SOLO Day 13 – Numbers 35:9-15

When I was 17 years old I decided to skip school without my parents permission. This was a big no-no in my house. Once as a child I had a fever of well over 100 and but my dad sent me anyway, mumbling something about the importance of my education. He gave me two aspirin and told me to tough it out. An hour later the nurse was calling my father asking him to leave work and come pick me up. He was so mad when he got in the car, I thought he was going to kill me! He yelled at me saying, "You didn't even give the aspirin time to work!" Safe to say I learned my father was quite passionate about my being at school when it was open!

But I chose to skip anyway, choosing to spend time with some friends from a different school district who happened to be on a day off. Because this was such a rare thing, the attendance secretary, who knew me from church, didn't give it a second thought. I had just gotten away with the perfect crime, or so I thought.

After a few days, I began to feel guilty for skipping class. I know that probably sounds crazy to you, but I knew how passionate my parents were about my school attendance. I had clearly disobeyed their wishes, and I felt like God was asking me to apologize. After wrestling with this concept for several days, I accepted my fate and came home to confess. I told my mom first-she was almost always the softy. I hoped that would be enough, but she said the words I feared most at that moment: "You have to tell your father."

I still remember going into my parent's room. I told my dad what I'd done, and I waited for my world to fall. I'll never forget his response, "You've been carrying this around for two weeks now?" I nodded nervously. "Well I guess you've suffered enough." With that, he was done. I looked at my mother, her mouth hanging open in shock, and thought to myself, "this can't be!"

That day I was surprised by my dad's grace, and today I'm awed by my Father's grace. Only a loving, compassionate God would think of the needs of the outcast. Only a God of mercy would create a place of refuge for those condemned by others bent on revenge. I'm so grateful he's the God of both justice and mercy, and that his will is trustworthy.

I've never really paid much mind to this passage until today, but I'm so glad I was reminded of our Father's character.

So may you choose forgiveness rather than revenge, and may you be surprised at God's grace and mercy in his dealings with you!

SOLO Day 12 – Numbers 14:17-24

Caleb is the man! He's such a cool character in scripture because he refuses to look at the obstacles in front without looking back to see where's been. He tries to persuade the people to look beyond the obvious. Yeah, the people are big. Yeah there's a lot of them. Yeah, this isn't going to be easy. BUT God is with us. God has told us to go. God rescued us out of Egypt. God parted the Red Sea. God gave us food from Heaven and water from a rock. God is bigger than these people. God's been faithful.

Courageous people stand out. Their voice stands out in a crowd. And people aren't the only ones who notice. God takes notice of courageous people, especially those who trust him. Too often we're busy looking around when we should be looking in. Instead of listening to the voices around us, what is God saying? Take a look at God's character. Is there any reason to doubt something he's said?

I'm not trying to oversimplify this, but I regularly listen to the voices around me rather than listening to the voice of God.

So who's in your head? Who's voice are you listening to? What's keeping you from trusting God fully, so much so that you seem a little crazy when you look at the obvious?

May you choose to storm ahead when all those around you say wait. And when you do may your Father in heaven remind you of your different spirit and your unbridled passion for Him!

SOLO Day 11 – Numbers 9:4-5, 9-12

If you were to walk into my office right now, you'd wonder two things: 1) What tornado hit Springfield last night? and 2) What's with all the random stuff on your shelves?

To answer your first question, I'm in the process of re-arranging! That will be finished tomorrow. My response to your second question would simply be, "those items aren't random. They're ebenezers!"

In the church I grew up attending we would sing nothing but hymns. One of my favorite hymns is "Come thou fount of every blessing." When I was young it seemed weird singing, "Here I raise mine Ebenezer; hither by thy help I’m come..." I immediately think of Ebenezer Scrooge. Ebenezer was a funny name given to the uncle nobody liked. But as I got older I learned the meanings of the word ebenezer.

In 1 Samuel 7:12-13 we see that the word comes from the Bible. It says, "Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far has the LORD helped us." So the Philistines were subdued and did not invade Israelite territory again."

An ebenezer is a monument-it's something to help you remember. In the passage of Numbers read today it's clear that Moses wants the people to remember God's saving them at passover. He wants them to remember! He has them do specific things, ritually, so that they can reflect on what it was like that day when they were filled with uncertainty and God came through. He wanted them to remember, and God wanted them to remember

So when you see the rock siting on a shelf in my office, you can know it serves as a reminder of the mountain I've climbed: twice. Or the picture of me in a dress-that's from when students went to Six Flags to celebrate a week of service at Mission Arlington! All those random things are my ebenezers, and they're invaluable in helping me remember God's goodness!

So may you become a collector of ebenezers. And when you see them, may you remember who God is and what he has done!