Devotions

Into the Light

Megan Breedlove February 3, 2014 No Comments

Jessica in ponytails Two days ago was my daughter Jessica’s 6^th birthday party. She chose an eclectic theme—duck cake, princess plates and decorations, and rainbow invitations. She wore a sparkly pink “Birthday Girl” shirt, and she wanted her hair put in “dog ears” (otherwise known in the part of the country where I grew up as “pony tails”).

I should have known better than to do her hair in my bedroom, where the light isn’t as bright as in other parts of the house. But that’s where I was when she found me and brought me the hairbrush. So I arranged her hair in one “dog ear” on each side of her head. She looked in the mirror and grinned.

All was well, until I saw her hair when she came into the kitchen as I stood at the counter working on making her birthday cake. Her hair looked…well, messy. The dog ears were slightly uneven, and I had missed some hair in the back. It was definitely not a party-ready hairstyle.

Fortunately, my husband wasn’t busy at the moment, so he fixed my work. He did quite a good job of it, too—much better than the I had done. Jessica bounded off to play, her hair looking just right.

It looked okay back in the bedroom, I thought to myself. But it hadn’t been fine. It had only looked that way because there wasn’t enough light to see clearly. Or perhaps I simply hadn’t been paying enough attention when I did her hair.

It’s the same way with our actions. Some of what we do, say, and think looks perfectly fine when we don’t look too closely. When we keep our actions in the dark. But when those actions are exposed—in other words, whenever we’re forced to look right at them—they look like a mess.

In John 3:20-21, Jesus told Nicodemus all about this principle. “People who do evil things don’t like the light,” Jesus said (I’m paraphrasing). “That’s because they don’t want others to know what they’ve been doing. But when people do what is right, they’re glad to come to the light.”

Is there some action, thought, or attitude that you’re trying to keep in the dark so you don’t have to look closely at it? So you don’t have to see how messy it really is? So you don’t have to realize how ugly it is and do something about it?

Go before God and ask Him to give you the courage to bring it into the light. Then look at it with Him, agree with Him that it’s wrong, and repent. In other words, turn away from it and strike out on a new path.

If I had left Jessica’s hair the way it was, people at the party would definitely have noticed. With sin, if we leave it just as it is (in the dark) and refuse to deal with it, eventually someone will notice. And even if no one ever does, God knows all about it.

Get your sin dealt with today. Make it right before God and, if necessary, before others. Let God’s light shine upon it so He can wipe it away and completely, perfectly, beautifully forgive you—and then help you walk away from it.

John 3:20-21—For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.

Finding the Best

Megan Breedlove January 27, 2014 No Comments

Seashells This past weekend, I had the incredible opportunity to spend a couple days with several of my friends whom I had previously only met online. We’ve been friends for almost ten years, and we wanted to meet each other in person. So we all converged on the Disney resort at Hilton Head, and we had a wonderful time.

One of the things some of us did was take a walk on the beach to enjoy the beautiful scenery and look for seashells. We didn’t find many shells—it was the wrong time of day—but we enjoyed peering into the sand in search of just that perfect shell.

Some of the shells I found appeared perfect because they were partially buried in the sand. But when I picked them up, I discovered that they were broken. I tossed those back to the ground and kept looking. When I found a perfect one, I rinsed it off in the ocean and put it in my pocket—and then kept looking for more.

In the same way I looked for those shells, you and I need to look for the great things our children do. We need to be willing to search through all the things our children do wrong until we find something they’re doing right, and then we need to keep looking for even more things they’re doing right.

Yes, we need to correct and discipline our children when they’re sinned, and when they’ve made a simple mistake, we need to correct that too. That’s not wrong. What’s wrong is when we focus on the negatives to the exclusion of the positives. We put all our energy into fixing the broken shells rather than rejoicing in the ones that are unbroken.

Our children’s behavior is like that beach. It’s full of shells (actions). Some are desirable, and some are undesirable. When we find an action that needs correcting, it’s okay to stop and do that. But then we need to toss it aside and go back to looking for the good things they’ve done.

You and I as moms love it when the important people in our lives notice things we’ve done well. We wouldn’t want them to harp on the negatives while ignoring everything we do right. Yet too often, that’s what we do to our kids. We take the unbroken shells for granted and spend all our time trying to convince our children to remedy the broken ones.

How discouraged or even angry our children must get sometimes, when all they hear about is the things they’ve done wrong! Harping on their sins and mistakes is one easy way to provoke them, something the Bible tells us we’re not supposed to do.

What difference would it make in our homes if we spent as much time looking for what our children do right and rejoicing in those things as we do concentrating on the negative? Would our children be more encouraged? Would we?

Why not try it and find out?

Ephesians 6:4—Fathers (and mothers), do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. (ESV; parentheses added)

Great Enough

Megan Breedlove January 20, 2014 No Comments

Have you ever been to one of those painting classes where an instructor teaches you and your group how to paint a particular painting, and you paint it right there in class? Neither had I, until this past week. A friend of mine had her birthday party at one such venue, and I thought it sounded like a lot of fun. So, despite the fact that I know I’m not a very good artist, I decided to go.

“It’s easy!” everybody said. “It’ll be fun!”

It was a lot of fun. And it was easy to follow the instructor’s directions. I listened carefully and followed her directions as best I could. Which doesn’t explain why her painting looked like a professional painting, and mine looked like…well, like exactly what it was: a painting by someone who had never attempted to do something like this before.

“It has character,” I told my husband as I was driving home. “But don’t worry: we don’t have to hang it up or anything.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Phil said. When I arrived home and displayed the actual picture, he said, “It looks great!”

What I saw when I looked at it were the places where the brush strokes were a little too wide, the grass was a little too long, or the sky was a little too blue. In other words, the imperfections.

My kids didn’t see the imperfections. “Cool!” Ellie exclaimed when I showed it to her. “Who painted that?”

“I did,” I said.

“Wow! Cool!” she repeated.

The other kids’ mouths dropped open when they found out I painted it. “That’s amazing!” Kenny exclaimed. “I didn’t know you could paint like that!”

I was actually starting to be a little proud of my painting, with its imperfections and all.

We’re going to hang that painting up after all. Not because it’s a technically perfect painting (it isn’t), but as a reminder to me that even when I can’t perform perfectly, overall, I still do a lot that is right and worthy of admiration, especially by my children.

We as moms are often hard on ourselves, especially when it comes to motherhood. When we look at the job we’re doing, all we see are the mistakes. The times we yelled or lost our temper. The times we didn’t have patience, or weren’t creative, or said something we shouldn’t. We look at our motherhood and we see a picture that doesn’t look quite right.

Our children, on the other hand, probably see something very different. Sure, they know we make mistakes, but they have an entirely different perspective. They look at the job we’ve done, and they say, “Cool!” or “That’s amazing!”

To them, it doesn’t matter whether our motherhood looks exactly like someone else’s or is technically perfect (which isn’t possible, by the way). They’re much easier on us than we are on ourselves. They look at us and see “Wow!”

True, when we sin, we need to confess it. When we make a mistake, we need to rectify it. But the fact that we make mistakes sometimes, and sin sometimes, doesn’t mean the whole picture is ruined. Instead of frantically trying to muster up our own abilities to make the picture perfect and pleasing to our God and our children—and being afraid we still won’t be able to do it—we need to trust in the perfection of the One Who has called us to motherhood and will strengthen us and equip us with everything we need to do the job well.

When I see that picture hanging on the wall near my desk, I’m going to remember the fun time I had at the painting class. I’ll probably also be tempted to see the imperfections. But I’m going to resist that temptation. Instead, I’ll remind myself how cool my children think the picture is. And I’ll remember that being a good painter—just like being a good mom—doesn’t mean that I have to be perfect.

Isaiah 41:10—Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (ESV)

Limmited

Megan Breedlove January 13, 2014 No Comments

Limmited Yes, I know the title of this devotional is spelled wrong. But let me explain.

This past week, my third-grade son, Kenny, participated in a spelling bee at his school. He was one of two representatives chosen from his class for his superior spelling ability. The bee contestants were third-, fourth-, and fifth-graders, all of whom had to stand before a gym packed with their classmates and parents and try to spell their words correctly.

Kenny wasn’t completely prepared. He had lost his spelling list partway through the preparation time, and it took us awhile to get another one. So he had studied some of the words, but he wasn’t as fully prepared as he could have been.

“Please, God,” I prayed, as Kenny’s first turn approached. “Please let him get through at least one round.”

It wasn’t to be. Kenny got the word “limited” and spelled it with two “m’s”. For him, the spelling bee was over.

We had told him beforehand that whether he won or lost, we would still be proud of him. I was especially proud of his attitude after he lost. He was disappointed, but he accepted the results bravely. “I’m proud of you, son,” I said, giving him a hug.

And I was—though I couldn’t help but wonder whether more preparation would have made a difference in the outcome.

It’s a relatively minor thing not to be prepared for a spelling bee. It’s much more serious when you and I aren’t prepared for the tests that come our way in life—tests that we could have prepared for, if we had only done what we were supposed to do.

I’m not saying that there is a way to anticipate everything that might happen to us, just as there is no way to prepare for every single spelling word in the English language. But Scripture promises us that we will all face trials. And when we do, it’s best to be as ready as possible.

How do we get ready for trials? How can we possibly prepare when we don’t know exactly what’s coming? Three ways.

First, we maintain a close relationship with God. Just like any close relationship, this one involves spending time with the Person we want to be close to. We need to spend regular, daily time with Him. Some of the ways to do that include prayer, Bible study, and hearing His Word proclaimed. When we encounter a trial, we don’t want to have to try to remember where we last left God, so to speak. We want to be close to Him and used to communing with Him on a regular basis.

Second, we take care of our relationships with others. During times of trial, we will need others to be close to us, to help us make it through. If we’ve allowed our relationships with family and friends to grow distant, then when hardship comes, we’ll be scrambling for support. If we are holding something against someone—or if he or she is holding something against us—we need to get that settled. Not during the midst of a trial, but right now, before the trial comes.

Third, we need to take care of our bodies. As much as possible, we need to eat well and get enough sleep. I know these two things aren’t always possible. But when they are, we need to take advantage of them as ways to keep our body strong, so that when a trial hits, we won’t fold physically under the pressure.

We may not know exactly what’s coming, but we can prepare as if we did. That way, when trials come (not if), we’ll be better able to face them to God’s glory. And maybe, just maybe, we won’t be knocked out in the first round.

James 1:2—Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds. (ESV; italics added)

Greener

Megan Breedlove January 6, 2014 No Comments

My son Timmy loves potato chips. “Get it? Get it?” he will say hopefully, pointing to the bag on the counter.

The other day, I gave him several chips. He was happily eating them…for awhile, that is. His satisfaction with his snack came to a screeching halt when he realized that Jessica had chips too.

The minute he realized there were chips on her plate, he began doing everything he could think of to try to get to them. “No, Timmy,” I said. “You have your own chips.”

But Timmy was no longer impressed with his own snack. He climbed up onto a chair near Jessica and tried to climb onto the table. He reached for her chips. He asked for them. He screamed.

I went over to him, picked up one of his chips, and offered it to him. He clamped his mouth shut and turned away, so I backed off, at which point he immediately began demanding his sister’s chips again.

Ultimately, Timmy missed out on a snack because he wouldn’t eat his own chips, and I wouldn’t let him have his sister’s chips. He went hungry when there was a perfectly good plate of chips sitting right there in front of him—all because he couldn’t have what his sister was having.

Timmy’s attitude and actions that day remind me of us moms sometimes. We’re content with what we have in our own lives—our house, our car, our children—until we see somebody who has something “better”. Then we begin to pout, whine, and complain.

What she has is so much better than what I have, we tell ourselves. Why can’t I have it too?

And then we look back at our own lives, which seemed so satisfying just a moment ago, and suddenly, they’re not quite so satisfying anymore.

You’ve heard the saying, The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. It means that whatever someone else has always looks better. Unfortunately, this is often true. We fail to appreciate what we have because we’re too busy wanting what someone else has.

But oh, don’t belittle what you have just because someone else has more or “better”. Don’t look at the gifts God has specifically chosen for you and disparage them because they’re not what you would have picked out for yourself. God is far better at picking things out for you than you are. He knows what is best for you and ultimately what will be most satisfying—in other words, what will lead you to Him. If you don’t have what someone else has, there’s a reason. God knows it’s not in His plan for you—at least right now.

Is there something in your life today with which you’re dissatisfied? Is part of your dissatisfaction because you’re comparing what you have with what you think you could or should have?

Precious mom, trust God that what He has picked out for you is right for you. Then thank Him for it. True contentment is to be found in God alone, not in the things we possess. It’s Satan’s lie that you would be happier with the things someone else has.

Don’t believe him. Stick with the chips on your own plate.

James 1:17—Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. (ESV)

1 Timothy 6:6—Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment. (ESV)

Mall Treasure Hunt

Megan Breedlove December 23, 2013 No Comments

During the Advent season, the kids and I do various special activities all meant to help us focus on Jesus and His birth. One of the kids’ favorite activities is the mall treasure hunt.

I print out an identical sheet of paper for each child with pictures of things like candy canes, Santa, wreaths, stars, and presents. Then, we go to the mall with papers and pencils, pens, or crayons in hand.

When we get there, each child begins looking for the things pictured on the paper and crossing them off as they are found. All of them are usually pretty easy to find except one—the last picture on the paper. That’s because it’s a picture of the Baby Jesus.

As you can imagine, it’s always more difficult to find the Baby Jesus at the mall (they’re not allowed to “cheat” by going into the Hallmark store and looking at the ornaments) than any of the other items. That fact has led us to some great questions and discussions as we answer those questions.

Why is it so hard to find the Baby Jesus at the mall? Why is it so much easier to find Santa? Why don’t people want the Baby Jesus there like they want Santa?

But these questions aren’t the only point of the treasure hunt. That’s because there is more to teaching our children about Jesus than simply decrying the fact that Christmas is too commercial, or that Santa is more welcome than Jesus in many places. The real practicality of the discussions comes from the following questions:

Is Jesus welcome in our home? Is He welcome in our hearts? What can we do to show both Him and others that He is welcome here?

The answers to this second set of questions are what I want my children to take away from our Advent activity. I don’t want them merely to remember that they didn’t find the Baby Jesus again this year; I want them to make it a habit to evaluate their hearts to determine whether Jesus is truly welcome, and to consider how they can show Him and others that He is.

Have you ever thought about these questions? About, first of all, whether Jesus is welcome in your home and your heart? Jesus isn’t just a character we use for basing Christmas on; He’s the very Son of God, and as such, He deserves to be welcome. But have you ever welcomed Him into your heart and life?

If you have, that’s wonderful. If not, tell Him that He’s welcome now. Tell Him you want Him to make His home with you and be found with you whenever people are looking for Him. In fact, one of His names is Emmanuel, meaning “God with us”. Is He with you? Have you shown Him that He’s welcome?

Think about it, mom. What can you (and your children) do to welcome Him? Why not make sure you’re doing it this Christmas?

Matthew 1:23—”Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). (ESV)

What do you do to show Jesus and others that He is welcome in your life and home? Share in the comments below

Digging In

Megan Breedlove December 9, 2013 No Comments

Yesterday morning, I took Lindsey sledding. (The other kids didn’t want to go.) This is a big deal for us, because we have sledding weather exactly…well, almost never. But a few days ago, we had an ice storm, and now the ground is covered with ice, and has been for the past few days.

So Lindsey and I went to our favorite park, where there’s a hill that’s just perfect for sledding. We took along a cardboard box, since we don’t own sleds (almost nobody down here does). When we got there—driving slowly and carefully all the way—we managed to cross the icy street on foot and made it through the park to the bottom of the hill.

There, we picked up a large piece of cardboard from among the several that previous sledders had left behind, knowing it would be better than our small box. Carefully, we trudged to the top of the hill.

Walking to the top of a small hill might not sound like such a big deal. But it was, because remember, the ground was covered not in snow but in ice. Walking uphill on smooth, glassy ice is a next-to-impossible task.

We had to step in the places where people who had gone before us had broken through the ice slightly as they trudged uphill. Placing our feet in these small depressions allowed us to dig into the ice better and gave us the ability to make it to the top.

Once we were at the top of the hill, Lindsey took the first turn down, perched on our piece of cardboard from someone’s old television box. I took the next turn, a treat I hadn’t had in almost thirty years. Then it was Lindsey’s turn, then mine again, as I demonstrated how to slide down without turning sideways and getting dumped off.

Lindsey carrying cardboard sled For the rest of the time, I stood at the top of the hill and watched Lindsey slide down and climb back up to do it all again. Coming up carrying the cardboard was hard for her, and each time, I watched her try to find places for her feet where she could really dig in, as we’d had to do on our first ascent

And I wondered what you and I do, as moms, to dig into the spiritual hills we have to climb.

The problem is that sometimes we don’t do anything to dig in, and partway up, we slide back down again we don’t have solid footing. Or we do fine digging in for awhile, but then we hit a patch where we can’t figure out how to dig in, and down we go.

We’ve all been there. We’ve all faced challenges in our lives that we’ve tried to overcome, and sometimes we’ve been more successful than others at reaching the top.

What makes the difference between making it to the summit and getting stranded halfway up (or sliding a few feet or even all the way back down again) is whether or not we dig in.

It’s obvious how to dig in on an icy hill. You use your feet and maybe your hands, and up you go. It’s actually equally obvious how to dig in on life’s figurative hills, because we all know what we’re supposed to do. Read our Bibles. Pray. Attend church. Seek Christian fellowship. Confess our sins and ask forgiveness.

The problem is that sometimes we don’t do those things, because we don’t understand how vital it is to dig in.

After all, if you can get to the top of the hill by yourself, there’s no reason to dig in, right? The only reason to dig in is if you need the help. But let me tell you, my friends, we all need it. We are sadly mistaken if we think we don’t particularly need to dig in because we can make it on our own. God hasn’t designed us that way, and there’s not a single one of us who can make it to the top without prayer, Bible study, and all those other things we mentioned (and then some).

Make no mistake about it, you are on a slippery hill. Maybe the going seems easy for now, but you could hit an icy patch any second, and when that happens, you’d better be dug in before you hit it unless you want to wind up at the bottom.

What are you doing to dig in, before you hit an icy patch? Will you make it up the hill?

1 Corinthians 10:12—Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. (ESV)

Fences

Megan Breedlove December 2, 2013 No Comments

This past Saturday, my husband went out to mow the yard. Yes, it was November 30, but because we live in Texas, the grass keeps growing, and the yard has to be mowed periodically, even during what passes for winter. So out he went.

The kids, of course, wanted to go out and play since Daddy was back there. I gave them permission, and they ran outside toward the swing set and our large backyard.

There came a point where my husband had to unlock and open the back gate in our fence and mow a narrow strip of grass between our fence and the alley. As he was doing so, Lindsey came running up to him, begging to be allowed out in the alley. “Pretty please?” she pleaded.

My husband said yes. It’s not a well-trafficked area (we hardly ever have vehicles coming through our alley), and besides, he was going to be right there. Lindsey bounded out past our back fence, exulting, “I’ve never been out here before. This is great!”

She had a grand time playing beyond the boundaries of our fence. And as I’ve said, she was safe.

On the other hand, when you and I go not beyond the boundaries of our yards but beyond God’s boundaries, are not nearly so safe. In fact, we are guaranteed to be in danger.

God has fenced off certain areas of life from us, knowing that on the other side lurk sin, danger, and death. But sometimes, we ignore the fences (in other words, His commandments) that He’s put up, and we blithely venture beyond them.

“This is great!” we exclaim. “I’m having so much fun!”

But make no mistake about it: this kind of fun brings consequences. Yes, sin appears to be fun for awhile (Satan is well capable of making sin appear fun and exciting, so that people will want to commit it), but it’s only a matter of time before the consequences come crashing in.

Sometimes, those consequences will be obvious, such as broken relationships or even getting arrested. Other times, they will be less obvious, when they don’t seem to come immediately or when the consequences are spiritual distance between ourselves and God.

But there will be some kind of consequences. Oh, yes, there will be.

And that is why God has warned us to keep out of certain areas and away from certain activities. Not because He’s a killjoy, but because He wants to keep us away from danger. Not because He wants to take all the fun out of life, but because He wants to spare us from the sorrow that sin ultimately brings.

We make a terrible mistake when we assume that God’s got it backwards—that the stuff He has forbidden is what will make us truly happy, or that we really won’t be harmed by it like He’s said He will.

Eve would have understood. When Satan, disguised as a serpent, was trying to tempt her to eat the forbidden fruit, he said, “Did God really say you’ll be harmed by it?” Eve began to doubt God. She made her choice, and the rest is history.

You and I have the chance not to pass that history on to our own children. Yes, we all bear a sin nature now, including our precious kids. But what we don’t have to pass down is the idea that God doesn’t know what He’s talking about and is merely out to destroy our fun. Instead, we can show our children what it looks like to remain willingly within God’s boundaries, and what kind of joy that brings—not the least of which is joy knowing that you are exactly where God wants you.

Is there something with which you’re out playing in the back alley? Return to the yard. Come back inside the fence. Repent, which means to tell God you’re sorry and acknowledge that you never should have been outside the yard in the first place and won’t go back. That’s where your joy will begin—in being forgiven and restored to fellowship with the Lover of Your Soul.

Not in playing beyond the boundaries.

Psalm 119:9-10—With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

Fence with gate

Fame

Megan Breedlove November 25, 2013 No Comments

A few days ago, I returned from a trip to California. I had gone there to meet the team at my publishing house and to discuss some publicity strategies for my upcoming book (Chaotic Joy; coming April 1, 2014). The most fun aspect of the trip was getting to meet the eople I had formerly known only by name or through email. The second best aspect—which was right up there with the first—was that I had gone by myself. In other words, no children.

An all-expenses paid trip to California by myself, no childcare duties involved. Ahhhhhh. I started looking forward to it the minute I heard about it. However, while I very much enjoyed the time alone, I also wished the team could have met my children. My children are great people, and I love showing them off, just like you do yours. Plus,it’s because of my children that I write what I do: books for moms. Therefore, people who know my children will get a deeper glimpse into who I am and what’s behind my writing.

I found out, though, that even though most of the staff there had never met my children (my editor had met Timmy once when he was 3 months old, because I had brought him to a writing conference she and I both attended), Timmy’s reputation had preceded him. I’m friends with some of the staff on Facebook, and I frequently post about Timmy on my personal page. So Timmy’s exploits were nothing new.

“How’s Timmy doing?” several people asked, knowing he was probably up to or into something.

But active toddler boys aren’t the only ones whose reputation precedes them. Sometimes ours precedes us, as well.

You and I may become well-known even to people who have never met us in person. People may have heard of us (whether for good or for ill) and be well aware of what kind of person we are—even if they’ve never seen us face-to-face. Our fame may go before us, causing them to expect us to be a certain type of person. Usually, this is no problem.

But we need to make sure we’re well-known for good things, not bad. We want to be known as the person who’s always gracious, not the person with the unpredictable temper. It’s much better to be known as the person with a kind word for everyone, as opposed to the person who’s so negative and critical that no one wants to be around her.

Friend, what’s your reputation?Is it something you’re glad to be known for?

If not, it’s never too late to begin building a new reputation. With God’s help, you can stop gossiping, or being harsh or negative, or being lazy. You can choose the reputation you want and work to make that happen. And the best part is that you don’t have to work alone. God will help you, because He wants you to be known for positive qualities even more than you do. He wants you to reflect well on Him and to bring glory to His name, which is hard to do if you’re known for less-than-positive traits.

So if you’re known for positive, God-honoring things, rejoice and give thanks to Him that He has enabled this to be so. If you’re known for the opposite, lay those things before Him and ask for His help to become known for things He would want you known for.

Ask Him to help you reflect the character of His Son, and to become known for that character. You can rest assured He will answer that prayer with a yes.

Proverbs 22:1—A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.

Calvin Who?

Megan Breedlove November 18, 2013 No Comments

Calvin Coolidge Teaching children is always an adventure. You never know what they’re going to say next.

The other day, I was teaching Ellie history (she is homeschooled). She had read a particular section of the chapter, and I was quizzing her about it. We came to one question where the answer was supposed to be Calvin Coolidge.

Oh, I know!” she said. “That’s Calvin, uh, Calvin What’s-his-name…I know! Calvin Klein!”

I couldn’t help but laugh. Her error was easily corrected, as I explained who both men were and that she should have said Calvin Coolidge.

The fact that she got the two confused rather amused me. I found it funny that, when pressed to think of “Calvin’s” last name, she came up with the name of a clothing manufacturer instead of the name of our former President.

Getting an answer wrong in history class can be funny. What’s not so humorous, however—not at all, actually—is when we don’t know the right answer to other, more important questions.

As Christians, we are to live our lives in accordance with God’s standards. That means we have to know what those standards are. We need to be able to answer questions we’ll all encounter, such as Is it okay to be snarky to someone who made me mad? (No.) Is it okay to be kind only to the people I really like? (No.) Did God really mean that I need to be faithful to my marriage vows and loving to my husband and children? (Yes.)

So how are we going to know what the right answer is in a particular situation? It’s dangerous just to wait until the situation occurs and then go with whatever our emotions tell us is right. Emotions can be greatly deceptive, and we run a risk—sometimes a huge one—when we allow them to be the arbiters of what we should do.

Instead, we need to ingrain God’s answers to these questions into our minds, so that when the situation arises, we aren’t at a loss as to what’s the right thing to do. And the best way to know what God says in regards to the decisions we must make is to look at His revealed Word, the Bible.

In the Bible, God lays out for us all the principles we need in order to know what kind of conduct is right and pleases Him. He gives us all the answers to our moral questions. Do the kind thing. Do the loving thing. Put others first. Granted, He doesn’t always tell us exactly how to apply these principles in every situation we face. But He does give us these answers. When someone snaps at us, we already know what the answer is: we’re supposed to respond lovingly. All that’s left to do is ask God for the application. Exactly what does being loving look like in this situation?

Or when someone tempts us to sin, we know we’re supposed to flee temptation. We don’t have to ask whether or not that’s the right answer; we already know that it is. All we have to do is ask God what fleeing looking like in our particular situation.

Do you know what God says to us in His Word? Are you familiar with the principles He’s laid out in the Bible? Do you already know the answers He’s provided you even before you ask?

If not, you need to spend more time studying the pages of Scripture. God has provided answers to some of our most commonly asked questions, and you should want to know what those answers are. He’s provided solutions to some of our most frequent or irritating problems, and if you know what He’s said, you’ll be a lot better able to deal with them.

Yes, you might still have to ask Him for some specifics in how to apply His answers, but make sure you at least know what those answers are. By giving them to you, He’s given you a leg up on every situation you will ever face.

Take advantage of that.

Psalm 119:97— Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. (NIV)

Devotions

Into the Light

Finding the Best

Great Enough

Limmited

Greener

Mall Treasure Hunt

Digging In

Fences

Fame

Calvin Who?

You Missed

Priorities

I Wouldn’t Do That

Little Things

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