Planted With Purpose
Sunday, January 18
1 CORINTHIANS 1:1-9
When I met the person responsible for the International Department of Fujisawa City at City Hall, he introduced himself as an atheist. I replied that I believed in God and sought to follow the principles and spirituality of Jesus through the Gospel narratives. After a couple of hours, I shared Sophia’s birth story (see day 3). I told him, “If I were an atheist, I would still say I do not know who God is. But Someone, somehow, is inviting me to be a better father, husband, and human being.” He responded, “From today, I will not call myself an atheist but an agnostic. Because I too have felt Someone, somehow, inviting me to be a better person. I do not know who he is, but I know he exists.”
I have learned that evangelism is simply helping someone take one step closer to Jesus on their journey. As a spiritual director, I have learned to respect each person’s unique spiritual path. And from missionary theologian David Bosch, I have learned that missio Dei means working with God, not for God—joining God’s mission, for God always goes before us. Paul experienced this truth in Corinth. The city was a multicultural hub that was infamous for its immorality—so much so that “to Corinthianize” meant “to live immorally.” The church wrestled with immorality, confusion about marriage, idolatry, and disorder in worship. Yet Paul used his gifts and experiences to encourage them and proclaim the gospel.
In a similar way, Johnna and I went to Japan, where by God’s grace, our skills and the miracle of Sophia’s birth became tools to encourage churches across cultures and to build bridges even with those who called themselves atheists, surrounded by Buddhist temples. How is God inviting you today to use your gifts? How has God planted you to bear fruit as God’s witness, called by Christ?
Father, thank you for every gift you have given us. Thank you for planting us exactly where we are. Give us grace, discernment, and boldness as we share the good news of Jesus with those you bring across our path. Amen.
The No Agenda Road
Monday, January 19
PSALM 40:1-3
I love to plan meticulously. I know what I am going to do tomorrow—in the morning, afternoon, evening, and even before I go to bed—with precise times and schedules. I also have clear plans for next month and even six months from now. This comes from the business mindset I developed while working for companies for twenty years. Yet spiritual direction has taught me to leave room for divine appointments. It has opened my eyes to a “no agenda road,” one that is not built on productivity or control.
The psalmist David was courageous, bold, and had an impressive résumé—after all, he defeated the giant Goliath. Yet David knew his own efforts and plans would not deliver him from the deepest pain and anguish. He describes himself as trapped in a “slimy pit,” sinking in “mud and mire” (v. 2, NIV).
Have you ever felt like you were losing strength, that you wouldn’t make it through? Maybe you are struggling to connect with your daughter. Maybe your job is weighing you down. Maybe your marriage feels like it’s slipping away. Does God seem silent, slow, or absent? What is God whispering to your heart today? God can be the One who steps into your loss and brings peace. He alone can lift you out of the pit, set your feet on a rock, and give you a new song of praise.
Lord, when our faith is fragile and we feel stuck in the pit, remind us that deliverance comes through you. Teach us to wait patiently for your divine agenda to unfold, and give us a firm place to stand. Amen.
Trust In The Slow Work Of God
Tuesday, January 20
PSALM 40:4-5
Johnna’s labor with our daughter Sophia was very, very hard. Over thirty hours, her epidural did not work. She was in constant pain. At one point the doctor told me that she would have to use a vacuum to deliver the baby. Johnna would have three chances, and if that didn’t work, she would immediately go to a C-section. Our baby’s life was at risk.
I was next to her the whole time, but I was powerless. All of my carefully planned, millimetric agendas could not help her. In that delivery room the only thing I could do was to trust the Lord. As Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, the Jesuit spiritual writer, once said, “Trust in the slow work of God.”
David was also invited to trust in God. Ancient Israel was a covenant community where worship included both personal testimony and communal praise. David’s trust was not only for his own deliverance but also a testimony to the nations about the God of Israel.
How many wonders has God done in your life? How can you bear witness to God’s work—in your home, at work, or in your community—sharing God’s goodness?
Lord, help us to trust in the slow work of God. Help us to trust you, to believe that you never stop working—even when we think you may have forgotten us Amen.
God’s Promises Are Exciting
Wednesday, January 21
PSALM 40:6-8
In the hospital room there was a line of five doctors. Jessica, our friend, sister, and doula, was on my left side. I looked at Johnna as the doctor tried the first time and said, “Help, Johnna.” She could not help—she was too weak. The doctor tried again, and nothing happened. It was the third attempt with the vacuum that finally worked.
A beautiful baby girl was born, and we named her Sophia.
David writes that God desires obedience and a responsive heart more than external sacrifices. These verses become a Christological fulfillment when Jesus embodies God’s perfect obedience through his incarnation. As David recognizes in his immediate context, God values a heart fully surrendered.
Where have you seen God drawing you closer? What circumstances have been pulling you away from God? Where have you been practicing incarnational ministry as you embody the good news of Jesus, who clothed himself in flesh and blood and taught us who God is and who we human beings can become?
Father, thank you for Jesus’s incarnation. Thank you because through Jesus’s incarnational life, I learn to be a better human being. Amen.
We Cannot Stay Silent
Thursday, January 22
PSALM 40:9-10
At this point in the psalm we see a shift. David begins with a personal experience, and now it becomes communal. He moves from private deliverance to public testimony before the assembly, sharing what God has done for him. “I proclaim your saving acts,” he says. “I do not seal my lips” (v. 9, NIV).
After a few minutes, the doctor came into the room and asked if Johnna and Sophia were well. Then she looked at me and said, “Fábio, I also had a baby. I also had problems with the epidural. My doctor said, ‘I have to use the vacuum, and you have three chances; otherwise, you will go immediately to a C-section.’ I was scared. The first time did not work. The second time did not work either. The third time, my baby was born. It was a miracle—I also have a baby girl, and her name is Sophia!”
After hearing that angelic testimony, I could not stop praising God. I wanted to run out of that hospital and tell the world how God came so close to our family, how he saved Johnna and rescued me from the “slimy pit.”
The psalm shows us again and again that salvation comes from God. It is God’s character at the center, not David’s story. As Matt Redman sings, “It is all about you, Jesus.” In ancient Israel, worship was never only private; it was always covenantal and communal.
Lord, help us in our weaknesses. Thank you for knowing us by name and caring so closely. Amen.
Broken Yet Beloved
Friday, January 23
PSALM 40:11-12
David knows he cannot do anything without the Lord’s strength. He cannot defeat his enemies, especially the enemy that arises from his own heart. He confesses his vulnerability. He declares his powerlessness.
A couple of years after Sophia’s birth, I faced a season of surrender. I quit my job and ended twenty years of bivocational ministry to join Johnna in ministry and move to Japan. For decades I had sustained myself, relying on my own work and resources. Now God invited me to trust him, to believe his provision would continue beyond one incredible miracle to sustain us as we stepped out in faith.
Despite my fragility and limits, I learned to come before God with a broken heart, bringing my whole self even amid fear and weakness. Like David, I cried out for God’s mercy and depended on God in the unknown.
What is God inviting you to surrender today? What is God asking you to release to depend fully on God’s grace?
O Lord, have mercy on us. We come before you broken and powerless. Do not withhold your mercy. Amen.
No Mask Before God
Saturday, January 24
PSALM 40:13-17
Sometimes when pastors invite people to come to Jesus, it can sound as if their problems will be resolved immediately. But Psalm 40 teaches us something deeper. In spite of God’s salvation, deliverance, and provision, David still cries out for urgent help because present troubles overwhelm him again. David needs fresh deliverance.
I once learned from my mentor that it is better to come before God with our ugliest story and darkest shadow than with our best pharisaic mask and brilliant performance. God works with our real selves, even when we are full of doubt and fragility.
Notice how David approaches God. He is honest. He feels the urgency of his weakness and depends again on God. He knows exactly who God is: “You are my help and my deliverer” (v. 17, NIV).
Sophia’s birth miracle and our mission in Japan did not give us a spiritual bunker or superhuman powers. New troubles came—fresh financial uncertainties, fears, and limitations as we moved into our mission in Europe. Like David, we discovered that yesterday’s testimony does not cancel today’s struggles. But David reminds us that God’s past deliverance gives hope. It teaches us to trust God to provide our daily bread, just as God promised.
Father, thank you for your daily provision and for your past deliverance that gives us courage to return to you again and again. Amen.
