Jon Courson Devo...
During a recent backpacking trip, I found myself with lots of time to pray. The Lord revealed there was much healing needed within my soul and psyche. Continued challenges, struggles, and difficulties had taken their toll. His prescription was to have me continually draw near to Him. How long necessary for healing would be up to Him. I would simply have to trust Him.
It was easy to feel very small on that trip, standing at the base of giant mountain peaks, or looking out across vast river drainages from on top of them. But Jon Courson briefly describes just how small we really are in the universe. I forget the statistics, but you can fit a lot of Earths inside the Sun, you can fit a lot of suns inside the biggest star. That's huge.
The reason these monstrous galactical bodies look so small is the fact they are so far distant from our vantage point. We have to magnify these objects with powerful telescopes to bring them into focus. And that is our calling, as well: to magnify Jesus in our lives. "I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." Phil. 1:19-21.
It is through our challenges, struggles, and difficulties that Christ is magnified and exalted. On the pack trail, I experienced unrelenting orthopedic pain. Even so, God empowered me to perform well in spite of it. Thankfully, He didn't allow the pain to increase beyond what I could bear.
Others are watching professed Christians. They will observe how you respond to challenges, struggles, and difficulties in our lives. May we magnify Christ and let Him be known to the world around us.
