Leviticus 23

He works it all for good

‘These are the feasts of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. ~ Leviticus 23:4

Have you ever looked back at parts of your life and wondered how God could ever use any of it for something good? Many people carry moments from the past that seem wasted, broken, or insignificant, yet God specializes in taking whatever is placed in His hands and weaving it into His purpose. Today’s scripture reading shows that God can work with anything that is given to Him. Israel brought harvests, offerings, and celebrations to the Lord, and He turned each one into something meaningful. He took ordinary moments and set them apart for His glory. The same is true for you today.

Below are three truths for you to consider today:

1. God uses seasons of your life

Leviticus 23 outlines appointed times, each with a purpose. God used every season Israel walked through and turned them into opportunities for worship and growth.

He will do the same for you today if you give God the season you are in right now, whether it feels joyful or heavy. Talk to Him about what you are carrying and ask Him to show you how He wants to work through it. When you give Him the day in front of you, He will use it to develop your faith one step at a time.

2. God uses your ordinary offerings

Israel’s feasts were built on what they brought to God. Grain, firstfruits, and simple gifts became part of His divine plan because they placed them in His hands. Your offerings might be your time, your mistakes, your talents, or your broken moments. When you surrender every area of your life over to Him, He can turn even your darkest days into a tool to reach the world around you.

Go ahead and give Him something that is within you today no matter how simple or complex it seems. Offer a prayer, a decision, a habit, or even a past mistake that you have been carrying. Trust that once you put it in His hands, He can shape it into something meaningful and powerful for your future purpose.

3. God uses what is imperfect and makes it holy

The feasts were never about perfection. They were about surrender. When Israel obeyed and gave God what they had, He made it holy. The same truth applies to your life. God can take your good, your struggles, your successes, and even your failures and use them in His purpose.

Tell God the parts of your life that feel too messy or too broken to be impactful. Ask Him to take those areas and work through them. When you place them in His hands, He will turn them into opportunities for healing and testimony.

Even in this season of my life, I have been walking through a struggle that has lasted more than two years. Each time it comes to my mind, which happens often, I bring it back to the Lord and thank Him for what He is doing in it and through it. This is not my plan A, and it is certainly not my plan B. Since I cannot change it by my own strength, I have begun calling it plan C, the place where I choose to pray and trust God completely. This situation has opened doors for me to encourage others who are facing something similar in their own homes and families. I know God is turning it toward a good outcome and that He is working everything and everyone involved toward His purpose, even though walking through it has not been easy. Now I am beginning to see how He is using these circumstances in ways I never imagined He could redeem. As I surrender my will and fears to Him, even when it feels like I am offering very little, He shapes it into something that brings Him glory. He has not wasted a single part of my story.

Today I want to encourage you to give God whatever you are holding. Offer Him your past, your present, your weaknesses, your strengths, and every piece of your story. He can use anything you surrender to Him and turn it into something that builds your faith and impacts those around you. Nothing is wasted when it is placed in His hands. Let Him take what you give Him and use it in ways that go far beyond what you can see today.

Today’s scripture reading: Leviticus 23

1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 

2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘The feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts.

3 ‘Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings.

The Passover and Unleavened Bread

4 ‘These are the feasts of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. 

5 On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the Lord’s Passover. 

6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. 

7 On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it. 

8 But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.’ ”

9 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 

10 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. 

11 He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. 

12 And you shall offer on that day, when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the Lord. 

13 Its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the Lord, for a sweet aroma; and its drink offering shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin. 

14 You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

15 ‘And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. 

16 Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord. 

17 You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to the Lord. 

18 And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs of the first year, without blemish, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be as a burnt offering to the Lord, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma to the Lord. 

19 Then you shall sacrifice one kid of the goats as a sin offering, and two male lambs of the first year as a sacrifice of a peace offering. 

20 The priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. 

21 And you shall proclaim on the same day that it is a holy convocation to you. You shall do no customary work on it. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.

22 ‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field when you reap, nor shall you gather any gleaning from your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am the Lord your God.’ ”

23 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 

24 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. 

25 You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord.’ ”

26 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 

27 “Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. 

28 And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord your God. 

29 For any person who is not afflicted in soul on that same day shall be cut off from his people. 

30 And any person who does any work on that same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. 

31 You shall do no manner of work; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 

32 It shall be to you a sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict your souls; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall celebrate your sabbath.”

33 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 

34 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the Lord. 

35 On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it. 

36 For seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it.

37 ‘These are the feasts of the Lord which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to the Lord, a burnt offering and a grain offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings, everything on its day— 

38 besides the Sabbaths of the Lord, besides your gifts, besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings which you give to the Lord.

39 ‘Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the Lord for seven days; on the first day there shall be a sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day a sabbath-rest. 

40 And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. 

41 You shall keep it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month. 

42 You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, 

43 that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.’ ”

44 So Moses declared to the children of Israel the feasts of the Lord.

Journal:

• What part of my past still feels unusable to me, and why have I held on to it?
• What can I give to God today, even if it feels small or imperfect?
• How have I already seen God use unexpected areas of my life for good?
• What step can I take this week to offer Him more of my story?