Day 8: God Can Handle It

Reading: Proverbs 1:8-19

"Don't let anyone entice you to sin." I can't tell you how relevant this passage is for those who are surrounded by peer pressure on a daily basis (high school, college, maybe even younger). It's tough to live in a world filled with the "everyone is doing it" mentality. Yet in Proverbs, we read that God says to run from the "everyone is doing it" mentality. Whether that be getting drunk, doing drugs, having sex before marriage (another debate for another day), etc. I can't believe that there is this "game" sweeping the nation called "Knock-Out". Where a crew of kids walks down the street and once they pass an innocent stranger, one tries to knock them out with one punch. Talk about sickening and disturbing! Yet if one kid in that group just stood their ground and told their friends that it was dumb or wrong, innocent people wouldn't be getting hurt. I fear for my children and future grandchildren, growing up in a world where all these things are becoming socially acceptable and more wide-spread.
If we listen to the words of Proverbs though, we are urged to resist temptation and pressures from the people around us. They may be classmates, coworkers, friends... When we know what's right and wrong, and the way God intends it, we are to stick to it and stand for it. God will help you and guide you. Even if you lose those friends or look "uncool" to them because of your stand, it doesn't matter in the long run. Maybe you'll even be a light to those friends. God can handle it all.

Have you ever been tempted to push the boundaries that you know God laid out for you? What happened? How did you feel after the fact?



How has God helped you stand firm in something that was tough?



Reading: Matthew 6:25-7:23

As we continue through Jesus' words from the Sermon on the Mount, we continue to read about some things that may not seem so easy to carry out in everyday life. For me, worrying is one of the toughest things I deal with. I worry about dinner, worry about the future, worry about my husband, worry about details at church, worry...worry...worry. But Jesus tells us not to worry. He tells us to only focus on today. Plan, but don't worry. God can handle it.
Jesus also tells us not to judge. Something that can be so easy to do. If we judge, we will be judged by the same standards we judge by. Scary. Leave the judging up to God. He can handle it.
We are also told to seek God first. Put Him before anything else in our lives, and everything else will come with it. I learned this quite well when I was single. I think many girls spend a ridiculous amount of time seeking a man to have in their lives. (I know I did for awhile.) They get so focused on finding a man, that they forget why God put them there in the first place. When you serve God first, and put the man out of your mind, suddenly the man appears, serving next to you! When I finally gave up the great chase of finding a spouse, I taught high school girls in our church about the same concept. Growing in God before finding a guy. I hadn't even thought about being a single girl at age 25, and not even 3 weeks after the study with my girls completed, I was asked out by an old friend. (I didn't even realize he was asking me out!!). Now I'm married to him, and I'm still more in love with God than him. And he's more in love with God than me. That's how it should be! Putting God first, and letting Him handle the rest.

When have you felt that God's expectations were just too hard? How can you see that they actually make life easier on you?



What is something in your life that is taking priority over God? What do you need to do to change that?



Reading: Genesis 17:1-18:33

We see how God works in extraordinary ways in Abraham's life. Even though Abraham is settled on Ishmael being his son, God once again comes to Abraham and tells him he will have another son from Sarah, even though she is too old to have children. Though for the human mind to grasp something like this, we read that God asks Abraham, "is anything too hard for the Lord?" And this is a promise we can still hang on to today. We will read about the great nation that rises up, starting with Abraham and the covenant that God and he made, and we will see the faithfulness that God has to Abraham and his line.
We will face many situations in life that we may find hopeless or just think they will never happen, but we need to remember the words God asks Abraham - "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" And after seeing what God does in Abraham's life, you can rest assured that if you put your faith in Him, He will bless you through the impossible too.

What is something in your life that just seems impossible? Have you brought it to the Lord?



What is something in your life that has happened that you never thought would? Have you thanked the Lord for it?



Somethings in life just seem impossible to do. Maybe you get pressured to do something you know is wrong. Or maybe you worry all the time about things and fail to put God in first place in your life. Perhaps you're like Abraham and Sarah and can't believe how blessed you are because God pulled through in what seemed like an impossible task. We can rest assured in these things and so many others that God can handle it!