BIG Life Devotional | Daily Devotional for Women

Where are you lacking the ability to believe Jesus? You believe Jesus is who he says he is – you believe Jesus can do everything he says he can do – but maybe you struggle to believe he will actually do it for you.

Your circumstances tell you something different. The patterns you live in tell you nothing really ever changes for you. You intimately know your struggles. You are personally acquainted with your shortcomings. You’ve been living with your problems. And the truth is, the miraculous powers of Jesus always seem to be for someone else – not you.

Why is that? If Jesus can heal – why hasn’t he healed you? If Jesus can make all things new – why are you still stuck in this old mess? If Jesus holds all this power – why haven’t you seen it working for your family?

We’re ashamed of these questions and feelings, aren’t we? We’ve been told these kinds of doubts indicate our lack of faith. And scripture is actually quite clear, “It is impossible to please God without faith.” So here we are, walking around with a reasonable amount of doubt, feeling like failures. Gosh, God must be really disappointed in you right now, huh?

Actually, no. Your struggle to believe and your wrestling with seeing God’s miraculous works in your life aren’t a failure of faith. This is the PROCESS OF FAITH!

You don’t have to run from this – lean into this. If you currently find yourself in this place of believing in Jesus and his miracle working power, but questioning if his miracles will ever show up personally for you, you’re in the middle of the faith process. This is a beautiful place to be.

Faith invites Jesus’ healing. It was the faith of the leper that Jesus declares brought his healing. Jesus said it was the faith of the mother that brought healing to her daughter. It was the faith of the friends that brought healing to the paralyzed man. Jesus said it was the bleeding woman’s faith that delivered her healing.

Did they still have a reasonable amount of questioning? before their miracle Probably.

Did they wrestle with dismissing themselves thinking they weren’t worthy of approaching Jesus for healing? You bet.

Were they running through a hundred scenarios in their mind of ‘what if this doesn’t work’ as they reached for Jesus? Of course. How do I know? Because every single one of these recipients of a miracle were human. They believed, but at the same time they doubted. Why? Because their faith was in process.

Faith causes you to reach for the hem of Jesus’ robe. Faith causes you to cry out for help. That is pleasing to God.

Doubt is not the opposite of faith. Doubt is wrestling with all that you believe and not understanding some things.

My friend, maybe that’s what you need to hear today – it’s okay that you don’t understand this. It’s okay that you’re still wrestling with some questions. It’s okay that at times you still struggle to believe Jesus would ever personally get involved in your struggles. It’s okay to wrestle it out with those thoughts of things never changing for you. This is your process of faith.

Sometimes we fail to see just how patient God is with us. He doesn’t expect you to be some superhuman who never struggles. Girl, he knew you wouldn’t be perfect – that’s why you need Jesus. His personal involvement in the details of your life and his miraculous power working in you are not dependent on superhuman faith – even a little mustard seed of faith will do.

A faith that is still growing. A faith that is still struggling. A faith that knows he can, but sometimes questions if he will.

Your little tiny seed of faith calls Jesus to show up for you! Let him have those doubts and questions – you don’t have to hide those from him (as if you could anyway.) He wants to show up for you in the middle of your struggle to believe.

Have you ever read the story of the desperate father who struggled to believe Jesus? A man who confessed his doubts. A man who just didn’t know if Jesus would in fact heal his son the way he had heard about him healing others. Let’s read it together today and see what Jesus has for us!

Mark 9: 17-29:

One of the men in the crowd spoke up and said, “Teacher, I brought my son so you could heal him. He is possessed by an evil spirit that won’t let him talk. 18And whenever this spirit seizes him, it throws him violently to the ground. Then he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast out the evil spirit, but they couldn’t do it.”

Who were the faithless people? The people in the crowd who were arguing over the disciples failure to heal this boy. The faithless was NOT the father. The father believed, but he honestly struggled with some natural unbelief.

How did Jesus respond to this natural measure of unbelief? HE HEALED HIS SON!

Did Jesus wait until this father overcame all his doubts and questions? Did Jesus’ miracle depend on him understanding and fully expecting his son to be healed? No.

It wasn’t about the father’s questions. It wasn’t about the father’s lack of understanding. It wasn’t about the father’s ability to perform or be perfect. It was about his need being brought to Jesus in an imperfect way during his process of faith. And Jesus responded to his little bit of faith, his believing that sometimes struggled with unbelief, his human nature to question that which he couldn’t understand – AND HIS SON WAS HEALED.

What I see here is someone like you and I. Someone with a reasonable amount of doubt at times. Someone with an imperfect faith that believes, but still has unbelief. Someone NOT disqualified from the miracles of Jesus.

Because even a little faith moves mountains. A little faith reaches for Jesus with one hand while still having a whole lot of questions in the other hand. A little faith says, “Jesus, help me if you can” – all while nothing is impossible for God. A little faith believes, but needs help overcoming your unbelief.

And Jesus responds to that little faith.

This man was not denying Jesus. He believed in Jesus. He believed in Jesus’ power to heal. But he simply didn’t know if Jesus would truly heal his son. His son who had been tormented by sickness because of an evil spirit. His son who had suffered since he was a little boy. Would Jesus move for him with his imperfect faith?

His statement of “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief” is the beginning of faith. The beginning of faith is recognizing where you’ve lacked faith. The beginning of faith is holding belief in one hand and questions in the other. The beginning of faith is tiny, and it is powerful!

You’re in the process of building faith. That’s what your questions mean. That’s what your unbelief at times shows. You’re growing in faith – and that is radically pleasing to God. Jesus can and will respond to your little seed of budding faith.

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Studying the miracles of Jesus, sometimes we see a sickness or condition was the result of a demon’s torment. Not every problem was because of a demon, but some no doubt were.

And the same is true today. Some sickness, some conditions and some circumstances are precisely because a demon has zeroed in to attack and bring torment. Does it mean that person is evil? No. It means they are tormented. There’s only one answer – the power of Jesus needs to force that demon to leave.

But how do you know when the problem you’re encountering is a natural human condition and when it’s a spiritual attack? How can you be sure of when you seek God’s hand of healing and when you declare darkness must leave?

May I be totally vulnerable and honest with you – I don’t yet know. I only know to stay close to Jesus and seek guidance from the Holy Spirit. I see that with every encounter of Jesus in scripture, he knew precisely the cause of each person’s problem. He recognized that which needed his touch and that which required his word evicting of authority.

As we watch Jesus do what he did, we better understand the call to now do what he did. We seek the same discernment of the Father. The knowing of what is a physical battle and what is a spiritual battle, and how to stand in God’s power for both.

What we see is regardless of the problem, the sickness or the condition, the answer was always Jesus. Jesus could heal any disease, he could raise the dead and restore life again, and he could free a person from a lifetime of torment from a demon. And now remember, Jesus says to us his followers in John 14:12, “Anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works.” How? Through the power of the Holy Spirit that now lives in you.

Yes, we are supposed to be laying our hands on the sick in the name of Jesus. Yes, we are supposed to be casting out demons in the name of Jesus. We are not supposed to be running in fear of either or backing down from the spiritual battle around us. We are equipped and we are called. Let’s be doing the things Jesus did!

In Mark 7: 31-35, a deaf man with a speech impediment was brought to Jesus to heal. Jesus took him away from the crowd and put his fingers into his ears. Then he spit on his own fingers and he touched the man’s tongue. “Looking up to heaven, he sighed and said, ‘Ephphatha,’ which means, ‘Be opened!’ Instantly the man could hear perfectly, and his tongue was freed so he could speak plainly!”

What a miracle! Jesus healed this man of his problems.

But we also read of another man who had nearly the same exact condition, but scripture says it wasn’t a sickness, it was the torment of a demon targeted on this man. Matthew 9: 32-33, “A demon-possessed man who couldn’t speak was brought to Jesus. So Jesus cast out the demon, and then the man began to speak.”

Is every sickness a demon – No. Are some – Yes.

It’s real, my friends. And we don’t need to be afraid, but we need to be aware.

Satan has done a great job of creating an image of what he looks like and what his attacks would be like. We think all demonic work must be sheer terror and evil, when in fact the greatest attacks sneak right in and look so ordinary we don’t even notice. Demons often do their greatest and most destructive work completely undetected. We medicate it, we excuse it, we accept it, we ignore it – all while Jesus wants to cast it out.

A person plagued by a demon isn’t a scary person hiding in a dark alley. They’re the pretty people you see on social media. They’re the people you work with. They’re even the people you work with. Sis, it might even be the person looking back at you in the mirror.

Look at Mary Magdalene – the woman who followed Jesus so closely. The beautiful soul who was right there with Jesus when he was crucified on the cross, buried in the tomb, and even among the first to see the resurrected Jesus. She supported his ministry and devoted her life to him. I think she was likely a beautiful, gentle, devoted and humble woman. And she was the woman who had 7 demons once tormenting her. SEVEN!

Let’s really understand spiritual attack and torment. It’s not always scary little beasts hiding in the corners. Demons were angels. They were with God in heaven, created to worship and aid in the good purposes of God here on earth. Satan was one of those angels. But when Satan became filled with pride and wanted to become greater than God, he was cast out of heaven and he took 1/3 of the angels with him. Those angels that went with him, twisted in pride and hungry for power, those are the demons of today.

You believe in angels, right? You believe they can be with you to guide you and protect you. Well demons are much the same, but with ill intent. They can’t be everywhere, they are not omnipresent, but they can be on assignment. An assignment from Hell to torment. And where they are sent, they bring their destruction. That destruction can show up as sickness, disease, crippling, addiction, mental illness. Specifically in scripture we see demons responsible for blindness, deafness, the inability to speak, seizures and convulsions, physical disabilities, isolation, and self-injury.

Again, let’s be clear – these things are not always the result of a demon – but sometimes they are and Jesus always knew the difference.

Can we begin asking for wisdom to know the difference? James 1:5, “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.”

Father, we need wisdom. We don’t want to play little in the battle. We no longer want to ignore the reality of what is happening all around us, even to the people we know and love. Help us to know when a spiritual attack is happening. Give us wisdom to know when we’re dealing with the torment of a demon. Then give us the courage to call on your name and stand in your authority to insist that demon must flee.

I don’t see Jesus being afraid of this topic – in fact, I read that everywhere he went he shared the Good News, he healed the sick and the demon possessed. He lifted the oppression, the freed them from torment, and he command the demons to leave every person he encountered.

And remember, Jesus said, “Now you, my followers, will do the same things I have done.” Let’s get to doing it. Let’s not be afraid to talk about these things. Let’s remember the power of the Holy Spirit in us and be moved by the things that moved Jesus. Don’t walk on by – you carry their answer. You carry their healing. You carry the end of their torment.

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God has faith-filled spaces waiting for you that you could never reach alone. There are divinely appointed places for you, but you cannot walk there on your own. Only God can call you there. Only God can enable that walk. If you’re trying to get there on your own, you will fail miserably. If you’re trying to force it, it will never happen. If you’re awaiting God’s command and ready to move forward in obedient, faith-filled action, then get ready to walk in the impossible with God!

Your entire life could pass and you may never have the courage to step into what God’s power could enable you to do. You could live, and actually live well, but not live to the full if you’re lacking the boldness to invite God’s command for your next step of wild faith.

Have you ever prayed, “God, command my next step of wild faith?”

Hmmmm, that’s not really a prayer we pray, is it? But what if we did? What if instead of trying to take these wild steps on our own, we invite God’s command for it. Not everyone will get this – in fact, probably only 1 in 12 will. I hope you’re the one!!!!!

If Jesus commands you to a step of faith, you can know without a doubt his power will enable you to take that step. Can you do it on your own? No. Can you do it under his command? Yes.

Okay, so Jesus, command me to take the next step today. Call me out. Give me your directive. Strengthen me. Here’s all the courage I have to take a wild faith-filled step of obedience and see what happens!

Where will he lead you? What will he ask you to do? How will it go? Those details are not included for this adventure.

There was 1 disciple out of 12 who did something impossible with Jesus. It was Peter. Do you remember what he did? He walked on water with Jesus. The other 11 sat in the boat. The others watched – perhaps in amazement, perhaps is disbelief, perhaps in regret. But Peter was part of a miracle because of one thing.

What was the one thing that set Peter apart to be able to walk on water? Was it his courage? Oh there was no doubt courage there. But this morning while reading this familiar story in the book of Matthew, I noticed something I’ve never noticed before. Something bigger than his courage. Something more powerful than his first step out of the boat. Something you and I desperately need today.

As we read the story, notice this isn’t about Peter attempting a miracle on his own. This isn’t about being the boldest, the most daring, the most adventurous. Let’s dig deeper and see what allows Peter to be part of Jesus’ miracle here.

This story unfolds immediately after Jesus has fed the crowd of 5,000 with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. That night, Jesus insists that his disciples get into the boat and cross to the other side of the lake without him. He went up into the hills by himself to pray alone. Then at about 3:00 in the morning, at the absolute darkest part of the night, a storm comes upon the water. If you read the other gospel accounts of this miracle which all include different details to help you get the full story, you find that Jesus SEES the disciples are in trouble all the way out in the middle of the lake. He sees them straining at the oars against the wind.

Now remember, it’s the darkest part of the night. They’re now in the middle of a lake that is 8 miles wide, the waves were big, the sky was stormy, and there were no spotlights – YET JESUS CAN SEE THEM. He’s not with them physically, but he can see them in their struggle.

Oh what a reminder that is for us today. Jesus sees you struggling. He knows the waves you’ve been fighting against. He knows the storm you’re in the middle of. He knows the fear running through you. His eye is still on you, my sister. AND HE’S HEADING TOWARD YOU IN YOUR STRUGGLE.

Matthew 14: 25-33:

“Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. (That’s a miracle – add it to your list! Our savior walks on the water. He does the impossible to get to us!) When the disciples saw him walking on the water, they were terrified. In their fear, they cried out, ‘It’s a ghost!’

Did you see it? Peter didn’t dare attempt walking on the water on his own. He was bold and he was courageous, but he knew he didn’t hold the power to walk on top of these waves. The thing that set Peter apart from the other disciples in the boat was he invited Jesus to command him to do the impossible. He asked Jesus for the word to invite him forward.

No one else was invited out onto the water – only Peter. Why is that? Because Peter asked Jesus to command him. Peter asked Jesus to call him out.

Jesus, lead me. Call me out into the impossible. Tell me to come to you through the storm. Tell me to take an impossible step into wild, faith-filled spaces I could never reach alone. Your command comes with the power to step into the miraculous, but I cannot and will not do it without your command.

This is what sets Peter apart. A faith that invites Jesus’ command into the crashing waves. A faith that genuinely wants Jesus’ command to take the next step in the struggle, to leave the safety of the boat and go into the unknown.

That’s a scary faith. A faith that says, “Jesus, command me to step into this. Command me to walk on this. Command me to come into the impossible with you. Call me out.” Only 1 of the 12 disciples had that kind of scary faith, and only 1 can ever say they personally experienced this miracle with Jesus.

But here’s where I want to bring this right into your life, my sister. The invitation is not to be Peter. The invitation is to ask Jesus what He’s calling YOU to do.

Maybe He’s calling you to have a hard conversation, to finally obey something He’s been stirring in your heart, to start the thing you’ve been putting off, to serve in a way that stretches you, or to take a step that makes absolutely no sense unless God is in it.

Don’t manufacture a miracle. Don’t jump out of the boat just to prove you’re brave. And don’t confuse your own ambition with God’s direction.

Instead, get close enough to Jesus to hear His leading. Ask Him for your next step. Open His Word. Pray. Listen. Be willing to obey, even when the details aren’t all laid out and you can’t see how it’s going to work.

Jesus, tell me to come to you!!!!!!!

Then, when He calls you to come, don’t be shocked by the waves. Notice, the storm didn’t calm when Peter stepped out on the water toward Jesus. The storm continued. The waves were massive and Peter was standing on top of those waves with Jesus. Don’t let the size of the waves convince you that the One who called you won’t sustain you.

You might feel afraid. You might take that step with your knees knocking and your voice shaking. You might even stumble along the way. Peter did! But you can keep your eyes on Jesus, and when you need help, you can cry out to the One who reaches for you.

My sister, there is a difference between living a safe life and living a surrendered life. One keeps asking, “What can I handle? What do I know how to do? What would be easiest?” The other asks, “Jesus, what are You calling me to do?”

So let’s stop settling for what we can accomplish in our own strength. Let’s stop assuming the boat is the only place we’ll ever be safe. And let’s stop watching other people live out their faith while we sit on the sidelines, wondering what it might be like to experience more of God.

Today, dare to pray a different prayer:

“Jesus, I don’t want to spend my life doing only what I can do without You. I want to experience what You can do through me. Command my next step of wild faith. Show me where You’re leading, give me the courage to obey, and supply the strength I don’t have on my own. I don’t want to run ahead of You, and I don’t want to lag behind You. I want to hear Your voice and respond with a wholehearted YES. Here I am, Jesus. Call me out of the boat. I’m ready to come!”

And then, my sister, pay attention. Your next step may not look dramatic to anyone else. It may be a quiet act of obedience that changes the direction of your entire life.

You don’t have to know where the water will lead you. You just have to know who’s calling you to come.

Let’s be the girls who don’t just believe Jesus can do the impossible. Let’s be the girls who are willing to ask Him, “Jesus, what impossible thing are You inviting ME to do with You today?”

Because one day, I don’t want us looking back at a lifetime of watching from the boat. I want us to look back and see the places where we trusted Him enough to step out, the things we never could have accomplished on our own, and the moments when we discovered just how faithful He really is.

The question isn’t whether you can walk on water. The question is whether you’re willing to ask Jesus where He’s calling you to come.

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All your life God has been continually showing you his goodness. He’s been working behind the scenes in the details, divinely aligning every moving part to bring you in alignment with his good plans. He’s always provided, always made a way. Again and again, his faithfulness has surrounded you.

So today, God says, “My girl, why do you worry? Why are you anxious? How is it that you still don’t get it? I’m here and I’m working. Give this to me!”

Maybe we struggle because we can’t see God. We question if we really hear his voice. We doubt if it was his power at work before, or was that just luck. We believe but we still have unbelief. And it’s easy to think it would be so much easier if we could really see. If we could for sure hear his voice. If we knew without a doubt that was God’s power that made that happen before – then surely we wouldn’t have to worry about today.

Do we struggle because we can’t see God? Because we don’t know his voice? Because his power has been uncertain in our lives?

Well let me tell you, the disciples literally LIVED with Jesus – they woke up in the same tent as Jesus, they ate every meal with Jesus, where he went they went, and what he did they saw with their own eyes. They experienced his miracles. They saw the impossible happen. Yet when they encountered the next hardship or struggle, they were exactly like us – they worried, they got anxious and they doubted.

So you know what God does – he shows up and does it again for them. He shows them his power again. He provides again in miraculous ways. He reminds them, “My child, you’ve seen me do this before and you can trust me to do it again.”

What has God shown you before that you need to trust him for again? Hear him as he whispers to your soul, “Again, my child – I’ll do it again.” He will heal you again. He will strengthen you again. He will guide you again. He will make a way for you again. He got you through some hard things in the past, and my friend, he will get you through today’s hard thing too. He will do it again!

Earlier in our study of the miracles of Jesus we read about Jesus feeding the crowd of 5,000 (episode 2216). That was when a crowd of 5000 men, plus women and children, had gathered in a remote place to hear Jesus teach and at the end of the day the disciples pointed out to Jesus that the crowd would be getting hungry and there was no food for them in this remote place, so Jesus should tell them all to go home so they can eat. And Jesus says to his disciples, “You feed them.”

Remember how the miracle goes? The disciples freak out – they don’t have enough food for all these people. This was impossible. But a boy offers his lunch of 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish (which remember, were more like crackers and sardines). Jesus takes what little there was, and tells the disciples to start passing it out. Every single person in the crowd ate until they were full. Afterward, Jesus had them pick up the leftovers and they gathered 12 baskets full. Yes, 1 basket of leftovers for each disciple.

MIRACULOUS.

Wouldn’t you walk away knowing YOUR JESUS after that. If you personally saw him working. You saw the bread and the fish multiply. You saw the hungry crowd all eat. Then you personally picked up all those leftovers. If you had been there for that personal encounter with the power of Jesus, you would be forever changed. No worry. No stress. Just stay close to Jesus.

Right?

But guess what happened about 6 months later. THE SAME THING!

Literally the words “another” and “again” are used. Different day. Different crowd. Same need. Same Jesus. Many confuse this account for the same miracle as the feeding of the 5,000 – but it’s separate. This is where we see Jesus do it again. Let’s read the story together.

Mark 8: 1-9:

“About this time ANOTHER large crowd had gathered, and the people ran out of food AGAIN. Jesus called his disciples and told them, ‘I feel sorry for these people. They have been here with me for three days, and they have nothing left to eat. If I send them home hungry, they will faint along the way. For some of them have come a long distance.’

Now doesn’t this sound familiar. Here’s another crowd again with no food. And Jesus takes it upon himself to care about their hunger.

“His disciples replied, ‘HOW are WE supposed to find enough food to feed them out here in the wilderness?'”

Just like us, the disciples have a unique way of making everything about them. ‘How are WE supposed to …” Let me tell you something, Jesus wants to involve you. He doesn’t need you – he could do it without you – but he chooses you anyway. He chooses to let you get involved in his miracles. He chooses to use what you have and what you can do to create his miracles. He chooses to use your hands and your feet for his divine power to flow through!

Just like the disciples though, we often focus on the ‘how’ and forget the ‘who’. Write down those two words – HOW and WHO. Notice they use the same exact 3 letters, it’s just a rearrangement of those letters. If you’re questioning HOW this is going to happen, give yourself a little perspective shift and remember WHO is here with you.

HOW is the question of human limitation. WHO is the answer of divine provision.

The disciples are asking HOW are they going to find enough food to feed yet another hungry crowd – all while Jesus is once again reminding them WHO he is.

“Jesus asks the disciples a question, ‘How much bread do you have?’

Here’s what Jesus was teaching his disciples – Guys, you can trust me! Whatever the situation, no matter how big the need is, you come to me. Give me what you have, no matter how little it is, and in my hands it will become more than enough.

At some point during this miracle, the disciples should have been like “Hold up a minute – haven’t we see a problem like this before? Wait, this seems familiar! 6 months ago we had a hungry crowd of people and somehow Jesus took the lunch of a boy and fed them all. We should stop worrying about the lack and start gathering what we do have and take it to Jesus. People are hungry, we have only a little bit of food, so what we have absolutely MUST go into the hands of Jesus!”

That was the lesson from the first miracle. This was their opportunity to walk it out. But they failed.

They failed just like we fail. And yet, Jesus is so patient.

Here’s what Jesus is trying to rewire in us – You see a need, you bring it to him. You don’t have enough, you put it in his hands. You don’t know ‘how’, you quickly focus on ‘who’.

Our human instinct is to freak out, make it all about us, go into a tail spin of worry and get overwhelmed. BUT JESUS CAME TO MAKE US NEW! 2 Corinthians 5:17, “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a NEW PERSON. The old life is gone; a NEW LIFE HAS BEGUN!”

That old freak-out in you can go now. The habit of worry and anxiety, the familiar place of depression and overwhelm – well that can go now. Jesus has made you a new person. As a new person in Christ, you no longer respond the way you used to respond. You stop making it all about you and look for how God wants to work. You shift the focus from ‘how’, rearrange those 3 little letters, and remember it’s ‘who’!

Who can meet this need? Jesus!

How do I know? Well, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen it before!

This new you that Jesus is creating doesn’t have to respond the way the old you did. This new you doesn’t have to make everything about you. This new you is learning to turn it all over to Jesus and watch him work!

That’s why Jesus brought his disciples to ANOTHER hungry crowd who had run out of food AGAIN. Another personal encounter with his miraculous power to prove they could trust him. Another opportunity to learn to turn everything over to him faster this time.

So here’s your opportunity, Sis. The next time you face a need, a challenge, a situation that feels impossible, don’t let your first response be, “HOW am I going to get through this?” Instead, stop yourself and remember, “WHO got me through it last time?”

The same Jesus who provided before is still providing. The same Jesus who made a way before is still making a way. And the same Jesus who worked miracles then is still working miracles now.

You don’t have to figure it all out. You don’t have to see how it’s going to happen. You just have to remember WHO is with you.

You’ve seen his faithfulness before. You’ve experienced his goodness before. You’ve watched him make a way before. And today, he’s inviting you to trust him again.

Another need. Another opportunity. Another miracle. The same Jesus.

So take your eyes off the HOW, fix them on the WHO, and watch what he does with what you put in his hands.

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Sometimes God’s plan has us waiting. His timing is not our own timing. But know this, when it is God’s time, then it’s quick time! The very thing that was not happening in all the years before just starts happening!

I know something about waiting. On the other side of a 7 year wait I can tell you that wasn’t God’s punishment, that was God’s graciousness towards me. Working in me, growing me, changing me, making me more like the woman I would need to become in this next season of my life. There is a sweetness to walking in the change and breakthrough you waited so long for. But there can also be a sweetness in trusting God is working before you see the evidence.

I don’t know where you are on your journey – you’re either still waiting for it or you’re walking in it – or maybe it’s both – there’s some areas of your life that you’re smack dab in the middle of healing, you’re wallowing in the goodness you once dreamed of – and there’s other areas of your life that are in that messy construction faze where things seem to only get worse before they get better. Life can and DOES hold both at the same time.

It’s not all good all the time, but it’s not all bad either. Through it all, God is faithfully working. His eye is on you, Sis – he sees.

So what do you do here? Here while you’re still waiting for things to change – waiting for things to get better – waiting for breakthrough – waiting for healing – waiting for restoration … YOU LOOK FOR JESUS!

Yes, Jesus sees you and he’s moving toward your need. LOOK FOR HIM.

In our waiting, we can become so fixated on possible solutions and promised next steps that we overlook the fact that only Jesus can ultimately change this, restore this, redeem this, or make sense of this, my sister.

Yes, go to therapy. But your therapist is not your Savior. That’s Jesus.

Yes, get treatment. But ultimately, your hope is not in the treatment. Your hope is in Jesus.

Yes, talk to a professional. But your professional is not your source. Jesus is.

God can absolutely work through therapists, doctors, counselors, treatments, professionals, and countless other means. But don’t let the means become your source. Look for Jesus.

One of my favorite miracles of Jesus happened at the pool of Bathesda. This pool was a gathering place for the sick seeking healing. Several years ago I studied this miracle and it changed my life. Like for real, it changed me. It didn’t change my circumstances, but it changed my attitude in the wait and helped me look for Jesus. I believe it can do the same for you today.

Here’s how this miracle goes – One day, Jesus showed up at the this pool where all the sick were gathered, but the people there were so focused on the water that they didn’t recognize the One standing right in front of them.

John 5:2–9 says:

Now THAT is a miracle. A 38 year miracle. My friends, that’s a long time to wait for a miracle.

The pool of Bethesda was associated with mercy and healing, and people had gathered there hoping for something to change. But this man had become hopeless because he believed the only way he could be healed was to get into the water first. He had no one to help him, and someone always seemed to get there ahead of him.

So he lay there. And nothing changed.

I love the picture this story gives us. This man had become so convinced that healing had to happen one particular way that he could no longer imagine another possibility. Isn’t that how we sometimes feel after watching other people get their breakthrough, but never us? We’re not the favored ones. It will never be us. Our prayers are never answered.

Maybe this man had watched other people get what they came for while he remained right where he was. Eventually, he stopped believing that his story could be different. Maybe that’s you too. You’ve stopped believing it’s possible for you and your family.

But then Jesus showed up. And Jesus didn’t tell him to try harder to get into the water. Jesus didn’t tell him to position himself better. Jesus didn’t tell him to wait for the next bubbling. Jesus simply said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”

Sis, what if Jesus wants you to know that His power is not limited to the way you think your answer has to come? You may have decided exactly how God needs to fix it. You may have researched every possibility, made every plan, studied every solution, and determined exactly what needs to happen next. But what if God has a way you haven’t even considered?

This man believed the water was his answer. JESUS was his answer. The water wasn’t required. Jesus was enough. AND JESUS IS STILL ENOUGH TODAY. He’s enough for your need. He alone holds the power to change everything.

And here’s the part of this miracle that gets me: Jesus asked this man to act before he had any evidence that he could. “Stand up.”

Can you imagine? After thirty-eight years of not being able to walk, Jesus tells him to do the very thing he had been unable to do. The man had to believe the word of Jesus enough to move before he had proof that moving was possible.

Maybe that’s what’s happening for you. Is Jesus asking you to believe Him for what has seemed impossible? Is He asking you to get over how you’ve always thought it would happen, everything you’ve researched, everything you’ve heard, and every plan you’ve made—and be bold enough in your faith to TRY IT WHEN HE SAYS IT?

God’s help is NOT LIMITED. God’s healing is NOT LIMITED. God’s restoration is NOT LIMITED. God’s blessings are NOT LIMITED. We are dealing with a totally unlimited God. Girl, take God out of your box.

Maybe you’ve put all your hope in one particular thing, but it’s the equivalent of this man’s pool. You’ve decided, “This is how it has to happen.” But maybe you don’t need the pool. You need Jesus.

Lord, forgive us for getting so fixated on the solution to our problems that we overlook YOU. You are our hope. You are our source. WE NEED YOU.

He is the answer for your broken heart. He is the answer for your worried mind. He is the answer for your failing marriage. He is the answer for your overwhelming bills. He is the answer for your family. He is the answer for your business. He is the answer for your health. He is the answer for every question you have.

It is Jesus.

But, do you really want to get well?

Some of us have become comfortable with the drama. Some of us have attached our identity to being the victim. Some of us wouldn’t even know who we are without the problem we’ve been carrying for so long.

Do you really want to get well? God isn’t interested in lip service. He sees your heart. And if you really want it, here’s what you do next:

You don’t have to know how it’s all going to work out. You don’t have to understand the whole plan. You don’t have to see the evidence before you obey.

If Jesus says it, girl… TRY IT! Stand up. Pick up your mat. And walk.

——-

But maybe today’s not the day he heals you. Maybe today’s not the day everything changes. Maybe today you still wait. As you wait, you are called to increase, not decrease! Increase your faith, increase your willpower, increase your praise, increase your perseverance, increase your trust in the One who has never once failed you. Don’t let the waiting weaken you. Let it strengthen you! Don’t let the unanswered prayer silence your praise. Let it deepen your worship! Your miracle may not have happened today, but that doesn’t mean God isn’t working today. Keep believing, keep growing, keep showing up, and keep expecting Jesus to do what only Jesus can do.

As God prepares his people to wait for 70 years, he tells them to increase. He has promises for them and he is going to fulfill every promise, but they’re going to have to wait for it. But God says as they wait, he wants them to live fully. They are NOT to put their living on hold. He told them to build houses and plant gardens. Marry and have babies. Increase, do not decrease.

But as you wait, have you began to decrease? You’re becoming less and less of who you used to be. Like the man laying by the pool of Bathesda, each day losing a little more hope. Each day becoming more dependent on someone else to help him but knowing no one would.

I know that’s what began happening to me in my wait. I was waiting for my prodigal daughter to return to our family. Years had gone by and things were only getting worse. I felt less and less like who I used to be, and I started acting less like myself. I became guarded, bitter and hardened. Decreasing. All while God was saying, AS YOU WAIT, INCREASE!

That’s when I studied this story of the 38 year wait for healing. And on that day, I felt the Holy Spirit ask me a question. “Pamela, will you wait for 30 years? Will you continue living and live WELL, will you find joy in the wait, will you continue to trust me and chose to live in awe and wonder even if it takes 30 years to bring your daughter back?” He was asking me to increase in the wait instead of continuing to decrease.

That day, I opened my hands, I surrendered the timeline for my miracle and my preferred method for the miracle and I agreed to increase in the wait, even if it took 30 years. Let me tell you something, the moment I made the decision to keep living while I waited, I felt unspeakable strength and joy!

And, in God’s incredible sweetness, although he asked me for 30 years, he showed up and did it in 7! My family is healed and restored!!!!! That’s only through the power of God. Jesus showed up and he did what only he could do. And I’m so grateful he showed me I didn’t have to be miserable while I waited.

And neither do you, my friend.

If you’re still laying at your pool of Bathesda, awaiting healing, remember this:

1. LOOK FOR JESUS. He has a way of showing up right where he’s needed most. Don’t forget how desperately you need him. Your situation may feel hopeless, but you are never beyond his reach!

2. WANT TO BE WELL. His restoration is far better than settling for pity, handouts, or a lifetime of excuses. Don’t let the enemy convince you to make a home in the very place Jesus wants to heal you. You were made for more than surviving beside the pool!

3. TAKE THE FIRST STEP IN FAITH. You likely won’t feel different when Jesus tells you to get up. Your circumstances may not look different yet, and you may not feel ready. But faith doesn’t wait until you feel strong enough. Faith takes Jesus at his word and moves! When he says, “Get up,” you get up. When he says, “Pick up your mat,” you pick it up. Your healing may begin with a step you don’t feel ready to take, but you take it anyway because Jesus said so.

4. INCREASE IN THE WAIT. Don’t put your life on hold while you’re waiting for God to move. Build the house. Plant the garden. Make the memories. Laugh with your people. Look for beauty. Keep dreaming. Keep serving. Keep living! Your miracle is not the only good thing God has for you, and your unanswered prayer is not permission to stop living the life he’s given you. You can be waiting for God to change your circumstances while allowing him to change YOU in the waiting. Don’t spend so much time watching the pool that you forget to live.

This is your one precious life, sister. And even here, even now, even while you’re waiting, there is still so much GOOD to be found, so much JOY to be experienced, and so much LIFE to be lived. Increase, don’t decrease!

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Imagine being blind and receiving the life-changing miracle of sight from Jesus. This is a miracle Jesus offered the blind in scripture, and if it happened then, it can still happen now. He opens eyes, he restores vision, he enables us to see what we’ve never seen before. Every single one of us need that touch from Jesus.

What’s really interesting is the different ways Jesus heals the blind. Have you ever wondered why with some he simply spoke healing from a distance and they were healed, for others he touched them with his hand, and even others he healed in very unexpected ways. If you dig deeper into the ways Jesus healed, you will understand something more about him.

Jesus is personal – he meets us where we are and heals us individually. For the one who needs to be touched, he touches them. For the one who needs to hear him speak, he speaks. For the one far away, he sends the power of his word from a distance. For the one who would benefit from a more tangible method, Jesus uses something they can see, feel, and experience. He knows exactly what each person needs, and he is never limited to one way of doing things.

Jesus doesn’t fit in our little box. There are no rituals we can repeat. No 10 step plan to recreate. It’s ONLY JESUS – His way – and his way can be different for every one of us!

Once, Jesus encountered a man who had been blind his entire life. His eyes had never worked, they had never functioned, he had never seen anything. In John 9, we see Jesus spit on the ground, make mud with his own saliva, and spread that mud all over the blind man’s eyes. Then in verse 7 Jesus told him, “‘Go wash yourself in the pool of Siloam’ (Siloam means ‘sent’). So the man went and washed and came back seeing!”

Here, Jesus uses mud on his eyes and has him take a step of faith before anything had changed for him. Still blind, now with a muddy face, this man had to go to a pool to wash. He had to walk out his healing. While he didn’t feel it, while he was still blind, he had to obey.

Imagine the faith that took! He had mud in his eyes, no sight to guide him, and nothing to prove that anything was happening. All he had was the word of Jesus.

And, sister, isn’t that where faith gets real? It’s easy to obey when you can already see the results. It’s easy to believe when the answer is obvious and the breakthrough is unfolding right in front of you. But what do you do when Jesus has given you an instruction and nothing has changed yet? What do you do when you’re still in the dark, still waiting, still wondering how this is ever going to work out?

You keep walking.

Yes, today, you keep walking. Walk in faith that Jesus sees you and has made a way for you. Walk in faith that he is personally working for you and he’s not going to leave you the way he found you. But you can’t just stand there and stay where you’ve been. You’re going to have to walk this out in obedience, trusting his miraculous power is at work even when nothing has changed yet.

You trust what He said, even when you can’t yet see what He’s doing. You take the next step, even when the circumstances haven’t changed. You stop demanding to see the miracle before you’re willing to move in obedience.

The man didn’t have to understand how Jesus would heal him. He just had to trust Jesus enough to go wash. And when he came back, everything had changed.

If you keep reading in the story, you find the Pharisees are deeply disturbed by this miracle and they begin questioning the healed man. “Who did this? How did he do it?” He didn’t know who Jesus was – he didn’t know his power – he didn’t understand how it had happened – he just knew this man named Jesus made mud with his spit, rubbed that mud on his eyes, and told him to go wash in the pool – and when he did, for the first time ever he was given sight.

The Pharisees wanted to argue about it. Funny how such a miracle was received with such drama instead of celebration. (Lord, please forgive us – we’re still doing that today!) Jesus comes back around to this healed man to reveal who he is.

Verse 35-38, “Jesus found the man and asked, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ The man answered, ‘Who is he, sir? I want to believe in him.’ ‘You have seen him,’ Jesus said, ‘and he is speaking to you!’ ‘Yes, Lord, I believe!’ the man said. And he worshiped Jesus.

What was the biggest life changing moment here – was it this man’s eyes seeing for the very first time – or was it this man seeing Jesus as the one worthy of his worship? Eternal impact was made with the later miracle.

And really think about it – that’s our miracle too. Even though our eyes might have seen since the moment they opened, there was a time when we didn’t see Jesus as the one to be worshiped. But when he revealed himself to us, our eternity was changed. We were given sight too. We were once blind and now we can see! That’s our miracle. We can see Jesus for who he really is – our Savior, our rescuer, our redeemer!

We have a step to take. Maybe your next step is to worship Jesus. Your obedience doesn’t make Jesus powerful. Your obedience puts your faith into action. And sometimes, the step you’re hesitant to take is the very step Jesus is asking you to take next.

You may not see it yet, sister. You may not feel it yet. You may not have a single sign that things are changing. But don’t confuse not seeing with God not working.

The One who opened the eyes of a man who had never seen a thing is still able to open your eyes, change your perspective, and show you what you’ve never seen before. So take the next step He has given you. Trust His voice. Follow His leading. Worship him.

You don’t have to see the miracle to take the step of faith.

Some say in order to receive healing from God you must first believe. This man didn’t believe in Jesus first. Jesus saw him and reached for him. Jesus went first!

Girl, nothing you did brought Jesus to you – he went first. He saw you, loved you and chose you. His healing is his choice. You see him because he gave you spiritual sight to see him. But you can’t just stay the same now. You must move. Move in obedience. Do what he tells you to do. Go where he tells you to go. Live how he tells you to live.

——-

Jesus didn’t always use mud. Do you know why? Because if he did, we would get hyper focused on the mud. We’d be walking around studying the dirt, trying to find just the right dirt, selling little jars of the magical dirt, spitting and stirring up mud, muddying up everything. Again, we have a special way of focusing on the wrong things and missing the entire point. The point wasn’t the mud – the point was Jesus.

Jesus heals another man in Mark 8 in a different way. This time, a blind man was brought to Jesus and people begged him to touch and heal the man. Verse 23, “Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. Then, spitting on the man’s eyes, he laid his hands on him and asked, ‘Can you see anything now?’

Imagine this scene for a moment. Jesus takes this man by the hand and walks with him. He leads him away from the village – away from the crowd – to a quiet place. The man had a choice to make here – trust this unseen healer enough to go with him, or not. Allow this unseen healer to guide is steps – or not. Because he walked with Jesus, he experienced his life-changing miracle. A miracle that came through spit.

Jesus spit on his eyes. Woah. Why? Why would he do that?

Well, what if it was actually very practical? This man’s condition had likely led to infected and sealed eyelids. Opening his sealed eyes didn’t require a miracle, so Jesus didn’t use his miraculous power for that. He used his practical power – a little spit. But his miraculous power was needed to then give those opened eyes sight and that’s why Jesus then laid his hands on him.

The spit opened his eyes in a very practical way. The touch of Jesus gave his blind eyes sight.

Same miracle, different ways. Isn’t that just like Jesus? He doesn’t have a one-size-fits-all approach to our lives. He knows you personally. He knows what you need, how you need it, and when you need it. And he is able to reach you right where you are.

The method may look different, but the miracle maker is the same. How he worked in my life may not be the way he works in your life – and it doesn’t have to be. My healing doesn’t look like your healing – my encounter with Jesus is uniquely my own – and yours is as well. How very special!

And, sister, maybe that’s exactly what you need to remember today. Don’t get so caught up in how Jesus is going to work in your life that you miss the fact that he CAN work in your life. Don’t limit him to the way he did it for someone else. Your story may look different. Your healing may look different. Your breakthrough may come in a way you never expected.

But the same Jesus who opened blind eyes then is still able to open eyes today. Here he is – can you see him?

So, sister, don’t miss Jesus looking for the mud. Don’t miss him waiting for the perfect method or expecting him to work exactly the way he worked for someone else. Open your eyes to HIM. He is the miracle. He is the healer. He is the one who sees you, reaches for you, leads you, and loves you enough to meet you right where you are.

And when he asks you to move, move.

When he asks you to trust, trust.

When he asks you to follow, follow.

You may not understand what he’s doing, and you may not see the change yet, but keep walking with Jesus. Because the greatest miracle isn’t just that he can change what you see around you – It’s that he can change HOW you see EVERYTHING when you finally see HIM for who he really is. You were never meant to just see a miracle. You were meant to see Jesus!

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Today, we will look at the story of Jesus’ first miracle. Do you know what his first recorded miracle was? He turns water into wine at a wedding. Isn’t that crazy? That’s where he decides to reveal his power first? That’s always confused me – but there is so much dept to this miracle and it brings us so much hope today.

The first miracle tells us so much about Jesus. It tells us he took time to attend a wedding and cared enough to make it a success. Let me tell you something, sister, Jesus is taking time to show up to every single situation you invite him into and he cares about your details. We often don’t invite Jesus because we assume he must be too big and too busy for our little things, but we’re wrong. Always invite Jesus. He will be right there in the middle of it. And no doubt, when Jesus is there, things just go down different.

John 2: 1-2: On the third day a wedding took place in Canan of Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples were invited to the wedding as well. (Notice, Jesus was invited! That’s important. Have you remembered to invite Jesus? I’m being serious. Is Jesus invited to your family gathering, your vacation, your meeting, your commute, your appointment, your celebration, your Monday? Just in case you forgot to invite him, do it right now. For real, stop everything and invite Jesus to go with you today wherever you are going.)

Verse 3-4: When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother told him, “They don’t have any wine.” “What has this concern of yours to do with me, woman?” Jesus asked. “My hour has not yet come.” (Yes, Mary asked Jesus to get involved in a situation that really had nothing to do with him. Did you know you can do that too? Maybe the problem you’re facing isn’t Jesus’ problem, but you can still get him involved! And girl, when you get Jesus involved, everything changes! Jesussssssss, I’ve got a problem!)

Verse 5-8, Mary says to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Now six stone water jars had been set there for Jewish purification. Each contained twenty or thirty gallons. “Fill the jars with water,” Jesus told them. So they filled them to the brim. Then he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the headwaiter.” And they did. (Mary is asking for Jesus to fix the problem of wine running out at the wedding. Jesus’ response was to take the jars that were available and fill them with what there was, which was water. Water wasn’t what was wanted, but water is what Jesus would use. All the servants had to do was take what was available and fill it with what there was. The rest was up to Jesus.)

I think today, Jesus is asking his girls to take what is available and fill it with what there is. It doesn’t matter if what you have seems insignificant. It doesn’t matter if what you have seems undesirable. Jesus isn’t asking you to focus on what you have, he’s asking you to focus on him and put what you have in his hands.

Verse 9-11: When the headwaiter tasted the water (after it had become wine), he did not know where it came from – though the servants who had drawn the water knew. He called the groom and told him, “Everyone sets out the fine wine first, then, after people are drunk, the inferior. But you have kept the fine wine until now.” Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee. He revealed his glory, and his disciples believe in him.

Do you understand the magnitude of the miracle here? It’s literally just slipped in like an insignificant detail in parentheses (after the water had become wine). This is a big deal of impossible magnitude. Let’s do the math. There were 6 stone water jars each holding 20 or 30 gallons. Jesus had them fill each of the jars to the brim. Not just a little. Not just enough. Not half way. All the way. Oh girl, don’t you know when Jesus is invited, he goes all the way for you! He doesn’t kinda sorta, barely, maybe, do a little something for you … no, he does it big! He made 120 to 180 gallons of wine! There are 5 bottles of wine to each gallon, that means Jesus made 600 to 900 bottles of wine! Jesus offers abundance. Jesus offers overflow. Are you living in his abundant overflow, or have you settled for less and failed to ask him for more?

Jesus is not limited. Heaven’s storehouses are overflowing. Angels are awaiting their mighty command. This IS being made possible!

Think about the miracle itself, turning water to wine. Water is the most basic of all liquids. It’s clear with no flavor. It’s two hydrogen atoms and 1 oxygen atom, with a total absence of all other things. Water does not and cannot become wine. That’s impossible. Yet, that’s precisely what Jesus did. And here’s what that tells us today: Jesus will take what you think is nothing, and he will make it into something. He will take what would require way more time than you have, and he will make it happen precisely when it needs to happen. Substance and time are not a limitation for Jesus.

You think there’s not enough time for the things you need to change to really change. Jesus says, think again! About 6 months was required for grapes to ferment and become wine. But that would have been the low quality wine. The best wine would require more time for aging. That’s the wine Jesus made … the best. And how long did it take him to make it? Only as long as it took the servants to fill the stone jars with water.

Stop dismissing the miracle you need because of the time you think it will require. Jesus holds time. He can and will do the impossible. Time will not be a limitation!

And when Jesus does the impossible for you, it will be the best of the best. It will be the finest of the fine. He will come through with greater than you ever imagined. It will be more than you hoped for!

I bet you already have an experience of Jesus coming through and giving you more than you imagined. I bet he’s already shown up in the middle of your human need and done heavenly things. He’s already proven he will get personally involved when you invite him. So, girl, just invite him!

He’s going to ask you to use what you have even when it seems insignificant. Use it. Be obedient in your faith. Your questioning is getting in the way. I know it looks like you don’t have what it will take to meet the need you’re facing, but never forget you have WHO IT WILL TAKE. This will take Jesus, and he’s right here for you!

Yes, this problem you’re facing, this issue you’re dealing with, this circumstance that hasn’t been getting any better … this takes Jesus. When you step into it today, make sure you invite Jesus to come with you. He will always accept your invitation and he will always get involved in anything you ask him to get involved in.

He cares about you. He cares about your family. He cares about the things that concern you. And he has a solution that defies science, defies time, and defies what everyone else says is possible. But you know … you know your Jesus does the impossible for you because you’re his girl!

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You’ve been trying to make something work, but you’ve been failing. No matter how hard you try, no matter what you’ve done, it’s simply not working. It hasn’t happened and you’re losing hope of it ever happening now.

Hopeless is a hard place to be. Hopeless can be a dangerous place to be. Hopeless can also be a miraculous place to be.

When it’s humanly impossible, you’ll know without a doubt it was God who made it happen. When there’s no way it could have been you, you’ll know exactly who deserves the glory. When all hope is gone and the impossible happens, you’ll know it was never your doing. It was God’s. And sometimes God lets it get to the point where you can’t take the credit for what He’s about to do.

Maybe that’s where you’re at – you’re at the point where God is going to do something and you will KNOW it was him. It wasn’t you – it wasn’t your hard work – it wasn’t your idea – it wasn’t your willpower or your tenacity – and it certainly wasn’t good luck – You’re going to know it’s GOD!

How do you align yourself for a work of God? When is the optimal time for God to show up? How do you get in on what he is doing? Well we’re going to read about a miraculous fishing trip to find our answers.

Luke 5: 1-11:

One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God. He noticed two empty boats at the water’s edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there.

Here we see a miracle of Jesus making something work that had not worked before. We see Jesus doing something in a way that was no doubt his power at work. A miraculous haul of fish for fishermen who had fished the entire night and caught nothing. And here in this story, we get our directive on how to be part of the miraculous with Jesus.

Notice the timing for the miracle. This came after a hard night of fishing on the Sea of Galilee where they didn’t catch a thing. Nothing. They had failed. And understand, these men were professional fishermen. They weren’t out fishing for fun – they were fishing for survival. This is how they fed their families. Their future depended on catching fish. They knew how to catch fish and they knew if the fish were there, they would have caught them. They simply weren’t there. No matter what they did, they couldn’t catch any fish that night.

Now, it was morning and they were washing their nets. Let me tell you something, that’s not a fun job. It’s one thing to wash nets when you’ve had success, but it feels like a complete waste of time when you’ve caught nothing. They must have been frustrated. Maybe they were even worried about money because they certainly hadn’t made any with their empty nets and boats.

And that’s when Jesus says the timing for a miracle is right. That’s when Jesus knows his power will not be denied.

The perfect timing for a miracle is when nothing else has worked. The perfect timing for a miracle is when all hope is gone. When the boat is empty, the nets are empty and you have nothing to show for a whole lot of hard work – that’s when God knows he will get all the glory.

Are you there right now? Yes, in this place of desperation you didn’t want to be in. In this place where everything has been harder than you ever imagined. In this place where you fought so hard to NOT be. Oh Sis, this may be the grounds for a miracle move by God himself! LOOK FOR HIM HERE!

After disappointment and failure, in their monotonous work of cleaning their nets is where Jesus encounters them. He doesn’t show up with a bunch of fish, he shows up with an ask. A request. Jesus asks to use their boat.

They must have been tired after working all night. We know they were discouraged. There’s a chance they were even worried. But when this man asks if he can get on their boat with them so he can teach this crowd of people gathered, they said yes. They didn’t know this man was the Savior of the world. They didn’t know he was the Messiah. They certainly didn’t know he was about to radically change their lives forever.

But they said yes. The miracle God has for you will always begin with your willingless to let Jesus get in your boat. To let him into your disappointment. To let him into your exhaustion. To let him into the very place where you’ve been working so hard and seeing so little return. Before Jesus filled their boats with fish, they made room for him in their boats.

And maybe that’s your miracle move today, girl. Maybe it’s not another frantic attempt to make something happen. Maybe it’s not another late night of trying harder, figuring it out, or forcing a door open. Maybe it’s simply saying, “Jesus, you can have this. You can have my empty boat, my failed attempts, my tired heart, and my plans that haven’t worked. Get in. I’ll make room for you.”

The filling was his job. The invitation was theirs.

What if the very place where you’ve experienced your greatest disappointment becomes the place where you experience God’s greatest demonstration of power? What if the thing you’ve been trying so hard to fix becomes the very thing through which God reveals himself to you? What if your empty nets aren’t the end of your story, but the beginning of a miracle you couldn’t have orchestrated if you tried?

Now, with Jesus in their boat, he teaches – they listen. And after he finished teaching, he says to them, “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.”

These fishermen knew that was ridiculous. They had already tried that water. And they had already washed those nets. However, there was a single decision that changed the trajectory of their lives and here it was – “BUT IF YOU SAY SO – I’ll let the nets down again.”

Jesus, if you say so, I’ll try this again. If you say so, I’ll go back out to the place it didn’t work and I’ll try again. If you say so, I’ll do it – even when it doesn’t make sense – even when I’m tired – even when I’m frustrated – even when I think it’s kinda crazy.

BUT IF YOU SAY SO – I’ll do it.

There’s your miracle move, girl. Make room for Jesus, then do what he says. Could that be your prayer of surrender today? Jesus, if you say so, I’ll do it. I’ll go. I’ll try again. I’ll listen. I’ll obey.

And here’s what happened this time when they drop the nets because JESUS SAID SO – “This time, their nets were so full of fish they began to tear!” Both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking.

From no fish to two boats overflowing with fish. From nothing in the nets to the nets tearing because a massive amount of fish all swam directly into those nets at just the right time.

And imagine Jesus for a moment. Imagine him sitting on this sinking boat with all these fish just smiling saying, “Yip, I did that – and this is just the beginning, boys!”

Jesus saw some ordinary men who were willing to listen to him – willing to do things that didn’t make sense – and willing to give him credit for doing what only he could do. And now he has an invitation for them – an invitation to follow him.

Would you follow Jesus if he said, “Come?” Would you go? What an exciting adventure that would be – Yes, Jesus, I’m in! But let me tell you, sometimes following Jesus costs you something. It’s not always an easy yes. It’s an uncomfortable yes. It’s a shaky yes. It’s a yes when you don’t know where he’s taking you or what he’s going to ask of you next. It’s a yes that may require you to leave behind what feels safe, what feels familiar, and what you’ve worked your whole life to build.

Because look at what happened next. These men had just experienced the biggest fishing haul of their lives. Their boats were overflowing. Their nets were breaking. This was the kind of catch every fisherman dreamed of! This was retirement money. This was the jackpot. This was fame. And right when they had more than they could have imagined, Jesus invited them to leave it all behind and follow him.

And they did.

These fishermen became the disciples we read about. They were the men who walked with Jesus here on earth. The ones who got to witness his miracles first hand and be part of them. The ones who Jesus trusted to continue his work after the cross.

But in this moment, they were tired fishermen who had just been blessed with the catch of a lifetime and then asked to walk away from it all. Not only walk away from the fish, but walk away from their nets and their boats. Their source of income. Their livlihood. Their plans for the future. Everything they ever knew.

And here’s the wild thing – they did! It says, “They left everything and followed Jesus.”

That’s how Jesus knew he had the right people. They were willing to leave everything and follow him.

Does he know that about you? Would you be willing to leave the big house? Would you be willing to leave your current job? How about your current location?

WOULD YOU BE WILLING TO LEAVE THE BLESSING TO FOLLOW THE ONE WHO BLESSED YOU?

My friend, I’ve been stuck before – stuck in all that God has given me and missing what he’s calling me to. The best thing I ever did was drop it, walk away and dare to follow Jesus where he was leading me next. Was it scary? YES! Was it devestating to our business? No doubt! Was it worth it? Well, I’m never turning back!

Are you willing to follow Jesus when it means letting go of something you love? Are you willing to trust him when you can’t see the whole picture? Are you willing to say yes to the next step even when you don’t know what the next ten steps will be?

Sometimes we’re so focused on asking Jesus to fill our boats that we miss the greater invitation to follow him. We want the miracle, but Jesus wants our hearts. We want him to change our circumstances, but he wants to change our lives. We want the blessing, but he wants us to discover that the greatest blessing is being with him.

God doesn’t need you to have it all figured out. He needs you to be willing to follow where he leads.

Your miracle may begin with an empty boat, but don’t be surprised if it ends with a whole new life.

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We may not understand the story we’re living today. But we haven’t reached the end of the story yet. God’s not finished writing the story of your life – chapter by chapter, it’s still unfolding and God knows exactly how he will divinely guide those chapters to his glorious ending.

Life is so hard to understand. Our highs are often followed by lows. We’re celebrating, then we’re crying. We’re believing for a breakthrough, then we’re battling disappointment. We’re making plans, then everything changes. One minute we’re thanking God for the beautiful story he’s writing, and the next we’re questioning if he’s even holding the pen.

God, where are you in this? Life just got interrupted by an unexpected disaster or disappointment – but what you can’t see is this is the very thing God is using to redirect you. He faithfully protects you from chapters you were never meant to live. His delays are divine. His detours often get you to places you could have never reached on your own.

Yesterday we read about Jesus healing the Roman officer’s faith in the authority of Jesus and as a result, Jesus healed his servant and saved him on his death bed. Yay! Big celebration. We LOVE that! Yay for healing! Yay for happy endings!

But as Jesus continues on his way with his disciples, this celebration party meets a mourning people. A collision of joy and grief meet head on. The life of a Roman soldier’s servant has been saved, but the life of a boy has been lost. All at the same time. And so they collide in God’s mysterious ways.

Let’s read the story – Luke 7, beginning in verse 11, “Soon afterward (remember this is soon after Jesus healed the servant), Jesus went with his disciples to the village of Nain, and a large crowd followed him. (The crowd is following because they’re celebrating the miracle they just saw Jesus perform.) A funeral procession was coming out as he approached the village gate. The young man who had died was a widow’s only son, and a large crowd from the village was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart overflowed with compassion.”

Understand, this woman hadn’t only lost her child, but she had lost her entire future. She was already a widow, having lost her husband at some point, but now she’s lost her only son. Without a husband or a son, this woman was without hope.

In that culture, her son wasn’t just someone she loved deeply. He was her provision, her protection, and the one who would have cared for her as she grew older. With his death, she was facing a future she could not have imagined and certainly had not planned for. Her life had been interrupted by a heartbreak she could not fix, change, or undo. And it’s funeral day – the final goodbye. Imagine how deep the mourning must have been.

But the procession is interrupted by Jesus. The crowd following Jesus was still in celebration and here the collide with grief and desperation.

This woman wasn’t searching for Jesus, but Jesus found her. He found her in her grief. She wasn’t chasing a miracle. She wasn’t making a bold declaration of faith. She really wasn’t even asking for help. She was simply walking through the most devastating moment of her life and JESUS SAW HER. Yes, he saw her and his heart overflowed with compassion.

Did you know even when you aren’t happy and joyful and believing in the absolute goodness of God, Jesus sees you. He’s moved by your hurt. He’s shaken by your pain. And he wants to do something about this! He wants to interrupt the funeral procession of the thing that’s died within you. The thing that’s too far gone – the thing that’s beyond hope – the thing that just can’t be fixed or changed – Jesus wants to show up right in the middle of that with his interruption.

Let’s keep reading, picking back up in verse 13: “‘Don’t cry!’ he said. Then he walked over to the coffin and touched it, and the bearers stopped. ‘Young man,’ he said, ‘I tell you, get up.’ Then the dead boy sat up and began to talk! And Jesus gave him back to his mother.”

Can you imagine that moment? One minute, she’s walking toward the burial of her only son. The next, she’s watching him sit up alive. One minute, she’s facing a future filled with grief and uncertainty. The next, she’s holding the son she thought she’d lost forever.

The funeral procession was interrupted by the Author of Life.

Now, I want you to see something here. The crowd was still celebrating yesterday’s miracle while this woman was burying her greatest heartbreak. Both stories were unfolding at the same time. One family was rejoicing, another was grieving. One was experiencing the goodness of God in a way they could see, while the other was walking through a darkness they couldn’t understand.

And isn’t that just like life? Sometimes we’re the ones celebrating the miracle, and sometimes we’re the ones following the funeral procession. Sometimes we can see God’s goodness so clearly, and sometimes all we can see is what we’ve lost.

But here’s what I love about Jesus: He is just as present in the funeral procession as he is in the celebration party. Wherever you are, he’s right there with you. He will interrupt your party, he will interrupt your funeral, he will interrupt your joy and he will interrupt your depression. Look for him. Wherever you are – look for him.

Your heartbreak does not make you invisible to him. Your unanswered prayers do not mean he’s stopped caring. And the fact that you cannot yet see how God could possibly bring anything good from your circumstances doesn’t mean he’s absent from your story.

Not every funeral procession turns around in this lifetime. But this story reveals something we can hold on to: Jesus sees our pain, his heart is moved with compassion, and even death itself is not beyond his authority. If God can give this little boy life again, don’t you think God can do the impossible in your situation?

Here’s what hit my heart today – there’s someone listening who is in torment wondering if their loved one made it to Heaven. Before their final breath, you were uncertain of their faith, uncertain of their salvation, uncertain of their eternal destination. You’ve asked God for a sign to be sure, and maybe you’re still waiting on that sign.

Well, I want you to see this story and understand God’s ability to interrupt time and radically change the outcome. If Jesus could breath life back into a boy at his own funeral, don’t you think he also has the ability to extend the final breath of the life of your loved one, reveal himself, and bring them to faith and salvation in a moment of suspended time allowing the soul work that hadn’t yet been done?

Is that beyond God’s ability? I think not! 2 Peter 3:9 says the Lord “is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.”

God can interrupt our life – and he can also interrupt our death. He can be the cause of our celebration and be the source of our strength in our deepest grief.

If your life has been interrupted by something you never would have chosen, don’t believe the lie that God has abandoned you in this chapter. You may not understand what he’s doing. You may not see a way forward. You may even be standing in the middle of something that feels like the end. But the Author of Life is still present in your story.

And sometimes, when you think you’re watching everything come to an end, Jesus is about to show you something about himself you’ve never seen before.

Lord, for my sister listening today who feels like this is just the end – the end of everything worth living for, the end of all she worked for, the end of her dreams, the end of her joy – Show her how you’re working on something she’s never seen before. Interrupt her grief – interrupt her anxiety – interrupt her depression – interrupt her overwhelm with YOUR POWER.

My Bible is filled with all sorts of notes. On the page of Luke 7 where this story of the widow’s son is, I have a yellow sticky note which says “Look up the story of the poet who wrote ‘God Works In Mysterious Ways’.

Today, I actually looked it up! God Works in Mysterious Ways is a song written in the 1700’s by a poet named William Cowper. William was friends with the poet who wrote the song “Amazing Grace”. They’re basically cousin songs.

Williwma Cowper was a talented poet who was plagued with chronic depression. On several different occasions, he tried to end his life. He hired a carriage driver to take him to the river where he planned to drown himself, but the driver was perpetually lost and couldn’t find the river. Then he planned to go to a river again to drown himself, but when he got there, there was no water in the riverbed. And another time, planning to end his life, he gets to the bank of the river and someone is standing in the exact spot where he was going to enter the water.

Over and over again, he was interrupted and his life was saved.

GOD WORKS IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS. Here are the words of his song:

God moves in a mysterious way

William Cowper couldn’t see the whole story. In his darkest moments, he couldn’t imagine the hymns he would write, the lives his words would touch, or the hope his story would offer generations of believers. He could only see the pain of the chapter he was living.

And that’s the thing about living in the middle of your story: you can only see what’s happening now. God sees what’s happening next.

You may be frustrated by the interruption, confused by the change of plans, or heartbroken over how a chapter has unfolded. But don’t assume God has abandoned the story just because you don’t understand the plot.

God is still working. He’s still guiding. He’s still redeeming. And even when you can’t trace his hand, you can trust his heart.

Sometimes God’s greatest kindness isn’t letting us get where we were determined to go. Sometimes it’s interrupting our plans because he sees what we cannot see.

Your story isn’t over. God is still writing. And the chapter you’re struggling to understand today may one day become part of the testimony that helps someone else keep believing.

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There’s one thing you can do today that impresses Jesus. That one thing is your faith in him. Faith that he will do what he says he will do. Faith that he can do it. Faith that his word changes everything. Faith that he cares enough to move personally for you.

Your faith is impressive to Jesus. And your faith in him beckons his power. Faith acts like a magnet to his miracles.

Do you want to draw his miraculous power into your life and see him working all around you? Start believing he can and start speaking like he will. Instead of talking about how bad your circumstances are, begin talking about how powerful your God is. Instead of posting about your problems, pray about your problems and post about his promises.

Let me tell you something, Jesus responds to your faith. 2 Chronicles 16:9, “For the eyes of the LORD roam to and fro over all the earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are fully devoted to Him.” He’s looking for your heart of faith, he’s listening for your words of faith, and when he finds you standing in faith, he personally shows himself strong to you. What does it mean when God shows himself strong – it means he unleashes his miracle working power in your life!

He’s looking – his eyes are roaming – will he find your heart devoted to him? Will he find your mind and mouth filled with faith? If so – get ready to see just how strong your God is! Get ready to see him show up for you. Get ready to see him working in every detail, working all things together for good!

And here’s what I want you to understand, sister: faith doesn’t have to be loud to be powerful. It doesn’t have to be complicated to catch the attention of Jesus. It simply has to trust him.

Trust him when the circumstances don’t make sense.

Faith says, “Jesus, I don’t have to see how you’re going to do it. I just know that you can!” And that’s exactly the kind of faith that catches the attention of Jesus.

In Luke 7, we’re about to meet a man who understood something remarkable about the authority of Jesus. He didn’t need Jesus to show up in person. He didn’t need to see a miracle in progress. He believed Jesus could simply speak the word, and it would be done.

Oh, girl, what if we started trusting Jesus like that? What if we stopped putting limits on how he can work and started believing in the authority of his word? What if our mouth got filled with faith? Let’s look at the faith of a Roman officer that left Jesus amazed!

Here’s what’s happening in the story – A servant of a Roman officer was very sick and near death. When the Roman officer heard that Jesus was passing through and he had been healing the sick and doing all sorts of miracles, he sent some elders to find Jesus and ask him to come heal his servant. When the elders reached Jesus and asked him to come to heal this sick servant, Jesus agreed and went with them. Just before they got to the house, the Roman officer sent out some friends and said, (verse 6-10) “‘Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.”

This man didn’t have to understand how Jesus would heal his servant – he didn’t even have to see it for himself – he just truly believed Jesus held the power to speak healing, even from a distance, and it would happen. This is the faith that impressed Jesus. Jesus was literally “amazed”.

Girls, let’s amaze Jesus with our faith today. Let’s stop rehearsing all the reasons things won’t work out and start remembering all the reasons we serve a God who can make a way! Let’s stop telling God how big our problems are and start telling our problems how big our God is! Let’s stop requiring Jesus to show us how he’s going to do it before we decide to trust him.

We don’t need to know HOW he’s going to work. We need to know WHO we’re trusting! I’m trusting Jesus today – how about you? (Let your mouth speak your faith!)

I’m trusting that he alone can do what I need done. He alone can heal. He alone can provide. He alone can restore. He alone can make a way. And he can do it absolutely any way he wants to. He can speak a word from a distance, and it will happen. He can show up in my living room at 3:05 pm, and it will happen. He can divinely rearrange things, he can change things, he can remove things, create things, rewrite things. He can do impossible things and make them look ridiculously ordinary and inconspicuous. He can do it in an impressive, undeniable way – or he can remove it before I even knew the threat of it.

That’s my Jesus and I believe he can.

Impressive faith. Amazing faith. Faith that doesn’t require it to be your way – faith that doesn’t demand an explanation – faith that doesn’t even have to see Jesus himself – faith that says, “Hey Jesus, if you just speak the word wayyyyy before you even get to my house, I know things will change in my house!”

That Roman officer understood authority. He knew that when someone with authority gave an order, things happened. And he recognized that Jesus carried an authority far greater than any earthly commander. He believed Jesus didn’t need to be physically present, lay a hand on his servant, or even enter his home. Jesus could simply SPEAK, and the sickness had to bow to his authority!

Oh, sister, do you believe that about Jesus? Do you believe his word still carries authority? That he is still the same Jesus who spoke and the sick were healed, the storms grew quiet, the blind could see, and the dead came back to life? Your circumstances may be beyond your control, but they are never beyond his authority!

Somebody needs to speak to their circumstances in faith today. Somebody needs to have a mouth full of faith today. Somebody needs to say, “Circumstances, you may be beyond my control, but you are NOT beyond the authority of my Jesus. You must change when he says to change. You must obey his command.” And then, you must stand in faith KNOWING that Jesus has the final word. Not your fear. Not your diagnosis. Not your bank account. Not your past. Not somebody else’s opinion. Not the circumstances staring you in the face. JESUS HAS THE FINAL WORD!

And until he speaks, you keep trusting. Until you see the answer, keep believing. Until the door opens, keep praying. Because your faith isn’t in what you see happening around you. Your faith is in the One who has all authority over it!

Now, let me be clear: faith isn’t a formula for getting God to do whatever we want. We don’t get to dictate how he answers, when he moves, or what the outcome will be. But we CAN trust his character, stand on his Word, and believe that nothing is too hard for him. Even when his answer looks different than we expected, he is still good, still present, and still worthy of our faith.

So today, let’s stop living like we’re waiting for proof before we believe. Let’s start living like women who know WHOSE hands hold our lives!

I know who’s holding me. I know who’s guiding me. I know who’s responsible for getting me here. I know who healed me. I know who blessed me. Come on girls, LET’S TALK ABOUT IT TODAY! Let’s talk about our Jesus! Let’s put our faith into words and speak it!

Jesus was impressed when he HEARD what the Roman officer SAID. Yes, Jesus is listening – let him hear your faith spoken.

Speak his promises. Pray with expectation. Take the next step in obedience. And when fear starts telling you all the reasons it won’t happen, remind yourself of all the reasons Jesus can be trusted.

Your job is not to figure out the miracle. Your job is to trust the Miracle Worker!

And here’s my question for you today: What situation have you been talking about with fear instead of bringing to him in faith? What if today you decided to say, just like that Roman officer, “Jesus, I believe in your authority. You don’t even have to say it twice. Just say the word! I don’t have to see you in my living room. You don’t have to come to my house to make it happen. Your authority over me, my life, my people, and every single circumstance surrounding me is under your divine authority. When you speak, anything and everything can change. Speak for me, Lord.”

Let’s be women whose faith says, “Jesus, I trust you with what I can see, and I trust you with what I can’t. I believe you can, I believe you care, and I believe your Word is true. I’m going to keep believing, keep praying, and keep following you, even before I see the answer.” Let your mouth be full of faith!

Now THAT is the kind of faith that gets the attention of Jesus!

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