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- Written by: Don Goulding
And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose… (Romans 8:28)
In 64 AD, Emperor Nero blamed the Great Fire of Rome on the Christians. He then, “punished them with refined cruelty,” as an eyewitness reported. Some were fed to wild dogs. Others, he lit as human torches in his garden.
Rather than recant, the stalwart Christians sang praises to God during their torture, and were promoted to the heavenly realms.
The Apostle Paul was among the targets of Nero’s persecution. When he wrote about all things working for good, it was after he’d been imprisoned, lashed, beaten with rods, shipwrecked, and stoned until presumed dead.
I am not a martyr or a Paul. My tribulation is only common. But I can have an uncommon faith in the face of common trials. By choosing to grip the hand of Jesus through minor hardships, my days become times of glorious overcoming.
This life is not a disposable failure to be tolerated until heaven. Rather, I am called according to God’s purpose. That purpose is to promote the kingdom of God, even while enduring trials. Grow the kingdom, find refuge in Jesus, and let him work everything for good.
Prayer: Sovereign King, work your purpose in me today.
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- Written by: Don Goulding
Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun. (Psalms 37:5-6) (NIV)
Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. (Matthew 13:43)
Near the top of my list of ill-conceived adventures was when I and a college friend tried to join the flotilla of spectators at the Seafair hydroplane races. We struggled to paddle a directionless tube toward the event on Lake Washington. Halfway there the race ended. On their way home, a whole navy of boats—many with alcohol fortified captains—came directly at us in the open water.
Our only hope was that the captains would see us and steer around. We waved a red shirt, and I think there may have been a Coast Guard helicopter involved. Eventually a good Samaritan tossed out a line and towed us to safety.
More prudent boaters carry a simple rescue device we would’ve done well to employ. It’s a small mirror with a hole in the middle. The hole serves to line up the sun’s reflection and signal for help.
Both testaments of the Bible say the light of the righteous will shine like the sun. Those verses trouble me because I’m not truly righteous. How then can I shine?
The answer is in the rescue mirror. The mirror doesn’t shine, it reflects. Its effectiveness is all about alignment with the sun. When the reflected beam is properly aimed, the result is almost supernatural. Aircraft or boat captains squint at the intense reflection from miles away.
I don’t have a righteousness of my own, but when I line up the Son of God in my life, his righteousness shines to others. My mission is to stay focused on Jesus and let his radiance reflect into the world.
Prayer: Righteous One, shine from me today.
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- Written by: Don Goulding
Go, my people! Enter your inner rooms!
Close your doors behind you!
Hide for a little while,
until his angry judgment is over! (Isaiah 26:20)
I watched a Nigerian weaverbird gather leaf strands from a palm tree. Over, under, over, under, the yellow marvel knit the strips into his nest. At the bottom of the six inch orb was a small entry. A hundred nests dangled like Christmas tree ornaments and kept birdie families snug against the storms and predators outside.
Earthly life threatens to consume me, both its lures and its pain. Nature’s beauty, agonizing diseases, technology, relationships, politics, births, wars—there’s so much to digest.
Jesus says, “Let me be your nest, your place of safety away from the turmoil swirling around you. Withdraw your heart into friendship with me while I deal with everything on the outside.”
I’m invited into a quiet interior life. By faith, I must let Jesus weave a hushed globe. It is 360 degrees around me, a separation from anything this life can inflict. Each new event is an occasion to rest in his peace, and grow in the fullness of love.
So much of what goes on around me is never meant to come inside the nest. I must trust the Lord to whisper those few things I need in order to serve him. All the rest is marked to be destroyed by the fire of God, so leave it outside.
Prayer: Jesus, hide my heart from the uproar of the world.