I woke up with the words of the title. My mind immediately went to John 15:5. Nothing is a word of emptiness. I have a suicidal mentee who is empty. Her thought circuit is a destructive loop that plays over and over. Without a personal relationship with Jesus there is no hope.

Anything we do in our own strength is utter futility. Paul and Barnabas encountered a cripple at Lystra. As Paul was speaking, he saw that the man had faith to be healed. In Acts 14:10 Paul said, “…Stand up straight on your feet! And he leaped and walked.”

The pagan priests were about to sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas. Paul preached to them. In verse 15 he said, “…turn from these useless things to the living God…” The Greek word for useless means: fruitless, empty, futile, hollow, unproductive, lacking substance, and worthless.

John 15:8 says that we bear fruit for his glory through abiding—not from doing anything in our own strength. What or Who we turn to in the face of our impossibilities reveals where our heart’s belief truly lies.

Amy Carmichael wrote, “For grace to endure and to conquer is never given until the moment in need.” Quoted from her book, Rose From Briar. Amy lived her life of service to the Lord in absolute dependence on Him.

I reread her biography written by Elizabeth Elliot, “A Chance To Die.” In every situation that she encountered, her intention and desire was to die to herself. She had a huge orphanage in India. She taught all the workers and the children how to die to themselves through her example.

Our flesh wants center stage. However, our instructions in Galatians 5:16 says, “…Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” The Greek word for lust is gratifying sensual cravings, desiring the forbidden, longing for the evil, coveting what belongs to someone else, and striving for things, persons, or experiences contrary to the will of God.

Verse 17. Think of two magnets trying to unite. They propel each other. It says, “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another…”

Why do we delay something today that we should have done yesterday? I think of what the Shulamite woman said. Song of Solomon 1:6 says, “…but my own vineyard I have not kept.” I use the exact words to goad myself to do something I need to do but clearly don’t want to. It is my prod to not procrastinate.

What do you do when you get frustrated? Do you walk away, get angry, turn to something that wastes time, or stop and pray? Years ago the Holy Spirit gave me this definition. “God interrupting my way to redirect me into His way.”

That insight is written on the walls of my heart. It propels me to seek the Lord for His direction whenever anything makes me feel frustrated. Our feelings come from our thoughts. Thoughts have motives that are based on what we believe about ourselves. That belief system was built from our experiences in life.

We usually get frustrated when we are trying to do something in our own strength and we fail. Humbling ourselves will usher in His grace-strength.

When I was in high school I learned this definition of an excuse ~ a skin of reason wrapped around a lie. I thought of this as I read Moses’ excuses. God clearly laid out what He was going to do. Yet Moses back peddled with one excuse after another.

In Exodus 3:10 the Lord told Moses, “…I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring the children of Israel out of Egypt.” Pretty clear instruction. Yet Moses looked to himself. “Who am I?” he asked.

The Lord assured him that He would be with him. He gave him specific instructions of what he was to say. In Exodus 4:1, 10, 13 are more excuses. Clearly his heart was not in it. Verse 14 says, “So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses…”

When we balk at what the Lord is asking us to do, His purpose will be fulfilled through another. God sent Aaron to be Moses’ mouthpiece. Moses vacillated and lost the opportunity presented to him. Walking in discernment enables us to seize each opportunity the moment He presents it.

Fiery darts are lies. They often accuse. Revelation 12:10 named satan as, “…the accuser of our brethren…” Fiery darts are designed to attack our faith. In my experience they came in first person, such as “You are…, or you can’t…” followed by derogatory statements.”

We are to be diligent to guard our hearts (Proverbs 4:23) and to bring thoughts captive (2 Corinthians 10:5). When we aren’t, then lies will penetrate and seed into our hearts as we dialogue with them. They then become our own. From then on the battle is inside and no longer outside.

2 Timothy 2:14 says, “…not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers.” We can apply this to arguments within ourselves, or with others. There is no profit in it. It is fruitless, worthless, and an absolute empty activity. Daniel 7:25 says that he seeks to wear out the saints of the Most High through his pompous words. 

Dialoguing with fiery darts is not only futile, but it emotionally, spiritually, and physically wears us down. Renounce the lies you have believed!

Hebrews 10:23 says, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” I think of a barnacle fastened to a rock in the midst of a tempestuous storm. What do you hold onto when you suddenly drop into a new trial?

Hebrews 6:13 reminds us that there is no one greater than God. Verse 18 says, “That by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.”

Our hope is based on Jesus’ resurrection. 1 Peter 1:3 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

1 Samuel 12:21 says, “And do not turn aside; for then you would go after empty things which cannot profit or deliver, for they are nothing.” Dialoguing with fiery darts leads to absolute futility and emotional fatigue. 

Moses ended up in the land of Midian. He stopped and sat down by a well. Exodus 2:16 says that the seven daughters of the priest of Midian came to draw water for their father’s flock. Moses observed what happened. The shepherds came and drove the girls away. Moses stepped in to help them.

Moses ended up dwelling with the priest, and he gave his daughter Zipporah to be Moses’ wife. One day Moses was tending the sheep. An Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire. Spontaneous combustion was not unusual.

Exodus 3:3 says, “Then Moses said, I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.” When the Lord saw that Moses turn aside, He spoke to him from the midst of the bush.

Many times we are so busy that we do not stop to step aside when something catches our attention. Luke 4:4 in the Amplified says that man will not live by bread alone, “…but by every word and expression of God.” Nuances can be life-changing, as with Moses.

I was reading about Moses. First the midwives obeyed God rather than the ruler of Egypt. Baby Moses was placed in a watertight basket and set in the bulrushes. Pharaoh’s daughter stopped what she was doing and turned aside to see what God had set in her path.

Exodus 2:5 says that she and her maidens were walking along the riverside. She saw the ark. Verse 6 says, “And when she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, that baby wept…” Moses’ sister was hiding. She immediately asked if Pharaoh’s daughter would like a Hebrew woman to nurse the baby.

Verse 9 says, “Then Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, Take the child away and nurse him for me…” Can’t you just imagine the love his mom poured into little baby Moses? Think of how hard it was when she gave him to Pharaoh’s daughter to be her son.

Later Moses saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew man. He stopped and turned aside. However, he took matters into his own hands. He killed the Egyptian, and had to flee for his life. 

Proverbs 3:21 says, “My son, let them not depart from your eyes—keep sound wisdom and discretion.…” Read through verse 24. Psalm 112:5 says, “A good man deals graciously and lends; he will guide his affairs with discretion.”

One way that I pray for myself every day, “Lord help me see beyond the visible, the obvious, and the obstacles. Paul prayed for the church in Ephesus that the eyes of their understanding would be opened. Ephesians 1:18. 

For the church in Colosse he prayed that they would be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Colossians 1:9. For the church in Philippi he prayed that their love would abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment. Philippians 1:10.

Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” In Proverbs 2:3 King Solomon instructed his son to cry out for discernment and to lift up his voice for understanding. We do well to make them our cry also.

The Holy Spirit reminded me of something as I was reading the story of Joseph. The Lord gave him dreams that were in the future. His lack of discretion was because of pride. We can fall prey the same way.

Matthew 7:6 is our warning. It says, “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest thy trample them under their feet and tear you in pieces.” What happened to Joseph? His brothers sought a way to destroy him.

Proverbs 2:10-12 says, “When wisdom enters your heart, and knowledge is pleasant to your soul, discretion will preserve you; understanding will keep you, to deliver you from the way of evil, from the man who speaks perverse things.”

1828 Noah Webster Dictionary’s definition for discretion: that discernment which enables a person to judge critically of what is correct and proper, united with caution; nice discernment and judgment, directed by circumspection, and primarily regarding one’s own conduct.

Ephesians 5:15 says, “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise.” It means to walk carefully.