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Saturday, October 31, 2020
The Trial of Faith by Oswald Chambers
God Is Good to All by Charles Stanley
God is good. We see evidence of this everywhere we look. We might wonder why good things happen to bad people, or why bad things happen to Christ followers. However, no matter how great our service to God, we are no more deserving of God’s goodness than anyone else. Only God can judge what is truly “good,” and He bases this on His knowledge of our hearts.
Too much of a good thing can have negative effects. For instance, a $10 tithe may not seem like much to a young person, even though he earns just $100 a week. But later that same person, now successful and wealthy, may struggle to give $1000, even though the amount represents the same percentage of his paycheck. God knows this about us and will bless us accordingly so we are not tempted to turn away from Him and worship the gift instead of the Giver.
When we are not wise stewards, the Lord may withdraw some of His benefits from our lives. Instead, let’s follow in the thanksgiving and praise of today’s psalm. Remember, “no good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11).
Every good thing comes from God (James 1:17). Walk according to His will, follow His ways, and He will shower His goodness upon you.
Give the Devil Plenty to Grieve by Adrian Rogers
Give the Devil Plenty to Grieve
Buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. Colossians 2:12
People often ask me, “Why do Baptists immerse people—put them fully under the water—when a new convert to Christ is baptized?” Because that’s what God’s Word teaches. When you go under the water, that is a picture of your death and burial. When you come up out of the water, that is a picture of your resurrection. “Buried with Him.” “Risen with Him.”
If I died and you took me to the cemetery and sprinkled a few granules of dirt on my head, have you truly buried me? No. The very word “baptism” means to immerse.
Your baptism is a funeral service: Dead to the old life. Raised to newness of life. And the devil doesn’t like that. The baptismal is a liquid tomb, and the mourner who comes to that funeral is the devil. Let’s be sure he has plenty to mourn about.
October 31 / Streams in the Desert
Likewise also the Spirit helpeth our infirmities; for we know not what to pray for as we ought; but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God(Romans 8:26-27).
This is the deep mystery of prayer. This is the delicate divine mechanism which words cannot interpret, and which theology cannot explain, but which the humblest believer knows even when he does not understand.
Oh, the burdens that we love to bear and cannot understand! Oh, the inarticulate out-reachings of our hearts for things we cannot comprehend! And yet we know they are an echo from the throne and a whisper from the heart of God. It is often a groan rather than a song, a burden rather than a buoyant wing. But it is a blessed burden, and it is a groan whose undertone is praise and unutterable joy. It is "a groaning which cannot be uttered." We could not ourselves express it always, and sometimes we do not understand any more than that God is praying in us, for something that needs His touch and that He understands.
And so we can just pour out the fullness of our heart, the burden of our spirit, the sorrow that crushes us, and know that He hears, He loves, He understands, He receives; and He separates from our prayer all that is imperfect, ignorant and wrong, and presents the rest, with the incense of the great High Priest, before the throne on high; and our prayer is heard, accepted and answered in His name.
--A. B. Simpson
It is not necessary to be always speaking to God or always hearing from God, to have communion with Him; there is an inarticulate fellowship more sweet than words. The little child can sit all day long beside its busy mother and, although few words are spoken on either side, and both are busy, the one at his absorbing play, the other at her engrossing work, yet both are in perfect fellowship. He knows that she is there, and she knows that he is all right.
So the saint and the Saviour can go on for hours in the silent fellowship of love, and he be busy about the most common things, and yet conscious that every little thing he does is touched with the complexion of His presence, and the sense of His approval and blessing.
And then, when pressed with burdens and troubles too complicated to put into words and too mysterious to tell or understand, how sweet it is to fall back into His blessed arms, and just sob out the sorrow that we cannot speak!
--Selected
Hope For the Future by Billy Graham
Hope For the Future
If you are moving to a new home, you want to know all about the community to which you are going. And since we will spend eternity some place, we ought to know something about it. The information concerning heaven is found in the Bible. When we talk about heaven, earth grows shabby by comparison. Our sorrows and problems here seem so much less, when we have keen anticipation of the future.
In a certain sense the Christian has heaven here on earth. He has peace of soul, peace of conscience, and peace with God. In the midst of troubles and difficulties he can smile. He has a spring in his step, a joy in his soul, a smile on his face. But the Bible also promises the Christian a heaven in the life hereafter.
Daily Prayer
Father, as I face whatever trials come my way, I will take heart in the glorious promise of heaven—knowing I shall be with You!
“But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior.”
Philippians 3:20 NLT
It’s Time to Wake Up by Greg Laurie
It’s Time to Wake Up
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17 nkjv).
Years ago, I was traveling with a good friend of mine who likes to do pranks. Of course, I like to do them too. When I travel, I request wake-up calls wherever I’m staying. I was leaving the next day before my friend was, so I called the front desk and requested two wake-up calls for his room: one at 4:30 a.m. and another one at 5:00.
After I got home, he called me and said, “Do you know what happened to me? They called my room at 4:30 in the morning. I knew it was you, so I didn’t even answer the phone. The next thing I knew, they were in my room, shaking me in my bed, afraid that I missed my call.”
Maybe the Lord has given you a little shake recently. Maybe something has happened that reminded you life can be short. Are you right with God?
One of these days, eternity will come for every one of us. That’s why the Bible says, “Prepare to meet your God” (Amos 4:12 nkjv).
If this were your last day to believe in Jesus Christ, do you have complete confidence that you would go to Heaven when you die? Maybe something has a stranglehold on you, and you think you won’t ever be able to break the cycle in your life.
Without Christ that may be true. But He can break the cycle of sin. The Bible tells us, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17 nkjv).
God can change your story. It can have a different ending, and you really can live happily ever after—not necessarily on earth, but in Heaven as you spend all eternity with Him. This is the hope of every Christian.
Sticks, Bricks, and God by Arthur Jackson
Sticks, Bricks, and God
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised. Job 1:21
After praying about what God was calling them to do in the next phase of their lives, Mark and Nina determined that moving to the urban core of the city was what they needed to do. They purchased a vacant house and renovation was well underway—then came the storm. Mark wrote in a text message to me: “We had a surprise this morning. The tornado that came through Jefferson City, took out our renovation—down to sticks and bricks. God is up to something.”
Uncontrollable storms are not the only things that surprise us and create confusion in our lives. Not losing sight of God in the midst of misfortune, however, is one of the keys of survival.
The weather catastrophe in Job’s life that resulted in his loss of property and the death of his children (Job 1:19) was but one of the shocking surprises he faced. Prior to that, three messengers had come bearing bad news (vv. 13–17).
On any given day, we can go from feasting to mourning, from celebrating life to processing death, or some other life challenge. Our lives can swiftly be reduced to “sticks and bricks”—financially, relationally, physically, emotionally, spiritually. But God is mightier than any storm. Surviving life’s trials requires faith that’s focused on Him—faith that enables us to say with Job and others, “May the name of the Lord be praised” (v. 21).
What has helped to clear your vision when you’ve lost sight of God? What can you learn from Job that will help you when the storms of life come?
Father, forgive me for the times I lose sight of You in the midst of life’s difficulties. Help me to see You with fresh eyes.
WALKING TOGETHER / Draw Near Bible App
WALKING TOGETHER
A small boy telling his father the story of Enoch showed he understood well the truth of the Genesis passage. He said, "God and Enoch walked close together. Then, one day as they were walking, God said, 'Come on to My house, Enoch. It's much closer than walking back to yours.'"The story of Hezekiah illustrates that he, too, was a man who walked with God. So good was his relationship with the Lord that when Sennacherib sent his threatening letter, Hezekiah went to God's house and spread it before the Lord. God heard his prayer, and that very night 185,000 enemy soldiers were destroyed before they could attack Jerusalem.
God is still looking for people who will be His friends. The lives of men like Hezekiah, Enoch, Moses, Abraham, and myriad of others remind us we can make our lives sublime by walking with God. Then, when a crisis comes, as it did to Hezekiah and to Israel, we, too, can go before God and spread the problem before Him. He will not only hear but will answer His friends. We can always ask for deliverance from our difficulties, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the LORD God, You alone.
In My Fallen State by Alistair Begg
In My Fallen State
It was I who knew you in the wilderness,
Hosea 13:5
in the land of drought.
Yes, Lord, You did indeed know me in my fallen state, and You did even then choose me for Yourself. When I was loathsome and self-abhorred, You received me as Your child, and You satisfied my longings. Blessed forever be Your name for this free, rich, abounding mercy. Since then, my inward experience has often been a wilderness; but You have kept me still as Your beloved and poured streams of love and grace into me to gladden me and make me fruitful. When my outward circumstances have been at the worst, and I have wandered in a land of drought, Your sweet presence has comforted me. Men have ignored me, and I have been scorned; but You have known my soul in adversities, for no affliction dims the luster of Your love. Most gracious Lord, I magnify You for all Your faithfulness to me in trying circumstances, and I deplore the fact that I have at times forgotten You and been proud of heart when I have owed everything to Your gentleness and love. Have mercy upon Your servant in this matter!
My soul, if Jesus acknowledged you in your lowly condition, be sure that you own both Himself and His cause now that you are in prosperity. Do not be puffed up by worldly successes, and do not be ashamed of the truth or of the poor church with which you have been associated. Follow Jesus into the wilderness: Bear the cross with Him when the persecution heats up. He owned you, O my soul, in your poverty and shame—never be so treacherous as to be ashamed of Him. Let me know more shame at the thought of being ashamed of my best Beloved! Jesus, my soul cleaves to You.
I'll turn to Thee in days of light,
As well as nights of care,
Thou brightest amid all that's bright!
Thou fairest of the fair!
Why Paul Wasn't a Zombie by John UpChurch
Why Paul Wasn't a Zombie
by John UpChurch
“We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.” Colossians 1:28-29
Worn out. Exhausted. Please oh please oh please be Friday. Those words probably describe many of our weeks—often by Monday afternoon. The surge of the weekday tide sucks us under and spins us around and strips away our energy by making us swim to the surface over and over again. Gasp. Bills. Gasp. Long meeting. Gasp. Kids biting each other.
What more can we give than that? What else can God expect from us than just trying to keep from drowning in the mess of life?
Paul says everything and more. Yep, you read that right. We’re supposed to slap down every last ounce of ourselves to the cause of Christ. We’re supposed to surrender every modicum of ourselves to the purpose of “proclaiming Him” with our joy-filled words and our peace-in-the-midst-of-this-hurricane-called-life actions.
Everything. Every single bit. For Him.
Feeling tired yet? I hope you don’t. You see, there’s something in here that we too often overlook. It does take energy—loads of it—to live a life of surrender. We wouldn’t expect anything less from being a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1). That means using all that we are to make all that He is known to all. But even with all those alls, you won’t be using up your energy.
Look again at what Paul says here: “To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.” He doesn’t say, “I did it all myself until I burned out and crashed into the dirt and hated my life and decided it was just too hard to do anything and wanted to move to Alaska forever and hide in a cave.” Instead, he tells us that the source of his oomph is Christ.
Christ didn’t save us so that we could barely keep going, dragging our way like zombies down the road of life. Instead, we’re operating with power—His. He jumpstarted our lives with a spirit of power (2 Timothy 1:7), cranking up the juice through the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8). After all, like Paul, we’re wrestling with the tasks God’s called us to do. We aren’t supposed to do this by tapping into our own reserves. God takes these fragile clay pots that we are and supplies His power so that He gets the glory (2 Corinthians 4:7). He adds the zing, and His zing is potent.
Intersecting Faith & Life: When you try to make it all work on your own guts and grit, you’ll eventually drain down and sputter out. Instead, take Him up on His “by my Spirit” (Zechariah 4:6) thing—that is, not your own strength. That doesn’t mean you’ll never get tired or weary. You will. But you can be sure that He specializes in renewing the worn out and exhausted (Isaiah 40:30-31).
For Further Reading
The Lord of Hosts Who Conquers Through Pots of Clay
Isaiah 40
Go! Go! Go!—and Represent the Kingdom! by David Jeremiah
Go! Go! Go!—and Represent the Kingdom!
OCTOBER 31, 2020
[Jesus] sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.
Luke 9:2
Recommended Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:20
Most nations send an ambassador to live in the capital of other countries. Ambassadors only have the authority granted to them by their country’s government. But their status is official. When they speak, they speak for their nation. And when they act, they are expected to act as their own government would act.
The apostle Paul said that he, and his co-workers, were “ambassadors for Christ, as though God were [speaking] through [them]” (2 Corinthians 5:20). When Paul spoke, he spoke the Word of God. Christ had commissioned him to go and speak—to represent the Kingdom of God to the world (Acts 9:15; 23:11; 26:15-18). Paul wasn’t the first kingdom ambassador to be sent by Jesus. He had sent the twelve disciples (Matthew 10; Mark 6; Luke 9), and then another group of seventy (Luke 10). He sent them to do the same thing He had been doing: preach about the kingdom and heal the sick.
Like Paul, we are ambassadors, sent to represent King and kingdom in this world. And He is with us, until the end of the age (Matthew 28:20).
God never said that the journey would be easy, but He did say that the arrival would be worthwhile.
Max Lucado
October 31 / Wisdom from the Psalms
Psalm 130:5
Friday, October 30, 2020
Faith by Oswald Chambers
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Listening Through Restlessness by Charles Stanley
When we’re too preoccupied to hear God’s voice, He may get our attention by giving us a restless spirit. The book of Esther gives us a wonderful example of this.
In the sixth chapter, we see that King Ahasuerus “could not sleep so he gave an order to bring the book of records, the chronicles, and they were read before the king” (Est. 6:1). As a result, Ahasuerus became aware of an assassination plot that had been foiled by a man named Mordecai. Filled with gratitude for this act of service, he made plans to honor him.
What Ahasuerus could not have known, though, is that Haman, one of the royal advisors, was plotting to hang Mordecai and exterminate the Jewish population (Est. 5:14). As a result of the king’s intervention, Mordecai and the rest of the Jews were saved.
Now, what started this process? A restless night. The king didn’t know why he couldn’t sleep, but we know: God was trying to get his attention.
How often has this happened to you? You go about your life, but a restlessness seems to hang over you. In such moments, ask, “Lord, what is it You want to tell me?” You’ll discover that God can speak to you in your unrest.
God is Love! by Billy Graham
God is Love!
As I read the Bible, I find love to be the supreme and dominant attribute of God. The promises of God’s love and forgiveness are as real, as sure, as positive, as human words can make them. But the total beauty of the ocean cannot be understood until it is seen, and it is the same with God’s love. Until you actually experience it, until you actually possess it, no one can describe its wonders to you.
Never question God’s great love, for it is as unchangeable a part of God as His holiness. Were it not for the love of God, none of us would ever have a chance in the future life. But God is love! And His love for us is everlasting.
Daily Prayer
Knowing myself as I do, Lord, the knowledge of Your love and forgiveness never ceases to amaze me. In the knowledge of this, help me to communicate to others that this love is theirs too, if they will only reach out for it.
“Long ago the Lord said to Israel: “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.”
Jeremiah 31:3 NLT
Everyone Needs a Mentor by Alyson Kieda
Everyone Needs a Mentor
To Titus, my true son in our common faith. Titus 1:4
As I walked into my new supervisor’s office, I was feeling wary and emotionally raw. My old supervisor had run our department with harshness and condescension, often leaving me (and others) in tears. Now I wondered, What would my new boss be like? Soon after I stepped into my new boss’ office, I felt my fears dissipate as he welcomed me warmly and asked me to share about myself and my frustrations. He listened intently, and I knew by his kind expression and gentle words that he truly cared. A believer in Jesus, he became my work mentor, encourager, and friend.
The apostle Paul was a spiritual mentor to Titus, his “true son in our common faith” (Titus 1:4). In his letter to Titus, Paul offered him helpful instructions and guidelines for his role in the church. He not only taught but modeled how to “teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine” (2:1), set “an example by doing what is good,” and “show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech” (vv. 7–8). As a result, Titus became his partner, brother, and coworker (2 Corinthians 2:13; 8:23)—and a mentor of others.
Many of us have benefited from a mentor—a teacher, coach, grandparent, youth leader, or pastor—who guided us with their knowledge, wisdom, encouragement, and faith in God. Who could benefit from the spiritual lessons you’ve learned in your journey with Jesus?
Who’s been a spiritual mentor to you? For whom have you been a mentor? And whom might you mentor?
Father, I’m thankful for all those who mentored me when I needed them most. Guide me to someone who might need my encouragement today.
God May Use Distress to Expand Your Influence by Adrian Rogers
God May Use Distress to Expand Your Influence
And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I might not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested. 1 Chronicles 4:10
The story of Jabez is one of a man who wanted his influence to be enlarged. God can stretch you, as well.
If you ask that God enlarge your influence, be aware of this: In Psalm 4:1, the psalmist says that God enlarged him when he was “in distress.” You can expect that God may use distressing circumstances to do that in you. And the pain will be worth it all.
When God enlarges you, He does so to fill you with more of Himself. Don’t be satisfied with God only filling a small place if God wants to fill a larger place.
Are you ready to say, “God I want more. I want You to enlarge my territory. I don’t want just a blessing. I want a blessing indeed”? We need to pray big prayers to a big God.
How Spiritual Awakening Begins by Greg Laurie
How Spiritual Awakening Begins
“Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish’s belly” (Jonah 2:1 nkjv).
The belly of a sea creature is a very interesting place to experience revival. But it’s where Jonah came to his senses and cried out to the Lord.
Then, after the fish vomited him onto dry land, he went to Nineveh and delivered the message that God gave him.
Initially we might think that message wasn’t a very hopeful one: “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” (Jonah 3:4 nkjv). But I think it was pretty hopeful. They had 40 days to think about it, 40 days to consider their lifestyles, and 40 days to get right with God.
As a result, the people of Nineveh believed God’s warning and repented. Verse 10 of Jonah 3 says, “Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it” (nkjv).
I wonder if God is giving the United States of America an opportunity to repent right now? I think He is.
However, one of the reasons that revival came through Jonah was because he experienced personal revival. Revival started with Jonah. You see, nothing can happen through you until it has first happened to you. You can’t take someone any further than you yourself have gone.
To reach our generation, we need to preach the gospel. Paul wrote, “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” (Romans 10:14 nkjv).
As we see the breakdown of the family and so many bad things happening in our nation today, I think only a spiritual awakening can turn the United States of America around.
We need to pray for that. God can do it. He’s done it before, and He can do it again.
Copyright © 2020 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
October 30 / Streams in the Desert
Let us run with patience (Hebrews 12:1).
To run with patience is a very difficult thing. Running is apt to suggest the absence of patience, the eagerness to reach the goal. We commonly associate patience with lying down. We think of it as the angel that guards the couch of the invalid. Yet, I do not think the invalid's patience the hardest to achieve.
There is a patience which I believe to be harder--the patience that can run. To lie down in the time of grief, to be quiet under the stroke of adverse fortune, implies a great strength; but I know of something that implies a strength greater still: It is the power to work under a stroke; to have a great weight at your heart and still to run; to have a deep anguish in your spirit and still perform the daily task. It is a Christlike thing!
Many of us would nurse our grief without crying if we were allowed to nurse it. The hard thing is that most of us are called to exercise our patience, not in bed, but in the street. We are called to bury our sorrows, not in lethargic quiescence, but in active service--in the exchange, in the workshop, in the hour of social intercourse, in the contribution to another's joy. There is no burial of sorrow so difficult as that; it is the "running with patience."
This was Thy patience, O Son of man! It was at once a waiting and a running--a waiting for the goal, and a doing of the lesser work meantime. I see Thee at Cana turning the water into wine lest the marriage feast should be clouded. I see Thee in the desert feeding a multitude with bread just to relieve a temporary want. All, all the time, Thou wert bearing a mighty grief, unshared, unspoken. Men ask for a rainbow in the cloud; but I would ask more from Thee. I would be, in my cloud, myself a rainbow -- a minister to others' joy. My patience will be perfect when it can work in the vineyard.
--George Matheson
When all our hopes are gone,
'Tis well our hands must keep toiling on
For others' sake:
For strength to bear is found in duty done;
And he is best indeed who learns to make
The joy of others cure his own heartache.
FLYING BY FEELING / Draw Near Bible App
FLYING BY FEELING
Among the old barnstorming pilots, there was an expression, "flying by the seat of your pants," which merely meant to fly by feeling rather than instruments. While these pilots were colorful, many lost their lives because their "feelings" were often inaccurate. It is much safer and wiser to fly by the book and by instruments than flying by feeling.For years, the Israelites had been following their feelings rather than God's Word. Eventually, the Word was lost; and people became very evil. One day, the high priest found the Word and had it read to the king. Then people began to see how far they had strayed by following feeling rather than fact.
God has given us the Bible and His Holy Spirit as instruments for our lives. Satan would tempt us to follow the feelings of flesh rather than the prompting of the Holy Spirit and the admonition of God's Word. If we do this, however, spiritual catastrophe results. Israel learned too late the tragedy of following feeling. Real happiness is carefully following the instruments God has given.
A Different Garden by Alistair Begg
A Different Garden
O you who dwell in the gardens,
Song of Songs 8:13
with companions listening for your voice;
let me hear it.
My sweet Lord Jesus remembers well the garden of Gethsemane, and although He has left that garden, He now dwells in the garden of His church: There He discloses Himself to those who keep His blessed company. The voice of love with which He speaks to His beloved is more musical than the harps of heaven. There is a depth of melodious love within it that leaves all human music far behind. Tens of thousands on earth, and millions above, are consumed with its harmonious accents. Some whom I know well, and whom I greatly envy, are at this moment hearkening to the beloved voice.
O that I were a partaker of their joys! It is true some of these are poor, others bedridden, and some near the gates of death; but, my Lord, I would cheerfully starve with them, pine with them, or die with them if I might simply hear Your voice. Once I heard it often, but I have grieved Your Spirit. Return to me in compassion and once again say to me, “I am your salvation.”
No other voice can content me. I know Your voice and cannot be deceived by another; let me hear it, I pray You. I do not know what You will say, nor do I make any condition, my Beloved; simply let me hear You speak, and if it be a rebuke I will bless You for it. Perhaps the cleansing of my dull ear will require a painful surgery, but let it cost me what it will, I have only one consuming desire—to hear Your voice.
Pierce my ear with Your harshest notes, but do not allow me to remain deaf to Your calls. Tonight, Lord, grant Your unworthy servant his desire, for I am Yours, and You have bought me with Your blood. You have opened my eyes to see You, and the sight has saved me. Lord, open my ear. I have read Your heart; now let me hear from Your lips.
The "Whys" of Life by Kelly Givens
The "Whys" of Life
by Kelly Givens
“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Revelation 21:4
Towards the end of work some weeks ago, our office was informed that a few cars in our parking deck had been broken into. The vandalism and robberies had been contained to Level 2—the level I had parked my car. Thankfully, my car had been left untouched. The SUV directly across from me, however, hadn’t fared so well- the shattered glass on the ground evidenced the vandals’ quick and effective work. As I began my drive home I prayed God would give the owners of the busted-up cars a measure of his peace, mercy and patience.
Nearing my exit, I noticed cars slowing down, and around the bend in the road I saw why. A cop was getting out of his car; he had been called for a minor fender bender and traffic was slowing to accommodate. I inched past, glancing at the guy in truck that had been hit. He had his head in his hand and was looking up at the sky in exasperation. You could tell he was thinking, “I can’t believe this happened. Why me?! What did I do to deserve this?!” I thought back to the owners of the cars in the parking deck, knowing they would be asking those same questions when they discovered their vehicles had been broken into.
The “whys” of life point us to a story larger than our own. When we ask why bad things happen, we’re acknowledging that the way life is right now is not how it oughtto be. Why is that significant? It’s significant because, in a world that wants us to believe we were created at random and have lived on through survival of the fittest or just good luck, our souls actually cry out against randomness and unjust advantage. We crave order, justice, and mercy, and we feel angry and sad when a seemingly arbitrary, awful thing in life happens. There’s a disconnect between what we believe should happen and what really does happen. I find it interesting that my friends who believe in a random, chance creation still feel indignant when apparently random, chance events work against their lives. Their heads may believe one thing, but their hearts believe something else. As Christians, our heads and hearts are more aligned.
At the beginning of Creation, we’re told “God saw all he had made, and it was very good” (Gen. 1:31). You were created to live in a perfect world, where the question of why bad things happen was never supposed to exist. But then man sinned and the world was corrupted (Gen. 3:6-7). Adam and Eve immediately recognized sin for what it was, and in their guilt hid from God (Gen. 3:10). In the same way, we recognize evil as evil because it goes against the very nature of our intended existence. We cry out against suffering because we were never meant to suffer. We are distraught over death because no one was ever supposed to die. As believers, we can take encouragement from this gut reaction to pain and suffering. It reminds us we were created for a world absent of these things, and we can look forward to the day when Jesus comes back and takes away our tears and frustrations. We will never utter “Why me?” again. Everything good that can be, will be. Everything evil will be undone. That is such good news; it fills me with joy and hope to think on it.
Intersecting Faith and Life: Are you experiencing seemingly random suffering and sorrow in your life? Cling to the comforting truth of your faith - all suffering is temporary, it is not random, and Jesus is coming soon to restore this world and everything in it - including you - to perfection.
How to Avoid Spiritual Deception / Senior Living
How to Avoid Spiritual Deception
Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. - Galatians 6:1-2
An article years ago in U.S. News & World Report brought to light a very sneaky practice by some manufacturers of common household goods. In an effort to save costs, these companies were reducing the amount of product in their packaging without reducing the size of the package. And it was going completely unnoticed by the general public!
A box of a well-known laundry detergent, for example, that once held 61 ounces now only holds 55 ounces. Same size box, less soap!
It’s interesting how something can be wrapped in a certain way in order to disguise what’s really on the inside. Take people, for example. How many of the people you see at church on Sunday are well dressed with their best smiles, yet inside they’re struggling deeply? Most people would probably be shocked to find out the struggles their ‘super-spiritual’ friends are having!
Be authentic. Now, that doesn’t mean you vent your struggles and frustrations to everyone, but it does mean you’re open and honest about what’s going on in your life. Peel back the pretty wrapping and show others what’s really on the inside.
Prayer Challenge:
Pray and ask God to help you open up to others and be honest about the struggles you’re facing.
Questions for Thought:
What’s your biggest apprehension about how others would react to your complete honesty about what’s really going on in your life? Is that fear from God?
What’s one struggle you have today that you’ve been keeping to yourself? To whom can you open up about that struggle?
Be Assured by David Jeremiah
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