When we hide God’s wisdom in our hearts, His truth and love can pour into our conversations naturally. Still, both men lived as if they believed all Scripture was “God-breathed.” They recognized Scripture was “useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16). Paul acknowledged that Timothy was rooted in Scripture from infancy (2 Timothy 3:15). When the apostle Paul encouraged Timothy to step into leadership, he demonstrated confidence in this young man (1 Timothy 4:11–16). But Emma isn’t the first young person God has used to inspire others to prayerfully read, memorize, and apply Scripture. She rejoiced in God’s constant presence and enjoyed every opportunity He provided to share His truth with others. Through daily reading of the Bible, the wisdom found in it had become a part of Emma’s everyday vocabulary. She hadn’t been intentionally reciting Scripture verses. When I commended her for being like a walking Bible, her brow furrowed. I could barely figure out where the high school student stopped speaking her words and began quoting the words of God. God never asks us to do anything He will not or cannot do.Īs Emma shared how God helped her embrace her identity as His beloved child, she weaved Scripture into our conversation. We must always ask for God's help, of course, for our “hope comes from Him" (62:5). “I desire to do your will,” the psalmist said (Psalm 40:8). This is our first and highest calling when we make Him Lord and the source of our deepest pleasure. We will be at peace when we've agreed: "Not my will, but yours be done" (Luke 22:42).
This is our calling as well, the thing for which we were created. "Wait in silence” is David stirring his soul to remember that decision.ĭavid determines to live in silence-quiet submission to God's will. “Waits in silence” addresses a decision, a settled state of mind. David says something about his soul then says something to his soul. "My soul, wait in silence for God only" (62:5 nasb). "My soul waits in silence for God only” (Psalm 62:1 nasb). Be silent: Do what Jesus is asking you to do." So we must tell our souls all day long: "Hey soul, listen up. He calls us to endure hardship without complaining to love awkward people to heed the voice inside us that says, You mustn't to take steps we'd rather not take. God saw Gideon as “mighty.” And just as God was with and equipping Gideon, so God is with us, His “dearly loved children” (Ephesians 5:1)-supplying all we need to live for and serve Him in little and big ways. Yet God used him to defeat the cruel Midianites (see ch. He didn’t feel up to God’s calling and even requested several signs. He was from the weakest clan of Israel (Manasseh) and the “least” in his family (v. He’d been secretly threshing wheat away from the prying eyes of the Midianites, who oppressively controlled Israel at the time (vv. For instance, when the angel of the Lord approached Gideon, he proclaimed, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior” (Judges 6:12). We find many stories in the Bible similar to Diet’s, stories of God using seemingly unlikely characters to serve Him. This unassuming young woman became a warrior for God. As Diet (pronounced Deet) later wrote, “When there is danger on your doorstep, you want to act almost like an ostrich burying its head in the sand.” Yet Diet felt God calling her to resist the German oppressors, which included risking her life to find hiding places for Jews and other pursued people. Diet Eman was an ordinary, shy young woman in the Netherlands-in love, working, and enjoying time with family and friends-when the Germans invaded in 1940.