“But now, God’s Message, the God who made you in the first place, Jacob,
the One who got you started, Israel:
“Don’t be afraid, I’ve redeemed you.
I’ve called your name. You’re mine.
When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you.
When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down.
When you’re between a rock and a hard place,
it won’t be a dead end—
Because I am God, your personal God,
The Holy of Israel, your Savior.
I paid a huge price for you:
all of Egypt, with rich Cush and Seba thrown in!
That’s how much you mean to me!
That’s how much I love you!
I’d sell off the whole world to get you back,
trade the creation just for you” (Isaiah 43:1-4, The Message).

Thank You, Lord. Amen.

Last year, I did something new. I felt led by the Lord to pray for Muslims during Ramadan, their most sacred time when they are fasting and seeking guidance. I don’t say this so that everyone can pat me on the back and tell me how great I am. I’m telling you because it really changed my own faith for the better.

The goal is that Christians from all over the world are praying for Muslims during this month where they will be the most spiritually receptive. There is an organization that has something called 10/10 Prayer & Fasting, and their goal is to see at least 10% of the Muslim world saved by 2028. That is a God-sized goal, but just imagine the impact around the world if it came to pass?

This year, Ramadan runs from Tuesday, February 17 to Thursday, March 19. I’m including a prayer guide from the International Mission Board for how to pray during these 30 days. As you pray through the different prompts, you will learn about Muslim practices and gain understanding into the purpose of Ramadan. Hopefully, you will be burdened to pray for them beyond Ramadan and through the rest of the 2026 and beyond.

I believe God’s heart is for people from every nation, people group, ethnicity, and religious background to come to faith in Jesus. I also believe that there will be countless multitudes from every tongue, tribe, and nation around the heavenly throne, including those who formerly served Allah. I’m praying this year God does something amazing in the Muslim world due to the prayers of His people. Lord, let it be so!

“Cultivate the greatest confidence that, though you cannot see into your heart, God is working there by His Holy Spirit. Let the heart wait at times in perfect silence and quiet; in its hidden depths God will work. Be sure of this, and just wait on Him. Give your whole heart, with its secret workings, into God’s hands continually. He wants the heart, and takes it” (Andrew Murray).

It takes discipline and intentionality to remain stedfast through seasons of waiting. Waiting is not a passive sport. It’s not sitting by the phone or in front of a computer screen or doomscrolling through your texts and emails.

Waiting on God means that you do everything in your power to be prepared for when God calls your name. It’s preparing the fields to receive the rain. It’s living in a posture of complete surrender to El Shaddai, God Almighty, and to whatever and whenever and wherever He asks of you.

Waiting on God means confessing once again that God, not you or I, knows best. God is the one who sees the entire big picture while you and I see only a tiny part of it. It’s trusting that God’s purposes toward you are true and good. It’s believing that God will work all things, even your present circumstances, for your good and His glory.

Lord, help us to wait well. Help us to be faithful and obedient right where we’re planted until You move us to where You want us next. May we never give up in doing good and never tire of waiting on You because the wait is always, always, always worth it. Amen.

“But God is the God of the waves and the billows, and they are still His when they come over us; and again and again we have proved that the overwhelming thing does not overwhelm. Once more by His interposition deliverance came. We were cast down, but not destroyed” (Amy Carmichael).

I always love the story of how Jesus walked on the water to His disciples in the midst of a raging storm. Right in the middle of the disciples’ worst case scenario coming to life and in their worst nightmare, Jesus shows up.

And He speaks peace to the wind and the waves. That’s when they really take notice of who He is. They say Who is this who even the wind and the waves obey? In their minds, the sea represents chaos and death, but they see one who can overcome it.

Later, they will see Jesus overcoming actual death. They will remember this story and so many others where what seemed impossible to them was not even remotely difficult for Jesus. They will never stop telling the story of what they saw and heard to the generations to come.

Lord, who makes even the waves and the billows obey, we know You are with us in the middle of our own storms. We know You can still the storm and speak peace to the waves or You can still Your children within the storm and speak peace to our hearts. We trust You. Amen.

I’m slowly reading my way through Waiting on God by Charles Stanley. Today, I believe God spoke to me through one of the things Dr. Stanley said. He basically said that waiting on God means focusing not on the object you’re waiting for but on the Giver. Keep your eyes on Jesus and not on the lack of spouse, job, house, money, etc.

Whenever I look to whatever it is I’m waiting for, I can become hyperfocused on what I lack and anxious almost non-stop. But when I remember to look up and fixed my eyes on Jesus, that peace that I’ve been praying for comes back. That’s when I recall all God’s promises to me to supply all my needs and never to forsake me.

It takes intentionality to take my eyes off of those stormy waves and put them back on Jesus. Otherwise, I become like ol’ Peter and sink like a stone. Those waters can get overwhelming in a hurry if I let them, but if I keep focused on Jesus, I know He can speak peace to the wind and the waves. As the old song goes, even if He doesn’t calm the storm, He can calm His child in the midst of the storm.

So tonight’s a bit of adjusting my perspective and my focus. I’m thankful that God sees me even when I’ve forgotten to look for Him. Lord, keep my eyes fixed on You instead of everything else, and I know that everything else will be okay because You are with me. Amen.

“Be thou my breastplate, my sword for the fight;
Be thou my dignity, thou my delight.
Thou my soul’s shelter, thou my high tow’r;
Raise thou me Heav’nward, O Pow’r of my pow’r” (Versifier: Eleanor H. Hull; Translator: Mary E. Byrne (1927)

Recently, a friend introduced me to a daily devo from the Worship Initiative. Basically, it’s a time of worship with a short devotional that typically lasts 15-20 minutes. It has been a breath of fresh air these past few days.

This week, they’ve done all hymns. As much as I really like some of the newer worship songs, I find that the old hymns typically have such sound theology (and usually better rhyme schemes). The new songs don’t have the staying power of those old hymns. While new songs might last for a year or two or even up to a decade, some of the ancient hymns have been around for centuries.

But there’s something about singing the truth of God’s Word that doesn’t happen in reading a regular book or singing a regular song. When you sing God’s words and mean them, real worship happens. I don’t mean a warm fuzzy feeling. I mean you are in that moment declaring the true worth of God. That is magnified exponentially when we are gathered together, which is why being a part of a local worshipping community of believers is vital.

But I can’t leave without putting in a shameless plug for The Worship Initiative. If you want to check out the Daily Devo, go here:

https://sing.theworshipinitiative.com/auth/login?redirectTo=https%3A%2F%2Fsing.theworshipinitiative.com%2F

You won’t be disappointed. I promise. Just remember to bring that beautiful singing voice (even if you croak like a frog) every weekday morning.

“I may not not where I am going next, but I trust the One who’s leading me.”

That’s me. I don’t know where this current journey is leading me, but I trust the One who is leading.

It’s like Corrie ten Boom once said about when the train goes through a tunnel and everything gets dark. You don’t throw away your ticket and jump off the train. You stay on and trust that the conductor has enough sense and knows the way out of the tunnel.

Life has times where it feels like we’re completely in the dark, not knowing what’s coming. But God knows. God sees the future because He’s already there. Again, it makes my brain hurt but God is outside of time. Therefore, He can be with me in the present and also waiting for me in the future.

Therefore, I can trust Him. I can trust His plans for me. I can trust that He’s still working all things together for my good. I can trust that He knows the plans He has for me.

So maybe I’m not trusting the journey as much as I’m trusting my Guide.