Day 11
January 13
Psalm 119:81-88
“For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke…” Wine was put into wineskin and left in the smoke to encourage an early maturing of the wine and to provide a pleasant flavor. However, if the wineskin was forgotten and left too long in the smoke, the wineskin would burn, shrivel up, and crumble, spoiling the contents. When we experience trials in life, it can feel as if we are in the fire. Everything around us becomes like billowing smoke, overwhelming and difficult to see through. It can feel as if we have been forgotten. But thankfully WE HAVE A HOPE! The psalmist continues on to say, “...yet I have not forgotten your statutes.”
God has given us His word as a reminder of His Truth and Promises. He will not forsake us, He will never leave, He will strengthen and help us, and provide us with His perfect peace and comfort. Though we will go through the trials of this world, we know that He is with us in the fire. Without Him, we would be left to burn, shrivel up, and crumble…but with Him we mature in our endurance, character, and faith.
When life becomes overwhelming, where do your thoughts go?
Take some time today to create a list of God’s Promises and place them where they are visible. When we have the Truth constantly in the forefront of our minds, it makes it difficult for anything else to take its place.
Jamie Bigelow
“For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke…” Wine was put into wineskin and left in the smoke to encourage an early maturing of the wine and to provide a pleasant flavor. However, if the wineskin was forgotten and left too long in the smoke, the wineskin would burn, shrivel up, and crumble, spoiling the contents. When we experience trials in life, it can feel as if we are in the fire. Everything around us becomes like billowing smoke, overwhelming and difficult to see through. It can feel as if we have been forgotten. But thankfully WE HAVE A HOPE! The psalmist continues on to say, “...yet I have not forgotten your statutes.”
God has given us His word as a reminder of His Truth and Promises. He will not forsake us, He will never leave, He will strengthen and help us, and provide us with His perfect peace and comfort. Though we will go through the trials of this world, we know that He is with us in the fire. Without Him, we would be left to burn, shrivel up, and crumble…but with Him we mature in our endurance, character, and faith.
When life becomes overwhelming, where do your thoughts go?
Take some time today to create a list of God’s Promises and place them where they are visible. When we have the Truth constantly in the forefront of our minds, it makes it difficult for anything else to take its place.
Jamie Bigelow