The Story Behind the Devotion
Through this devotion, I hope that you will see how great God is. I realized in putting this together, that the details of the struggle were not nearly as important as how God ministered to me in it and helped me through it. In fact, we all experience times of suffering, but if we ask God for His help during them, He will generously guide and support us. The book of James tells us this in chapter 1:2-5 that we should consider it pure joy when we face trials, because the testing of our faith brings perseverance, and perseverance brings maturity and completeness of our faith.
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I can honestly say that I have experienced these verses for the last several years, but not in the way I expected. When the trials began, I was not joyful. I was heartbroken, angry, and wanted revenge. As time passed, I finally realized that I lacked wisdom in understanding the trials so, as James advised, I turned to God and asked Him, “Where are you?” and more specifically, I would ask Him, “Where are you in the midst of my sadness and tears?” I truly was not sure how He was going to respond, but I did know that only He would be the source of my comfort. God did not take the trial and struggles away from me, but He did bring me such amazing joy in how He ministered to me. On one particular morning, I heard Him say, “Look out the window, and you will see Me.” It was as if He had opened up my eyes to see Him. I was amazed at the sight, so I ran to get my camera and took a photo. I had asked, “Where are You?”, and He had responded, “I am right here next to you, in front of you, behind you -- all around you.” And so began the journey of creating this pictorial devotion.
For the past several years, He has been revealing Himself to me in so many ways, and I have been taking countless pictures. I found such joy in the beautiful revelations that He shared with me: joy in the midst of struggles. He was healing my heart with the lovely tapestries He created in the sky and all around my home. I found such comfort in knowing that He was with me, and He loved me. Somewhere along the way, I felt that God wanted me to create a weekly pictorial devotion about Him. I sensed that He was leading me to use pictures taken from my own home with the idea that you do not have to go anywhere to see God; He is there at home with you. This was an extraordinary request. I had never taken a photography class, nor had I ever had anything published. I was completely ill-equipped for the task at hand. I told God that if He wanted me to create this devotion, then He would have to do everything. He would have to open every door, and I would be obedient to His leading.
I asked my daughters to join me in this endeavor, as I knew that where two or three are gathered in His name, Jesus is present. (Matthew 18:20) And I needed Him to be right by my side in this project. In addition to leading my daughters and me in choosing 52 pictures, 52 names/attributes, and 52 Bible verses, He opened many doors to find a printer, to create a prototype devotion, to obtain the necessary copyrights, to write the appropriate words to include in the devotion and website, to open a PO Box and a bank account, to find a graphic designer who so graciously donated her time to make the pictorial devotion and to create this site, to find an email service where I could send weekly emails, and to have many friends joyfully proofread the devotion and website. God met my every need in His perfect timing!
I can now say that I am grateful for the struggles which tested my faith, but allowed my heart to mend as He guided me in this creative process. I believe I would not have experienced the great depth of God's faithfulness as He carried me out of the valley. His gift of perseverance is precious. More than anything now, I pray He is glorified through me, and the devotion we have made together.
