Today’s Verse – James 1:2-3
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. —James 1:2-3 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… “Hang in there!” There are few traits more important than perseverance – hanging in there. Most important accomplishments in life happen because of perseverance. Most “luck” occurs when we’ve persevered long enough for the “magical moment” to come along – in other words, I don’t believe in luck. Edison said it best: life’s most extraordinary feats, the world’s most significant discoveries, and his own most fantastic inventions are “1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.” Hang in there! Persevere! And do it with joy! Why? So you can see the glory of God come through for you and in you, not because of luck, but because of God’s grace, love, and power partnered with your perseverance! My Prayer… Unchangeable and Unshakeable God, help me to stand up and prove my character is true when I am under fire. Use the friends you have sent into my life and the power of the Holy Spirit to help me persevere. Please give me faith, courage, and endurance so that my life displays your enduring strength. And, dear Father, please help me find joy in persevering when under trial. I pray for these graces, in the name of him who remained faithful even unto death, and who, “for the joy set before him endured” and persevered through the cross! Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
Wisely Invested Treasures
Note from Jesus Dear Precious One, Are you worried about finances? Retirement? Funding college? Too little money at the end of too long a month? Or paying off your debts? Are you working for money for money’s sake? For greater success? For more security? For a new play toy? For a vacation play place? For a bigger and better box to sleep in? Or simply for the prestige of having a lot of stuff? Remember this: stuff doesn’t last — “your precious trinkets” won’t amount to anything in the end! If what you invest in can’t change the ultimate reality of your life — death — then what good is it going to do you in the long run? Can what you worry about or what you work for decay, be stolen, or be lost? Then can it ever really be yours… can it ever be truly satisfying… will it ever be enough? Those who live with selfish extravagance or who run after material things often end up losing their life. Pick up the latest tabloid and see which spoiled young superstars have ended up in jail as they live out of control trying for a bit more limelight, searching for a bit more gusto in their joy, wanting a bit more of something that their stuff can’t seem to satisfy. What their eyes see as success is, in reality, darkness. What their hearts call significance ends up as emptiness. What their wealth buys now later becomes their ongoing burden. Let Me have your heart! Let Me show you the right places to invest! Let Me deposit your truest riches in the bank of eternal grace! Then notice in the process that you have found the spiritually meaningful life that many others chase without success. Verses to Live Here’s My teaching on worry, riches, and true wealth. It comes from My Sermon on the Mount. Please remember, what I say here is not opinion or suggestion: this is the truth. Disregard it at your own peril. Obey it to find true life! Jesus: Some people store up treasures in their homes here on earth. This is a shortsighted practice — don’t undertake it. Moths and rust will eat up any treasure you may store here. Thieves may break into your homes and steal your precious trinkets. Instead, put up your treasures in heaven where moths do not attack, where rust does not corrode, and where thieves are barred at the door. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body. You draw light into your body through your eyes, and light shines out to the world through your eyes. So if your eye is well and shows you what is true, then your whole body will be filled with light. But if your eye is clouded or evil, then your body will be filled with evil and dark clouds. And the darkness that takes over the body of a child of God who has gone astray — that is the deepest, darkest darkness there is. No one can serve two masters. If you try, you will wind up loving the first master and hating the second, or vice versa. People try to serve both God and money — but you can’t. You must choose one or the other. Here is the bottom line: do not worry about your life. Don’t worry about what you will eat or what you will drink. Don’t worry about how you clothe your body. Living is about more than merely eating, and the body is about more than dressing up. Look at the birds in the sky. They do not store food for winter. They don’t plant gardens. They do not sow or reap — and yet, they are always fed because your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are even more precious to Him than a beautiful bird. If He looks after them, of course He will look after you. Worrying does not do any good; who here can claim to add even an hour to his life by worrying? Nor should you worry about clothes. Consider the lilies of the field and how they grow. They do not work or weave or sew, and yet their garments are stunning. Even King Solomon, dressed in his most regal garb, was not as lovely as these lilies. And think about grassy fields — the grasses are here now, but they will be dead by winter. And yet God adorns them so radiantly. How much more will He clothe you, you of little faith, you who have no trust? So do not consume yourselves with questions: What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear? Outsiders make themselves frantic over such questions; they don’t realize that your heavenly Father knows exactly what you need. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and then all these things will be given to you too. So do not worry about tomorrow. Let tomorrow worry about itself. Living faithfully is a large enough task for today. (Matthew 6:19-34) Response in Prayer Father, forgive me for believing the lies of the advertisers, the deceptions of my fleshly greed, and the pressure of my peers to want to have more stuff that does not fully satisfy or have ultimate eternal value. Please give me eyes to see and a heart to seek after what is truly lasting and what is of eternal significance. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen. ‘A Year with Jesus’ is written by Phil Ware. © 1998-2026, Heartlight, Inc. ‘A Year with Jesus‘ is part of the Heartlight Network.All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Voice™. © 2008 by Ecclesia Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
20 Jan 2026
What sort of leadership do we practise where the Lord has positioned us? Do we dictate those we lead or do we serve them? Are we focused on titles and accolades or are we concerned about the welfare of those we lead? Matthew 20:20-28.
Uncluttering
Are you willing to get rid of the stuff in your life that is just in the way? Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out, and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved (Matthew 9:17). In anticipation of a construction project that will necessitate moving our church’s food pantry, we’ve been doing a little cleaning at church. Like a lot of homes – maybe like your home, in fact – church buildings accumulate stuff. And while some of the stuff they accumulate is important and necessary, a good portion of it is “we-might-want-to-use-this-again-sometime” stuff. We have a lot of that kind of stuff lying around, waiting for “sometime.” By the look of it, some of it has been waiting since the Nixon administration. Anyway, watching people sorting through cabinets and shelves and throwing out stuff that’s no longer useful has me thinking about the old stuff that one finds lying around church buildings. Old stuff like hymn books that are no longer used, or leftover Bible class curriculum, or old sound equipment, or broken furniture. It’s got me thinking, as well, about old stuff like traditions, ways of doing things, values, and assumptions about the world around us and the community in which we live. I’ve been thinking about how most churches could stand to do some “uncluttering,” for lack of a better word. I’ve been thinking how most churches need every now and again to look at all the stuff that’s lying around and ask if it’s worth keeping. I wonder if that wasn’t what Jesus was getting at with his “new wineskins” comment. I look at that, I look at where it’s located in Matthew, and it starts to dawn on me what Jesus had in mind. He’s announced to a paralyzed man that his sins are forgiven, and people are calling it blasphemy because forgiving sins is God’s business. He’s invited a hated, traitorous, corrupt tax collector to join his inner circle. (Imagine, for comparison, if he asked a businessman laundering drug money for the mafia.) The pious people have called him and his disciples out for not fasting. He’s just about to be touched by a woman made “unclean” by her constant hemorrhage, and then he’ll go on to touch an “unclean” dead body. He heals the woman and raises the dead little girl, but clearly he’s giving the religious folks plenty of ammunition. See, I think the folks that criticized Jesus for doing the things he did needed to clean out their church buildings, if you take my meaning. They had some stuff lying around that wasn’t doing them or the people God called them to teach and lead and serve much good at all. They had some assumptions, traditions, and practices that were just taking up space, causing people to stumble, and getting in the way of the things that really mattered. But it was stuff that had always been there, and as far as they were concerned, always would be there. And so they left it in place and got very grumpy and impatient whenever someone tripped over it or wondered aloud if it wouldn’t be better to toss it out. It happens in churches. Stuff accumulates over the years. Oh, there’s always a reason that it does, and usually it’s a very good reason. At least at the beginning. Over time, though, the reason fades and what’s left is the tradition, or the practice, or the assumption. I bet you can think of some stuff at your church like that. A lot of it is innocuous and harmless enough. I recently conducted an experiment at my church to try to find out why, after the servers pass the communion trays, one of them always comes back up to the front to put the lids from the grape juice trays back on the pedestals that the stacks of trays start on. The trays aren’t there anymore, but someone always moves those lids. No one seems to know why, but there you are. (The best answer I got was, “I don’t know: so there’s room for the offering plates later?”) A lot of the old stuff that’s lying around my church, and yours too, is like that. It doesn’t interfere with anything, and doesn’t take up much space, so why not hang on to it? And some of the old stuff is there for a really good reason, and shouldn’t be thrown out unless it’s for an even better reason. And some of it – well, it’s the equivalent of walls and columns and floors and ceilings in a building. It’s load-bearing, and to get rid of it would be to forsake the gospel and cease being the church. So, really, I’m not advocating throwing out old stuff without discernment, just getting rid of the clutter! About the author: Patrick Odum lives in Chicago, Illinois, with his wife, Laura and son, Joshua. He is one of the ministers at Northwest Church of Christ, and an avid Heartlight fan. He enjoys writing and maintains a website of his work called Faith Web where you can find all of his articles. Email Patrick
Is It Really All Just So Much Talk?
Does your faith move you beyond just talk? [Jesus said] “I’m telling you to love your enemies and do good to them. Lend to people without expecting to get anything back. If you do these things, you will have a great reward. You will be children of the Most High (God). Yes, because God is good even to the people that are full of sin and not thankful.” (Luke 6:35 ERV) “Religion is as religion does – all the rest is talk,” writes Irving Greenberg. A Jewish theologian, Greenberg had the Holocaust in view with his statement. It was not enough to say a prayer for Jews in the time of Hitler. It didn’t help to feel sad or to wish that someone would come to the aid of people being murdered. It was a time that called for very specific and practical behaviors. A European Jew in 1943 needed something as specific as a Gentile home or shop where she could hide. Money. Food. Spiriting across a border. “But that would involve risk to the person providing it!” someone cries. Of course, it would. But that is the point. Faith, godly living, justice, compassion don’t have meaning until they are deeds instead of mere pious conversation. It is pretty easy to see that now. We are more than a half century away from Hitler’s gas chambers and crematoria. It is even possible to watch a movie or TV documentary and tell ourselves we would have done something back then. We can hope so. But there are good reasons to wonder. Where does a stranger fit into your life? All of us do kind things for our family and close friends. I insist on buying lunch this time. You go to the hospital to cheer her up. You take care of his yard for six weeks while his ankle heals. You babysit their kids when they need to run an errand or just see a movie. But you’ll get all those kindnesses back. You may even be repaying things they’ve already done. It is wonderful to have such positive, supportive relationships in your life. The challenge for many of us, though, is to name something we do for strangers. People who will never pay us back. People of a different color or religion. People whose politics we don’t like. An enemy. If those of us who say we are disciples of Jesus do not grow in our ability to care about others in very concrete, self-sacrificing ways, we are only fooling ourselves. Poverty, sickness, loneliness, hunger, fear – no individual or family, local church or civic group can tackle all these problems. But there is one situation, one family, or one person you can help. And “help” isn’t warm feelings or kind thoughts. It is time. Putting money down. Having somebody into your home or going to theirs. Making a lonely person feel cared for. Tutoring a child. Religious rituals are no substitute for compassionate actions. If the Marines are looking for “a few good men,” Jesus is searching for a few real disciples – people whose religion is Christ-imitating love and not mere church prattle. My brothers and sisters, if a person says that he has faith, but does nothing, then that faith is worth nothing. … A brother or sister in Christ might need clothes or might need food to eat. And you say to that person, “God be with you! I hope you stay warm and get plenty to eat.” You say these things, but you don’t give that person those things he needs. If you don’t help that person, your words are worth nothing. It is the same with faith. If faith does nothing, then that faith is dead, because it is alone. (James 2:14-17) About the author: Rubel Shelly preached for decades, been a professor of medical ethics, Bible, and philosophy at multiple universities and a med school. He is currently Professor of Philosophy & Religion at Lipscomb University. He is the author of more than 30 books and hundreds of inspirational articles.
Connecting with Jesus Personally
Can I really know Jesus personally? Life can turn on a dime. Circumstances, events, people, words of a song, a movie, or moment of introspection can change us forever. Sometimes that life-altering turn comes because of what appears to be a chance word we hear in a song, or because of a note we receive from a friend, or because of a phrase we read. Other times, that dramatic turn comes through what appears to be a random opportunity. Other times, our life-change comes through the bewildering touch of grace that introduces us to someone whose influence unsettles our ordinariness and redirects our energies in surprising new directions. No matter the source of this kind of change, our plans are re-routed toward fresh hope. Such a moment happened in the life of Andrew and a friend after getting to know Jesus. Andrew had prepared himself to be ready for the Messiah – “God’s Chosen One” – regardless of the cost. That’s why he had become a disciple of John the Baptizer (Mark 1:1-9; John 1:6-8; John 1:19-27). John the Baptizer’s ministry also set in motion Andrew’s life of connecting people with Jesus. John’s gospel describes Andrew’s moment of life-altering change in these words: “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.” The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?” “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon (John 1:26-39). After meeting the Lord, when we see Andrew in Scripture he is connecting people with Jesus – what we are calling “The Andrew Effect.”* So this event with Jesus is especially important because this is the pivot point in Andrew’s life. This moment is where he rerouted his life from fishing for fish in his shared business with his brother Simon Peter and began “to fish for people” (Mark 1:16-18). This afternoon meeting with Jesus changed Andrew forever. It also provides us a window into the first principle of “The Andrew Effect”: connecting with Jesus personally. When Andrew and another of the Baptizer’s disciples followed Jesus, Jesus turned and asked them a crucial question: “What are you seeking” (John 1:38 ESV). This is a question of watershed importance. How a person answers it redirects all of life that follows. Andrew’s answer changes everything. Yet translating his answer into English is a bit tricky. Most translations go with something like, “Rabbi… where are you staying?” Literally, the question is this: “Rabbi, where do you abide?” Clearly, Andrew’s question wasn’t about Jesus’ physical address. He wasn’t going to look up Jesus’ house on Zillow.com and find out about the neighborhood. Andrew wanted to know where Jesus’ heart was, what mattered to him most and what made Jesus tick. In cornbread (though incorrect) English, Andrew and his friend were asking Jesus, “Teacher, I desperately need to know where you’re at!” Andrew followed Jesus because he was after much more than an afternoon at Jesus’ house; he wanted an in-depth look at Jesus’ values, teaching, mission, and purpose. He wanted to know if Jesus was the person the Baptizer had claimed him to be. He wanted to know if Jesus was God’s Messiah. He wanted to know if Jesus was the one person in whom he would invest his hopes, dreams, and life. Jesus was looking for followers with Andrew’s kind of passion. He invited Andrew and his friend to come to spend time with him with these words: “Come and you will see.” Then we are told: So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon (John 1:39). The results of this afternoon of deep conversation were immediate and astounding: Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus (John 1:40-42). Andrew begins his life’s work of connecting people with Jesus after this important time with Jesus. The principle derived from Andrew’s life is as important as it clear: if we are going to connect people with Jesus, we’ve got to know Jesus. More than knowing about Jesus, we have to know Jesus’ values, teaching, mission, and purpose. We have to know what made him tick. We have to feel the passion and know the love he has for people – all kinds
Forced Out of My Rut
What will it tke to get you out of your rut? The rain had been falling lightly for the first hour of my trip home. The road was a little slick, but not bad. The pesky light rain kept my windows a mess – too light to wash off the road film and just damp enough to keep my wipers streaking up the windshield. After a stop for refueling, I continued on my way. Another twenty minutes down the road, everything changed. Suddenly the skies darkened so that it looked like early evening. The raindrops became larger and fell more frequently. Then the deluge began. I had to slow down, turn the wipers on high, and get out of the ruts in the pavement. As the heavy rain began to fall, the almost unnoticeable tire lanes on the highway filled with water. Even at slow speeds, the tires instantly began to hydroplane and controlling my truck was impossible. I was forced to get out of the ruts if I was going to make it home. So often in every day living, many of us get in our ruts and never realize we’ve fallen into them. These comfortable patterns in our lives become so ingrained that we fail to even recognize they are there. Every-once-in-a-while, our Father finds a way to help us see our ruts and nudge us to get out of them. Now let’s be honest with ourselves. Not all habits are bad; in fact, some are good and many help us do good things without having to think much about them. On the other hand, we often let ruts steal from us the new joys, challenges, and adventures that God has designed just for us. It’s not only that we fail to see the things along our way, but it’s also that we don’t take any different routes with our lives and so we miss many of the things God wants for us to discover. It’s not an accident that the popular definition of a rut is a grave with the ends kicked out of it. Unfortunately, that grave without an end is where some of us allow ourselves to live. So how do we get out of our ruts in a godly way? Each day, we need to ask the Lord to open our eyes to see the opportunities, people, situations, and alternatives around us. We do this by beginning the day focused on the Lord and his will for our lives. We ask him to lead us to the place, people, and circumstances he wants to use to shape our lives. While we may not see something that immediately captures our attention, simply changing our familiar surroundings is often enough for us to see a new direction to pursue that leads us to other areas of service for the King and his Kingdom. Let’s not let our ruts take the adventure out of our discipleship and keep us from people the Lord has waiting for us on unfamiliar paths just nearby. Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs, and he will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern. (Matthew 6:32-33) About the author: Phil Ware has authored 11 years of daily devotionals, including VerseoftheDay.com, read by 500,000 people a day. He works with churches in transition with Interim Ministry Partners and for the past 21+ years, he has been editor and president of HEARTLIGHT Magazine, author of VerseoftheDay.com, God’s Holy Fire (on the Holy Spirit), and aYearwithJesus.com. Phil has also authored four books, daily devotionals on each of the four gospels.
Don’t Be a Show-Off!
Note from Jesus Dear Disciple, I have a question: Why are you doing spiritual things? Are you trying to impress someone and prove you are religious? Are you trying to honor the Father? For whom are you doing all your “spiritual stuff”? Yes, I know that the last question is a bit abrupt. However, I want you to think through the question carefully. The Sermon on the Mount is challenging to understand. (You can find this teaching in Matthew chapters 5-7 in your Bible.) My teaching in the Sermon on the Mount is even more challenging to put it into practice. I know because this teaching reflects the life I chose to live as I sought to honor the Father! So my teaching today will ask you to examine why you do what you do for God and for others. What’s your motivation for doing good things? Here’s the important point to notice. When you do good things for others to notice them, then you’ve already received your reward. When you do them to honor the Father, He sees even the secret things done to honor Him and will never forget those things. On top of that, your heart will begin to resonate with the Father’s will and the Spirit will help conform your life to be like Mine. We’ve all had enough of religious show-offs who talk about all the great things they have done for God. Just remember, the Father keeps track of the things that you do to honor Him but that most folks never know about. I guess the question is really pretty simple: Do you want the applause of heaven or are you satisfied with a fleeting pat on the back at church? Verses to Live Faith without good deeds, spiritual service, and worship is simply talk. Also, doing religious things to be noticed by others so they will think you are special and holy is actually unholy. Please hear what I say in these words from My Sermon on the Mount! Jesus: But when you do these righteous acts, do not do them in front of spectators. Don’t do them where you can be seen, let alone lauded, by others. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. When you give to the poor, do not boast about it, announcing your donations with blaring trumpets as the play actors do. Do not brazenly give your charity in the synagogues and on the streets; indeed, do not give at all if you are giving because you want to be praised by your neighbors. Those people who give in order to reap praise have already received their reward. When you give to the needy, do it in secret — even your left hand should not know what your right hand is doing. Then your Father, Who sees in secret, will reward you. Likewise, when you pray, do not be as hypocrites who love to pray loudly at synagogue or on street corners — their concern is to be seen by men. They have already earned their reward. When you pray, go into a private room, close the door, and pray unseen to your Father Who is unseen. Then your Father, Who sees in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not go on and on, excessively and strangely like the outsiders; they think their verbosity will let them be heard by their deities. Do not be like them. Your prayers need not be labored or lengthy or grandiose — for your Father knows what you need before you ever ask Him. Your prayers, rather, should be simple, like this: Our Father in heaven, let Your name remain holy. Bring about Your kingdom. Manifest Your will here on earth, as it is manifest in heaven. Give us each day that day’s bread — no more, no less — and forgive us our debts as we forgive those who owe us something. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. But let Your kingdom be, and let it be powerful and glorious forever. Amen. If you forgive people when they sin against you, then your Father will forgive you when you sin against Him and when you sin against your neighbor. But if you do not forgive your neighbors’ sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. And when you fast, do not look miserable as the actors and hypocrites do when they are fasting — they walk around town putting on airs about their suffering and weakness, complaining about how hungry they are. So everyone will know they are fasting, they don’t wash or anoint themselves with oil, pink their cheeks, or wear comfortable shoes. Those who show off their piety, they have already received their reward. When you fast, wash your face and beautify yourself with oil, so no one who looks at you will know about your discipline. Only your Father, Who is unseen, will see your fast. And your Father, Who sees in secret, will reward you. (Matthew 6:1-18) Response in Prayer Abba Father, the Lord God Almighty, please accept the things I do to Your glory. Help me guard my heart against doing them for the applause of others on earth. If You are pleased with what I do for others in Your name, give me satisfaction in knowing that You have seen those things. I want Your Name to be glorified and Your Kingdom to come in my life and through my efforts to Your glory! Through Jesus and with the intercession of the Holy Spirit, I pray. Amen. ‘A Year with Jesus’ is written by Phil Ware. © 1998-2026, Heartlight, Inc. ‘A Year with Jesus‘ is part of the Heartlight Network.All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Voice™. © 2008 by Ecclesia Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
19 Jan 2026
1 Chronicles 12:32 mentions a group of men who were an asset to King David’s kingdom. They understood the times and knew what Israel should do. In our country today, many things seem to be going wrong. Our leaders seem to be fumbling, yet even young children seem to know what needs to be done. Is it that our leaders have lost touch with the reality on the ground? Has leadership become so complicated that those seated at the helm are helpless? Have we intentionally created a monster called leadership that we can no longer control? May we keep praying for men and women who have godly wisdom and the knowledge that the men of Isachar had. Men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do.
Finding God on the Mountain
What will God be like when you find Him? Elijah had gone to the mountain looking for God. He’d been ready to give up. Ready to lie down and die. He saw no hope, no future, no point in going on. Then an angel told him to go to the mountain. And Elijah was there, waiting for God. But he didn’t know what to expect. A powerful wind came, ripping apart the very rocks that made up the mountain. Surely this was God! But no, God wasn’t in that wind. Next there came an earthquake. As Elijah felt the very mountain tremble, he must have been certain that this was God revealing himself. But no, God wasn’t in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire. Again Elijah looked for God. But God wasn’t in the fire. Then came what the King James Version translates as “a still, small voice.” A whisper. A barely audible murmur with a question on its breath: “What are you doing here?” (1 Kings 19:12-13) Elijah poured out his tale of woe, telling of his faithfulness to God compared with the unfaithfulness of the people around him. He told of the queen’s persecution of God’s prophets and her specific efforts to kill him. He explained to God that no else was faithful, not even one. Only Elijah was left. That’s when God explained to Elijah that he couldn’t see the whole picture. That God was doing things that Elijah didn’t know about. That God had plans in motion, some of which included Elijah. And there were still six thousand people faithful to God that Elijah wasn’t aware of. Have you ever reached that point where dying seemed to make more sense than living? The extreme of frustration and hopelessness that leaves you doubting whether God Himself can fix your problems? Maybe you need to go to the mountain. Go looking for God. Don’t expect hurricanes or earthquakes. Don’t expect to be swept in a holy fire. Listen for the still, small voice. Listen for the question: “What are you doing here?” And once you’ve poured out your heartaches and your fears, you may just find that God is doing things you don’t know about, both in your life and the lives of others. But you’ll never see it, if you don’t look for Him. If you want to talk more about finding God, join our discussion at www.hopeforlife.org or write to me at tarcher@heraldoftruth.org. (Expressed written consent must be obtained prior to republishing, retransmitting or otherwise reusing the content of this article. Contact us at info@hopeforlife.org) About the author: Tim Archer is the author of Church Inside Out and leads a seminar by the same name on behalf of Hope For Life, a Herald of Truth ministry.