Strength And Weakness
The joy of the LORD is your strength.
Nehemiah 8:10 RSV
God’s idea of strength and man’s idea of strength are opposite one another. The Lord told Paul, “My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Having learned this lesson, Paul could then say, “When I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10).
It is true that God’s strength is made perfect in weakness. Otherwise, it would not be God’s strength, nor would He get the glory. That is why throughout the Old Testament God ordered the leaders of Israel to reduce the size of their armies, or He announced in advance the time and place of conflict and which side was going to win. God wanted the faith of man to be placed in Him and not in human armaments or physical strength. In our own lives, God wants us to be broken in spirit so that He can make us strong at the broken places.
Man likes to place his security in missiles and armies, but the world now has more nuclear weapons and more men under arms than ever before in history. Have all of these weapons, all of these armies brought more security to humanity? On the contrary, they have brought less security because man will still not trust in God.
Isaiah said, “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (40:31). This is the kind of strength God is prepared to give us if we will only ask Him for it.
Do you have this strength? You can have it. Just ask!
Our Father and our God, I bow before You in weakness and frailty. Without You I am nothing; I am useless; I am hopeless. I need Your strength, O God, to live in this world of evil powers and frightening spirits. Help me to depend on You, and You alone, through Jesus, my Savior. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Angelic Activity
The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the LORD is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place.
Psalm 68:17
Reports continually flow to my attention from many places around the world telling of visitors of the angelic order appearing, ministering, fellowshipping, and then disappearing. They warn of God’s impending judgment; they spell out the tenderness of His love; they meet a desperate need; then they are gone. Of one thing we can be sure: angels never draw attention to themselves but ascribe glory to God and press His message upon the hearers.
Demonic activity and Satan worship are on the increase in many parts of the world. The devil is alive and more at work than at any other time. The Bible says that since he realizes his time is short, his activity will increase. Through his demonic influences he does succeed in turning many away from true faith; but we can still say that his evil activities are countered for the people of God by His ministering spirits, the holy ones of the angelic order. They are vigorous in delivering the heirs of salvation from the stratagems of evil men. They cannot fail.
Believers, look up—take courage. The angels are nearer than you think. For after all, God has given “his angels charge of you, to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone” (Psalm 91:11–12 RSV).
Our Father and our God, through the eyes of faith I see Your angels battling against the forces of evil. Thank You for protecting me from the evil one. Thank You, Father, for Your armies of angels fighting on my behalf. Through Christ, who is Captain of the heavenly host. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
The Refiners Fire
Praise our God, O peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard; he has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping. For you, O God, tested us. You refined us like silver. You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs . . . we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance.
Psalm 66:8–12 NIV
Kim Wickes, who sang at many of our crusades, was a little girl blinded because the retinas of her eyes were destroyed when she looked at a bomb blast. Her father tried to kill her by throwing her into a river. Desperate and at his wit’s end from war and starvation, Kim’s father eventually left her at a home for deaf and blind children in Taegu, Korea. Later she was adopted by some Americans and began the years of study and training which have resulted in a testimony in word and song which has thrilled millions. Her studies took her to the finest schools in the world, including study in Vienna. The events in Kim’s life could have destroyed many people, but by God’s grace she triumphed over adversity.
Today there are thousands of Christians all over the world who are facing daily pain, persecution, and opposition for their faith. Their faith in Christ is deep and strong. Their willingness to face persecution puts us to shame.
I do not understand how the human body can withstand such persecution as some of our brothers and sisters in Christ are experiencing today. I only know that when Jesus Christ is with a person, that one can endure the deepest suffering and somehow emerge a better and stronger Christian because of it. Just as fire refines silver, suffering and persecution purify Christians.
Our Father and our God, You are the refiner of my faith. You are the fire within my soul that purifies my heart and mind. Teach me to accept suffering with joy, knowing it will purify me and prepare me to live with You eternally. I put my trust in You through Christ. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
An Answer For Anxiety
Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.
Psalm 55:22 RSV
Almost no emotion is as common as worry—and almost no emotion is as useless. Why? Because most of our worries either concern things that will never happen, or else things we cannot change. Jesus said, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” (Luke 12:25).
Someone once said, “Worry is the interest paid on trouble before it comes due.” Let’s cast our care on Him, remembering that He is “our salvation also in the time of trouble.”
Trust is one answer to anxiety. We find in the first place that we are to cast our care upon the Lord, and this is to be a continuing process. We aren’t only to take our burdens to the Lord; we are to leave them there. Needless anxiety is contrary to the lessons of nature.
Someone has written a little verse that goes:
Said the robin to the sparrow,
I should really like to know,
Why these anxious human beings
Rush about and worry so.
Said the sparrow to the robin,
Friend, I think that it must be,
That they have no heavenly Father
Such as cares for you and me.
Jesus used the carefree attitude of the birds to underscore the fact that worrying is unnatural. “Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them” (Matthew 6:26). From this He went on to the lilies of the field. “And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these” (Matthew 6:28–29).
If He cares for tiny birds and frail flowers, why cannot we count on Him for every aspect of our lives? I know that modern living taxes the faith of the greatest Christians, but none of us should doubt the ability of God to give us grace sufficient for our trials even amid the stresses of everyday life. In the middle of our world troubles, the Christian is not to go about wringing his hands, shouting: “What shall we do?” having more nervous tension and worry than anyone else. The Christian is to trust quietly that God is still on the throne. He is a sovereign God, working out things according to His own plan.
Our Father and our God, thank You for Your constant care. Please give me the carefree faith and trust Your other creatures show. Help me to know You will always be there to catch me when I fall or to lead me through valleys of sorrow. Remind me of Calvary and Your amazing love for me. In the Savior’s name. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Picking Up The Pieces
The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
Psalm 51:17 ESV
Corrie ten Boom tells a story of a little girl who broke one of her mother’s demitasse cups. The little girl came to her mother sobbing, “Oh, Mama, I’m so sorry I broke your beautiful cup.”
The mother replied, “I know you’re sorry, and I forgive you. Now, don’t cry any more.” The mother then swept up the pieces of the broken cup and placed them in the trash can. But the little girl enjoyed the guilty feeling. She went to the trash can, picked out the pieces of the cup, brought them to her mother and sobbed, “Mother, I’m so sorry that I broke your pretty cup.”
This time her mother spoke firmly to her, “Take those pieces and put them back in the trash can. Don’t be silly enough to take them out again. I told you I forgave you, so don’t cry anymore, and don’t pick up the broken pieces anymore.”
Guilt is removed with confession and cleansing. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Since God has forgiven our sins and our guilt, don’t keep bringing them up!
Our Father and our God, thank You for continually forgiving my sins. Through the cleansing blood of Jesus, I know You see me as pure and saved. I praise You for Your unfathomable mercy and grace. Help me, O Lord, not to pick up the broken pieces of my life again but to leave them at the cross. Because of Christ. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Whiter Than Snow
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Psalm 51:7
For centuries, the color white has signified purity. Isaiah spoke of purity in terms of the whitest thing he could think of—snow—when he said, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18).
Snow is so white that one can see almost anything that is dropped on it, even up to great distances. We can take the whitest object we can find, like newly washed clothing, but when we place it next to snow it still looks dirty by comparison.
Our lives are like that. At times, we may think of ourselves as morally good and decent, content that “we are not like other men.” But compared to God’s purity, we are defiled and filthy.
In spite of our sins and uncleanness, God still loves us. He decided to provide for us a purity we could never attain on our own. That is why He gave His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us on the cross. It is only when our sins have been washed in the blood of Christ that we appear as white as snow in the eyes of God. No human “detergent” of good works or clean thoughts can make us that white, that pure. Only Christ’s precious blood can do that, and it is only His blood that can continue to cleanse us from sin after He has saved us.
Reflect on that wonderful truth. Claim it for your own life.
Our Father and our God, Your radiance blinds me. I cannot look on the brilliance of Your purity and holiness without repenting of my sinfulness and the ugly stains on my heart and soul. I pray for Your forgiveness to wash my soul clean again, as white as snow. I cannot live without You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010.
Love And Peanut Butter
Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.
1 John 3:1
The word love is used to mean many different things. We say that we “love” the house that we have just bought or that we “love” a particular vacation spot or that we “love” a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. We also “love” a certain television program, and we “love” our husband or wife. It is to be hoped that we don’t love our spouse the same way we love a peanut butter and jelly sandwich!
A friend once observed, “Love talked about is easily ignored, but love demonstrated is irresistible.” God demonstrated His love toward us “in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Now, that is real love.
If God had only talked about how much He loved us and never proved it by sending Christ to meet our greatest need—the forgiveness of sin and the healing of the breach between God and man when sin entered the world—He would have been a very cruel God. But He did more than talk. He demonstrated His love for us by sending the most precious offering He could make: His sinless Son, who became sin on our behalf that we might be delivered from sin and have a home in heaven.
God’s love is eternal. It outlasts everything we have ever loved, including a peanut butter and jelly sandwich! It is in experiencing God’s love for us that we are able to love others, including those who might be unlovable to us.
Our Father and our God, I am overwhelmed by the incredible love You have shown to me through Jesus. I am humbled by Your great mercy. Help me, Lord, to show selfless love to others—my family, my friends, the church, and even my enemies. I love You, Father, more than life because of Christ. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Is God Your Pilot?
For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death.
Psalm 48:14
You probably have seen the bumper sticker which says, “God is my copilot.” It sounds nice and very spiritual, until you think about it. God does not want to share the controls over our lives. He wants us to relinquish them and let Him have control of our lives.
The story is told of a little girl whose father was an airline pilot. As they crossed the Atlantic, a storm came up. The flight attendant awakened the little girl and told her to fasten her seat belt because they were in some turbulent weather. The little child opened her eyes, saw the lightning flashing around the plane, and asked, “Is Daddy at the controls?” The flight attendant replied, “Yes, your father is in the cockpit.” The little girl smiled, closed her eyes, and went back to sleep.
God is at the controls of our lives. Or, rather, He wants to be at the controls. But He gives us the freedom to pilot ourselves if we wish. The problem is that we often crack up, much as we could expect to do if we took the controls of an airplane we had not been taught to fly.
God knows us, how we work, and what is best for us. If we will only relinquish the controls to Him, He will see us safely home.
What about you? Who or what is in control of your life? Are you still holding on to the controls, or have you allowed God to take control? What are you waiting for?
Our Father and our God, I bring You my heart and soul. I turn them over to You to lead me, to guide me, to show me how to live as You would have me live. Help me, Lord, to continually allow You to control my life, to be my Master and Lord. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
An Ever-Present Help
God is our refuge and our strength, an ever present help in trouble.
Psalm 46:1 NIV
God is “an ever present help in trouble,” but we sometimes allow bitterness to keep Him at a distance and thus we miss His help.
A young Irish immigrant, Joseph Scriven (1820–1886), was deeply in love with a young woman, and their marriage plans had been made. Not long before their wedding day, however, she was drowned. For months Scriven was bitter, in utter despair. At last he turned to Christ, and through His grace he found peace and comfort. Out of this experience he wrote the familiar hymn which has brought consolation to millions of aching hearts: “What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!”
Sometimes our way lies in the sunlight. It was so for Joseph Scriven as he approached his wedding day. But like him, we may find that our path also leads through the dark shadows of loss, disappointments, and sorrow. At times like this it is within our power to turn our sufferings into occasions for a firmer grasp of God, and make them channels through which a surer and brighter hope may flow into our souls.
Business losses, pensions that don’t pay the bills, loss of work, inflation, the sickness that lays us low, the sorrows that rob our homes of their light, children who rebel—all turned into blessings for those who by them become less attached to the earth and more attached to God.
Trouble will not hurt us unless it does what many of us too often allow it to do—harden us, making us sour, bitter, and skeptical. The trouble we bear trustfully brings to us a fresh vision of God, and, as a result, we discover a new outlook on life.
If we make our sorrow and trouble an occasion for learning more of God’s love and of His power to aid and bless, then it will teach us to have a firmer confidence in His providence, and as a result of this, the brightness of His love will fill our lives.
Trust God with a childlike dependence and no trouble can destroy you. Even in that last dark hour of death, when your flesh and your heart fail, you will be able to depend in peace upon Him who “is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:26 NIV).
Our Father and our God, thank You for always being present in my life. I feel Your arms around me by faith. I see Your angels protecting me through the eyes of trust. I sleep in peace because You watch over me every hour. With You in my life, I’m never alone. And with Jesus in my thoughts, I am never afraid. In Him. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Confidence-The Key To Effective Prayer
I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.
Psalm 40:1
Effective prayer is offered in faith. The Bible says, “Therefore I say unto you, what things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” (Mark 11:24; italics mine).
Maltbie Babcock said, “Our prayers are to mean something to us if they are to mean anything to God.” It goes without saying that if our prayers are aimless, meaningless, and mingled with doubt, they will go unanswered. Prayer is more than a wish turned heavenward . . . it is the voice of faith directed Godward.
This kind of dynamic prayer emanates from an obedient heart.
The Bible says, “And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight” (1 John 3:22).
I know a wealthy father who refused to get his son a bicycle because the boy’s report card showed disgracefully low marks, a yard remained unraked, and other assignments had not been carried out. I am sure the father would not have been wise to lavish gifts upon such a disobedient and ungrateful son.
The Bible says, “But if ye will not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then shall the hand of the LORD be against you.” (1 Samuel 12:15).
If you want to get your prayers through to God, surrender your stubborn will to Him, and He will hear your cry. Obedience is the master key to effective prayer.
Our Father and our God, I come to You in faith, believing that You will answer in wisdom and love. Take my life, Father, and use it to Your glory and Yours alone. I want to be like Your Son, Jesus. Give me His compassion, His love, His joy. And thank You for saving me through His blood. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
His Strength, Our Stregnth
The salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: he is their strength in the time of trouble.
Psalm 37:39
Whatever the circumstances, whatever the call, whatever the duty, whatever the price, whatever the sacrifice—His strength will be your strength in your hour of need.
There are physical benefits that come from Christian living. Sin and the sense of inner unworthiness impair physical and mental well-being. The sense of physical impurity and physical immorality, the sense of hatred directed toward our fellow men, the awareness of our own inadequacy and frustration and our inability to achieve the goals to which we aspire—these are often the real reasons for physical and mental illness. The sense of guilt and sin that the natural man carries within himself renders him unfit for the performance of his duties, and renders him sick in both mind and body. It was no accident that Jesus combined healing with His preaching and teaching when He was on earth. There is a very special relationship between the life of the spirit and the health of the body and mind.
Peace with God and the peace of God in our hearts and the joy of fellowship with Christ have in themselves a beneficial effect upon the body and mind and will lead to the development and preservation of physical and mental power. Thus, Christ promotes the best interest of the body and mind, as well as of the spirit.
Our Father and our God, I have such happiness and joy in being Your child. I feel Your strength in my soul and in my body. Your Spirit within refreshes me day by day, and I celebrate my union with You. I rest in Your quiet peace, and I rejoice in hope of eternity with You. Because of Christ Jesus. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
The Bright Side Of Death
Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.
Psalm 37:37
We who have made our peace with God should be like the evangelist D. L. Moody. When he was aware that death was at hand, he said, “Earth recedes, heaven opens before me.” It appeared as though he was dreaming. Then he said, “No, this is no dream . . . it is beautiful, it is like a trance. If this is death, it is sweet. There is no valley here. God is calling me, and I must go.”
After having been given up for dead, Moody revived to indicate that God had permitted him to see beyond that thin veil separating the seen from the unseen world. He had been “within the gates, and beyond the portals,” and had caught a glimpse of familiar faces whom he had “loved long since and lost awhile.” Then he could remember when he had proclaimed so vociferously earlier in his ministry, “Some day you will read in the papers that D. L. Moody of East Northfield is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it. At that moment I shall be more alive than I am now. I shall have gone up higher, that is all—out of this old clay tenement into a house that is immortal; a body that death cannot touch, that sin cannot taint, a body fashioned like unto His glorious body. . . . That which is born of the flesh may die. That which is born of the Spirit will live forever” (The Life of Dwight L. Moody by W. R. Moody). If Moody were to witness to us now, he would surely tell us of the glowing experience that became his as the angelic hosts ushered him into the presence of the Lord.
Can you face death with such confidence? You can if you know and believe God’s promises about life after death, promises that caused Moody to rejoice rather than despair.
Our Father and our God, I long to be in Your presence. I dream of walking through the gates of heaven and finding myself at home with You. Help me to live purely, O Lord, full of praise, bathed in your holiness, until I find Your marvelous peace in my passing. Let me shout with joy as I come through the gates of heaven. Because of Jesus. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Fretting…Or Committing?
Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. . . . Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
Psalm 37:1, 5
There are no troubles that distress the mind and wear upon the nerves as do borrowed troubles. The Psalmist said, “Fret not thyself . . .” The implication is that fretting, complaining, and distress of mind are often self-manufactured and can best be coped with by a change of attitude and transformation of thought.
You cannot allay a baby’s anxiety by giving him a rattle when he is hungry. He will keep on crying until his hunger is satisfied by the food his little body demands. Neither can the soul of a mature man be satisfied apart from God. David described the hunger of all men when he said: “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God” (Psalm 42:1). The Prodigal Son, who had to learn life’s lessons by painful experience, said: “How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough to spare, and I perish with hunger!” (Luke 15:17).
Two conflicting forces cannot exist in one human heart. When doubt reigns, faith cannot abide. Where hatred rules, love is crowded out. Where selfishness rules, there love cannot dwell. When worry is present, trust cannot crowd its way in.
The very best prescription for banishing worry is found in Psalm 37:5: “Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.” The word commit means to turn over to, to entrust completely.
Some years ago someone gave my little boy a dollar. He brought it to me and said, “Daddy, keep this for me.” But in a few minutes he came back and said, “Daddy, I’d better keep my own dollar.” He tucked it in his pocket and went out to play. In a few minutes he came back with tears in his eyes, saying, “Daddy, I lost my dollar. Help me find it.” How often we commit our burdens to the Lord and then fail to trust Him by taking matters into our own hands. Then, when we have messed things up, we pray, “Oh, Lord, help me. I’m in trouble.”
The choice is yours. Do you want to trust your life in God’s “pocket” or keep it in your own?
Our Father and our God, please forgive my doubt and fear. Take away my faithlessness, my selfishness, and my worry. Help me to put my trust totally in You. I commit myself to You, O Lord, and I pray for the courage to remain in Your care. Please take control of my life and lead me safely home to You through Christ. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
The Fountain Of Life
For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.
Psalm 36:9
The more knowledge we acquire, the less wisdom we seem to have. The more economic security we gain, the more boredom we generate. The more worldly pleasure we enjoy, the less satisfied and contented we are with life. We are like a restless sea, finding a little peace here and a little pleasure there, but nothing permanent and satisfying. So the search continues! Men will kill, lie, cheat, steal, and go to war to satisfy their quest for power, pleasure, and wealth, thinking thereby to gain for themselves and their particular group peace, security, contentment, and happiness.
Yet inside us a little voice keeps saying, “We were not meant to be this way—we were meant for better things.” We have a mysterious feeling that there is a fountain somewhere that contains the happiness which makes life worthwhile. We keep saying to ourselves that somewhere, sometime we will stumble onto the secret. Sometimes we feel that we have obtained it—only to find it elusive, leaving us disillusioned, bewildered, and unhappy.
The happiness which brings enduring worth to life is not the superficial happiness that is dependent on circumstances. It is the happiness and contentment that fills the soul even in the midst of the most distressing of circumstances and the most adverse environment.
Near my home is a spring that never varies its flow at any season of the year. Floods may rage nearby, but it will not increase its flow. A long summer’s drought may come, but it will not decrease. It is perennially and always the same. Such is the type of happiness for which we yearn—and it can be found in Christ alone!
Have you discovered this spring yet?
Our Father and our God, You are the living water that quenches eternal thirst. You are the fountain that bubbles up in joy and peace. Lead me daily, Father, to the fountain. Help me to drink deeply of Your happiness, to be refreshed from the spring of hope that is Jesus Christ. In His name. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Behind The Clouds
Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds.
Psalm 36:5
My home is on a mountain nearly four thousand feet high. Many times we can see below us the clouds in the valley. Some mornings we wake up to find that we are in lovely sunshine, but that the valley below is covered with clouds. At other times thunderstorms come up, and we can see the lightning flash and hear the thunder roar down below, while we are enjoying beautiful sunlight and clear skies above.
Many times I have sat on our rustic front porch and watched the clouds below. I have thought of the clouds of discouragement and suffering that temporarily veil the sunlight of God’s love from us. Many people live with a cloud hanging over their lives. Some may be in hospital beds; others are suffering discouragement and bereavement. A heavy cloud hangs over them.
The Bible has a great deal to say about clouds. For they sometimes symbolize the spiritual forces which obscure the face of God. The Bible indicates that clouds are given to us for a purpose and that there is glory in the clouds and that every cloud has a silver lining. It is written in Exodus 16:10, “They looked . . . and, behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud.” Without the clouds there would be no lavish sunsets, no rain, no light, no beautiful, picturesque landscapes.
Charles Kingsley sensed this truth when he wrote: “No cloud across the sun but passes at the last and gives us back the face of God once more.” Longfellow also saw meaning in life’s clouds when he said: “Be still, sad heart, and cease repining; behind the clouds is the sun still shining.”
The Bible says that God was in the cloud and that He spoke to His people through a cloud. The Lord said, “Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud” (Exodus 19:9). Again, God called to Moses “out of the midst of the cloud” (Exodus 24:16). There are clouds in our lives shadowing, refreshing, and oftentimes draping them in the blackness of night, but there is never a cloud without its bright light.
Our Father and our God, I search for Your light behind the clouds of my life. I long to see beyond my troubles to the brilliance of Your face. I know You are there, Lord, even when the clouds are all I can see. I trust You, Father, no matter what happens, because of Jesus, who brought the light to me. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
The Christian’s Secret Of Joy
My soul shall be joyful in the LORD; it shall rejoice in his salvation.
Psalm 35:9
When Jesus Christ is the source of joy, there are no words that can describe it. It is a joy “inexpressible and glorious” (1 Peter 1:8 NIV). Christ is the answer to the sadness and discouragement, the discord and division in our world.
Christ can take discouragement and despondency out of our lives. Optimism and cheerfulness are products of knowing Him.
The Bible says, “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones” (Proverbs 17:22 NIV).
If the heart has been attuned to God through faith in Christ, then its overflow will be joyous optimism and good cheer.
Out West an old sheepherder had a violin, but it was out of tune. He had no way of tuning it, so in desperation he wrote to one of the radio stations and asked them at a certain hour on a certain day to strike the tone A. The officials of the station decided they would accommodate the old fellow, and on that particular day the true tone of A was broadcast. His fiddle was thus tuned, and once more his cabin echoed with joyful music.
If we live our lives in tune with the Master, we, too, will find ourselves surrounded by His beautiful music.
Our Father and our God, You are the music of my soul. I praise You for the joy and peace of life that I find through Jesus, Your Son. Please help me to tune my heart continually to Your will and to live my life in harmony with Your plan for my life. I love You and Christ, through whom I pray. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Broken Hearts, Mended Spirits
The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
Psalm 34:18
Before I can become wise, I must first realize that I am foolish. Before I can receive power, I must first confess that I am powerless. I must lament my sins before I can rejoice in a Savior. Mourning, in God’s sequence, always comes before exultation. Blessed are those who mourn their unworthiness, their helplessness, and their inadequacy.
Isaiah, the mighty prophet of God, knew by experience that one must bow the knee in mourning before one can lift the voice in jubilation. When his sin appeared ugly and venomous in the bright light of God’s holiness, he said: “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts” (Isaiah 6:5).
We cannot be satisfied with our goodness after beholding the holiness of God. But our mourning over our unworthiness and sinfulness should be of short duration, for God has said: “I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins” (Isaiah 43:25).
Isaiah had to experience the mourning of inadequacy before he could realize the joy of forgiveness. If I have no sense of sorrow for sin, how can I know the need of repentance?
In God’s company, a person must go down into the valley of grief before he or she can scale the heights of spiritual glory. One must become tired and weary of living without Christ before he or she can see and find His fellowship. One must come to the end of “self ” before one can really begin to live.
Our Father and our God, I am engulfed by sorrow and mourning for my intolerable sin. I am unworthy; I am helpless; I am inadequate even to approach You. And yet I claim Your promise, Lord, to forgive me for all my faithlessness and failure. Cover me with Your grace and mercy through Christ, the One who died for me. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
A Gull From God
The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.
Psalm 34:7
During World War II, Captain Eddie Rickenbacker and the rest of the crew of the B-17 in which he was flying ran out of fuel and “ditched” in the Pacific Ocean. For weeks nothing was heard of him. The newspapers reported his disappearance, and across the country thousands of people prayed. Mayor LaGuardia asked the whole city of New York to pray for him. Then he returned. The Sunday papers headlined the news, and in an article, Captain Rickenbacker himself told what had happened. “And this part I would hesitate to tell,” he wrote, “except that there were six witnesses who saw it with me. A gull came out of nowhere, and lighted on my head. I reached up my hand very gently—I killed him and then we divided him equally among us. We ate every bit, even the little bones. Nothing ever tasted so good.” This gull saved the lives of Rickenbacker and his companions. Years later I asked him to tell me the story personally, because it was through this experience that he came to know Christ. He said, “I have no explanation except that God sent one of His angels to rescue us.”
During my ministry I have heard or read literally thousands of similar stories. Could it be that these were all hallucinations or accidents or fate or luck? Or were real angels sent from God to perform certain tasks? I prefer to believe the latter.
Our Father and our God, Lord of Hosts, I bow at Your holy throne. I pray for You to send Your ministering spirits to protect me from my enemies. I cannot live in this dark world without being surrounded by angels of light. Hold me in Your mighty hand because I am Your child through Christ. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Christ In The Crisis
For I can do everything God asks me to with the help of Christ who gives me the strength and power.
Philippians 4:13 TLB
A friend told me the story of a nonbelieving friend of his who came to him in the midst of a very troubled day. Knowing that my friend is a Christian, the man asked him, “If I get born again, will all of my problems go away?”
“No,” said my friend, “but you will have the power to deal with them.”
Think about that. Our problems won’t go away, but we will have the power to deal with them. The power to deal with problems produces a muscular Christian who is capable of doing combat with the evil one. If we could dismiss all of our problems with a single stroke, we would be the most shallow of individuals. We would be spiritual “wimps” unable to fight our way out of wet paper bags!
The prayer of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane is perhaps the greatest prayer ever uttered. Our Lord asked that this cup of crucifixion, which was about to be thrust upon Him, might be taken away. But then, in the very next breath He said, “Nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matthew 26:39). What a prayer! What strength! What power!
When the apostle Paul asked God to remove his “thorn in the flesh,” God did not remove it, saying instead, “My grace is sufficient for thee” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Christ desires to be with you in whatever crisis you may find yourself. Call upon His name. See if He will not do as He promised He would. He may not make your problems go away, but He will give you the power to deal with and overcome them.
Our Father and our God, I need Your strength. I cannot deal with the problems in my life without Your power. I trust You to be with me through hard times. Increase my faith, and give me the courage and patience to live one day at a time in Your grace. Through Christ, who brought that grace to me. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Triumph Out Of Tragedy
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
James 1:17
The playwright William Shakespeare wrote numerous classics, some of which are called “tragedies.” Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, Julius Caesar, and Romeo and Juliet are only some of Shakespeare’s more classic tragedies.
Have you ever thought why these plays depict tragedy, indeed, why the stories are, themselves, tragic? It is because in each instance, the characters are victims of their own circumstances and are powerless to free themselves from them.
Not so for the Christian. We have the power to triumph over tragedy, even in situations which might seem hopeless and unredeemable in the world. The key to understanding tragedy is to understand its source.
Death and pain and tragedy came into the world because of sin. Many people blame God for tragedy, but James tells us that “every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights.” Tragedy is a result of sin having entered the world.
But Christ has triumphed over tragedy, and He wants us to do the same because in such triumph God is glorified. Indeed, triumphing over tragedy is a form of witness for Christ. When something tragic happens to us—the loss of a loved one, the loss of a job—unbelievers watch us closely to see whether we react differently than they would. If there is no difference, if we despair as unbelievers might, how is God honored? How do we testify of Christ and His power?
Remember, “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ” (2 Corinthians 2:14).
Our Father and our God, thank You for bringing hope and forgiveness to dispel the sin in my life. Help me to triumph over the inevitable tragedies of life through trust and faith in You. Let my joy in the midst of despair honor and glorify You through Jesus. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).