Corona Devo 1541

Have you ever had to use crutches?  An injured foot, toe, knee or leg, made a crutch or two necessary in order to get around safely?

Sometimes we need a crutch.

But sometimes we don't.  

~~~

Our son injured his knee last Fall and initially the doctor required him to use crutches, but after the prescribed time, he was still using them.  I understood...he was not ready to take the leap of strength (and faith) necessary to step out without the crutches.

And then, a few days later, he dropped them and never looked back.  But during those few (extra-crutch) days, our family toured a large university campus, and he had to put in a lot of extra work that I am not totally sure was necessary.

Are we using a crutch today that we need to let go of?  

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; (6) in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.  ~Proverbs 3:5-6

~~~

Yesterday my husband ran a half marathon.  He's been working hard to build up miles in preparation, and he was excited to run, and felt the Lord's peace over attempting the challenge.  

But the night before, he began second-guessing his main concern, his knees.  Nervous that they might be weakened by the (13.1) miles, he made a last-minute trip to the drugstore and picked up a couple braces.  

He said that even when he initially slipped them on at the starting line, they felt cumbersome and bulky.  And when the race began, both braces slid around, until he eventually ended up wearing them on his thighs, just to keep them in place for the race.  His knees never gave him any pain, and his spiritual revelation during the race was that those braces were never necessary, they were just a crutch he tried to lean on, instead of relying on the peace God had given him.

Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid.  The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation.”  ~Isaiah 12:2

~~~

Are we using a crutch today that isn't necessary?   

Sometimes we need a crutch.

But sometimes we don't.  

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.  ~Hebrews 11:1

~~~

Our faith has much in common with these crutch and knee-brace examples.  

We each have our own "crutch" examples of times when we could have and should have trusted God, but when we fell-back to relying on our own strength or thinking. 

Injuries, health, worries, and life can cause us to over-think and under-trust the Lord sometimes.  Even the strongest Believers can resort to their own strength, and thus we nullify God's strength in our situation and life.  

And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.  ~Psalm 9:10

~~~

Caleb and Joshua were two guys in the Bible who trusted in God and stood firm, even when others were propping up on their own crutches.  

Twelve men went into the land that the Lord had promised to the Israelites, to survey the prospects of it.  All twelve of them saw great fruit and lush land, but ten other guys were afraid of the inhabitants, and thus, they invoked fear and a lack-of-faith into the rest of the Israelites.

Only Caleb and Joshua stood strong in their faith in God to enter the Promised Land.  

Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes (7) and said to the entire Israelite assembly, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. (8) If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. (9) Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.”  

(10) But the whole assembly talked about stoning them. Then the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting to all the Israelites. (11) The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the signs I have performed among them?   

(26) The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: (27) “How long will this wicked community grumble against me? I have heard the complaints of these grumbling Israelites. (28) So tell them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you the very thing I heard you say: (29) In this wilderness your bodies will fall—every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me. (30) Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.  ~Numbers 14:6-11, 26-30

~~~

The Israelites saw the Promised Land, but they did not trust God enough to enter it.  And so they never did.  

Are we using a crutch today that isn't necessary?   

Sometimes we need a crutch.

But sometimes we don't.  

Let's trust in the Lord today with all our hearts.  We can't lean on our own understanding because we don't understand everything that He does.  

We don't need a crutch...God is our support and our salvation, and we can lean on Him and trust in Him.  No crutch necessary.  

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; (6) in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.  ~Proverbs 3:5-6

Blessings,

sarah

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com