Inspirational Thought of the Day:
Where we are is not as important as who and whose we are in that place.
Scripture of the Day:
Joshua 1:7-8
7 “Make sure you are very strong and brave! Carefully obey all the law my servant Moses charged you to keep! Do not swerve from it to the right or to the left, so that you may be successful in all you do. 8 This law scroll must not leave your lips! You must memorize it day and night so you can carefully obey all that is written in it. Then you will prosper and be successful.”
I missed blogging yesterday while moving my son into his dorm. So many thoughts have flooded my mind this week, taking inventory of the foundation laid before this next chapter begins for him – and us.
Everybody likes something new, and our souls yearn for the next thing. But sometimes we are called to stay.
I wonder if this message in Joshua is not just for those going into the new land, but for those who stayed behind. The tribes of Israel who chose an inheritance east of the Jordan – wouldn’t they also need to be strong and brave? They had agreed to help the other tribes get into the promised land, but they did not want to settle there.
Fear and familiarity with what they knew likely robbed them of God’s blessing, but even in that place of choosing a lesser inheritance, they, too, would need God’s strength and to remember their God in that place.
Sometimes we are called to move and explore new adventures and sometimes we learn to be content with the same circumstances and provision. In either case, the greatest thing we need is God and His word.
Where we are is not as important as who and whose we are in that place.
My son will now need to forge ahead in his new station of life and make choices that will impact his life and future. I am truly excited for him. But we who are left “east” of his new land need to figure out life without him.
The foundation laid all these years has become stones of remembrance for us all. When the Israelites crossed the Jordan, God spoke to Joshua and told His people to place stones of remembrance in the midst of them as a reminder that God had been faithful to them.
Instead of sorrow at this crossing from childhood to adulthood, I reflect on the “stones” of remembrance that God allowed us to lay on the foundation of my children and our family. He has been faithful to my family – through raging waters and fiery storms. He has brought us into a land of promise – as we abide in Him.
Even when we are creatures of habit and don’t prefer change, God can meet us at that place and transform it from a place of sorrow into a place of worship.
Lord, I thank You for every stone laid in my life – the painful, the sweet, the undeserved blessings. All of it You mysteriously use for eternal means. May You be glorified in each moment, each step of our lives.
Denise Pass | Author | Singer | Speaker | Worship Leader
Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging.
Awesome perspective, Denise! I was praying for you earlier today that you wouldn’t experience too much sorrow (can be a form of “post parting” depression, pun intended), but that the Lord would make Daniel’s going away to college and bitter sweet time….with the emphasis on “sweet” and that He would give you a sense of relief and freedom knowing that you’ve done your best and have raised him well. Now I just read your devotional and realize that God answered those prayers and you have such a balanced, Biblical perspective on it all! Remember the analogy of the caterpillar in the cocoon and how we have to let it struggle and work hard to break out in order for it to develop into what it was meant to be…and beautiful butterfly…that is meant to fly. May your “Butterfly”….fly high!
Thank you, Jeff! Definitely sense God’s grace and strength. Thank you so much for supporting our family in prayers! We are grateful!
God Bless you Denise and your family, your son is coming from a home of the Lord, For me and my House we serve the Lord, AMEN. You planted the seeds, may he go out and flourish and spread the seeds , May the Good Lord continue to Bless you in Jesus name our solid rock✝️AMEN
Thank you so much, Cheryl! Grateful for God’s salvation and mercy. May He bless you, as well!
This is what I needed to hear. I helped my son move into a new place far from home to begin a new chapter in his life. I was at peace as he has changed his life to walk with the Lord. The joy I felt when I helped unpack was magnified when I caught him placing his bible and journal next to his bed. My life is full of good and bad stones. I can only pray I left him with a strong foundation.
Amen. We all have the bad stones, too, but God redeems them and uses them as stepping stones toward Him. Praying for you and your son. God knows the plans He has for him and you – and they are for good – and for His glory! Love how His Bible was put in a prominent place. May God draw him nearer.
Good lesson; by the way is this the first semester of your son going off to college or is he returning after Winter break?
Thank you. It is his first semester going on campus – he was online the past year and a half (saving some money). Four in college right now, but the other three commute.
“Instead of sorrow at this crossing from childhood to adulthood, I reflect on the “stones” of remembrance that God allowed us to lay on the foundation of my children and our family. He has been faithful to my family – through raging waters and fiery storms. He has brought us into a land of promise – as we abide in Him.”
God has been so faithful! It’s a privilege to watch each of them mature and grow closer to the Lord. Proud of the foundation that you set before them.
By His grace alone – thank you, friend! Grateful beyond words.