1738 Soften My Heart

BIG Life Devotional | Daily Devotional for Women

This morning, you and I woke up to an abundance of miracles. All that is good and right and working far outweighs that which is not good, not right and not working. However, it’s quite natural for us to focus on that one achy part of our body that doesn’t feel good while there are thousands of other joints, bones, muscles and nerves that feel so perfect we don’t even notice them.

What is currently so perfect in our lives that we don’t even notice it? And when we don’t notice it, we take it for granted. Has God done the impossible already for us, right here in our own homes, but we’ve been oblivious to the miracle?

This morning in my Bible study time, I read 2 very familiar stories in Mark 6. First, Jesus feeding the crowd of 5,000 men plus their families with only 5 loaves of bread and 2 small fish. Miraculous. Then, immediately following this, Jesus tells his disciples to get in a boat and go across the lake while he went by himself to hill to pray. And there, on this lake, Jesus’ disciples encounter a serious problem. The wind and waves are hitting against their boat and they are struggling. Then, here comes Jesus walking on the water to them. At his command, the wind and the waves immediately cease.

Two back to back miracles all in one day. That’s a big day! But then one verse to wrap it all up. After Jesus climbed into the boat it says in verse 52, “They were totally amazed, for they still didn’t understand the significance of the miracle of the loaves. Their hearts were too hard to take it in.”

Earlier that day they had been part of the miraculous power of Jesus, yet their hearts had not fully received it. They had seen Jesus take the lunch of a boy and feed thousands upon thousands of people and after everyone had eaten all they could eat, they gathered 12 baskets of leftovers. They had seen it, but they didn’t let it change their heart.

You’ve seen it, my sister. You’ve seen God do impossible things. You’ve seen him come through for you. You’ve been in the middle of something completely impossible, then suddenly it changed and became possible. But just because your eyes saw it doesn’t mean your heart was changed by it.

God wants to change your heart. He wants his power to get down deep into your heart to the point that it changes how you encounter the next hardship. When your heart knows the power of Jesus, then your tendency to freak out in the storm calms down.

If the disciples had fully understood the significance of the miracles of the loaves, they would have known Jesus has complete sovereignty over natural forces. If their hearts would have been open to the fullness of the miracle at lunch, they wouldn’t have panicked in the storm that night.

God has already shown you his power. You’ve already seen first hand how he can provide, how he can protect, how he can heal, how he can guide. You’ve experienced it for yourself, haven’t you?

Now, let that get into your heart. Don’t be hardened. Let his miraculous power and personal care soften your heart. Lean in to his providence.

God wants his girl to be so certain of his personal involvement in the details of your life that you can face a storm and be completely settled. You can face the wind and the waves and know God’s already got that completely taken care of for you.

Jesus wanted his disciples to see his miraculous power at work feeding the crowd, then get into the boat knowing he had the power to get them to the other side of the lake. But, they hadn’t fully received the lesson in the miracle at lunch so they lacked the confidence in the storm that night.

What has God already done for you? How has he already showed up? Wouldn’t that list be long? You made it through when you weren’t expected to make it through. It worked out when everything sure looked like it would never work out.

Now take your list and face your storm, Sis. You do not have to freak out here.

Remember how Jesus had specifically told the disciples to gather the leftovers after feeding the crowd? There were 12 baskets full of leftovers, that means 1 basket for each disciple. Immediately after gathering the leftovers, the disciples got in that boat to cross the lake, so guess what … the miraculous leftovers were likely in the boat with them when the storm came up. They literally still had PROOF of what Jesus had already done with them.

I still have proof of what Jesus has already done for me … don’t you? Take a look at that proof and face this next problem with absolute confidence in the power of Jesus at work in your life.

How much more will God have to do for you for it to soften your heart to his presence? If you’re still freaking out, it’s a sign your heart hasn’t received the fullness of what he’s already done for you.

Receive it, be calmed by it, and move forward with confidence!

Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela
Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim
Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com