Fight for It: A 21-Day DevotionalChikamu

Today's Devotional:

Have you ever been in a challenging situation in life, wondering when and how it will end? In my freshman year of college, I had a severe case of TMJ that required jaw surgery. My mouth was wired shut for six weeks! The impact on my everyday life was pretty significant. Communication was difficult. Just try talking with your mouth shut. No one understands you! Eating was limited and problematic. I consumed all my food through a straw. Eating six weeks through a straw, a person will get creative—everything from pureeing french fries to drinking salad dressing all through a straw. Social interactions were strange and complex. Imagine how uncomfortable it would be to make new friends while sucking up salad dressing through a straw! Need I say more?

My painful and painfully awkward season had an endpoint where things would improve. There was an end to the complexity of life and closure to the struggle. However, life rarely provides precise timelines and tidy outcomes. Life is often more complicated.

We encounter seasons when we live in the land of "yet." Actively walking out our everyday in-between "now and then." Yet is defined as "up until a specified time or implied time." The adverb describes an action "yet" to take place. This word holds in suspension outcomes to many prayers prayed.

"Yet" seasons are where life does not always allow us to know when or how a situation will end. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 guides in the "yet" seasons of life. "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." In this chapter, Paul reminds us how "children of light" ought to live. He is declaring as believers, we may be in dark situations, but as children of light, we operate and navigate the "yets" of life uniquely. Paul provides a solid framework as we walk out our everyday "up until the specified time." We are to rejoice, pray, and give thanks.

"Yet" is a small but faith-filled word. I propose a challenge to add the simple word "yet" to the end of a worrisome, scary situation as our minds often think in the negative. The marriage is not whole yet. My loved one who is far from God is not near yet. The financial problem is not solved yet. As children of light, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can reframe our perspective and apply the truth of God's word—rejoice always, pray continually, and give thanks.

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Today’s devotional was written by Pastor Lisa Duvall

Question:

• What situation do you need to add the word “yet” to?

A Prayer to ‘Look In’: Father, thank you for the seasons that teach me how to have patience and faith. Help me to rejoice always, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances. Amen.