NorthStar Community Daily Devotional

May 4 - Only God

Scripture focus: By faith, Abraham, at the time of testing, offered Isaac back to God. Acting in faith, he was as ready to return the promised son, his only son, as he had been to receive him—and this after he had already been told, "Your descendants shall come from Isaac." Abraham figured that if God wanted to, he could raise the dead. In a sense, that's what happened when he received Isaac back, alive from off the altar. Hebrews 11:17-19 (The Message)

"There are people who try to raise their souls like a man continually taking standing jumps in the hopes that, if he jumps higher every day, a time may come when he will no longer fall back but will go right up to the sky. Thus occupied he cannot look at the sky. We cannot take a single step toward heaven. It is not in our power to travel in a vertical direction. If however we look heavenward for a long time, God comes and takes us up. God raises us easily."

Simone Weil (excerpted from Soul Cravings, p. 125)

Abraham and Sarah each had to learn how to trust God. This is a far different thing that believing that we should trust him. One way we practice the spiritual discipline of trusting God is to remind our body (the part of us that craves, longs, needs) and our soul (the home of our emotions and personality) that God delights in us even when we feel anxious and afraid. God is still mighty to save even when we are feeling freaked out, insecure, neurotic and emotional. The state of our body and soul does not cause God's heart to get into a flutter. He is God. He can raise the dead. He breathes new life into dry, dead bones. When we know this and act on it – refusing to allow our body and soul to dictate to the Spirit that resides within us – God quiets our anxious hearts. (See Zephaniah 3:17)

Only God can raise us up. Our efforts are pitiful and ineffective compared to the ease with which he lifts us into his arms. Led by the Spirit, choosing to believe that God can do what he wants, and confident that he delights in us, we too can have a transformed life.

If you can learn from hard knocks, you can also learn from soft touches.

Carolyn Kenmore

Father, in our testing, may each of us feel your soft touch.

Recommended reading: John 10 - 12

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