God Cares For You
One of the amazing things about the God we see in Scripture is that He cares for the outcast, the weak, and the hopeless. He is a God of second chances. He loves to do His greatest work through the most unlikely people.
God could work through the most powerful and wealthy people. But, one of the ways God shows His true power is when He strengthens the weak and gives power to the powerless.
When God sent His Son to earth, Jesus came in the form of a helpless baby. When Jesus chose His twelve disciples, He chose the most unlikely group of followers.
God doesn’t choose the powerful; He empowers those He chooses. This is great news for us! We may not be the best at what we do or the most influential person–but God can still use us!
You may not feel like you have the right traits or talents to be used by God–and that’s okay. God can use anyone and everyone. God makes it a habit of taking our greatest weakness and greatest pains to use for His kingdom work.
Take a moment right now to ask God for strength. If you’re feeling weak, ask Him to increase your power. While He may not fix your weakness immediately, when you’re open to God using you, He will turn unlikely situations into powerful moments for His kingdom.
Ask Him to open your heart and mind to how He can use your weaknesses to make a difference in the world around you.
Responding to God at All Times
Throughout our lives, we will all experience both suffering and joy. We'll have times of great grief and times of overflowing happiness. Sometimes, they’ll be separate seasons—but other times, these experiences come together.
In either case and in any situation, James expected Christians to come to God. If someone was suffering, prayer was the call to action. If someone was cheerful, people were to pause and praise God.
This might seem obvious, but when suffering clouds our thinking, we can sometimes forget to prioritize prayer. And when things are going well and we're feeling cheerful, it’s easy to just enjoy our season and not stop long enough to praise God for it. But every season of life is actually just an opportunity to put into practice what James wrote about…
When we are suffering, let us pray. When those around us are suffering, let us pray. When we are cheerful or happy, let us praise God. When others are happy, let us praise God with ...