NorthStar Community Daily Devotional

May 12

Scripture focus: If you don't know what you're doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You'll get his help, and won't be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who "worry their prayers" are like wind-whipped waves. Don't think you're going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open. James 1:5-8 The Message

Saint Augustine once said that God is always trying to give us good gifts but our hands are too full to receive them. He should know. Maybe we think he should know because he has the title “Saint.” But Saint Augustine was first and foremost a man who struggled with his own compulsions.

I used to think that I had to figure out how to limit my options, love God more, behave better, do something…in order to receive God’s help in my time of need. I didn’t have a clue what I was doing when it came to believing – and although I’ve learned a lot in forty plus years of believing, most days I still don’t understand how it works. I just muddle along, asking God for help. I pray and no answers immediately appear. I worry my prayers. Maybe the best thing I can say for myself is that I don’t keep my options open – I’ve made the decision to believe. But when I read James 1:5-8 I run for a life jacket.

I believe that God is infinitely loving, merciful, and gracious – showing goodwill to humankind through a remarkably patient attitude toward those of us who believe but often lose our way. What scares me is whether or not I am willing to make space to receive his gifts.

Maybe that’s the point. There’s no need for grace if belief is like a math formula or a recipe.

Jesus hung out with people who couldn’t figure out how to do math or make stew. They messed up, doubted, deserted and despaired. The religious leaders followed a formula and expected a reward. Jesus taught the confused, but he castigated those who presumed to know how to believe. I’m admitting to a constant state of uncertainty, and asking for God’s grace to carry on. How about you? Are you confident in your own knowledge of what constitutes treasure?


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