God is in the details

Very often I’ve not made the connection between a day of great blessing and having the wheels fall off the next day. If Sunday was awesome and the presence of God very obvious, Monday will bring irritations and a sense that the whole world has stopped praying.

While I’ve experienced this and learned to expect it, I’m now beginning to see why the Lord allows this to happen. Today’s devotional gives more light using a passage from Judges. Sampson had a day of victory where he destroyed one thousand enemy soldiers single-handedly. Right after that, he falls into a funk over a drink of water. 

And he was very thirsty, and he called upon the LORD and said, “You have granted this great salvation by the hand of your servant, and shall I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?”

Lord, of course You came to his aid. “And God split open the hollow place that is at Lehi, and water came out from it. And when he drank, his spirit returned, and he revived.”

After that, Sampson went on to judge Israel in the days of the Philistines for twenty years. (Judges 15:18–20)

Spurgeon explains that this is God’s way of teaching us that none of our strength is ours. We tend to puff up after we “hit the ball” or “sing the song” but need to understand that we need You all the time, for the small things of life as well as the gigantic challenges.

A friend claims that he would never pray for petty things like parking places and help with little things. He reasons that You gave us a brain and You expect us to use it.

While You do want me to be strong, wise and sensible, You also want me to realize my source of strength, wisdom and common sense. Without You, I can do nothing (John 15:5). I used to think that this verse meant “nothing of a spiritual nature” but now believe that all of my life is useless without Your input. Unless I am abiding in You, whatever I do can be evaluated as a big zero.

Paul says that it is “in You that we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). By relying on You for everything, a drink of water, help with shopping, grace to teach a class, wisdom to select a gift, all things big or small, I demonstrate my understanding of who You are. I also confess who I am — a needy person without strength or wisdom to do anything.

I suppose I could do many of these ‘small’ things without calling on or acknowledging You. That would mean that after the next big thing, when I cry out and You help me, I can continue to expect to falter with the little things. Mondays will be irritating — until I admit that I need Your grace to clean my house and do the ironing just as much as I need Your grace to write a Bible study and teach a class.

Many times You have provide grace in those ‘little’ things just as water was provided for Sampson. In fact, Your provision is often given in some extraordinary way that produces awe in my heart and praise on my lips. I am revived and more convinced than ever that I need You and that You care about every detail of my life.