they will see their need for Him, and that, one day, they will see Him face to face.

What limitations come to mind when you think about stepping into the brokenness of our world? What do these verses say about God’s limitations?

Jeremiah 32:17,27

Job 42:2

1 Corinthians 2:9

2 Corinthians 9:8

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We’ve made it to Day 7, but there ‘s more! Check back tomorrow for a bonus Day 8: How Could I Make A Difference? I’m Only One Person.

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Getting Involved in Orphan Care

Suffering & God’s Sovereignty

♥ ♥ Day 6 ♥ ♥

God’s view of suffering

As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.” (John 9:1-3)

In His Sovereignty, God gave this man the condition of blindness at birth. He was unable to change his situation without God’s direct intervention.

In the suffering we see and experience, we don’t have Jesus standing there, explaining the purpose for the suffering. In fact, in the moment, it is very hard to see how suffering can bring God glory.

In Growing Your Faith, Jerry Bridges sums up three truths God’s Word teaches us about God and our adversities in this way:

God is completely sovereign. God is infinite in wisdom. God is perfect in love. God in His love always wills what is best for us. In His wisdom, He always knows what is best. And in His sovereignty, He has the power to bring it about.

These assurances can change the way we react to suffering. They give us the ability to look for evidence of God working in the darkness. They give us confidence to pray God’s words back to Him.

We can respectfully say, “Your Word says that You are the helper of the fatherless. It says that You have not forsaken the needy.” And we can pray for God to act.

In His Sovereignty He places each of us right where we are.

In His Sovereignty He uses suffering in our stories to bring us to Himself.

What is God’s view of suffering? What is His goal?

Romans 8:28

Psalm 40:1-3

2 Corinthians 4:17-18

Romans 5:1-11

James 1:2-4

1 Peter 1:3-7

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This is Day 6 of The Hope of the Helpless, a 7-day devotional I wrote as a guide for praying for orphans.

The Hope of the Helpless walks us through God’s heart for the helpless, His vision for their future, and His gracious invitation to join Him in caring for them.

In honor of the International Day of Prayer for Orphans, I am posting a devotional from The Hope of the Helpless each day this week.

I am looking forward to your responses, to having real conversations about orphan care, and to talking through your questions.

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