At Barefoot Republic, Family Devos are an integral part of our mission! Sharing the stories of Jesus and God’s love from the Bible are a very intentional way for us to encourage our campers and help them grow in their faith. Each day during the week, Republic Leaders and Counselors take the time to explore a new story and share discussions, questions and even some role-playing to learn more about how they fit into God’s Story.
Our Day 1 devo is all about Job. When we developed the Overflow theme this year, we wanted to be able to show how God’s overflowing love comes in all forms and every form requires a deep, deep faith! There is no better way to illustrate an overwhelming and overflowing, steadfast dedication to God than through the story of Job. Through Job, we see that God is a God of Hope. He takes our hopelessness and turns it into an ever-present, overflowing goodness that overcomes all and builds a foundation of increasing hope.
Through this story, we learn about who Job is and how he loved God so much that he trusted Him for everything he could ever need… and more. Job had rooms full of clothes, freedom and wealth to travel anywhere he wanted and more food than anyone could eat in a lifetime. One day though, tragedy struck and attackers stole all of his food, storms struck his house and his family was lost. Everything he had was gone in an instant. Job was devastated and felt completely hopeless. Some of his friends blamed Job for his troubles and he felt confused and cried out to God. God answered Job to help him understand who he really is. God showed Job that He is the ultimate source of love and hope, saying that it was He who spoke and told the sun to rise, the grass to spring up from the ground and that it was He who breathed life into all things. He continued by saying, “I am God. I desire good for you. I only ask that you trust me.” Job was in awe. God not only healed him from his physical ailments, but rebuilt his family and his land as a reward for his obedience!
Although Job’s story had a happy ending, he saw everything differently from that day on. He had never experienced the fullness of God’s love and mercy so personally before. He responded to God, “I had only heard about you before, but NOW you are real to me.”
We celebrate the message of hope and faith in this story of Job. Through Job, we are able to understand that God is the ultimate source of hope in our lives. No matter what we are going through daily, monthly and even yearly, we see that through Job, we can choose to remain faithful to a God who cries with us when we are hurting, who does not wish us harm but rather gives us open arms of love to rest in for comfort and care when we need it most. Choosing to remain steadfast in our love and dependence on God allows Him to fulfill our deepest needs without worry that we are alone or unable to make it through!
Stories like these are the foundation of our faith. They are the definition of who God is and all that He desires for each of us. We are never alone, never without love and never hopeless when we are covered by the shadow of His wing. He is the Waymaker and the God of Hope!
Make sure to check out our weekly recap video to see how much fun we had at West End Community Church this week!
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