Some people can make us feel good. They attract us. Like a sunflower in a sunny field, we long to face the source that keeps us satisfied and meets our needs.
But we tend to worship what we think we need—whether it’s God, money, or even people. And whom we worship, we will also obey.
That’s why worshipping people—or using them to get what we think we need—can leave us enslaved to them.
God offers a better alternative.
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God’s tests are most often pop quizzes. You don’t see them coming. If you knew you would be running late tomorrow morning, you’d prepare ahead of time. But that’s not a real test.
(Photo: Shiloh, where Hannah trusted God. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
A real test hits your blindside. It tests the mettle of your theology, and often, it even seems to contradict it.
In the end, the pop quizzes we experience usually boil down to one thing.
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Sometimes the ordinary days make us wonder if God has forgotten us. After all, when we read the Bible (or Facebook), it all seems so exciting. God is working! Our lives, on the other hand, seem exceedingly boring.
(Photo: Dothan Valley, where Joseph’s brothers sold him. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
But the events in Joseph’s ordinary day in the Dothan Valley revealed God behind the scenes.
Jacob’s 10 oldest sons had traveled north to pasture their father’s flocks at Shechem. So Jacob dispatched Joseph, whom he loved more than all his other sons, from the Valley of Hebron to check on their welfare.
When Joseph arrived, he found that his brothers had moved further north to the lush pastures of Dothan. Seeing him in the distance, the brothers—jealous of their father’s love for Joseph—purposed to kill the boy. But the presence of a nearby cistern convinced them instead to hurl Joseph into it—and leave him there to die (see Genesis 37:12-28).
It seemed that God dropped the ball. But His painful providence would prove wiser than Joseph’s limited insight.
The same is true for you. God uses your ordinary days in His marvelous plan.
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How do you deal with bad days? In the midst of those moments, it’s easy to feel like things will never get better. The emotion clouds our perspective.
(Photo courtesy of Unsplash)
When our daughters were toddlers, my wife would read them Judith Viorst’s wonderful little book, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. Poor little Alexander had a bad day not because bad things happened. As it turns out, those things happen to everybody. It was a problem of perspective.
When we look at our lives, we tend to rubberneck the wrong direction.
Ultimately, our problem is with God. But we don’t say that. We’ll point to people as the reason pain lurks in our lives. Parents, bosses, children, spouses, and even the devil has his part to play. If God would only bring relief, all would be well.
It’s a problem of perspective, not of circumstance. We need God’s perspective.
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As I left the house early one morning recently, I turned on the garage light to make my way out. Our dog, Carlie, who sleeps in the garage, immediately stood up, walked over to me, and leaned against the wall.
(Photo: Our dog, Carlie)
Her wagging tail slammed against the wall repeatedly—and the other side of that wall was my bedroom. I knew the pounding would disturb my sleeping wife.
I had tried to keep quiet. My dog ruined that. I got frustrated fast.
“Dumb dog,” I muttered under my breath.
Then it hit me.
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Take a devotional break for a moment and watch the beautiful words of Isaiah come to life.
All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him. —Isaiah 53:6
Sometimes I think God created particular creatures simply to provide potent metaphors He could use to teach us with. Picture yourself as one of these sheep—and the Lord as your shepherd.
We all have wandered. But the good news is our Good Shepherd sought us out—and died for our sins. Jesus Himself said:
If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying? —Matthew 18:12
Tell me what you think: How does seeing these words visually help you internalize their truths? To leave a comment, just click here.
(Video from SourceFlix.com)
The book of Lamentations isn’t one we often read. Let’s be honest. It seems like a real downer. Jeremiah’s “lamentations” sting like the swat of a paddle. And yet—amazingly—there’s good news for us.
(Photo by Photodune)
Good news seems good usually because of the bad news that came first.
Amazingly, this downer book of Lamentations offers at least 3 reasons we can have hope in life.
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The Bible is full of wonderful promises and words of encouragement. Who of us hasn’t been refreshed by its verses and inspired by its truths? At the same time, the Word of God also has parts that seem, well—bad.
(Photo by Photodune)
After reading these unnerving passages, we come away with questions:
The list goes on.
As people of integrity, how do we deal with those uncomfortable “bad” parts of the Bible that seem, well, wrong?
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God controls everything.
So our frustration with Him reaches the boiling point when He seems to do nothing with our requests. Here’s a biblical way to think through that tension.
(I recommend The Anger Workbook by Les Carter, an essential resource used in this series.)
Part 4 – “Good and Angry” – Psalm 13
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