Deep Waters - Isaiah 42:8

Isaiah 48:2

When you go through deep waters I will be with you.

God created the ocean to be a source of life for us. The ocean has many of the nutrients we, as humans, need to live, like water, food, and natural resources. The ocean is important, but scary at the same time. Even though this verse is not about the ocean or nature, but about our faith and trust in God, the ocean is a wonderful metaphor of fear that we can all relate to.

Everyday we fear something. We have tests, meetings, doctors appointments, and many other stressors that make us fear the outcome. If I fail this test I will not get into graduate school. The doctor may tell me that I am sick. I may lose a loved one. These are fears we have everyday. These are the deep waters we have to swim through.  

The ocean can be a resource. Our stressors can be beneficial to us, help achieve our goals, and keep us working, but when those stressors overwhelm us we begin sinking. The waters can become too deep for us to stand and we start to stress even more. In these situations we need a life raft, we need a savior.

God is there to pull us out of the deep, troubling waters and save us. In his prophecies, Isaiah explains to us that God will be with us through the troubling times when we are sinking and falling away from our faith. God wants to help us! God wants to save us! We know that there will be stressors in our lives, so we need to prepare for those times.

When I stress, I stress. People may not know I am stressed, but on the inside I am freaking out. Pulling my Bible and Rosary out are two of the best ways to de-stress. I go straight to my Lord and beg in prayer for my stress to go away. I try not ask for God to solve it, instead I beg for strength to find the answer. I know God could snap His fingers and make everything alright, but I would not learn the lesson He wants me to learn. I need to trust in God and know that He will be with me through my struggles.

Thought Questions:

How can I prepare for stressors and be ready to fight them with God’s strength?

What are some ways that I de-stress?

How can I help others de-stress and be a motivator?

Night and Day - Genesis 1:3-5

Night and Day - Genesis 1:3-5

English Standard Version

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

On the first day of creation God creates day and night. It is magnificent how God can just say “Let there be light” and then there is light. He can create on a whim, when He wants, and how He wants. God created the Earth to rule over and began with day and night to separate two important halves of one complete day.

During the day we live our lives and do what we need to do. We strive to be better and we hope to make other happy. For most people daytime is cherished and used to work, go to school, and socialize. The daytime is the time God gave us to live our lives for Him: to do His will, and spread His gospel.

Throughout the night we rest. We stop to rejuvenate our bodies and prepare for the next day. I look forward to sleeping everyday. I wake up early in the morning and go to bed late at night, so sleep is very precious to me and I am so thankful that God gave us something that is so rejuvenating.

But God also needs us to rest our souls. We need to be ready to fight the Devil with strength. During the day we can live for God and make Him proud to call us His children.

Thought Questions:

Do you get enough spiritual rest every day?  

What are some ways we can rest without taking away from our busy schedules?

How can we encourage others to rest when we see that they need it?

God's Creation - 1 Timothy 4:4-5

1 Timothy 4: 4-5

New International Version

For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.

For the remainder of October I have decided to study verses about God’s creations. I love nature. I love being outside in God’s handiwork and being able to see the beauty of nature. Fall is my second favorite season, behind summer, because of the beautiful colors. In autumn, nature is completing its natural course for the year and preparing for winter. The leaves on trees start to change color, and the plants begin to die. It is important for plants to do this each year so that they can properly be nourished by the Earth, and nourish the Earth. When a plant dies in the fall, it makes the soil beneath it enriched with all of its nutrients so the next season’s plant can be healthy.

In First Timothy 4, Paul is writing to Timothy about men who have abandoned the faith. Many of these men have believed in false idols and have abstained from eating certain foods. Paul tells Timothy that they are wrong in these actions God’s creatures were created to be received, and that we should be thankful for them. The literal understanding of this verse is suggesting that God would not restrict us from eating any animals because he has blessed them through prayer and God’s word (the footnote in this part of the verse references Hebrews 4:12).

To me, this verse has a much deeper meaning as well. Paul, with God’s guidance, is telling us to be thankful for the creatures that God has created, but I also think about how everything else that God has created is good. The trees, the sky, the ocean - these are all blessings in our life. We need animals and nature to live and thrive, and we need to be thankful that God has given us these gifts.

I love when Paul says that nothing is to be rejected. Everything God creates is good. Every animal is good and has a purpose, and all the trees and the weeds and the waters are good.

When I read this verse I think about how thankful I am to drive through the countryside and see the changing leaves, or go home and be welcomed by my dog. I am so thankful for the seed that made the pear tree that the pear in my lunch is from. We do not think about these little blessings from God all the time, but this verse reminds us to thank God everyday for what he has created to help us live our lives.

Thought questions:

What forms of nature have you used in your life on daily basis that you can be thankful for?

How can you incorporate more of God’s blessing of nature into your life?