God promises incredible blessing to those who walk with him, but he doesn’t always bless us in the ways we expect him to. God continually used unexpected and even painful means to bless Abraham, yet Abraham continued to trust God. When a family member dies or another conduit of blessing is unexpectedly, painfully lost, will we, like Abraham, continue to trust God to keep his promises?
We all have pressures and priorities. With a New Year beginning tomorrow, it is a great time to remember that God designed us to deepen our lives with Him by living according to His priorities not people’s pressures. Early in the morning after a busy Saturday, Jesus was deepening His life with His Father when some potential distractions arose. In Jesus’ response, we discover how He evaded the pressures in order to maintain union with and obedience to His Father.