Day 16

The Trustworthy Prophetic Word

from the 1 & 2 Peter reading plan


2 Peter 1:16-21, Matthew 17:1-8, 2 Timothy 3:10-17

BY Rebecca Faires

I’m so pregnant right now. I’m past taking chipper walks and decorating my nursery. I’m at the stage where I can’t sleep anymore, so I just cry while I watch reruns of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. I love being pregnant, and I was such a good soldier for so long. But there’s something about the difficulty of the last few weeks of pregnancy that primes and steels a woman for the intensity of labor and delivery. It makes us ready and willing to undergo any hardship just to be delivered from the close quarters of late pregnancy. That, and I’m tired of performing a trust fall every time I try to sit in a chair.

I love having babies. But when pregnancy gets hard, I have to remember the end goal—the baby! Somehow in the muddle of pregnancy and labor I forget all about the baby and focus on my heartburn and my contractions. I literally forget about the baby. This is true for so many things; when times get dark, it can be easy to forget the one, most important thing and instead get caught up in all the peripheral ephemera. But when it’s dark, we need the lamp of truth to lead us home.

God’s Word is that lamp shining in a dark place. His Word was delivered by prophets and then confirmed in the person of Jesus Christ. He inspires and fortifies our faith by the eyewitness accounts that again and again confirm what the prophets spoke and wrote.

Peter was one such eyewitness, a man who stood on the mount of transfiguration and heard the voice of God. I can’t even imagine. Somehow Peter managed to pry himself off the ground and listen to the words God spoke: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased!” (2 Peter 1:17). God is constantly bringing us the light of His Word to illuminate our confusion.

Don’t allow yourself to be confused or distracted. We do not hold to a cleverly devised myth, but to Truth itself. Christ came in space and time, walked before eyewitnesses who beheld “his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). We have the witness of the Word, strongly confirmed in history, bearing witness to Christ, our Light and Life (2 Peter 1:19).

We must hold tight to the things that are true. We know that Jesus is God’s son (Matthew 17:5). We know that He came to save us (Romans 6:23). And we know that His Word is a light in the darkness (2 Peter 1:19).
Today, even though I have both heartburn AND contractions, I am looking forward to holding my baby. Instead of letting ourselves get caught up in the passing peripherals, we must remember that Christ is the one important thing, and we have the truths of God’s Word to hold us steady when the rush and press of life threatens to tip us over.

 

Post Comments (38)

38 thoughts on "The Trustworthy Prophetic Word"

  1. Ashley Mancillas says:

    Amen! Thankful for the solid foundation and hope of God’s TRUE Word! Also, a timely devo for me as I am 39 weeks pregnant today and can totally relate! Heading in to be induced, which is not something I would have voted for, but God keeps reminding me the end goal is a healthy baby, not the success of my personal agenda.

  2. Jennifer Anapol says:

    Thank you so much for writing this amazing devotional today. I am going through a rough time at work and just being reminded that God is God has really helped me today. I pray the Lord would give me the right perspective today.

  3. Aimee D says:

    Amen

  4. Steph C says:

    “And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts”. His Word is the Light in my dark place! When I am unsure or fearful He is my Light, my hope, my confidence.

  5. Beth Hinson says:

    Amen! Help me have tunnel vision for God’s word and His plan! Everything else is temporary, but His word is forever!

  6. Emily Plemmons says:

    Such a good devotion. It is SO easy to get caught up in the negative and all the madness that life brings. I am pregnant myself right now. Soon to enter into my second trimester. The last few months have been hard and I have done a lot of complaining.. and not near as much praising and showing God my thankfulness for the gift of life he’s given me and my family. It is nice to have a reminder to stop.. pause.. remember what the end goal is.. remember what’s more important.. and remember after suffering comes joy. There is always happiness we can find when we think of Jesus and the suffering He endured and the ultimate gift He has given us.. eternal life!

  7. Amanda MarieO'Malley says:

    This devotion was so good today!! I have an 18th month old so I remember the last month was the hardest, but I got my baby in the end!!! We just have to stay in the light!! Yes hard situations will come but if we stand on who Jesus is and know that he got the victory and we do to, we can conquer anything

  8. Alicia says:

    Kate–I am with you and I see you. While this will be my first child, this is my third pregnancy…I easily conceived twice but lost the first two near the end of the first trimester. I had follow up testing, and there was no medical reason and all the doctors encouraged me to try again. To my surprise I got pregnant again when I least expected it, this time at the peak of marathon training. I’m sure God laughed. Early on in this pregnancy, a friend of mine was praying over me and she said, ‘Praise God for this precious gift!’ When she said that it was a breakthrough moment for me. Even though I knew I would have some anxiety, I was determined that this pregnancy would not be totally dominated by fear for me. I wanted to chose gratitude. When she prayed that prayer, I realized exactly what you are saying. This pregnancy and this child are a gift from God. They are not earned and this child is not truly mine and never really will be. If I allow myself to be consumed by anxiety now, what will happen when the baby comes? I have no idea and no control over how long this child will live. My son is a gift from God, on loan to me and my husband for as long as He chooses. In that, I am able to have peace, knowing that the creator of the universe and the source of every good and perfect thing, including love, has this child in his hands. My prayer this pregnancy has been that, no matter what happens, that I will never allow my love for this child to eclipse my love of God. He Himself is the prize and He Himself is our peace. I long for Him, the giver, more than any gift, including a child. I am now just over 30 weeks pregnant. As the discomforts of pregnancy start to creep back in, it is good to remember what the goal of all of this is and to draw parallels with my own faith, keeping my eyes on the real prize–Christ himself.

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