Don't step over It.

I'm not even gonna pretend that today didn't throw me for a loop.

    One minute it's talking about a dead body in a field, then family stuff, then oxen wandering off, then building railings and I almost did what I think we all do sometimes,

I almost skimmed it.

      But I slowed down and read it to truly listen to the words and not just looking for a response. And when I did it felt less like random laws and more like God saying,

This is what real faith looks like in everyday life. And sometimes that can be uncomfortable.

      I love the big moments with God. The breakthrough moments. The "we’re stepping into the Promise Land"moments. But this is the stuff that shows who you really are. How we handle every day situations shows our character. Both chapters kept bringing me back to one thought...Don't ignore what's right in front of you. If you see it, don't ignore it.

     There are things we see and we keep walking. Not because we're bad people, But because we're tired. We've all got a lot going on. Its inconvenient. Or we just don't want to deal with it. And we dress it up real spiritual sometimes to make ourselves feel better about it... Well, that’s not my assignment. God didn't tell me to do that.

       But what if He did by letting you see it?

That hit me harder than I expected. Because I can think of situations right now, Things I've stepped around. Things I've ignored. Things I've said, Someone else will handle it. And then there’s that part about building a railing on your roof...Basically don't wait for someone to fall before you fix what's unsafe.

      Whew. There have been places in my life where I knew better and I didn't put the guardrail up. Not because I didn't know But because it felt like too much work. Or I thought, It'll be fine.

      Until it wasn't. And this definitely felt like God calling me out. It felt like Him saying

Hey, Let's not do it that way again.And the part that really got me, All throughout this, God keeps protecting people. Even in messy, broken situations. Don't treat people like they don't matter. Don't use people. Don't discard people when it's convenient.

       It's easy to say I love people, But love shows up in how you respond, speak and how you handle people when it costs you something.

     This isn't just about rules.This is about how I live when nobody's watching. Do I stop or keep going? Do I step in or step over? Do I prepare or wait for a mess? Do I honor people or handle them however I feel in the moment?

     The Promise Land isn't just about getting there. It's about how you live once you do. That's why they've been sitting at Jordan.. They're not quite ready to live in the promise and God is making sure they are.

⚓ Anchor Verse

"If you see your neighbors ox or sheep or goat wandering away, don't ignore your responsibility"Deuteronomy 22:1 (NLT)

   So how can we apply this to our lives today...Let's ask ourselves....

   What am I avoiding right now that I know good and well God has put in front of me?

   What have I been calling "not mine"that's actually mine to respond to?

    And where in my life do I need to finally put up a guardrail instead of hoping nothing falls apart?

     This isn't about doing more, it's about stopping long enough to actually do what's right in front of me.

Love Pastor Mandy 

Ark of Hope Ministry 

Daily reading Deuteronomy 21-22