Author: Beth Duncan

Throughout my life, I’ve been prone to bouts of what I always called “the blue funk,” times when everything just felt wrong, off, bad. Always during those times, the antidote was to count my blessings. I would start with the basics—breath in my lungs, a roof over my head—and keep counting until I was in a better mental space. In that space especially, desperately trying to cling to the good in my life, I can see His abundant blessings everywhere.

God makes no secret about the fact that we are His deeply loved children. And it is absolutely His right to bless us simply because He wishes. But His purpose is larger and more eternal than just blessing us in this life. He blesses us so that we can be a blessing to others, so that we can shine His light, sing His praises, be His hands and feet, point others to Him.

Lord, Thank You for this day and for Your abundant blessings in my life. Help me, even on my darkest days, not to lose sight of all Your blessings in my life, and help me, daily, to strive to be a blessing to others, to shine Your light, to sing Your praises, to be Your hands and feet, to point others to You. Draw me closer. Amen.

Have a blessed day.

In many ways, humans seem predisposed to judgment and prejudice. Before a person utters a word, we’ve usually formed at least a cursory opinion based on the way the person is dressed, carries himself, etc. I wonder what a different world this might be if we were only able to perceive a person through his voice and words, if the snap judgment of sight were removed. Would we be more apt to listen to a person’s heart?

Such musings always put me in mind of Frankenstein’s creature when it was learning surreptitiously from the De Lacey family. The blind father could not see the creature’s hideous appearance and treated him with kindness based on the kindness he perceived from the creature. When not immediately attacked because of his appearance, the creature showed himself capable of caring for others in his words and actions. I’ve always felt that was tremendously significant.

Lord, Thank You for this day and this reminder that even though the world approves of snap judgment based on appearance, You care more about what’s in a person’s heart. Help us to see others through Your eyes. Help us to reach out with Your hands and to encourage with Your heart. Draw us closer to You and closer together as Your children. Amen.

Have a blessed day.

I mentioned yesterday that I’m a huge fan of routine. My morning routine includes an hour of quiet time before my family stirs. During this time I read, pray, reflect, and write the daily devotional reflection. There is no rushing or stress as my hour buffer ensures I have plenty of time to talk to my precious Savior before I start my day.

This morning, however, I overslept by more than half an hour. When I realized how late it was, I fairly jumped out of bed, thinking,”What in the world am I going to write my reflection on today? I’ve got to hurry!!!” God is so good, my friends. He almost immediately put Psalm 127 in my path. I could almost hear Him whisper, “Precious child, you know that I am an integral part of your daily reflections. You cannot write them without My guidance. In your haste to meet the world’s deadline, your writing will be in vain because I won’t be in it. Breathe. Trust. Choose Me over this world.”

Lord, Thank You for this day and for so effectively pumping the breaks on my morning mania to meet the world’s deadline. Thank You for putting scripture in my path to remind me that anything I do without You in it is in vain. Thank You for loving me so deeply that You patiently wait for me to seek You and for always being there, reminding me to choose You over this world. Lead me. Guide me. Draw me closer. Amen.

Have a blessed day.

I am a strong realist with the heart of an idealist. I see the possibilities, but I am constrained by the limitations of what I can conceive as doable. This morning has me wondering if I am inadvertently limiting how God is able to use me to further His Kingdom. Does my inability to fathom how He might use me keep me from acting on ways that He might be calling me? Jesus, Help me!

I am the first to admit that I love the comfort of routine. It is difficult for me to be excited about starting something if I can’t conceive of how it might end, how it should end. But this morning, I feel God calling me to examine these tendencies to see if they are in line with His calling for my life.

Lord, Thank You for this day and for calling me to examine myself and my actions in light of Your callings. I don’t want my short-sightedness to limit Your ability to work in my life. If You are calling me outside of my comfort zone, help me to see it, understand it, and answer wholeheartedly, “Here I am, Lord. Send me.” I know that nothing is too difficult for You, not even my own perceived limitations. Give me strength and courage to understand and trust Your call, even when I can’t perceive the way, and draw me closer to You. Amen.

Have a blessed day.

Powerless, weary, heavy burdened. So many carry so much weight on their shoulders daily. That’s not what God wants for us, though. The God of all creation loved us so much that even though we can do nothing but love Him, He sent His Son for us. The Prince of Peace loved us so much that He laid down His life for us. We were not ransomed just so we could trudge around daily, carrying the weight of our worries on our backs. Jesus, Help us.

It feels like it ought to be easier to hand over our concerns, to lay them at His feet and wrap ourselves in His peace. Perhaps, just like choosing joy is an intentional act, perhaps choosing to lay down the burdens I’m carrying, to hand them over to Him, takes just as much intentionality. Perhaps I have to willfully choose to drop these burdens and defiantly choose His joy and His peace over the chaos of this world. Jesus, Help me.

Lord, Thank You for this day and for daily meeting me here. Thank You for always finding me when I earnestly seek You. Lord, This world wants me to feel weak, weary, and powerless. This world wants me worn down by burdens You never intended for me to shoulder. Pry my fingers loose, Lord. Help me lay all of it at Your feet. Wrap me in Your peace and joy. Draw me closer. Amen.

Have a blessed day.

Even as I typed this verse yesterday, I knew I would come back to it today. The truth of it resonates deeply. As a mother and a teacher, I know when someone is just going through the motions, when their acquiescence and obedience are superficial and not heartfelt. Not only does God know the same in my obedience to Him, He also knows when I profess to have turned my cares over to Him but my heart is secretly clinging to worries, fears, or desires I can’t let go. Those things, which I stubbornly and at times unintentionally cling to, present a barrier to my communion with God.

Just as I know when my children are struggling with something that they are holding close, God knows my heart. As much as it hurts my heart to watch these children I love struggle, to want to help and not be able to because they won’t open up, I wonder if God feels the same as He watches me struggle with those things that I hold in the quiet of my own heart, those things I don’t want to share with anyone, though He knows because He knows me completely.

Lord, Thank You for this day and for guiding me along this path today. I want more than anything to know You intimately, to hold nothing back from You. You love me and those I love more than I am even capable of loving, Lord. Help me to seek You, every moment of every day, with my whole heart and a willing mind. Help me to hold nothing back from You. Draw me closer. Amen.

Have a blessed day.

In so many ways, we are so very different from those to whom Isaiah 29:13 and Micah 6:8 were addressed, but in so many ways, we are so very similar. In my own life, sometimes I’m guilty of asking, in essence, what’s the least I can do and still have God understand how much I love Him? His answer has not changed—He wants all of me, my whole heart.

He wants me to act justly—to look beyond the outer circumstances and be just according to the heart. He wants me to be merciful. Christ’s act of mercy on the cross, praying for His murderers as He was dying and they were casting lots, springs to mind here. He wants us to walk humbly, to know that on our own we are incomplete, but with Him, through Him, in Him we are whole.

Lord, Thank You for this day and this verse. The more I study Your word, the more I see that repeatedly, in so many different ways, You tell us the same thing—Love God. Love others. To act justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly—we have to have a heart of love for You and Your people. Love God. Love others. So simple in theory, but sometimes so difficult in practice. Help me, as I go through this day, to do Your will by loving You and loving others. Help me to serve You with my whole heart. Draw me closer. Amen.

Have a blessed day.

Many people in my life are very adept at dealing with life as it is. I tend toward nostalgia, often thinking of what was but can never be again on this earth. This is especially true when it comes to those I love who have gone before me, but as my boys grow out of the childhood stage into the oft turbulent preteen and teen years, I find myself missing the cuddles and the giggles of the past.

Lord, I know You did not create me to look back at what was and sigh. I don’t want to miss the present moment because I am so busy thinking of the past. I know that my contentment and my purpose can be found in You. Wishing, sighing, and sadness cannot help build Your kingdom and will cause me to miss the subtle beauty of what is. Jesus, help me.

Lord, Thank You for this day and for helping me to see the importance of staying in the present moment. I know that every good and perfect gift is from You, that those whom I love and have lost are safe in Your care, that the growing process, no matter how painful, is crucial for my boys, and that just because our relationship is changing doesn’t mean it’s over. Help me to focus on You, to be content in You. Help me to grow in Your grace, to be filled with Your spirit, and to shine Your light. Draw me closer. Amen.

Have a blessed day.

The older I get, the more inclined I am to avoid conflict—not in the “feel free to run all over me while I just smile and nod” way, but in a “life is so short and so precious and I don’t want to waste it arguing” way. But always I feel this tension of balancing God’s command to love one another with my own needs, emotions, and expectations. How can I love and still hold high expectations? How can I love and still guide and correct? How can I love and deal with the needs, emotions, and expectations of others?

These days, I often find myself thinking about Thornton Wilder’s play “Our Town,” a poignant  coming-of-age story that takes a young couple through the many stages of life. Emily, one of the main characters, says at one point, “Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it? —every, every minute?” The short answer, of course, is no. But I am definitely at a place where I feel life’s brevity. Sometimes it’s almost as if I can hear the clock ticking as I waste time on attitudes and issues that aren’t eternally important.

Lord, Thank You for this day and for placing these issues on my heart. Help me to love You and love others above all else. Give me the grace and the wisdom to handle conflict and negative attitudes with Your love. Help me to focus on those things that are eternally important and not the trivialities of this world, which often masquerade as desperately important. Help me to love deeply and to forgive freely and often. Help me to always be mindful of how precious and beautiful this life truly is. Draw me closer. Amen.

Have a blessed day.

I have often said that I wish God would send me big, flashing neon signs when He wants me to do something—signs that let me know unmistakably, “This is My will for you. This is the way I want you to go.” But as I read this passage in Exodus this morning, I wondered if I did get the kind of clear message straight from God that Moses got, would I react the same way?

And I tend to think that the kind of clear sign that an action really is His will for me means that the way will be clear. He sent me. He’s with me. He’ll clear the way. But again, Exodus gives me pause. The Israelites griped and moaned and complained. They didn’t thank Moses for their deliverance. They said they’d rather die slaves with full bellies than to starve while free in the desert. Did this give Moses pause? Did he wonder if perhaps he had misunderstood? Did he question God’s direction?

Lord, Thank You for this day and for laying this passage on my heart this morning. As I type this reflection, I’m reminded of my own journey as a teacher, a calling I felt so strongly as a child, a path that has been strewn with obstacles at times, causing me to question whether this was truly the path that You wanted me to walk. A path that has also been resplendent with those shining Your light and Your hope. Thank You for Your call. Help me to always recognize when You call me, to go where You send me, and to stay the course as You lead me. Draw me closer. Amen.

Have a blessed day.