BIG Life Devotional | Daily Devotional for Women Pamela Crim | Daily Devotional for Women

Millions of people witnessed something magnificent this past weekend. The Northern Lights coloring the night sky! Yes, in the Midwest. In the South. In the East. My friends in Missouri, in Colorado, in Illinois, in Kentucky, in Florida, in North Carolina … all sent me photos of the Northern Lights in their sky.







I’ve always dreamed of hosting a Northern Lights Retreat … there’s only one problem with that. The Northern Lights are typically in Alaska between the months of August and April. Do you know what that season is there? That’s WINTER. Y’all, I don’t do winter. I have no intentions of owning a parka. So, God brought those beautiful Northern Lights right to us this past weekend at our BIG Life Mountain Retreat in Virginia! What? The Northern Lights in Virginia?!!!!!!







Do you remember Friday’s devotional? It was titled “God Did That”. Living in an awareness of all God does in our every day life that makes the sheer act of waking up a gift! How fitting, we stood on top of a mountain on Friday night, gathered with BIG Life sisters, in total awe of the hot pink and green in our sky, and said, “GOD DID THAT!”







The night sky in full color. I’ve never seen anything like that.







It all reminds me of the viral videos of someone who is color blind putting on those magical glasses and seeing color for the first time. Without fail, they erupt in a flood of emotions, moved to tears over the sheer beauty of the world around them in this new dimension of full color. (Watch here: https://youtu.be/1ZcK-Eima-w?si=fjkQ-RwXKdbaC8IU ). My favorite is a man who puts the glasses on, seeing red and green and blue and purple and yellow for the first time in his life, and through the tears he said “I’ve been missing so much.”







I’ve been missing so much. I see life in full color, but I too have been missing so much.







I fail to see life as God sees it. What God sees and what we see is the difference between black and white and full color. And my sister, you’ve been missing so much. The moment you get a glimpse of your life the way God sees it, it will all make sense. It will all be more beautiful than you imagined. And much like those videos that make me cry every darn time, we’ll be in awe over it all.







God sees our life from the very beginning with the end in complete view. Proverbs 5:21 says “For your ways are in full view of the Lord, and he examines all your paths.”







He not only sees where you’ve been and where you are right now, but God knows exactly where your life is going. He knows the end of the story. Everything is in his full view. Because he knows the end of your story, he can guide you in writing each chapter with a full awareness of how it ends. And not to spoil the story or anything for you sister, but it all works out pretty darn well for you.







But today you woke up in the middle of your story where all you see is all you’ve been through and all that exists today. You have a limited view of your life. You do not see what God sees. And so the things that happen, the twists and turns and ups and downs today, this week, this year don’t really make sense to you. But you’re missing so much. If you could only see the full story. You’re seeing in black and white, while God sees it all in full color. It all fits together perfectly in God’s view. It all makes sense when you know the end … but you don’t know the end, you just have to trust it. You just have to trust the dull gray you see today is actually the most brilliant color your eyes will ever behold. You just don’t get to see it quite yet.

Unplugged Friday bible study…







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You know what makes me uncomfortable in a conversation? Pauses. Moments of silence. I fumble to fill those pauses with words. It’s as if I have a personal mission to never allow silence when I’m in a conversation. Do you do this as well? Are you uncomfortable in those moments of dead air? I suppose it makes me a really good podcast host because I always have something to say. You know, now that I think about it, you’ve never once spoken a word back to me here … I do all the talking. Yeah, that’s because I’m a space filler.







I often do the same with my conversations with God. I talk, then I pause for his response and I get nothing. When I get nothing, I’ll start rambling on again. I imagine God must be exhausted after hearing my prayers.







I confess, I struggle with the pauses. But isn’t that where God dwells? Isn’t that where he moves? Isn’t that where he works.







In those empty, blank spaces.







In those spaces we simply can’t fill.







Those spaces left so uncomfortably blank.







Filled with silence and unknown. Filled with step one but no sight of step two. An instruction to go, but no word of when we will come back. There’s just a blank space. A space we try so desperately to fill … but the only sufficiency is God. It’s his space, and he intentionally leaves it blank.







God is calling you somewhere. He’s calling you to fulfill a purpose. He’s calling you to a destiny. And here’s what we often miss … purpose and destiny don’t appear as we imagined.







Purpose look more like blank spaces than mountaintops. START CLIMBING in the blank.







Destiny looks more like an open ended question than a clearly defined plan with action steps. GO WITH QUESTIONS.







In my life it seems I’m only aware of my purpose on the other side of it. I can look back and connect the dots. Oh, now I see how God perfectly aligned that connection for that opportunity so I would be here at this time and seemingly stumble right into that. At the time it all just looked like blank spaces, but there were dots. Dots aligning and connecting. I couldn’t even imagine what God was doing, I just had to be willing to show up in the blank spaces and trust he was working to connect the dots.







Don’t you know that’s what God is doing in your life right now? He’s leading you into these empty places with blank spaces. Open ended questions of which you don’t have the answers. Mountains you don’t know how to climb. And just like those pauses in a conversation bring uncomfortable moments of silence, we must be willing to be uncomfortable. These are spaces we can’t fill on our own.







Sit in it.







Wait for it.







Trust God is doing something only he can do. He hasn’t forgotten you in this blank space where nothing seems to be happening … he’s connecting dots to your destiny.







I love the story of Abraham. His entire life is a story of blind faith where God continually led him into blank spaces, and when Abraham followed God worked. DID YOU GET THAT? WHEN ABRAHAM FOLLOWED, GOD WORKED. There’s a timely instruction for each of us. If you will just follow God, God will work.







In Genesis chapter 12 God speaks to Abraham and says “Go from your land, your realtives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.” That’s how the story begins. Leave everything and everyone you know. Go. I will show you. You don’t know where you’re going right now.

Today we’re returning to the story of the stormy sea, fearful friends, and Jesus walking on water. Yesterday, we read Matthew’s account of this intentional storm and personal encounter. We saw that Jesus insisted his friends go out on the boat that night, intentionally sending them straight into a storm. And we saw that storm was not to harm them, but to allow for a personal encounter with their Jesus that would have Peter walking on water too.







Reading this has us looking at our storms with a different perspective. The storm isn’t always against us, sometimes it’s for us. Sometimes within the storms of life we experience the power of Jesus personally, and we are changed forever.







My friend Gina sent me a message with words you too need to hear today: There’s no strength to be gained in softness, no power to be found without challenge, no wisdom to be found without searching. You have to hit that wall hard, be challenged beyond what you believe you can handle and continue to seek Him when you feel utterly lost, to truly learn what it means to fully surrender to His will. Even when you think the complete opposite is what’s right for you. Without these hard moments, we become complacent and comfortable and never become who God intends us to be.







Wow, could this be where you are? Could you be held safely in the hands of your Savior, while being allowed to go through these hard moments, so that you become the girl God intended you to be? Yes. I think this is where I am. This is the process of full surrender. This is where we gain strength and power and wisdom.







Now, let’s look at this same story through another account and see one additional statement that will no doubt rock our world.







Mark 6: 45-51: Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he said goody bye to them, he went away to the mountain to pray. Well into the night, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and he was alone on the land. He saw them straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Very early in the morning he came toward them walking on the sea and wanted to pass by them. When they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out, because they all saw him and were terrified. Immediately he spoke with them and said, “Have courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” Then he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. They were completely astounded.







Did you see it? The 5 most confusing words in the middle of this miraculous story. Jesus saw them straining in the storm and he WANTED TO PASS BY THEM. Here comes Jesus, walking on the water in the middle of a storm while his friends are struggling, and he wanted to walk on by. Really, what’s up with that?







My friend Kelly shared this with me after yesterday’s devotional and I just can’t stop thinking about it. Why would Jesus see us struggling and want to just pass by us? My first thought was perhaps his presence should bring us peace. Shouldn’t seeing Jesus in the storm with us be enough? But sometimes we need more, don’t we? I’m so grateful my savior is willing to do so much more!







What if Jesus wanted to pass them by because he was on his way to the other shore where he intended to meet them? Wasn’t that the plan? Didn’t Jesus tell them to get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side? This meant Jesus was going to meet them there after they crossed the sea. And guess what … the plan hadn’t changed.







STORMS DO NOT CHANGE THE PLANS OF JESUS.







What if Jesus was planning to pass by them and not stop on the sea be...

If God sends you into it, surely it will be good, right? If he guides you there it’s part of his good plans for goodness in your life, right?







And when it’s not good it must not be his will? We must have disobeyed somewhere if things got hard and we stepped into a mess. We missed a turn, we failed to see the signs. I mean surely that must be what has happened because God wouldn’t intentionally lead us into disaster, would he? He wouldn’t guide you directly to a problem like the one in your life right now.







OR WOULD HE?







Would God willingly lead you right to this place of uncertainty? Would he bring you into a chaotic mess on purpose?







You bet your butt he would! And he does.







Oh, don’t be shocked, Jesus never hid his ways. It’s always been right here in the Bible for us to see clearly and set our expectations accordingly. We just miss it.







Look at this. Matthew 14: 22-24 “Jesus insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and cross to the other side of the lake, while he sent the people home. (Then) he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone. Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from land, for a strong wind had risen, and they were fighting heavy waves.”







You’ve likely read that before and completely missed the fact that Jesus insisted his friends get on a boat and head out into the middle of the lake where they would encounter a mighty storm. My Bible’s translation even says, “he MADE the disciples get into the boat and go.” You think Jesus didn’t know there was a storm coming? You think he missed the weather forecast that evening?







Impossible. Jesus knew without a doubt there was a storm coming. Remember, he is the one whom the winds and waves obey. So, he not only knew his friends would encounter a storm in that boat, he arranged it.







Not all the storms in our life come through the hand of the enemy. We’re so quick to give him credit for every disturbance to our plans and every disruption on our journey, but what if the storm you’re in right now isn’t a work of your enemy, it’s under the direction of Jesus? What if he sent you right in the middle of this storm for a purpose? And what if the purpose isn’t to defeat you like you think it is?







Jesus INSISTED the disciples get into the boat and go out that night. He knew trouble would come while they were out far away from land, and he sent them anyway. In fact, I would propose he sent them FOR that purpose. He insisted they go because they had an appointment with the storm. The strong winds of resistance were for them. The pounding waves were for them. This storm was no accident.







And honey, your storm is no accident either. This resistance you feel may just be FOR YOU. The pounding you’ve been taking may just be FOR YOU. What could God possibly be doing here in this time of hardship?







Oh, he could be setting you up for an encounter with Jesus!







You may know the general power of Jesus already, but you’re about to experience the PERSONAL power of Jesus here.







The disciples had been hanging out with Jesus and had come to know him as a friend. Directly before getting on the boat that evening, do you know what they had just witnessed? They had just been on the hillside where a crowd of 5,000 men plus women and children had gathered to hear Jesus. There on that hillside Jesus decided he wanted to cater the meeting and feed them, but of course the only thing available was the lunch a boy had carried of 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish.

This morning when I asked God what his girls needed to hear, the Holy Spirit immediately prompted me with the story of Jesus’ first miracle. Then he began showing me the depth of this miracle and how it applies precisely to YOU in the exact situation you find yourself in.







The first miracle tells us so much about Jesus. It tells us he took time to attend a wedding and cared enough to make it a success. Let me tell you something, sister, Jesus is taking time to show up to every single situation you invite him into and he cares about your details. We often don’t invite Jesus because we assume he must be too big and too busy for our little things, but we’re wrong. Always invite Jesus. He will be right there in the middle of it. And no doubt, when Jesus is there, things just go down different.







John 2: 1-2: On the third day a wedding took place in Canan of Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples were invited to the wedding as well. (Notice, Jesus was invited! That’s important. Have you remembered to invite Jesus? I’m being serious. Is Jesus invited to your family gathering, your vacation, your meeting, your commute, your appointment, your celebration, your Monday? Just in case you forgot to invite him, do it right now. For real, stop everything and invite Jesus to go with you today wherever you are going.)







Verse 3-4: When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother told him, “They don’t have any wine.” “What has this concern of yours to do with me, woman?” Jesus asked. “My hour has not yet come.” (Yes, Mary asked Jesus to get involved in a situation that really had nothing to do with him. Did you know you can do that too? Maybe the problem you’re facing isn’t Jesus’ problem, but you can still get him involved! And girl, when you get Jesus involved, everything changes! Jesussssssss, I’ve got a problem!)







Verse 5-8, Mary says to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Now six stone water jars had been set there for Jewish purification. Each contained twenty or thirty gallons. “Fill the jars with water,” Jesus told them. So they filled them to the brim. Then he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the headwaiter.” And they did. (Mary is asking for Jesus to fix the problem of wine running out at the wedding. Jesus’ response was to take the jars that were available and fill them with what there was, which was water. Water wasn’t what was wanted, but water is what Jesus would use. All the servants had to do was take what was available and fill it with what there was. The rest was up to Jesus.)







I think today, Jesus is asking his girls to take what is available and fill it with what there is. It doesn’t matter if what you have seems insignificant. It doesn’t matter if what you have seems undesirable. Jesus isn’t asking you to focus on what you have, he’s asking you to focus on him and put what you have in his hands.







Verse 9-11: When the headwaiter tasted the water (after it had become wine), he did not know where it came from – though the servants who had drawn the water knew. He called the groom and told him, “Everyone sets out the fine wine first, then, after people are drunk, the inferior. But you have kept the fine wine until now.” Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee. He revealed his glory, and his disciples believe in him.







Do you understand the magnitude of the miracle here? It’s literally just slipped in like an insignificant detail in parentheses (after the water had become wine). This is a big deal of impossible magnitude. Let’s do the math. There were 6 stone water jars each holding 20 ...