Scripture

Our verse for today comes from Exodus 21:35, “If one man’s ox hurts another’s, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and divide the money from it; and the dead ox they shall also divide.”

Background

There are now only three days remaining before I leave on the mission trip. The time has both flown by and passed at a snail’s pace. I can remember very well the first serious discussion I had over seven months ago about going on this trip, yet it’s hard to believe that in just a few days, I will be many thousands of miles away from everyone and everything that I know and love. And as I approach this eleventh hour of preparation, the enemy is no doubt at the ready, looking for opportunities to frustrate and distract. Several people who work close to me have been fighting through colds, and my wife, who rarely gets sick, was feeling awful all weekend long. So I am doing all I can to avoid catching whatever is trying to get into my system. My job, not unlike so many of yours, will require several things to be completed before I leave town. Our family schedule will continue at full tilt, yet all the final preparations for a trip into the unknown must get done. Packing what I might somehow need to go somewhere I’m not quite sure of to do what only God knows is waiting for me leaves a lot to interpretation, if not full-blown anxiety.

Application

Fortunately, I am not a big worrier. But that doesn’t mean that Satan doesn’t have a way to mess with my mind. Many of you are not prone to worry or fret, either, but that doesn’t exclude you from despair and frustration. Having no control over time and what it might bring with it, not to mention the general unpredictability of so many of those around us, can make for days that go less than smoothly. You know, the Bible doesn’t list for us everything that might ever happen to us. In the chapters in Exodus after the ten commandments, God mentions a lot of possible scenarios along with how they should be handled. But He didn’t exhaust the list. And the commandments didn’t forbid everything that we should not do. God allows for things in our life where we must completely trust in Him. And I am at that place now. You are too, actually. But what are you putting your trust in?

Charge

As we seek Him today, ask God to give you His calm in the midst of your blustery storm. And if your trust is misplaced, give that to Him as well, and draw on the power of the Most High God.

Salvation – Eternal Life in Less Than 150 Words