Devotional for Snow day on March 8th

For some reason I was thinking about snow today! Whenever I think of snow I think of a man named Benaiah. Benaiah lived about 3,000 years ago in Israel. He was one of King David's mighty men. Rambo had nothing on him.

We read in I Chronicles 11:22 that "Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a valiant fighter from Kabzeel, who performed great exploits. He struck down two of Moab's best men...."

Single-handedly he takes on two of the best fighters in the world in hand to hand combat. Not bad.

But it gets better. Verse 23 tells us, "And he struck down an Egyptian who was seven and a half feet tall. Although the Egyptian had a spear like a weaver's rod in his hand, Benaiah went against him with a club. He snatched the spear from the Egyptian's hand and killed him with his own spear."

Now we're really impressed. The Egyptian was bigger and his weapons more technologically advanced. Wonder if Benaiah had a death wish or was crazy? But there is more.

Here is where the snow comes in. Verse 22 concludes, "...He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion."

Have you ever slipped in the snow? This man climbs down into a pit, in the snow, and goes one on one with a lion. "Crazy" pops into my mind at this point.

As we think about this mighty man of David, we have to admit he was not only skilled, he was confident in his abilities. It gave him boldness.
This is the attitude we have here at Harvest Pointe. Our confidence is not so much in our own abilities, like Benaiah, but rather in God. Because of what God has done through us in the past, we have confidence in what He will do through us in the future. This gives us the boldness to move ever forward.

Many churches exist in fear. They fear change. They fear people's opinions. They are afraid to spend money. Fear controls their every decision.

But Harvest Pointe has a boldness that is refreshing. We truly live by Nehemiah 2:20, "The God of heaven will give us success." This is why we are able to purchase a building and keep the 10 acres for future expansion.

And we see that confidence in individual lives. As we look at our congregation we see people who have endured and are enduring all kinds of stresses in life. Death, illness, injury, job loss, family struggles, and so on. Yet, when you speak with them, there is a confidence that God will get them through. They say with the Apostle Paul, "I can do everything through [Christ] who gives me strength." (Philippians 4:13) And they confidently quote Romans 8:28, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

May we all live with confidence that God is watching over us and strengthening us. Be one of God's mighty ones this week.

See you next Sunday!

In His Love,
John