Threads of all colors. Photo by Chris Curry on Unsplash.

For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for prosperity and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. -Jeremiah 29:11 (NASB)

I recently turned 50, which was not only interesting because of my biological age, but because the same year also marked my 10th birthday as a believer. My eyes were finally opened at the age of 40, and I accepted Jesus’ Great Commission to spread the Good News to all the corners of the earth, which included this blog. In this way, I was a conduit in the agency of carrying His light to the dark places on this earth–and those dark places are everywhere!

As you may already know, each time you read through the Bible, it can speak to you and your circumstances in ways you never realized before. And this time, at this age, I can see how the reading above applies to my life in this day and age, and I want to share that here.

As I’ve mentioned in earlier posts, my life has been drained of color early on through a traumatic childhood, and that gray lens persists to this day. But since Jesus pulled the wool off my eyes in 2013, I continue to learn to live by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7), because my depressed mind is the product of people, not of God.

And while the original context of the verse above applies to the prophet Jeremiah addressing the Israelites in exile under Nebuchanezzar, who very understandably could see no hope in their circumstances, I can see the same concept at the beginning of my fifth decade–and first decade as a believer.

Every single experience, interaction, gain, loss, trauma, celebration, sadness, and joy, all fall under God’s larger plan for our lives which we cannot ever see from His perspective. We are just following one particular thread of our timeline in God’s supermassive tapestry, as Corrie ten Boom so eloquently described it. He truly is using all things for the good of His children (Romans 8:28).

Despite being hobbled and emotionally blinded at a very young age, and living till age 40 without Jesus, I can look back with just the tiniest grain of His perspective and understand that I am typing this now–10 years later–because He carried me through all of it. And I can see that He does indeed have good plans for me, and that I will continue to be His instrument and agent of light. I won’t be perfect at it, but know that He will be there every step of the way, lighting the path, and always waiting if I stumble.

If you are reading this, I hope you can see how He is certainly doing the same with the whole of your life, using all things for a larger plan for good that you may not yet see. Keep the faith, fellow believer, and know that your biological age doesn’t matter when you’re a child of God.

Today’s soundtrack

Switchfoot’s “Meant To Live” reminds us we’re here for a far greater purpose.

We give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks, For Your name is near; Men declare Your wondrous works. -Psalm 75:1 (NASB)

In the United States, the Thanksgiving Day holiday harkens back to the first harvest celebration by English settlers in the New England area.

This celebration and recounting of thanks was for all of God’s blessings found throughout very dark and bleak times that the Pilgrims faced: religious persecution, nearly losing the Mayflower in the Atlantic, mass illness and death, and starvation in the New World.

Through it all, God was there the whole time, through the thick and the thin. At the point when it seemed hope was gone, two Native Americans appeared who could actually speak English, and they and their tribes collaborated with the Pilgrims to survive…and then thrive. (There is much more, and bloodier, depths to the conflict between settlers and natives, beyond the scope of this post.) Out of the rich soil of suffering came…plenty and harvest. New beginnings.

God uses all things, situations, and people for the good of His children (Romans 8:28), and His promises continue today. Though sin is rampant today as it has been since the beginning, God is also with us, using everything to achieve His larger plan and blessing for us, to His glory.

Not just today, Thanksgiving Day, but every day, we recount His works and blessings, to use all things and people for His purposes.

Prayer

Thank You, Lord, for this day, the food before us, the air we breathe, the people in our lives, and the situations we live in…for we know You will use all of it to Your glory.

Thank You for Your grace, despite how we stumble. Please continue to bless us and guide us so we may live for You, so that others see You when they look at us.

We thank You most of all for your Son and His finished work. Incline Your ear and hear our prayers. In Your Son Jesus’ name we pray, knowing it will be done. Amen.

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. -Isaiah 55:8 (NASB)

There’s a joke that talks about a man stuck in a flood zone. The waters are rising quickly, and a neighbor offers him a spot on his rowboat. The man says, “No, I will wait on the Lord, because He will save me!” Later, when the waters have risen so high that the man has to stand on his car to stay dry, another boat comes by and offers to rescue him. Again, he says he will wait on the Lord to save him. Finally, the man is up on the roof of his house, since the waters have risen even higher. A police helicopter throws down a rope ladder…and he rejects that as well, for the same reason.

It’s not long before the waters overtake him, and he dies by drowning. He’s then taken up to Heaven, and asks God, “Why didn’t you save me? I faithfully waited for You!” God replied, “I sent you two boats and a helicopter, wasn’t that enough?”

It’s a cute joke, but also underlines two things: sometimes, salvation from our trials can take a very different form than what we might expect; and that God works through people as His hands and feet.

We may be the very hands and feet He needs to work through, or the very smile someone needs to help them see light in their dark place. People are often the instruments of His work; I can testify to that through His using a coworker to wake me up from my 40-year sleepwalk!

God is always present, and we can pray to Him for discernment to make God-honoring choices and steward the gifts He gave us to His glory…perhaps to be His unexpected rescue instrument for the hurting and the lost.

This temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar; it was the sixth year of the reign of King Darius. -Ezra 6:15 (NASB)

For we walk by faith, not by sight. -2 Corinthians 5:7 (NKJV)

Ever tried to get all the grocery bags in one trip? Or move a heavy IKEA shelf instead of disassembling it before moving it? Or move too many bricks at a time from one place to another? In each case, you might occasionally get away with pulling it off in your own strength…or everything might come crashing down around you.

We want everything built up and better right now, but God has His perfect timeline for us, and we can instead choose to take the walk with Him step by step. In doing so, we build our faith and relationship with Him higher and better than the day before.

In the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem took several years, interrupted at times by stoppages from opposing parties. But, with diligence and steadfastness, it was finally completed in the sixth year of King Darius’ reign.

Today, showing diligence and steadfastness in your walk to little ones who are watching and learning…just as we are little ones who learned from Ezra and Nehemiah. For my son, I purchased–and recommend–John MacArthur’s I Believe In Jesus: Leading Your Child To Christ (referral link), which covers the beliefs and values of the Christian walk, and answers many questions parents might struggle with. With this, they can see the book’s concepts lived out in your daily walk.

Sometimes we’ll forget and try to haul too much or go too far in our own strength, and make a mess, or even set ourselves back a few steps. But have faith and *know*, fellow believer, that He has plans to prosper us and not to harm us (Jer. 29:11), but to get there, we need to keep putting one foot in front of the other (Jer. 29:1-10)…and our kids are watching and walking us in Him.

> *And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” -Matthew 26:39 (NASB)*

Have you ever had really awful medicine?

My son recently had to take some very strong oral antibiotics, which smelled and tasted awful. So awful that he would retch it right back up…and I learned online that many kids react that way to this medicine. But, if he was to overcome his bacterial ear infections, he had to keep the medicine down.

On top of the bad taste, the medicine also caused other undesirable side effects on the other side of his digestive system. Oh boy.

Back when I was a child, I would’ve simply been told to take it and too bad that I didn’t like the taste. But I could see that God wanted me to use this medicine for a teachable moment. This was no time for “because I said so.”

I explained to him that sometimes the medicine we need most to heal doesn’t taste or feel good…but we could take it in obedience and trust in God’s plans for our growth and healing as a result. In the garden in Gesthemane, Jesus asked His Father if there was any other way but the cross to achieve what God needed done…but if there weren’t, then His will be done.

I found out that, as a parent, I could at least help by sweetening the medicine with chocolate or strawberry syrup, and that helped immensely with its consumption. On Jesus’ level, He knew that His sacrifice and obedience would yield the greatest reward and sweetest incentive of all: direct connection with our Father, forgiveness of our sins, and to live with Him forever once we would leave this world. By far, He took the toughest medicine of all, to heal and restore all of us.

In our day to day lives, that bitter medicine might be the very difficult conversation or confrontation we have to have. It might be kicking the habit we know we should do more to combat. It might persevering and seeing something very unpleasant through when our flesh would rather just throw in the towel. Whatever it is, God calls us to do the right–and righteous–thing by taking our medicine.

Obedience isn’t always fun…or tasty, but it yields rewards in this world and the next.

Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. -James 5:7 (NIV)

Do you see the streams of light through the clouds, or around the bend? That’s God’s majesty ahead of you.

When you’re waiting on an amazing breakthrough or outcome, the time spent waiting can be excruciating or even discouraging. You might even be tempted to give up on waiting. Here’s why you shouldn’t.

Like a farmer, God uses time to perfect you, to heal you, to ripen you, to make sure you’re ready for the blessings ahead. Use the time wisely to thank Him for toughening you, purifying you, and laying out everything ahead just right. And the prayers of the righteous do not fall on deaf ears!

The storyline of your life is interwoven like a tapestry with the lives of others, and God is perfectly weaving them all together at the right times and places.

We can thank Him for His perfect plans; thank Him for hearing and answering our prayers; pray to Him in Jesus’ name, knowing it will be done; surrender all to Him in faith, obedience, and surrender (just like Abraham); and ask Him to continue to boost us as a testimony and song of praise to His glory.

Don’t give up. Don’t give in. He hears your prayers and cries. But while you wait, wait with eyes on Him and not your current situation, because now is just a stop on the way to God’s better plans ahead!

So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. -1 Peter 1:6‭-‬7 (NLT)

Watching my five-year-old son listen and learn intently from everything he is taught explicitly and by example, I see a sculpture in the making.

It’s a little nerve-wracking as a parent, to see the amazing responsibility we wield, but also the trust God puts in us, to shape the gift He brought into this world in our kids. Each word and action we take chisels or scrapes at the identity and soul of our kids. Traumatic experiences could even break off whole chunks.

But his life is no different than ours, is it? We’re sculpted by our experiences, with some deep cuts and scars where rough experiences happened, and finely honed edges where finesse was used. *We’re children, too!**

Some of us are more broken than others…maybe even with a trail of rubble in our wake. But God can use exactly that–our brokenness–to do amazing works in and through our lives. He can even mend us!

Like our children, we’re each a work in progress, never done till God says we’re done and we depart this world. Till then, we can trust He will use all of our experiences–good and bad–to His glory.

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. -Romans 5:3-4 (NIV)

In the 1984 movie The Karate Kid, an American teenager is under the tutelage of a Japanese martial arts teacher. The boy, Daniel, has been bullied and wants to change his situation…but doesn’t see what work is ahead to make it happen.

Daniel has to wash and wax cars by hand over and over again. He has to paint fences, sand decks, too. What?

As we all know, these seemingly repetitive motions have a purpose…to condition Daniel for greater challenges ahead. They also give him perseverance and patience in the face of seemingly endless, grueling situations.

In life, God may put us through painful, grueling situations without any end in sight–at least to our limited view. Can we trust that He has His reasons in them? Can we find His blessings in them? Can we hone our technique of looking at the situation with eyes of compassion, and responding with grace?

In applied terms, this might be understanding that hurtful people are really just showing how hurt they are inside. It might be stopping to take a deep breath before responding, so that our words and actions please God, rather than our flesh. And it most certainly is trusting and thanking God for these trials, because He wants to refine us further…ever closer to Christlikeness.

He’s not done with us yet, which shows His love for us. We love and praise Him always, and entrust Him with our future, always praying and believing.

Wax on, wax off!

If a wise man contends with a foolish man, Whether the fool rages or laughs, there is no peace. -Proverbs 29:9 (NKJV)

Sometimes, you just cannot get through to someone. Reason doesn’t work. Compassion doesn’t work. Appealing to commonalities doesn’t work. It’s like talking to a brick wall.

As a person who’s a “fixer,” someone who wants to fix situations and problems, this is a very frustrating place to be.

Sometimes, God wants you to discern that you cannot get through. In times like those, with people like those, pray for them. Pray that God can make a way through to them. It could even be that God may not want to!

Whether it’s a difficult person or a situation, it may not be us whom God wants as the instrument to change–no matter how much we want to be. If we truly believe His plans and timing are perfect, then let us surrender in obedience, and be His instruments where He intends us to be.

And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time here as “temporary residents.” -‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭1:17‬ ‭(NLT)

Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. -1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NLT)

It’s the day after Thanksgiving Day here in the United States, a day where families come together to commemorate the autumn feast held in 1621, but also to give thanks for every blessing in our lives.

My last post was about the journey we take to God’s glory, much as the pilgrims did who left religious persecution to start anew in the New World. And like them, after the Thanksgiving celebration, the journey continues.

And just like with the pilgrims and Native Americans, it most certainly wasn’t all good times in our lives. But just as those times were, right up to our lives today, God uses all things–even those meant for evil–for good, to His glory: Witness Joseph and his brothers (Genesis 50:20).

Our journey is sometimes smooth, and sometimes unimaginably rough. And how we traverse the path can be with an attitude of gratitude. We can give thanks to God in all times, and even in the toughest of seasons and valleys in our journeys through this world.

Thank you, Lord, for this journey…every leg of it. We know that even the toughest legs of the journey can be used to your glory as you strengthen us far more than we ever could on our own. We thank you for the perspective we may not be able to appreciate till we look back at how far you’ve taken us, and how high you’ve taken us: closer to you.

Today’s soundtrack

Building 429’s “Where I Belong” reminds us that we’re not home, but on our way there.

Did this song move you? You can buy it on Amazon Music!