“The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry for help.” (Psalm 34:15)

There is something about not only being seen but heard. People feel seen in multiple ways; by knowing their name, giving them a gift, and smiling and waving at them. When we are seen it is not in a critical way but, in a caring way. The eyes of the Lord on the righteous does not mean that God is watching us in critical way but looking at us in a caring or watchful way.

God knows where you are, how heavy your heart might feel or even what you are facing. Not only does he know your situation but listens to our cries. God is attentive to our honest prayers. The messy prayers that come from pain, exhaustion, and even fears. Our prayers do not have to polished or prefect since God is attentive to our needs and wants us to cry out to him.

Throughout our day we might face times when we feel as we are overlooked, small, or not seen nor heard. There is one who always sees and hears us and wants us to call out to him. Our prayers do not fade away unheard, but each one is listened too and treasured. When life feels unfair and overwhelming remember we can trust God.

We can always trust God and cry out to him during hard times for he wants to hear from us. He desires our honest prayers and close relationship with us. He always sees us and hears us even when we feel alone. We can be confident that we are always seen and heard by him.
 
Heavenly Father, thank you for you always see us when we feel alone. May we continue to trust you each day.
 
Praying for you,
Stacy Watkins

“The Shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had seen and heard, which were just as they had been told.” (Luke 2:20)

The shepherds did not stay after Jesus was born, they returned to their fields. They returned to their ordinary work. They did not return the same but, was changed after experiencing the nearness of God. They returned to their ordinary lives praising and glorifying God. Encountering Jesus does not change our situations but, our lives are transformed carrying a new song into the mundane work.

The shepherd’s praise was grounded in what was told to them. That God would be faithful to his promise. It was not emotional hype. Real praise comes from remembering what God has said. It fills the heart and pours out into our mundane lives becoming moments of praise of worship.  There are several promises in the bible that we can remember and transform our lives. That God will never leave us or forsake us, He is with us until the end of the age, that he loves us.

Even in our darkest moments when we feel like we are alone we can hold onto the promises from God and praise Him for He is worthy of our praise. When we praise him, our hearts are transformed and we can turn mundane work into times of praise and worship.

Heavenly Father, may you continue to transform our hearts and lead us to praise.

Walking with you,
Stacy Watkins

“But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.”” (Luke 2:10)
 
                 
Good news is meant to be celebrated. Got a new job, new apartment, or even in a new relationship. Often good news is proclaimed when situations are going well on good days when people are happy. They do not want to contain their excitement. Even in situations when we are happy, we can be afraid. The new job can bring challenges on the first day, the new apartment we might need to find a different transportation route.

The words “Don’t be afraid” comes with encouragement and comfort. Fear can come easily in new situations. The saying is not a command to avoid hardships, but a promise that the story does not end when we are afraid. There is comfort in the God who sees each one of us. The good news is not that life will suddenly miraculously get easier, but that God draws near to each one of us during our hardship. He does not leave us alone in our situation but is there to comfort and guide us. The good news of the birth of Jesus is for all people. Not some. Not those who have it together. All.

Whether on good days or bad we can experience knowing there is great joy. Situations do not determine joy but come from within from knowing God. Joy is not fleeting but is experienced through knowing the love of God. That he will never leave us or forsake us. That he is near us when times are hard and when they are good. The good news today is that Jesus was born and is God with us. God drew near his people. We can take comfort for ourselves and others that God came near.

Heavenly Father, may you replace fear with your presence, may you move our hearts to reflect who you are through compassion, justice, and mercy
 
Walking with you,
Stacy Watkins

“See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name him Immanuel, which is translated “God is with us”” (Matthew 1:23)
 
This verse answers humanity’s oldest fear are we alone in our circumstances? Jesus is not just a messenger he is God. Jesus born on this earth as God incarnate came because God saw us in our suffering, our circumstances, and situations decided to be with us. God came close to us not wanting to be far off. God stepped into our world being born the same as all of us. Can identify with all of us.

​Jesus did not come to be above us or below us but to be fully present, engaged, and walk among us with all the burdens that we carry. He is with us every step of the way. There is no situation that is not with us. He is with us when we suffer. He is with us when we rejoice. He is with us when our hearts feel heavy. He is with us when we are uncertain. He is God with us in every situation. There are times in our life that feel like he is far from us, and we are alone in the situation. Take courage for he came for each one of us. To be With Us not matter how difficult the burden we are carrying may feel.
 
Heavenly Father, we thank you for Jesus that you loved us to send your son down to earth to be with us.
 
Walking with you,
Stacy Watkins

“An account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham: Abraham fathered Isaac, Isaac fathered Jacob, Jacob fathered Judah and his brothers, Judah fathered Perez and Sereh by Tamar...” (Matthew 1:1-3)
 
There are several classic movie scenes with families gathering around a table to eat dinner. A Christmas Story displays one family who are sitting down to eat meatloaf for dinner. One of children states they hate to eat meatloaf the narration continues stating the mom had not eaten a hot meal in fifteen years.  Holiday seasons can be hard especially if we grew up in difficult situations and our parents were not kind.

Here Matthew introduces us to Tamar a woman who was abused, betrayed, and left to fend for herself in an unfriendly world. She was not only a victim but a survivor. She is listed among several other women in the genealogy of Christ. Women who overcame hardships each step of the way continuing to have hope. Even our savior Jesus has a messy family tree.

The genealogy of Jesus includes imperfect people that had to overcome obstacles. Each step of the way they had hope. No matter how dark our situations may appear there is still hope. Redemption is not for those who have it all together but, for everyone who believes in Jesus.
 
Heavenly Father, no matter the situation may we continue to have hope.
 
Walking with you,
Stacy Watkins
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“I sought the Lord, and he answered me and rescued me from all my fears.” (Psalm 34:4)
 
Some people might say that there is nothing to fear. President Roosevelt in his inaugural address even stated, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” The phrase was used to inspire and invoke confidence spurring individuals into action. The vision that everyone can conquer their fears. We are all afraid of something spiders lurking in corners, the dark, receiving negative test results, or even the future.

Many of our fears are situations that have not happened yet but could be a possibility. When we think of fears in the future, we start planning what to do. No matter how much we plan it does not get rid of our fears. The only true rescue comes from seeking the Lord. We can bring our fears to the Lord for he hears us and will answer. God is our ultimate rescuer, and we can seek him during all things.
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Seek the Lord he is waiting to hear from you and deliver you from your fears. You do not have to everything together to come before God. God isn’t waiting for you to have your life together. He just wants us. To love you and cherish you as his son or daughter.
 
Heavenly Father, may we continue to seek you in times of desperation and when life is good. God, we thank you that we can always come to you.
 
Walking with you,
Stacy Watkins

“I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.” (Psalm 34:1)
 
The world can feel completely hectic at times. The past week there has been hurricanes that have hit countries and left hundreds of people without homes, earthquakes that blocked roadways leading to flooding, and even unexpected fires. During these times we can question is there a God? Why is God not helping me? Or even how can I find joy in this moment?

The good news is that God has never left you. He’s right there with you in the struggle. When we praise God in the middle of our struggle we find peace. Praise reminds us that the situation that we are currently in is not our end story. There is more waiting for you. There are several ways we can praise God during our struggles we can sing songs, pray, and even practice gratitude during the situation.

When we shift our mind from the negative of what is going wrong to gratitude not only is there a shift in our mind, but our spirit. We can see things in a new light and have hope in dark moments. We can continue to place our hope in God for He is with us even in our struggle.
 
Heavenly Father, may we sing praises to you even in our darkest times.
 
Walking with you,
Stacy Watkins

“Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and began his defense:” (Acts 26:1)
 
Sometimes silence is powerful and it can be more powerful to stay silent in situations then speaking out. However, there is power in our words. Sometimes we can believe that our voice does not matter. While we continue to wait for others to speak up for us. Why wouldn’t we wait for someone else to speak up? They might appear more confident, are a great communicator, or even have more followers. This should not deter us from speaking out since we all have voice. We all are meant to be heard.

Many important decisions in our lives can only be decided once we have courage and speak for ourselves. Though we might want someone else to speak out for us because it would be easier. Unless we speak out for ourselves and let our voices be heard then sometimes our needs will go unmet. There are several things that we can speak out against; unfair treatment, professional goals, or even simple things that you need. The best person to advocate for you about what you need is yourself. Though we have friends that know us and might know our needs they can only truly know what we need unless we speak truth for ourselves and our needs.

Even when it is hard to speak out for us, we can take courage for the Holy Spirit guides us with the words that we need to speak. We might not know exactly how to say it or the right words but, the Holy Spirit knows what needs to be said. When we do not know what to say we can also pray to God to give us the courage to speak for ourselves and be heard.
 
Heavenly Father, may you continue to give us courage to speak out for ourselves. When we do not know what to say may the Holy Spirit continue to give us the words and help us to be heard.
 
Walking with you,
Stacy Watkins

“If then I did anything wrong and deserving death, I am not trying to escape death; but if there is nothing to what these men accuse me of, no one can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar!” (Acts 25:11)

James Bond always seems to exude confidence he usually just says his name all suave “Bond, James Bond.” His name being an entire statement and not just a name. There is always something we can learn from people who are confident they are able to boldly proclaim things and have a self- awareness about their selves. When we are confident, we are standing firm in the truth about ourselves. We know we can have confidence because we are rooted in Jesus.

Confidence involves having courage and humility when we face situations that involve being misunderstood, false accusations, or even mistreatment we can stay honest, humble, and anchored in God’s purpose. Though it can be difficult to be honest and humble when facing tough situations especially when we know we have done nothing wrong and might have to face consequences that are unjust. We too can refuse to be condemned by false accusations and stand firm in truth. We can have faith that true justice will prevail.

True justice only comes from Jesus he sits on the rightful judgment seat. We are held accountable for our actions whether we believe that we are innocent or not, but we can trust God that God’s justice will prevail even when human systems fail us.
 
Heavenly Father, help us to stand firm in your truth even when the outcome does not look good. Help us to believe in the purpose that you have set before each one of us.
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Walking with you,
Stacy Watkins
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"'I said, What should I do, Lord?' The Lord said to me, 'Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told everything that you have been assigned to do.'" (Acts 22:10)

School assigned projects sometimes are not fun since often teachers assign partners who might not be our friends. Some assigned tasks we might get at work might include administrative taking messages, answering phones, or even operational involving ensuring the work environment is clean and orderly or even supervisory assignments including hiring, training, and supervising tasks. There are tasks that we all must complete. Some are more strenuous than others and some take more energy but no matter how difficult, we must complete the work that is before us.

Often, we do not know what the next step is that we must take. We can ask the question “What shall I do, Lord?”, it marks the beginning of transformation. We stop telling God what we want and ask Him what He wants us to do moving ourselves from control to surrender. We learn to seek out the assigned tasks that he has for us and not just the desires of our hearts. Not all the tasks will be laid out exactly before us and may come one step at a time. It is okay to not know exactly what to do, and you may feel stuck however, continue to ask and seek God for guidance.

You are never alone when you feel stuck and are unsure what to do next. God promises He will never leave us nor forsake us. He also goes before us in all situations. He is always there right beside us. When you are stuck and unsure what to do, pray to God and He will give you direction in what to do next.

Heavenly Father, thank you that we are never alone that you walk beside us. When we are uncertain or plans fall apart, help us to ask what we should do, Lord?

Walking with you,
Stacy Watkins