Devotionals for the Heart: God sees every injustice that you experience

Should I Stay or Should I Go?
A devotional by Angela Anderson

“I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now arise, go out from this land and return to the land of your kindred.”—Genesis 31:13 (ESV)

I tirelessly worked four years in a place where I felt unseen and not appreciated.

No matter how hard I worked, my new supervisor did not recognize my efforts, nor did she follow through on the wage increase or bonus that was due to me.

I could not understand why she was purposefully treating me so unfairly. I wondered if I should stay or if I should go. I started applying to other companies and interviewing for other jobs, but my co-workers convinced me to stay. It wasn’t until my sixth year that upper management stepped in on my behalf and noticed the inequity. Finally, my salary and bonus were properly reflected in my paycheck, but at what cost?

There is a story in The Holy Bible that reminds me of my former situation. It is about a man (Jacob) who worked tirelessly so he could marry a woman (Rachel) was the love of his life (Genesis 29). I would imagine that Jacob felt the same way I did because Jacob worked for 14 years of faithful, self-sacrificing work to his employer (Laban who was Rachel’s father), only to be cheated out of an honest wage. The first deal Jacob agreed to was to to work for free seven years to marry Rachel. But Laban deceived Jacob and gave him Leah (Laban’s older daughter) instead of Rachel. Jacob had to work another seven years to marry Rachel.

When circumstances began to escalate even further, God gave Jacob the direct instructions in our key verse to leave and return to his home. Clearly, it was time for Jacob to go. Interestingly, this was not the first time that Jacob was prompted by God to leave. In the previous chapter, Genesis 30:25, Jacob told Laban that he and his family were leaving to go back to his home. Laban convinced Jacob to stay, and Jacob delayed his departure. Even though Jacob was being treated unfairly by Laban, Jacob became comfortable with the conditions to the point that he did not want to obey God.

God allowed the threat to Jacob’s family to increase to ensure that Jacob would not delay any longer. Keep in mind that Jacob’s family was never in danger because God was protecting them, but the threat had to seem real enough to get Jacob’s attention and force him to act. Finally, Jacob gathered his family, packed his belongings, and ran from Laban.

Sometimes God gives us clear instructions for our lives, but for some reason, we delay instead of obeying Him. Unfortunately, we will stay in the same situation from which God is trying to deliver us. When God attempts to get our attention, it is then that we realize it is more painful to stay than it is to go. Sometimes God must push us out of our current situation to prove to us that it would be more beneficial to change, and more harmful to remain the same.

It is important to note that even in the middle of Jacob’s earlier decision to stay, God showed favor to Jacob and blessed him with Laban’s livestock, even after Laban cheated Jacob out of his wages. In other words, Jacob was paid what he should have been paid in the first place. God restored Jacob’s wages and made him whole! Laban was not pleased that Jacob somehow outwitted him and Laban’s attitude toward Jacob began to change for the worse. Unlike Laban’s change of attitude toward Jacob, God’s attitude toward Jacob never altered.

In Genesis 28:15, God reminded Jacob that He was the same God who made the promise at Bethel: to never leave him or forsake him, and to bring Jacob safely back to his homeland. God was with Jacob, protected him, and did not allow Laban to harm him. We can trust that God will always keep His promises. He will never leave us or forsake us. He is the same God yesterday, today and forever!

Furthermore, just as God saw how Laban was treating Jacob and then intervened on Jacob’s behalf, God sees every injustice in our lives and in time, He will allow us to rise above those who wish us harm. And for that, we can be thankful for such a loving God who cares about our well-being as we follow his plan for our lives.

Let’s Pray: Father, I thank You for your guidance and your protection in all of my undertakings. You are such a good God and You are worthy of all praise. Continue to lead out in my life as I follow Your divine plan. In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen.

Song of Reflection: “On Time God” (Music Video) | Woman Evolve Worship x Abbie Gamboa x Chandler Moore. Listen to it here.

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Author Bio:

Angela Anderson was born in Brooklyn (New York) and raised in New Jersey. 

She started writing at an early age and realized in elementary school that it was both a strength and a passion. She continued writing through high school, college, and into adulthood. Angela is the author of a devotional book titled Just When I Thought I Knew God. She is currently working on another devotional book.

This is Angela’s fifth year as a devotional writer for Alexis A. Goring’s “God is Love” blog. In 2021, Angela was a winner of a devotional writing contest where her words were featured in a book, Hope When Your Heart is Heavy, that was published by Proverbs 31 Ministries. The following year, another one of Angela’s devotionals was featured in Living Unbroken, which is another publication produced by Proverbs 31. Angela has a passion for inspiring and impacting others through her writing as well as speaking.

Angela is a life coach for mothers. She empowers mothers who want to identify their God-given purpose and live it fully while taking care of their family. Angela develops mothers into mompreneurs by providing them with the necessary tools to be successful and fulfilled in life. She works to help them to see their value, understand their importance, and reclaim their identity.

Angela is also the host of “The Angela Anderson Show”, a virtual talk show that launched in April of 2023 on YouTube and Facebook. The show is designed for mothers who want to pursue their dream while managing family life. The audio version of the show is also available as a podcast on Spotify.

Angela has been married to the love of her life, Duane Anderson, for 19 years. Together they have two sons: Thomas (age 11) and Ryan (age 6). Angela’s favorite pastime is journaling, and she also enjoys spending quality time with her family.

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Connect with Angela:

To connect with Angela, you can follow her on Instagram (angelanderson1104), Clubhouse (@angelize), and send a friend request to her on Facebook.

Subscribe to Angela’s YouTube channel @The Angela Anderson Show and follow the show on Spotify. Angela offers free consultations for mothers who want to pursue their dream while taking care of their family. Schedule here: www.ChatWithCoachAngela.com

You can also like and follow her Facebook page for her devotional book, Just When I Thought I Knew God.

Devotionals for the Heart: Fear Not

Letting Go Of Fear
A devotional by Julia Wilson

“There is no fear in love; perfect love drives out all fear.” 

–1 John 4:18a (GNB)

Fear immobilizes us and keeps us from living the life that God intended for us.

Many times within the Bible we hear the phrase “fear not.” God knows that we are prone to be afraid but He asks us to fear not and to trust Him.

An acronym for fear is False Expectations Appearing Real. We concoct scenarios in our head that hardly ever happen yet we are still paralyzed by fear.

For much of my life I have been paralyzed by my fear of water. This stems from childhood – on going to my first swimming lesson when I was eight years old, the first thing the swimming instructor did was to get us all to jump into the deep end to show that we would float. You do not float when you panic, and I had to be rescued. My fear of water began. It was a fear that I passed down to our eldest son.

Fast forward nearly fifty years – I was in my church life group and one of the ladies prophesised in September 2016 that this was the year that God was going to cure me of my fear of water and I would learn to swim. I laughed at her, like Sarah in the Bible, and thought, “No chance. Does she not realize how deep my fear is?”

But God had other plans. Whenever we hear the phrase “But God … ,” we know that God is going to move mightily. According to Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV), God says, “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you.” God’s plans are so much greater than ours. We need to ‘fear not’ and trust Him.

In January 2017, I signed up for a 10-week course for people older than 50 who want to learn how to swim. I was very frightened. I nearly did not go. But with the love and care of my swimming instructor Vanessa, I did learn to swim. I faced my fear and trusted Vanessa would not let me down. God asks us to face our fears and to trust Him to hold us up “Through All the Changing Scenes of Life,” as the old hymn says. 

When fear threatens to overwhelm, lift your eyes up to God. As the psalmist says in Psalm 121:1-2 (NIV), "I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth." If we keep our eyes focused on Jesus, we are not looking at our fears and we will receive peace that passes all understanding.

When the road of life is dark and fear comes knocking, do not open the door. Run to God! He sees our end from our beginning. He will sustain you and He will not let you go.

When fear rules our lives, we miss out on all that God intends for us.

As a footnote, I had intermediate swimming lessons for six months and now swim four times a week for about ninety minutes and I love it. My only regret is that I did not learn to swim as a child. I missed out for nearly fifty years. Do not miss out on the life that God intends for you through fear. Give fear the elbow. Look to God. He’s got you and will never let you down. As the saying goes “Do not tell God how big your fear is, tell your fear how big your God is!”

Let go of your fear and watch where God will take you. He loves you and He will never let you down!

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Author Bio:

My name is Julia Wilson but I also go by Christian Bookaholic.

I live with my husband and five cats in a small town in Worcestershire on the banks of the River Severn (England). We have four grown up children and three granddaughters.

I have always loved reading and have always been surrounded by books. I used to work as a teaching assistant for special needs in the local high school. Ill health forced me to stop working in December 2015. I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (known as M.E.) and fibromyalgia. I now have plenty of time to read and review books!

Our eldest son set up my Christian Bookaholic blog. I review every book I read. I read over 300 books a year. I read Christian and mass market. I prefer stories set from 1850 onwards. My favourite type of books to read is stories set in WWI and WWII, and Russia under Czar Nicholas II.

I am a historian, having a Combined Humanities degree where I majored in History and minored in English. I also love swimming. I only learned how to swim in 2017 and go swimming four mornings a week for 90 minutes before breakfast, it keeps my joints going.

I am also a crazy cat lady. I absolutely love my cats. I have grown up with cats and cannot imagine life without them. My dream is to own an old fashioned seal point Siamese … but not while we have our young rescue cat as she hates other cats!

I love God and love going to a large lively church called Lifecentral. I cannot imagine life without God. He gives a peace even when life does not. He guides my life. He is my Rock.