“…So, guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.”
 (Malachi 2:16)
 
This can also be read as if you do not guard yourself in your spirit, we will grow faithless. Being faithful does not come naturally to people. It is even harder to be faithful to people. Often, our feelings can get hurt when we are overlooked for promotions, let down from something, and even being told no because someone thinks we are limited because of our capabilities. During, these times we can look for an easy way out this may be finding a different vocation, stop attending functions, and even avoiding people. This is the easy way out.

The hard way is being faithful even when it is hard. Many of us have heard the saying “When the going gets tough, the tough get going” it is a choice to lean into your difficult situation and keep going. We can take the time to focus on what we need to do. We can ask our supervisors during our evaluations how we can improve at our vocations; we can discuss with our friends what is bothering us and how they may have hurt us. Instead of avoiding people we can make a further effort to get to know them. It will be difficult and uncomfortable at first.
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Guard your spirit for the adversary loves to use difficult days to rob us of our faith, destroy our faith, and strip us of our faith. Don’t let him instead, pray to God to give you even more faith during your hard seasons. Sing praises to God to build up your faith. Gather with friends that can speak encouragement and speak into your life. Build up your faith through reading and listening to scripture. Do not take the easy way out and become unfaithful but seek to be faithful by guarding your heart.
 
Heavenly Father, help me to be faithful in this situation. I know I would rather take the easy way out but, God, you called us to be faithful even in hard times. May, my spirit be guarded and continually renewed with your love during this time.
 
Struggling with you,
Stacy Watkins

“I will put this third through the fire; I will refine them as silver is refined and test them as gold is tested. They will call on my name, and I will answer them. I will say: They are my people, and they will say: The Lord is our God.” (Zechariah 13:9)
 
Here we are called to be refined as silver and tested as gold. These are both precious metals. Not many of us go and seek to be tested or refined since many of us do not want to face our own insecurities or even trials. Facing our own insecurities and trials puts us into a vulnerable position the parts of us that we do not want people to see are exposed. There are no possible ways to hide our flaws.

When we come to difficulties such as financial difficulties, losing a job, and relationship struggles often we complain against God about our situation and even lose our faith. It can be challenging to understand why a God who is proclaimed to be good to allow suffering and even put people through the fire. However, going through the fire often can bring about something good and beautiful. Rings are often put through fire to be refined and made beautiful. When we go through financial struggles and learn to budget money, we learn how to spend our money wisely. When we lose a job, we can get angry and choose not to work again. God has given you skills and abilities that you can use at different jobs. That one place is not the only place there may be something even better for you.

Refining by fire may not feel the greatest since you are going through a lot and sometimes there does not feel like a way out. Through the righteousness of Christ God has purged away our sins and made everyone who believes in Him pure.
 
Heavenly Father, Lord I do not see any way out of my current situation, but I know you have already given me the skills and abilities to be able to further my situation. God I cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel, but you can. May I continue to allow you to guide me each step of the way
 
Praying for you,
Stacy Watkins

Be silent before the Lord and wait expectantly for him; do not be agitated by one who prospers in his way, by the person who carries out evil plans. (Psalm 37:7)
 
The one thing that I do not like about ordering items online is the delivery. Yes, it might be faster than going to the store. However, have you ever got fixated on the delivery timeframe for something that you needed. Checking Amazon constantly for has it shipped, is it on its way, what time is it going to arrive. We wait expectantly for the passage to arrive especially when it gives us a time frame of when it will arrive.

I can expect for it to arrive it might not be the time that I want it to arrive. We are to wait on God and not worry about those who are doing evil. It can be difficult if we pick up the newspaper or any media we hear about war, violence, murder just chaos running around. Yet, God calls us to wait patiently this does not mean to sit idly and just watch the world unfold before our eyes. It means to bring all the concerns of your heart everything that you see taking place before him. Pray about it, seek him, wait on Him. He has seen all that takes place in the world and has assured us the destruction of evil.

It may be hard to wait on Him. There are times when we might want to take revenge and even matters into our own hands. This will only make it worse. God sees everything that is happening just wait on Him. Continue to wait expectantly on Him for everything takes places in his timing.
 
Lord, there is so much evil that prospers in the world sometimes it feels like evil keeps prospering over good. Though I may want to act I will seek you first and wait on you.
                 
Walking with you,
Stacy Watkins

“I will make you, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, my servant- this is the Lord’s declaration- and make you like my signet ring, for I have chosen you. This is the declaration of the Lord of Armies.” (Haggai 2:23)
 
Pick-up games for basketball make me nervous there is always the anticipation of which team is going to choose you. Are you going to be picked first or are you the person that the team gets stuck with because you are the last one standing there? I dislike having to stand in the lineup and just wait for someone to say I pick them. Maybe your super tall and never have to worry about getting picked for a basketball game. No one likes being picked last it is the worst feeling.

God says that he has chosen you not only are you chosen but like his signet ring. A signet ring was used by kings to mark their seal on documents. The seal stated that the document was genuine. It is comparable to a notarized document today. It carried the authority of the kings’ commands. God gives Zerubbabel honor and authority that will not be removed by making him like his signet ring. Today that same signet ring of authority is in each one of us the Holy Spirit that lives in us is a sign of authority and honor that was placed on us through God. Zerubbabel’s honor and authority continued through the Davidic line giving hope and encouragement.

Through this promise not only do we have continued hope and encouragement because of Jesus but God sent the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the seal that we are chosen by God and have honor and authority from him. It continues to lead us and guide us in all that we do.
 
Lord, I thank you that not only do you see us and have chosen us. Lord, you did not choose us because we are strong, clever, or great but because of who you are and because you love each of us.
 
Praying for you,
Stacy Watkins

“Yes, at that time I will deal with all who oppress you. I will save the lame and gather the outcasts; I will make those who were disgraced throughout the earth receive praise and fame.” (Zephaniah 3:19)
 
It is crazy that today you can be signaled out by the type of socks you wear. Apparently, ankle socks are no longer the hip thing to wear. I remember having crew socks and pulling them down to make it appear as if I was wearing ankle socks. It was a pretty genius tactic to fit in with the cool kids. We all may feel like outcasts at some point in our lives that we just do not simply belong. For some reason we feel like we stand out and not part of the group. It can be especially easy to feel as an outcast when we have impairments. We can start to doubt our own abilities and what we know we can do.

Often, we can feel shame because we feel like an outcast or do not fit in anywhere no matter how hard we try. Shame happens not because someone necessarily does something to us but, how we internalize a situation it can involve negative self-evaluation and not living up to certain standards making yourself believe that you are not worthy. It can be difficult to feel worthy when feeling like an outcast or dealing with shame.

Thankfully, God can change us. Although we may feel like an outcast or shameful, he brings us into families and healthy communities. You end up receiving praise and fame it might not include being a famous actor comparable to Harrison Ford, but you may become famous within your community. People will know you for what you have overcome and how you have grown. You may not receive praise from millions but, you will receive praise from those who are in your corner and especially God.
 
Heavenly Father, you replace shame with glory though I am struggling with sin help me to repent and rely on your Holy Spirit to change for the better.
 
Praying,
Stacy Watkins

“For I am doing something in your days that you will not believe when you hear about it.” (Habukkuk 1:5)
 

If you turn on the news today it always seems very negative majority of the media coverage includes possibility of war. Hurricanes take out power in cities. Companies are laying off hundreds of workers. Children are killed by their parents. There is a lot of injustice in the world that can make us question if there is a God? Or even why is God not intervening? Why is He allowing for all this to happen? We can get drained from negative circumstances and just want everything to be right in the world.  When devastating circumstances rock our lives, we can doubt God and what He is even doing.

God is not scared of our questions or our doubt. Instead, he gives us hope in hard times. Sometimes the plan that God is doing is completely unbelievable that we would not even believe it even if we tried. We can only see a part of the story and not the entire picture. God sees the entire picture and can work things together for good. God is working in our lives and in the world in ways what we could not imagine.

​It can feel like God is absent or not listening during these times, but he hears our cries and wants the best for us. God is bigger than any of our circumstances and can make a way when we see there is no way.  The situation may seem bleak but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Your situation does not define who you are. You are worth more than your situation.
 
Heavenly Father, there is so much violence and negative circumstances in the world that I do not understand. It is hard to find hope when there is so much wrongdoing. But God, may I continue to trust in you for I know you are doing something completely unbelievable that I could not even imagine happening.
 
Praying,
Stacy Watkins

“The Lord is good, a stronghold in a day of distress; he cares for those who take refuge in him.” (Nahum 1:7)
 
Where do we go when there is trouble? In elementary school we practice occasionally, what to do when a fire happens, an earthquake happens, or any possible danger. Students knew where they can seek refuge who are the responders who are good that are there to help. The responders did not know us though they were simply there to do a job to make sure there was no fire, or no person who was not authorized to be there was not there. The teachers knew us at school so we could take refuge in them, but they did not know us completely. Some distresses we are not prepared for, and our lives are always dated before and after the event that happened. We can think back to prior when we could pack an entire lunch and even smoke on planes while now you can barely even bring water through security let alone even walk through security with shoes on.

In a day of distress, it is hard to think critically to think what to do next. When we are actively going through a traumatic event like a divorce, medical emergency, or anything that can cause us extreme anxiety, sorrow, or pain it can feel hard to know exactly what to do in the situation. Often, these situations can feel like they are personal attacks from God, and he does not care for us. However, this is not the case. God loves you; God is good, he cares for you, he knows what you’re going through and sees you. He desires for us to come to him with our problems to earnestly seek him. We can be assured that we can take refuge in him during our traumatic events. 
 
Heavenly Father, when I see no way out of my situation and feel like it is unbearable lord, I thank you that I can turn to you and know that I am loved by you. May I continue to seek you in my situation and find refuge in you.
 
Praying,
Stacy Watkins

“Go and assemble all the Jews who can be found in Susa and fast for me. Don’t eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my female servants will also fast in the same way. After that, I will go to the king even if it is against the law. If I perish, I perish.” (Esther 4:17)
 
Does the risk outweigh the cost? We all take risks throughout the day. Getting to work we might drive our cars or even ride a bike. We take a risk in believing other drivers are paying attention to the road and are safe. We take a risk when we apply for job. The risk is either we are going to be able to get the job or not. When someone asks how we are doing? We take a risk in being vulnerable if we answer truthfully and we allow the opportunity for them to get to know us. The risk is still out there how our response will be received. If it is received well, then we can possibly openly communicate with this person. If it is not received well the possible relationship ends in heartbreak and disappointment.

Every day we take risks some are major while others we do without thinking. Does the risk outweigh the cost choosing. Not taking the risks can be harmful for us choosing not to apply for job and not make adequate income can lead us into not taking care of our basic need’s food, shelter, utilities, and transportation. If what we are risking does not allow us to take care of these four areas of our lives, then it does not outweigh the cost, and we should instead choose something else that would benefit us.

​There are several simple ways we can figure out if what we are doing is worth the risk. We should also seek to ensure that the risk does not cause harm to ourselves or others if it causes harm, then we should not do it. To figure out if we should do it, we can seek guidance from wise counsel like a pastor, a counselor, or even a mentor. They can weigh in on our situation and see if it is worth the risk. We can pray over the situation. Listen for the Holy Spirit’s guidance for what we should do in the situation. We can take time to fast and pray wait to hear clear direction from God. The right decision on what to do will come to you for your major decisions.
 
Praying,
Stacy Watkins