Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. [Ephesians 3:20 (NLT)]
“He’s so young!” my husband said when my brother died at the age of fifty-six. I reminded him that my dad was the same age when he died. “But he was old!” my husband exclaimed. The difference, of course, is that we were in our fifties when my brother died but only in our twenties when my father did. Now, almost thirty years after my brother’s death, our definition of “young” includes anyone under 85!
That the same thing can look so different from two viewpoints makes me think of those tilt or magic motion cards that used to come in Cracker Jack© boxes. Done by something called lenticular printing, one card holds two or more different images. Titled one way, we might see the traditional Mona Lisa but, tilted the other way, she would be winking with a goofy grin on her face. What is perceived on a tilt card depends on the angle at which it is viewed just as whether someone seems young or old depends as much on our age as theirs.
When we look at a magic motion card, we see only what’s right in front of us but, when God looks at one, He sees it from all sides. Likewise, from our viewpoint, we only see what’s happening in our lives right now and how it affects us and those we love; but God sees our yesterdays, todays, and tomorrows! While we see the delay and feel the frustration of waiting, from His viewpoint, God sees us learning patience. We see the task and protest that our work is too demanding, but He sees that we’re learning determination. We see the unknown and hesitate in fear, but He sees us learning to trust Him. We see the betrayal and feel resentment, but He sees us learning to forgive. We see the burden of parenthood and grow tired, but He sees us learning about sacrifice. We see the spouse with Alzheimer’s, but God sees us learning about unconditional love. We see the failure and are disheartened, but He sees us developing resilience. Rather than looking at circumstances from just our viewpoint, we need to tilt the picture a bit and try to see our circumstances through the eyes of God.
One of my favorite Bible verses is Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” Just as we can’t see both pictures at once in a magic motion card, while we’re focused on today, we’re incapable of seeing both the purpose of our challenges and what lies on the other side of them. We will have to settle for knowing that our loving God sees it all and choose to trust that His direction and timing ultimately are for our own good.
I must learn that the purpose of my life belongs to God, not me. God is using me from his great personal perspective, and all he asks of me is that I trust him. [Oswald Chambers]
According to Bible Gateway, the six verses of the 23rd Psalm are the most popular ones on their site, with verses 4 and 6 usually vying for first place. The seventh most popular verse, however, is today’s verse, Jeremiah 29:11. When people are going through hard times, this is the kind of verse that gets pulled out to reassure them that everything will turn out right.
Although it’s been many years, whenever I read today’s verse about God going both before and after me, I’m reminded of a hiking trip my daughter and I took through the Canadian Rockies. One of our guides led and tied orange ribbons along the trail to mark the way. A second guide (the sweep) followed the last hiker and removed the trail markers. With guides both before us and following us, the group could spread out, find their own pace, and take breaks when needed, while ensuring no one got lost or left behind.
In a recent Christianity Today article, Jared Dodson, teacher of biblical studies and theology at Bushnell University, wrote about his Gen Z students. They don’t ask the age-old question of why God allows bad things to happen to good people because they expect sin and evil in our fallen world. Having seen enough abuse of power, conflict, violence, rioting, exploitation, and mayhem in their young lives, they assume the good will suffer undeservedly. What they don’t understand is why the bad don’t seem to suffer along with them!
When Nintendo introduced the Wii gaming console in November of 2006, their initial allotment of only one million consoles for North America meant that customers lined up in droves desperate to buy one. With demand outstripping inventory, my husband and I got up before dawn one cold November morning in 2006 and stood in line with hundreds of others so we could fulfill Christmas wishes for our family.
“May the Holy Spirit give us grace to not begrudge the pedagogy of God,” wrote John Piper in the day’s devotion. A somewhat archaic word and not one I regularly use, I thought of a pedagogue as an old, boring, stodgy, and authoritarian teacher who never changed his lesson plan or lectures. Unsure what Piper meant, it seemed wise to consult the dictionary. “Pedagogy” comes from two Greek words: pais, meaning child, and agogos, meaning leader. A paidagogos was a slave who led the boys to and from school, taught them manners, and tutored them after school.
Devotions of the Heart 