Saturday morning and I had nothing planned, so I set my alarm for 8am. My fast isn't about being up at 6am every day, it's about getting out of bed when the alarm goes off and not lay there for an hour pushing snooze. It's also about having time to spend in God's Word before starting my day.
Today I went to Exodus 20:20
“Don’t be afraid,” Moses answered them, “for God has come in this way to test you, and so that your fear of him will keep you from sinning!”
2. Pore over the passage and paraphrase the major points:
- Don't be afraid.
- God has come to test you.
- Your fear of God will keep you from sinning.
- The Israelites just saw how powerful God is. They heard thunder, and saw lightning and smoke. They were afraid of God and what He could do.
- Moses told them not to be afraid - God has a reason for the thunder, lightning, and smoke.
3. Pull out the spiritual principles:
i) Don't be afraid of God's mighty power.
ii) God has a reason and a purpose in the storm. He is intentional.
iii) He created the storm as a test for the Israelites.
iv) God doesn't want us to be afraid of the storm - He wants us to have a reverent fear of the Maker of the Storm
v) Seeing what God can do should keep us from sinning.
vi) God is the Master of the Wind and the Maker of the Rain. He is all-powerful and all-knowing.
** I've seen it over and over again when people face a difficult time in their life - thunder and lightning all around - they turn to God. God uses the storms in life to direct our attention to Him - to show us He is the true God so we will obey Him.
4. Pose the question:
- When I hear the thunder and see the lightning, does it remind me of God's power and bring me to a place of love and reverence for Who He is?
- Do I see God's love in the storms of my life?
- Do I allow the storms to point me to God - the One True God - and direct me to obey Him and not sin against Him.
5. Plan obedience and pin down the date:
- Do I use the storm as a reminder of Who God is?
- Do storms in my life point me to Him?
- If storms are there to test me, and to keep me fearing God and not sinning, why do I see them as a negative thing?
6. Pray:
God, Maker and Master of the Universe, thank You for caring about me so much that You would send a storm just to point me back to You. Help me praise You in the storm and direct my attention to Your the One, True God, instead of what is happening around me. Help me to see You in the midst of my circumstances and go to You for guidance. God, use the storms in my life - personal storms and external storms - to point me to You. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Here are some songs that were in my mind as I studied today:
This is so excellent. Great thoughts to share and get us thinking about the storms in our lives as not something to fear or be angry about, but as tools to remind us that God is God and we are not, that we are not alone in our storms, and that we can have a more positive perspective in difficult circumstances. Thank you for sharing! xo
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