Jan 25, 2026 – Discern
We woke to dense fog and then had rain for most of today, so we were glad that we hadn’t stayed the night after the wedding yesterday. Driving at night typically wouldn’t be the best choice during cold, wet weather, but we were able to discern that the conditions we saw before us were more reliable than what we didn’t know about the conditions for the next day.
JC – “Enjoy the tempo of a God-breathed life by letting Me set the pace. Hold My hand in childlike trust, and the way before you will open up step by step.” Indeed that is what happened on the trip yesterday, from beginning to end, as we weighed the options of going to the wedding at all, praying, keeping up with the weather and traffic reports while we were driving, praying, grateful that the church parking lot was right across from the church entrance, (and next door to the coffee bar haha), praying, walking carefully on the icy sidewalk to enjoy the coffee, beer, and chicken salad, witnessing the beautiful wedding, getting Don’s tuba in to the reception venue before the rain and leaving at a lull in the rain, and then the rainy but safe drive home (trusting God) as the temperatures stayed above freezing.
Utmost – Chambers advises, “Keep your life so constant in its contact with God that His surprising power may break out on the right hand and on the left. Always be in a state of expectancy, and see that you leave room for God to come in as He likes.”
Power – Joyce explains, “The best way to resist the temptation to give up when times are hard is to pray that you won’t give in to the temptation. It’s wiser and more effective to pray and ask for God’s help as you stand against temptation than to try to exert willpower alone. Work with God, and pray you won’t surrender to the temptation to give up.” See Luke 22:40.
Streams – Cowman shares from the works of Alexander Maclaren, “Each of us may be sure that if God sends us over rocky paths, He will provide us with sturdy shoes. He will never send us on any journey without equipping us well.”
Max tells us, “Forgiveness is the act of applying your undeserved mercy to your undeserved hurts. You didn’t deserve to be hurt, but neither did you deserve to be forgiven. Being the recipient that you are of God’s great grace, does I not make sense to give grace to others?”
JA – “Think deeply about My unfailing Love. One of the meanings of ‘unfailing’ is inexhaustible. No matter how needy you are or how many times you fail Me, My supply of Love for you will never run low. Another meaning of ‘unfailing’ is constant. I do not love you more on days when you perform well, nor do I love you less when you fail badly.”
Prevail #25 – Larson tells of the twelve men, in Numbers 13, who went to the land God had set aside for them but “ten of the men lost their nerve because for them, the threat of battle eclipsed the promise of blessing…. Every place of promise God calls us to possess will come with opposition. But the blessing will always far outweigh the battle.” I feel that way about getting to the wedding yesterday and showing up for our friends.
