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MEDITATION:

Written by John Ortberg, a contemporary pastor, speaker, and author. This is an excerpt from his book “If You Want to Walk on Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat.”

Whereas once David had wealth, power, fame, friends, security and what he thought was a guaranteed future, now he was running for his life and living in a cave. It is called the cave of Adullam, but we might think of it as the cave named Failure. The cave is where you end up when your props, supports, and crutches get stripped away. The cave is where you find yourself when you thought you were going to do great things, have a great family, or boldly go where no one had gone before, and it becomes clear that things will not work out as you dreamed. Perhaps you are in the cave because of foolish choices. Perhaps it is a result of circumstances you could not control. Most likely it is a combination of the two. Perhaps you are in the cave right now – Maybe its because you have lost your job, or you are under financial pressure. Maybe it is because your dreams about family life have been shattered…For whatever reason you are in the cave.  If you are not in the cave right now, wait a while – you will be. Nobody plans on ending up in the cave, but sooner or later everybody logs some time there.

The hardest thing about being in the cave is that you begin to wonder whether God has lost track of you…There is one thing you need to know. The cave is where God does some of his best work in molding and shaping human lives. Sometimes when all the props and crutches in your life get stripped away and you find you have only God, you discover that God is enough. Sometimes when your worst fears of inadequacy are confirmed and you discover that you really are out of your league, you experience the liberation of realizing that it is okay to be inadequate and that God wants his power to flow through your weakness. Sometimes the cave is where you meet God, for God does some of his best work in caves.

PRAYER:

Written by Lesli White, a contemporary Christian author.

Dear God, I pray that I will stay focused on You today. I pray that You will constantly remind me to be content in all of my circumstances. I pray that You will fill me up that I may be joyful all day, even if stress creeps in. I know that through my contentment, You will be glorified. I want to honor You, Father, in all that I do. Amen.