Day 29 - How to Grow From a Rookie to a Veteran
Scripture focus: "True wisdom and real power belong to God; from him we learn how to live, and also what to live for. If he tears something down, it's down for good; if he locks people up, they're locked up for good. If he holds back the rain, there's a drought; if he lets it loose, there's a flood. Strength and success belong to God; both deceived and deceiver must answer to him. He strips experts of their vaunted credentials, exposes judges as witless fools. He divests kings of their royal garments, then ties a rag around their waists. He strips priests of their robes, and fires high officials from their jobs. He forces trusted sages to keep silence, deprives elders of their good sense and wisdom. He dumps contempt on famous people, disarms the strong and mighty. He shines a spotlight into caves of darkness, hauls deepest darkness into the noonday sun. He makes nations rise and then fall, builds up some and abandons others. He robs world leaders of their reason, and sends them off into no-man's-land. They grope in the dark without a clue, lurching and staggering like drunks." Job 12: 13-25 The Message
“Coming to believe” requires a commitment to maturity.
Who we believe in matters.
As we read today’s scripture focus, it’s obvious that God is in control. We are powerless. We are completely dependent on God for our freedom, water, success, and strength. He allows people to ascent to power, and when he so chooses he dethrones them with ease. He brings the proud to their knees and lifts the broken from their pit of despair.
True wisdom and real power belong to God – it is from him we learn how to live, and also what to live for….excellent reasons to trust him to mature us and shape us into our true, God-created identity.
Recommended reading: Psalm 9-11
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1 comment:
In the RSV, Job 12:14b reads "If HE shuts a man in, non can open." A friend of my pastor, visiting our Wednesday evening meeting, told this story; He lived in the Catskill mountains, and his living room picture window looked out on nature in all its glory. One day, as he was leaving home, a bird flew into the window and dropped , unconscious, into the flower bed. He knew that if he didn't do something, one of the local cats might find the helpless bird a tasty morsel. So he put a slatted wooden box over the bird with a brick on top of that. He knew that if the bird came to, before he could return, the bird would feel that it was trapped, and would struggle to be set free. It would never see the box as a life preserver.
Seeing ourselves as trapped or protected, if God chooses to shut us in, is all in our perception. That story was told in early spring 1982. In September 1982, God took the slatted box off of me. I was glad to no longer be 'trapped'. Location, location, location? No. Perception, perception, perception!
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