Commitment in Adversity

"But Ruth replied, 'Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.'" Ruth 1:16-17

When I made a commitment to marry a preacher, it was with joy, excitement and the dream of serving God with all my heart. Up to that point, I had experienced good health, success, achievement, praise and gratitude. I had ever reason to expect that a life of ministry would mean more of the same - plus greater joy and usefulness. I was not prepared for serious and debilitating illness, the miscarriage of a baby, the trauma of financially troubled church and personal attacks from the family of faith.

Within one of my husband's sermons, I found a nugget of hope: "Our adversities are God's universities." The adversities drove me to God, and God had what I needed to endure and fulfill the commitment I had made.

In Ruth 1:16-17 the innocent young widow Ruth expressed her passionate and devoted love for her old and bitter mother-in-law. It was not Naomi's beauty, wealth or even joyfulness that drew Ruth to her, for all of these had long since fallen away. Rather it was Naomi's faith in the living God, her spiritual wisdom and her consistent piety that bound the young pagan widow to her. Ruth made a commitment to travel, live and pursue life with Naomi, to accept her God and even to die and be buried in Naomi's homeland. Her commitment was not just with loving words and well-meaning feelings, as her sister-in-law Orpah (Ruth 1:14), but with purposeful love and devoted deeds.

Commitment must be fueled not merely by head knowledge but also by heart determination. Ruth had nothing to offer to Naomi or to God but herself, and that she have willingly and eagerly. Every woman, whatever her circumstances or position, has at least that to give the Savior, and it is enough!

By Dorothy Patterson, taken from "Women's Devotional Bible 2"

Bible Reading Guide:

Beginning to End: Acts 11-13
Old and New Testaments Together: Ezek. 5-7 & Hebrews 12
Historical: Luke 8-9
Chronological: Acts 4-6
Blended: I Chron. 19-21 & Luke 2:25-52

The Bible reading guides will be taken from Back to the Bible

Transformation

"Come now, let us reason together," says the Lord. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool." Isaiah 1:18

Some fishermen in the highlands of Scotland came into a little Scottish inn late one afternoon for a cup of tea. As one was describing "the one that got away" to his friends, he flung out his hands in the typical fisherman's gesture. He did so just as the waitress was setting down his cup of tea. The resulting collision left a huge tea stain spreading on the whitewashed wall. The fisherman apologized profusely.

Another gentleman seated nearby said, "Never mind." Raising, he took a crayon from his pocket and began to sketch around the ugly brown stain. Slowly there emerged the head of a magnificent royal stag with antlers spread. [The man] was Sir Edwin Henry Landseer, England's foremost painter of animals.

Now if an artist can do that with an ugly brown stain what can God do with my sins and mistakes fi I but give them to Him?

By Ruth Bell Graham, taken from, "Women's Devotional Bible 2"

Bible Reading Guide:

Beginning to End: Luke 10-11
Old and New Testaments Together: Jer. 15-17 & 2 Tim. 2
Historical: Matthew 10-12
Chronological: Luke 16-17:10
Blended: 2 Samuel 9- 11 & I John 2

The Bible reading guides will be taken from Back to the Bible

My Lover, My Friend

"His mouth is sweetness itself; he is altogether lovely. This is my lover, this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem." Song of Songs. 5:16

In knowing and loving you
Deeply
I have become a part of the ground-spring
of love
Which is God.

Sometimes I realize
I have looked at you so often
I hardly see you.
You are more a feeling than a face,
A feeling of what you mean to me,
What you share with me,
What you do for me . . .
But I must remember you have your
own face,
Are your own person.

And to that person I owe
Al the gentleness and respect and sense of wonder
I owe God.
For you are God come closer to me
Than in any other face.

By Gladis and Gordon DePree, taken from "Women's Devotional Bible 2"

Bible Reading Guide:

Beginning to End: Haggai
Old and New Testaments Together: Isaiah 5-6 & Eph. 1
Historical: 2 Chron. 11-14
Chronological: Neh. 8-10
Blended: Ezek. 20-21 & John 12:27-50

The Bible reading guides will be taken from Back to the Bible

Lover of My Soul

"My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places on the mountainside, show me your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely." Song of Songs 2:14

When I approach the Lord in prayer, I relate to Him in different ways. Occasionally I talk with Him as my elder brother, which He is. If I"m under spiritual attack, I'll go to HIm in prayer as the captain of my soul. HE is my friend when I want to pour out my heart. I even have single friends who look up to the Lord as their husband, as it says in Isaiah 54:5.

Lately, I've enjoyed relating to my Savior as the lover of my soul. And when I want to tell the Lord how much I adore Him, I sue the language of love in Song of Songs. This beautiful book of the Bible is more than just a love poem; it's a picture of the love relationship between the bridegroom and his bride.

From your heart, tell Jesus that He is the fairest of ten thousand. Praise Him for being altogether lovely. Let Him know that His love is better than wine. He is the rose of Sharon, the lily of the valley."

By Joni Eareckson Tada, taken from "Women's Devotional Bible 2"

By John MacArthur, taken from "Truth for Today"

Beginning to End: Jeremiah 7-9
Old and New Testaments Together: Psalm 89-90 & Romans 14
Historical: Job 32-34
Chronological: Jeremiah 26-29
Blended: Psalm 89-90 & I Peter 4

The Bible reading guides will be taken from Back to the Bible

What Is the Question

"A feast is made for laughter, and wine makes life merry, but money is the answer for everything." Ecclesiastes 10:19

If money is the answer for everything, what is the question?

Money, we know, cannot ensure health, happiness or immortality. It cannot buy peace of conscience or loving relationships. Yet it is not to be despised. Money supplies a thousand advantages. It can support a Christian college, send a missionary to Africa, supply Bibles to China, buy cooling fans for poor people in the city.

It is not money that is "a root of all kinds of evil," but the love of money (I Timothy 6:10). Jesus condemns money when it becomes an object of devotion equal to God (Matthew 6:24). In His parable of the ten minas (Luke 19:11-16), the third servant who laid his monty away in a piece of cloth was punished because he didn't put his money to work. He didn't even invest it so it could earn a little interest.

God is the ultimate supplier of all wealth. He puts us in a position where we have money, either by giving us employment, an inheritance, wise investments or perhaps a jackpot because we matched picture cards from a fast-food restaurant. However we got what money we have, God enabled us to have it. Therefore, He has a right to say what we do with the money He gave us.

The question is, what is my most versatile possession? The answer is, money. God's guideline to those who possess it is amazingly simple: "Command them to do good." (I Timothy 6:18).

By Jean Shaw, taken from "Women's Devotional Bible 2"

Bible Reading Guide:

Beginning to End: Proverbs 24-26
Old and New Testaments Together: Psalm 29-30 & Acts 23:1-15
Historical: Psalm 119:89-176
Chronological: Hos. 8-14
Blended: Psalm 29-30 & Acts 15:22-41

The Bible reading guides will be taken from Back to the Bible

Why He died for Us

"But God demonstrates His own love love for us in this: While we were still sinner, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

It would seem Lord,
When You have been our dwelling lace
In all generations . . .
When You have guided us
Undergirded us
And enveloped us with love . . .
When You are Bread for the hungry
Rest for the weary
Strength for the powerless
And Joy unspeakable . . .
It would seem Lord
That we would have more to offer
Than lust
Greed
Hatred
War . . .

But that's precisely why
You came to die;
In the hearts of men
Things are not as they seem.

By Ruth Harms Calkin, taken from "Women's Devotional Bible 2"


Bible Reading Guide:

Beginning to End: Psalm 17-20
Old and New Testaments Together: Neh. 4-6 & Acts 2:22-47
Historical: Hosea 8-14
Chronological: I Kings 9 & 2 Chron. 8
Blended: Jeremiah 30-31 & Matthew 26:1-25

The Bible reading guides will be taken from Back to the Bible

God is Enough

"Not one of all the Lord's good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled." Joshua 21:45

The greatest lesson a soul has to learn is that God, and God alone, is enough for all its needs. This is the lesson that all God's dealings with us are meant to teach, and this is the crowning discovery of our entire Christian life. GOD IS ENOUGH!

No soul can really be at rest until it has given up dependence one everything else and has been forced to depend on the Lord alone. As long as our expectation is from other things, nothing but disappointment awaits us. Feelings may change, doctrines and dogmas may be upset, the Christian work may come to nought, prayers may seem to lose their fervency, promises may seem to fail, everything that we have believed in or depended on may seem to be swept away, and only God is left - just God, the bare God if I may be allowed the expression, simply and only God.

If God is what He would seem to be from His revealings; if he is indeed the "God of all comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3); if He is our shepherd; if He is really and truly our Father, if, in short, all the many aspects He has told us of His character and His ways are actually true, then we must come to the positive conviction that He is, in Himself alone, enough for all our needs and that we may safely rest in Him absolutely and forever.

By Hannah Whitall Smith, taken from "Women's Devotional Bible 2"

Bible Reading Guide:

Beginning to End: Neh. 10-11
Old and New Testaments Together: 2 Chron. 4-6 & John 10:24-42
Historical: Jeremiah 49-50
Chronological: Psalm 111-118
Blended: 2 Kings 17-18 & Matthew 15:1-20

The Bible reading guides will be taken from Back to the Bible

Developing Talents at Any Age

"For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, though a man's misery weighs heavily upon him." Ecclesiastes 8:6

I have known my daughter-in-law, Judi, since she was a teenager. Watching her grow into a mature and creative adult has been a pleasure. She is a successful singer, wife, mother and dress designer. Her home, where she often hosts Bible studies, is a masterpiece design of her creation. We are all generally proud of our children, but I say this about Judi because I remember when she felt like she could do very little, and had few talents to offer the Lord. The truth is, God has given talents to each of us. We cannot all sing or design a home that looks like Judi's, but we can develop the talents God give us for His glory.

Life is an ongoing process, gradual growth in grace and in the talents God has placed within us. The talents we use change from season to season so there is a lifetime to develop them. God will bring to the surface at the proper time talents that laid dormant for years.

You never need say, "What's the use now - my life is half over?" As we press on in our walk with God, we realize that what He has for us is far too much to cram into the first thirty, forty or fifty years of our lives.

"There is a time for everything," Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, so keep looking for and developing new talents. God will bring them out in you, as you yield yourself to Him.

By Nancy Corbett Cole, taken from "Women's Devotional Bible 2"

Bible Reading Guide:

Beginning to End: Ezra 1-3
Old and New Testaments Together: I Chron. 13-15 & John 7:1-27
Historical: Jeremiah 26-29
Chronological: 2 Samuel 22-23 & Psalm 57
Blended: I Kings 21-22 & Matthew 11

The Bible reading guides will be taken from Back to the Bible

Timing is Everything

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven." Ecclesiastes 3:1

For several decades, George Burns and Gracie Allen entertained audiences with their unique humor. With George as the straight man and Gracie as the dizzy but lovable wife, they moved from vaudeville to radio to television - and into the hearts of millions.

Fro this husband and wife comedy team, everything depended on depending on each other. His questions set up her repaid-fire explanations. Her concluding one-liners needed his deadpan responses. The ability to reply at the right tie - and in the appropriate manner - made their comedy sparkle.

There's a mystique about timing. When it's right, it's fabulous. When it's wrong it's a disaster. It takes listening to the inner self to make it world. Not just in comedy, but in all of life.

We speak of the right timing to get married, to start a business, to have children, to change jobs, to risk a new venture, even to take a vacation. Some of us sense this timing intuitively; others plan it. Either way, we know that timing makes a difference. It affects our outlook and success, so sometimes we stop and say, "It's not the right time yet." And even if they don't understand, people make room for a delayed decision.

Oddly, we forget to give the same room to God.

Maybe it's because we know He's capable of doing anything, but we get impatient waiting for God. We forget that He waits for the right timing too. IN fact, He knows the perfect timing, even though it looks illogical to us. His ways are not our ways, and neither are his timetables our timetables.

But when we wait for His timing, nothing can compare with its abiding impact on us.

By Judith Couchman, taken from "Women's Devotional Bible 2"


Bible Reading Guide:

Beginning to End: I Chron. 22-24
Old and New Testaments Together: 2 Kings 4-6 & Luke 24:36-53
Historical: Isaiah 42-44
Chronological: Psalm 25, 29, 33, 36 & 39
Blended: Numbers 29-31 & Matthew 3

The Bible reading guides will be taken from Back to the Bible

Flexible Living

"Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer." Deuteronomy 10:16

Many of us are crippled from birth. The backbone of our standard for living comes fused into unyielding rules and regulations. We are rigid in our determination to control life's course and outcome.

We're sure, for example, how people ought to look, behave, and respond. Things have to be done a certain way - our way. We know, too, exactly how a godly marriage should operate; and we're quite familiar with the model of the ideal Christian family scene - which, of course, we intend to duplicate perfectly.

Then real life sneaks up and whacks us from behind, seeking to break our unbending back and our stiff neck, threatening to paralyze us.

There is a cure. We are offered opportunity to exercise the suppleness of godly grace and perspective. Each time life throws us a punch, we can do a deep-knee bend, forcing our muscles of faith, hope, and understanding to strength.

Eventually that brittle backbone will grow strong and supple, bending with the rhythms of grace yet standing tall and firm in the face of compromise.

All of this requires considerable daily "give". Such give is not a one-time choice but a lifestyle of generosity, spontaneity, and openness to truth.

How often I have thought that if I could give just one gift to my children - besides a heart for God - it would be the golden gift of flexibility.

By Susan L. Lenzkes taken from "Women's Devotional Bible 2"

Bible Reading Guide:

Beginning to End: Numbers 31-32
Old and New Testaments Together: Numbers 7-8 & Mark 4:21-41
Historical: Numbers 31-32
Chronological: Numbers 3-4
Blended: Exodus 19-20 & 1 Thess. 5

The Bible reading guides will be taken from Back to the Bible

A Faithful Friend

"Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commands." Deuteronomy 7:9

Friends are important part of our lives. some are causal acquaintances; others close friends; still others more intimate, dear ones. How we appreciate those whom we characterize as "faithful friends," friends who are steadfastly loyal friends on whom we can depend at all times and for every need.

Yet most of us have experienced the hurt that comes from friends whoa re unfaithful. Even members of our family may prove unfaithful.

How reassuring to know there is one who is faithful - faithful always and faithful in everything. "Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; He is the faithful God" (Deuteronomy 7:9). Because of His very nature, He could not be God and be unfaithful. We read in 2 Timothy 2:13

"If we are faithless, He will remain faithful, for He cannot disown Himself."

He never changes. He never fails. He never goes back on one of His promises. God, being who He is, cannon cease to be what He is. He cannot act out of character with Himself. Because He is faithful, He will be faithful in His actions.

At times we may forget His faithfulness to us. When trials and testings come, it may seem as if God has surely forgotten us. When friends fail us and our lives are falling apart, we may feel He has forsaken us. There seem to be so few people we can trust. Many people do not keep their word. Our faith in human nature becomes shaken, and we wonder if anyone is honest.

Yet there is One, the faithful God, on whom we can depend. He will never let us down. He has promised:

"Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5)

By Millie Stamm, taken from "Women's Devotional Bible 2"

Bible Reading Guide:

Beginning to End: Numbers 14-15
Old and New Testaments Together: Leviticus 21-22 & Matthew 28
Historical: Numbers 14-15
Chronological: Leviticus 14-15
Blended: Exodus 1-3 & Mark 15:1-25

The Bible reading guides will be taken from Back to the Bible

Day by Day

"Then the Lord said to Moses, "I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions." Exodus 16:4

Last summer while I was taking drawing lessons, my friend Betty leaned she had cancer. The day before she went to the hospital for surgery, her spirit seemed nearly depleted. "What am I going to do?" she said, thinking about the demanding weeks ahead of her. "How will I find the strength?"

That evening I found myself doodling on my drawing board, thinking of Betty. Soon I was sketching a loaf of bread. A simple, homemade loaf. Then I put it aside and wen to bed. But during the night I had the most curious dream. Betty was sitting at the table before a loaf of bread, eating a single piece.

The next morning when I came upon my drawing, an idea began to stir in my thoughts. I reached for my Bible and found the verse, "I will rain down bread from heaven" (Exodus 16:4), remembering how day by day God sent nourishment from heaven while his people wandered in the wilderness. There was always just enough for each day. They simply had to trust Him for tomorrow's.

I penciled the verse beneath the sketch of bread and carried it to Betty's hospital room. It was to remind us both . . . when we walk in difficult places, God sends the strength and nourishment to face what comes our way, not all at once, but day by day.

By Sue Monk Kidd, taken from Women's Devotional Bible 2

Give Yourself

"Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act." Psalm 3:27

"I just want you to know that your child was delightful in the nursery this morning." "You have a wonderful way with people, and I admire that." "Your house is so warm and welcoming." "you told that guy the truth on that deal, and I respect you for it."

Wouldn't it be great to hear things like that all the time? How many times do you think about saying something encouraging or uplifting to someone else, but you just don't feel comfortable? It's a risk; what if they think you're just trying to butter them up? You could come off sounding insincere. So you keep it to yourself instead, and the encouraging word never gets said. Oh, maybe you think about it later and have every good intention of writing a note, but you never get it written. time goes by and you're lost that moment forever.

It's not just words, of course. There are times when you might see a situation that could use something - time, money, skills - that you possess and could share. It might be as simple as offering to drive an elderly neighbor to the store or washing a friend's car when they're too busy to take care of it. Or it might be a case where you have extra money and know of someone who's struggling financially. What a joy to send an anonymous gift!

Think of the times that someone has given you something right when you needed it - an encouraging note or phone call, a helping hand with a project or a few bucks when you were strapped for cash. It meant a lot to you, didn't it? Don't miss the opportunity to give to someone else.

By Bernie Sheahan, taken from "Women's Devotional Bible 2"

Imagine That

"I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done." Psalm 145:5

What would you think if you saw your neighbor and her four children lying in the grass and pointing up to the sky? That's one of the things we'd do during the summer when I was growing up. Mom would have us find pictures in the clouds and then draw them. While we drew, Mom would teach us about clouds or whatever we were drawing.

Other times we would write and perform plays. WSe had a big hearth that made a great stage. Sometimes we wrote in parts for Mom and Dad and performed for our own pleasure.

My favorite was to pretend that our house was a giant boat on an imaginary journey. Our travels took us to the Coral Sea, across the Atlantic, up the Nile River and down the Mississippi River. And we never failed to sail right into a monsoon, which made the game much more exciting. We'd scream and bounce around like we were being tossed about on the waves. Not only did we have fun, but we learned more about geography and boats than we ever did in school.

Now as an adult, my imagination is the servant of my creativity and my faith. I love to research the facts about bible times and places - I dig right into those history books. Then, as I read the Bible I don't have any trouble imagining what things were really like, I can almost smell the pungent passengers on Noah's ark or feel the rough wood of a tiny boat rocking on the Galilean waves. My bible study comes alive as I put myself in the times, the places and the personalities of the men and women whose faith is my example.

Your imagination can be used for good or for evil. To empathize with the feelings and thoughts of other . . . or to enhance your prayer life are two of the uses of your imagination that please and glorify God.

By Brenda M. Josee, Ed, taken from "Women's Devotional Bible 2"

If I could . . . .

"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23

If I could, I'd write for you a rainbow
And splash it with all the colors of God
And hang it in the window of your being
Your eyes would open first

to Hope and Promise.


If I could, I'd wipe away your tears
And hold you close forever in shalom.
But God never promised
I could write a rainbow,
Never promised I could suffer for you,
Only promised I could love you.
That I do.

By Ann Weems, Women's Devotional Bible 2

Art Appreciation

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." Psalm 139:14

Lord,
Sometimes when I look
At my life
It seems like a homespun
Patch-work quilt . . .
Quaint, but not quite "together"!
There are bits and pieces of
Cloths and colors,
Scraps of material,
The days of my life . . .

When you began to put together
The days of my life
You must have known
Where each piece would go . . .
You've told me that I am
Fearfully and wonderfully
Made . . .
And I believe you, Lord,
I do!
I may not be a velvet tapestry,
But even crazy-quilts
Have purpose,
To give warmth and
Cozy comfort and
Color to a room!

Whatever I am, Lord,
You made me . .
Lovingly,
Carefully,
Reverently,
And exactly right!

By Joy Morgan Davis, taken from "Women's Devotional Bible 2"

When the Moon Doesn't Shine

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever." Psalm 136:1

Usually the moon shines bright on clear May nights in eastern Pennsylvania. But tonight the moon is missing. All is dark. I notice brown circles under the lamp in the hall when mother welcomes our 2:00 a.m. arrival from Illinois. I also notice brown circles under her eyes. Tired skin under gentle folds.

But here she stands, my mother for forty years. I sense an accumulation of nights waiting up for home-coming children, as though the years have cast shadows from the lamp onto her face. I see the years in the black and blue veins that have just this week felt the heart specialist's probe. I hear the years - like the ocean ringing in seashell - in the doctor's diagnosis: "Enlarged Heart . . . . slow the pace . . . ." I stare into uncertainty. Tomorrow has been an assumed promise - a grand procession of weddings, births, celebrations. Time has been an event, not a sequence.

As I look at Mother, I sense that someone has wound the clock. years have become increments. History has a beginning and an end. I shiver in the early morning chill. But then Mother's arms wrap me in warmth, and I am home. A forty-year-old child reassured by her mother's touch. There is no time to touch.

I hear the tea kettle whistling. Mother's chocolate chip cookies on Grandma Hollinger's ironstone plate pull me back into timelessness. Our laughter drowns out the clock. There is no time in laughter. Mother laughs the hardest of all. Dark circles. Tired circles of joy. Her children are home.

For a moment I forget bruised veins and ticking clocks. I am held together by things that do not change - a mother's early morning welcome, freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, and ironstone plate and laughter. I am held together by a God who does no change. I know the God of time who is yet above time. I see tonight in my mother's face the strange paradox of time and timelessness. A rare glimpse of the divine.

By Ruth Senter, taken from "Women's Devotional Bible 2"

Ballerina

"I lift up my eyes to the hills - where does my help come from?" Psalm 121:1

When television coverage of the Winter Olympics brought visions of twirling, whirling ice skaters into our home, we had two diminutive skaters in our living room. Spin after spin catapulted them into tangled heaps of arms and legs on the floor. Finally, my five-year-old asked in exasperation, "Mommy, how do they spin so fast?"

I tried to explain a technique learned many years ago when I was the ballerina-to-be - the technique of spotting. Start by focusing your sight on a fixed spot and with each rapid turn of the head, return your gaze to the same place. No dramatic improvement resulted form my little ballerina's initial efforts as she began trying this technique. Spotting does not come naturally at any age. She and her sister continued to look like they were playing a musical game of Twister, ending in the same heap on the floor. But slowly, ever so slowly, spotting took effect. Her turns were more controlled, she retained her balance and before long she was trying to explain spotting to her little sister.

Spotting takes practice, but it works. And it's no different from grownups. On what do we set our sights? Are we spotting on career moves, relationships, things? What occupies our minds as we wake in the morning or creeps in unsolicited to our thoughts as we close our eyes at the end of the day? Our uninvited thoughts and recurring worries are probably a good indicator of what we're using to spot.

The psalmist wrote, "I lift up my eyes . . ." (vs 1). He knew about spotting, even if He didn't call it that. He knew where to set His sights. Only one thing sis worthy of our practiced focus, and only one thing will enable us to maintain balance. When my head is spinning and my world is turning too fast, I can spot on One whose power is greater than mine, One who never loses his balance.

By Debra Klingsporn, taken from "Women's Daily Devotional Bible 2"

Step by Step

"The unfolding of your words gies light; it gives understanding to the simple." Psalm 119:130

When our children were born, my husband and I lovingly cared for them daily. We held them close, rocked them to sleep nd fed them. As they were able, we encouraged them to learn to walk, dress themselves and communicte. We watched excitedly as they grew.

Likewsie, our heavenly Father is actively involved in our growth; He encourages us according to our capabilities and understanding at the time. He does not push us; He waits until we are ready. If God told us everything about ourselves and life all at once, we would be confused and crushed. Instead He teaches us based on our spiritual and emotional age level. God's gentle unfolding plan increases our insight and encourages our consistent growth.

Lord, you are a compassionate and caring Father. Thank you for nurturing my development step by step and giving me understanding just as I need it. Help me to be as patient as you are with my simple and imperfect attempts at gaining maturity.

By Joan C. Webb, taken from "Women's Devotional Bible 2"

How to Eat an Elephant

"The Lord protects the simplehearted; when I was in great need, He saved me." Psalm 116:6

There is only one way to eat and elephant: a bite at a time. Maybe you know that already. I didn't - until Beverly JOhnson told the world after she, the first woman to do so alone, reached the top of thirty-six hundred feet high El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, California.

"That's what I kept saying, 'A bite at a time, a bite at a time . . .'," the smiling Beverly said of her ten-day struggle up the gigantic granite mass that rises unbroken from the Yosemite Valley.

She was weary and afraid up there all alone, strapped with a hundred pounds of hear . . . climbing . . . climbing. Day after day she rose higher and higher, clutching to rocks and ropes self-hammered into the rock - praying that they would hold. What sleep she had was in slings on the sheer granite wall. "I often thought if I could magically leave, I would - "but there was no way but up.

She kept climbing, saying to herself, "I'll climb here today." You can't do it, she told reporters, if you count the days. "just a step at a time . . . a day at a time." she laughed victoriously, "and a bite at a time!"

We can all "eat elephants" by Beverly's formula, cant' we? It makes little difference whether it's all the things we have to accomplish, a test we have to take, a physical condition we have to live with, a broken heart that needs healing. Her reasoning works.

Haven't you often wished, as she did, that you could magically leave your problems? Most of us feel that way, but the world doesn't stop for us to get off. we dig in with whatever equipment we have; we work our way up slowly; and, remember this; we have the solid Rock to lean upon! God is always there.

By June Masters Backer, taken from "Women's Devotional Bible 2"