Visibility

By Robin J. Steinweg –

I can not see the road in front of me. I don’t dare stop the car, or I might get hit from behind. Besides, I can’t even find the shoulder of the road if I wanted to pull over. The wind-hurled snow looks like a scene from a sci-fi movie, where the space ship leaps into hyperspace—white lines are coming at me, or maybe emanating from me—who knows anymore?

My visibility is nearly zero.

It’s dangerous not to have vision while on the road. My car might go too far in either direction; I could collide with another car head-on, or end up sideways in the ditch.

It’s also dangerous not to have spiritual vision. Without it, I have no grounding, no focus, no purpose, no moral compass to keep me from destruction. But with it—with spiritual vision, I have Someone to guide and direct me. Someone who has a plan for my life, who knows what is best for me and what I should avoid.

He can keep me safe, no matter the conditions of the road.

PRAYER: Lord, my vision will be perfect if I keep my eyes on You. If I trust in You, You will direct my path.

“Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18a KJV).

Counterfeit Cheeseburgers

By Robin J. Steinweg –

I served uncooked cheeseburgers to my students. Don’t panic—the bun was two vanilla wafers brushed with light corn syrup and sprinkled with sesame seeds. The meat was a chocolate mint cookie. Red and yellow frosting looked like ketchup and cheese. I added lettuce: green-colored coconut flakes. The burgers turned out a little smaller (and rounder!) than White Castle burgers. If I’d photographed one on a doll’s tea plate, it would’ve looked just like the real thing. But if I were to write up a nutrition chart for it, it would be sadly lacking in the minimum daily requirements for anything at all.

Sure, it would taste good and give me a sugar high, but in the end it would let me down. Hard.

This world offers advice that looks appealing, feels good or has an appearance of truth—but the truth is, it can be as empty as sugar calories. But it looks so real; how can we tell the difference?

If you’ve ever eaten a real cheeseburger, you’d know the moment you saw my candy version that there’s no meat. That’s the trick: get to know the genuine article, and immediately you’ll recognize the fake. And if you’re inexperienced, you’d know it as soon as you tasted it.

Study the Bible and when an untruth pops up, you’ll see it for what it is.

PRAYER: Lord, I ask You to help me to become so familiar with Your voice and Your ways that I recognize instantly anything that is not from You. Thank You.

“Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world” (1 John 4:1 NLT).

Squeezed!

By Robin J. Steinweg –

I cannot see ahead nor behind me. SUVs block the view from the windows of my little Ford Focus. I’m focused, all right; I have no choice. Inches to my left are construction posts. To the right, an eighteen-inch drop-off leers at me with jagged, concrete teeth. There were no orange safety barrels to bar my fall if I waver.

My grip on the steering wheel drains the pink from my knuckles. I’m squeezed between a disastrous drop and posts lined up like sentries waiting to whack scratches into my car if I get too close. And if I bump one, will I overreact and careen into the abyss on the opposite side? I’m forced to sit tight (literally) and follow the car in front of me. I hope it’s trustworthy to stay on the road!

I like wide, safe boundaries and a clear view when I travel. Not only on my roads, but through life. Yet there are times when, like pothole-ridden highways, my life needs redirecting and repaired. God shows me signs that I am once again under construction. I feel squeezed into a narrow space, no view ahead or behind, disaster on either side.

Road crews don’t want casualties. Neither does God. I can follow Him and trust that He hems me in, behind and before. He’ll guide me straight and true. I can relax my vise-grip.

PRAYER: Lord, You know the beginning from the end. You have a clear view. When I’m in that tight place, help me to trust You because You’re trustworthy.

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye” (Psalm 32:8 NKJV).

Hand-Me-Downs

By Robin J. Steinweg –

Five years of fashion separated my older sister’s wardrobe from my eager little frame. As I inherited the stylish clothes she grew out of, the clothes often hung off of me, because I could not wait until they actually fit. Many times, by the time they did, the trends had changed. Five years is a long time in the world of what-to-wear.

As a believer in Christ, I also inherited a wardrobe from Him: garments of salvation and robe of righteousness (Isaiah 61:10), a crown of life (James 1:12), a crown of righteousness (2 Timothy 4:8), a crown of glory (1 Peter 5:4), and a full set of armor (Ephesians 6:13-17) which includes the accessories of shoes and a belt!

Garments from the first-born of creation (Jesus) never wear out and are always in vogue for Christ-followers of either gender. They provide the perfect fit.

AUTHOR QUOTE: I’m perfectly clothed wearing the garments of God.

“…to bestow on them…a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair” (Isaiah 61:3 NIV).

Got Nothing?

By Robin J. Steinweg –

Sometimes I’ve got nothing. I might have overextended my energy or been sick, or had little sleep due to tending to others. Whatever the cause, sometimes I’ve got nothing left.

In the Bible, “nothing” is a void for God to fill. He created all that exists out of what was not.

God excels at taking little and making much. Israelites without food? Manna falls from the sky. No water? A touch of the rock and water flows. Gideon with only three hundred soldiers? The enemy— routed. Jars of oil and flour that never run out; a virgin’s womb carries the Son of God; water becomes fine wine at a wedding feast; a few fishes and loaves feed over five thousand—with leftovers. Broken, empty lives—like mine—made whole and filled with God’s Holy Spirit.

So when my emotions tell me I’m like a balloon with pinpricks at both ends, let me contrast how I feel with what God does with my nothing:

From depleted—to completed and replete.
From exhausted—to recharged and teeming with energy.
From drained—to supplied and satisfied.
From emptied—to filled and overflowing.
From spent—to infused and content.

Got nothing? God can do something with that!

AUTHOR QUOTE: God can do more with my nothing than I can with all my somethings. With God, “nothing” is possible!

“And I pray that you…may have power…to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:17b, 18a,c, 19 NIV).

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