God’s Ways: Ordinary and Miraculous

By Dr Charles Stanley

READ | 1 Kings 17:2-7

God declared, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” (Isa. 55:8). And in fact, one of the biggest frustrations of the Christian life has to do with a lack of understanding about God’s ways. There are times when we could really use a miracle, and yet He does not come through for us. Unmet expectations lead to confusion, disappointment, and even anger. Why did God let me down?

There are two schools of thought regarding the miraculous. Some people don’t believe God works miracles at all, while others are convinced that if He’s not doing the miraculous every day, then something is wrong with their faith. We need a balanced perspective, which we find in the Bible.

God works in both supernatural and ordinary ways, and He determines the method. Elijah ate food miraculously delivered by ravens, but his water supply from a brook was completely natural. When the water dried up, the Lord could have made more spring from the ground, but He didn’t.

Sometimes God uses ordinary means to move us in a new direction. The curtailment of his water supply opened the door for Elijah’s next “assignment.” When the Lord withholds miraculous intervention and lets your brook dry up, He has something else planned for you.

Seeing the work of God in the miraculous is easy, but He’s just as involved in the commonplace aspects of life as He is in any supernatural event. Look for His “fingerprint” in the day’s mundane activities. He is there, opening and closing doors, drying up one opportunity but initiating another.


Amy's thoughts on this: God is always working around us, thru us, and with us. Sometimes we are blinded by our current situations to realize what he is trying to tell/teach/lead us to. Even in trying times there is a lesson to be learned and no matter what we think we will never ever be done learning as we are not perfect humans. So as you face the day, start it with a prayer and a devotion. Remember God is there even if it doesn't feel like it. If you are in a difficult time now, remember to keep in scriptures and in prayer. Open your heart to the love and guidance of the Heavenly Father. Don't give into the disappointment and become discouraged. If you are in a very happy time now, remember to still stay in prayer and in scriptures and be thankful for everything. Its so much easier said than done, but with God's help we can and we will succeed.

Any thoughts or anything I missed on this lesson?

External Causes of Discouragement

External Causes of Discouragement
By Charles Stanley

Discouragement can hit us from many angles, depleting our energy and productivity. Wise believers will learn to detect its sources in order to avoid this paralyzing effect. Today, let’s examine some external causes.
1. Unresolved disappointments. This applies to letdowns caused by our failed expectations or someone else’s.
2. Constant criticism. When we are criticized frequently, it is natural to think, What’s wrong with me? Yet, unless God reveals a truth in the comments, we must learn to let them go.
3. The feeling that no one’s listening. The natural response to this is rejection.
4. The sense that we aren’t appreciated after doing our best. We can get so tied to our work that someone’s failure to acknowledge our efforts feels like a personal rebuff.
5. Bad working conditions. Many believers enjoy what they do but pick up on coworkers’ cruelty, bitterness, or refusal to recognize their efforts. This can make it extremely difficult to get motivated about going to work each day.
6. Lacking opportunities to shine. A job that doesn’t make the best use of one’s gifts and abilities can wear a person down. So can tight-fisted managements that limits freedom to make innovations.

Oftentimes, it’s the people we see every day who seem to have the most power for causing discouragement in our lives. Read through the list again. Do any of the above scenarios sound disturbingly familiar? If so, pray for the strength to face these external discouragers with renewed confidence.

Amy’s thought…I am sure as you reread this list that you can probably pin point a situation for each of the scenarios. Life at home and life at work and even life in between always has people that you will come across that will disappoint you. The thought should no loner be “That person makes me so mad and I am tired of them disappointing me” but should be “Ok, that was disappointing, but now how will I deal with it.?” If you let it, it drag you down deeper and deeper. If you turn it over to God, he will help you cope with it and keep moving and this will also help you to grow with Christ. The world we live in is a very mean and unforgiving world. Businesses are practicing things that make their employee’s heads turn, friends are turning against friends, and we sometimes feel we get mixed up in the world and are left by the waste side. Don’t let this be the case. When you get disappointed by actions of your own or by others, turn it over and release it to God in heaven. Remember it’s not what the people of the world think that gets you to heaven. It’s what God thinks. If you are living right and by God, people will take notice and hopefully want to follow the example. God is the light, Christians are lamps that God shines his light thru. God uses us to witness and lead others in. Stay in prayer and in God’s word, it helps a great deal with discouragement.

Any thoughts, or comments?

How can we conquer discouragement?

How can we conquer discouragement?
Here are 9 specific steps:
By: Charles Stanley

1. Look within. Prayerfully examine yourself for the underlying cause.
2. Admit you are discouraged. It’s easy to avoid, ignore, or lie about it. But denial is deadly and it guarantees failure.
3. Identify precisely what you are discouraged about. Name it, then face it.
4. Recall the nature of discouragement. Disappointments will come and go, but discouragement is a choice that you make.
5. Begin meditating frequently on God’s word. This way, you can accurately judge what you feel by what is real. (Psalm 3:2-4; 16:7-8; 63:6-8; 77:12; 119:15).
6. Take your area of discouragement to God in prayer. Ask him to reveal what He wants to teach you in this area of your life.
7. Focus on God, not your situation. Ask Him to help you see this disappointment and its lessons from His perspective.
8. View the cause as coming from the Lord. If we understand that He allows disappointments, we can find opportunity for growth, even in trouble.
9. Confess these truths aloud: The Father is with me in the pain; He’s in control of my life and has allowed this for a reason; He is a good God, who will turn this disappointment into blessing.

Discouragement may sound harmless enough, but don’t ever underestimate its destructive power. By keeping watch you can avoid this deadly trap. So write down these 9 steps on an index card, and then review the list whenever disappointments start to consume your thinking.

Amy’s thoughts on this. Sometimes it seems like a game that you just can’t seem to win. Like there is always something that is dragging you down into the pits of despair. It could be something at work, something in your personal life, or anything in between that is disappointing to you. It could be something simple as a desire you have to buy something, go somewhere, and even a desire you have or a plan you have to serve God. If these plans or desires do not match up with what God has in store for your life, you will be disappointed. Rather than kick your feet and allow yourself to be down and out, follow these 9 steps. Call upon God to help pick you up, dust you off, and guide you straight. God in an awesome God and he hears our cries and our laughter. Depend on Him and not on yourself.

Any thoughts or comments?

The Nature of Discouragement

The Nature of Discouragement
By Dr. Charles Stanley

Discouragement is a powerful, destructive force. Before we can understand how to rid our lives of this deadly land mine, we must recognize its harmful nature.
Understand that discouragement…..

1. Is something we choose. No body else can make us discouraged; it is a choice that we alone make when facing disappointments.

2. Is universal. Everybody will face periods of disappointment and discouragement from time to time. This simply cannot be avoided, because we live in a seriously flawed world that is filled with equally flawed people.

3. Can Recur. Sometimes we think we’ve settled an issue, which later resurfaces when we least expect it. Or, we may have old emotional wounds that are torn open by something a person says or does.

4. Can be temporary—or it can destroy our life. The choice is ours. If we refuse to deal with the discouragement head-on, we are opening the door for it to completely dominate our life.

5. Is conquerable. With the Lord’s help, we can choose not to be discouraged. If we don’t believe discouragement can be conquered, then we’re actually saying God doesn’t want his children to have a rich and fulfilled life.

Are you stuck in the throes of discouragement? If so, it will simply be impossible to experience the peace and inner joy that God wants for his children. Let him help you find out of that lowly state: start by believing that the Father wants to lift you up and get your life back on track with Him.

Amy’s thoughts on this: So, sometimes I do find situations that are out of my control to fix are discouraging. Discouragement is something I choose. So going forward I am choosing not to let those obstacles get in my way of having my life right with the Lord. Weather it is work related or on a personal level this is something I can control. I know God is there and I know he is the All Powerful and I know he has a bigger picture for me and I know what he has planned is greater than something I could ever imagine. Rather than getting myself all worked up in discouragement and allowing the situations to control my feelings, I will be grabbing hold of those feelings, staying in prayer and releasing them and the situation that is frustrating to God. Life is can be a violent roller coaster if you allow it to be. Times will be rough and times will be smooth. It’s during the rough times that discouragement creeps in. Don’t let it. When you are in a rough spot know that you are NOT the driver, God is and sometimes the bumpy dirt road you are on is the one that leads to better things.

Any thoughts or comments?

Make Sure You’ve Got Some Back Up!!

Make Sure You've Got Some Back-UP
Rocky Henriques
Aug 4, 2009



One morning recently I took our little Terrier mix outside for her morning walk, and I noticed three strays at the bottom of the long drive—about fifty yards away. I kept my eyes on them, because I thought they might be interested in the tiny dog I had in my arms. I sat Gabi on the ground, all the while watching the strays.

One of them barked in our direction, and they all three started toward us. They probably just wanted to say “Good Morning,” but I wasn’t taking any chances. I yelled toward them “Git!” which is “Southern” for “Get away!” They stopped, but the lead dog continued to bark at us. I yelled “Git!” again, and two of the dogs took off running. The lead dog stood his ground, continuing to bark.

Then a strange and rather humorous thing happened. The one remaining stray turned his head to look behind him, to look at the other two strays which were with him. But they weren’t there! When he noticed that the other dogs had left him and that he was alone, he too began to run as if his tail had been set on fire. I couldn’t help but laugh.

But then I realized that this was a picture of the approach that so many people take toward life. We go up against whatever the challenge or problem is, and we bark at it with all our might. We use all our resources and ingenuity. But when we finally turn to look for help, we realize with a start that we don’t have any back up! We have built our lives on the wrong foundations and depended on the wrong things. And when we need them, we find that they could never have supported us to start with.

How important it is for us to build the proper foundation for our lives! Jesus told us how: “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.” (Matthew 7:24-25).

When troubles come, make sure you have the proper foundation for your life. Or, as the stray dog would say, “Make sure you’ve got some back up!”