Today, contributor Hilary reflects on how a story in Genesis 15 about Abram making a big decision under uncertainty inspired the same in her own life.
Scripture: “After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: ‘Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward’” (Genesis 15:1). “I love what I do here, but I feel as if God is calling me somewhere else. What was I doing? I’m the type of person that plays it safe, yet I felt God calling me to quit, even though I didn’t have a job lined up. It could have induced fear, but instead, God ignited faith and instilled peace like never before. Much like he did for Abram in Genesis 15. God promised Abram and his wife, Sarah, that they would have a huge family, and all nations would experience God’s blessings through them. The kicker was, they were already old and had never been able to have children. No matter how crazy it sounded though, Abram trusted God.
And sure enough, four generations later, Abram’s descendants were numerous enough to form the nation of Israel. No matter what the odds seem, God can and will make a way, and it just might be completely different than we anticipated. When we obey and trust like Abram did, we can see God move in ways we could have never imagined. Things may seem impossible or uncertain in our daily lives, but God is working behind the scenes and can make a way for us. He wants us to trust him not only with the big things, but the little things as well. When we trust him and pursue his guidance, he can guide us, give us words to speak, opportunities to shine for him, and help us see the way. He has, is, and will come through, time and time again. Simple Bible devotions are a great way to connect with God in the everyday. We’ve got verse reflections that help us see reasons why the Bible is relevant today. Those moments when a conversation does NOT go the way we expect it to. “Hey! How are you?!” “Not great” “Why? What’s up?” “.Do you want the honest answer?”ģ0 minutes later, it’s clear your friend is wrestling with some deep stuff, and then they admit, “I think I’m struggling with depression.” What do we say next?! It’s actually pretty cool that they were willing to be vulnerable and share what’s really going on. In fact, it’s even more likely they won’t recognize (or admit) this in themselves. It might take months or years of spending time with them for us to realize there’s something deeper going on. But we still want to encourage them, right!?-to have the right words that will ease their suffering and not make things worse? If there even are “right” words for this. Luckily, the Holy Spirit is our Advocate and Helper, and doesn’t leave us on our own to figure it out. Here’s a prayer we’ve found helpful when we want to support a friend who’s struggling with depression.
“Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones” (Proverbs 16:24). Wise Counselor, who knows the thoughts, emotions, and discouragements of my friend better than I do, please give me the words to be your agent of love and comfort to _ (name). Help me be a peaceful presence and an instrument of your healing. May my words not make things worse, and when necessary, may I be quiet over being quick to offer advice.
Making hard decisions mba quiz hao wei free#
Help _ (name) to know how much you care about them, and may you free them of depression. “There’s no way it’s time to go to work.again! Seriously, wasn’t I just there? Ugh… I’m so tired of doing the same things over and over again. If you’ve ever had some of these thoughts, well, um, yeah. If you’ve ever considered calling in sick even though you weren’t? We have too.
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