When I asked God for a thought to share today and He dropped “August” in my spirit, I thought maybe I had missed God this time. But please read this one through. It blessed me and maybe, it will you too!

Although I love seasonal changes, I never cared much for August. When I was a student and later, a young schoolteacher, August signaled the impending end of the summer break. During my earlier years in North Carolina, August was always the hottest month of the year. And most of my days that month were spent working in tobacco, cotton, and peanut fields with the sun’s rays beaming straight down on my head! The temperatures soared higher and higher while I prayed for any little cloud that might pass beneath the sun and provide even a few seconds of shade. Thus, August to me was a dispiriting month of suffering and intense heat!

“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you” (1 Peter 4:12 KJV).

August, a Necessary Inconvenience

I could find something to appreciate about the other months, like gathering at my grandfather’s home for a family reunion in early July, or even a small thing like the Labor Day holiday in September. But August!?  In thinking about my disdain for the month, I decided to investigate its name. The title, Augustus, bestowed upon the first emperor of the Roman Empire, Caesar Augustus, suggested that he was impressive and venerable, or at least his subjects were expected to view him that way. The English word, “august,” means “respected.” It is derived from the Latin verb “augere” which means “to increase, to prosper.” What! Hmm—perhaps August deserves a closer look.

Could it be that August was a necessary inconvenience? August was a sobering reminder that vacations and sabbaticals were temporary. The meaningful work had to continue! August, the eighth month, did not just signal the end of the summer break but also the beginning of a new year of my educational pursuits as a student and, as a teacher and later, principal, the continuing educational growth of my students!

The intensifying heat of August is a reminder that you have to cook slowly until you are done! Food that is cooked slowly until it is done is generally more tender and easier to digest. Working and slow-cooking under the scorching heat of the sun served to tenderize, develop humility in me and the understanding that Someone much greater than I is in control!

I could keep working with this, but suffice it to say, that your increase, your prosperity, and your position of great respect is on the other side of your August!

Focus Quote: “But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you -perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you” (1 Peter 5:10).

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Reminders: I would love to hear from you!!!  If you would like to respond to any of my thoughts, share a praise report, a prayer request or share something I can include in the next weekly focus, please just shoot me an email or text me at the number below.

Project 2024: “If My people who are called by my name would humble themselves and pray…”

Also, please do not neglect to VOTE in November!

And please continue to join us at 5:14 p.m. each day as we pause to pray.

“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us” (1 John 5:14). 

Just pause and pray wherever you are. There is no call line or zoom link that you need to remember or retrieve and connect to. Just connect to God and pray! I will also be praying with you. There is power in agreement!