Devotions

Our church is doing something really unique that I've never seen done before: we're praying for a Revival in our country and we're actually expecting God to show up.  In keeping with the historic precedents of revivals, we're having a whole weekend dedicated to worship, prayer, and community outside under a big tent and we're even calling it "Revival."  "Are you going to Revival?" we ask each other.  "What time are you getting there?" "Are you camping overnight at Revival?" And as I pack up our camping gear and run through the list of all the to-dos I still need to do before Revival, it struck me: A real, genuine spiritual awakening should never be slotted in my brain in the same category as a camping trip. I should prepare differently for a Revival than I prepare for a night under the stars cooking hotdogs.  Yes, I still need to bring a cooler and an air mattress and find someone to let out the dog while we're away for th...

That's right - did you know the Bible likens followers of God to donkeys? These verses really stuck out to me recently and I've been noodling on them for a while now... These are God's words, speaking to Job in his distress: "Who let the wild donkey go free? Who untied its ropes? I gave it the wasteland as its home, the salt flats as its habitat. It laughs at the commotion in the town; it does not hear a driver’s shout. It ranges the hills for its pasture and searches for any green thing." -Job 39: 5-8 I feel like the donkey in this passage is me - or what I aspire to be, anyway. God has already freed her from ropes and given her a home where she can "laugh at the commotion in town" and drown out the shouts of a driver. It's this beautiful picture of God's creature being freed from physical bondage but also freed from worry and concern for those that used to control her- she is free to range the hills and search for the good (green) things around...