05.15.21 - week 104
good means GOOD
because we live in time, we can only see what has already happened + what is happening right now. this makes us prone to assess those who are externally struggling or succeeding by asserting that their life must be going a certain way as an earned outcome of their choices, whether good or bad.
proverbs + some of Jesus parables certainly give this impression. unless we are rigorous, we can read and assume that its A + B = C. but a closer examination reveals something slightly different. scriptural principles are generally but always true.
‘the one who states his case first seems right until the other comes and examines him’ - proverbs 18.17
i mean usually, yes. but sometimes the guy stating his case is obviously lying and sometimes upon examination the guy talking first was correct.
daniel certainly must not have felt like ‘HE WILL MAKE STRAIGHT YOUR PATH’ from Proverbs 3.5-6 was accurate as he was being lowered into the lions den.
we see temporary snapshots and form assessments. God sees it all.
this is what Jesus was getting at in luke 13.4 when he said - or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem?
we tend to see short term blessing or struggle as evidence of God’s pleasure or disappointment with us. but a careful reading of scripture requires us to see that God’s bigger plans which take generations to unfold aren’t able to be understood by us while we are trapped in time.
which is why in the next verse Jesus says
luke 13.5 no, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
every situation whether good or bad, every outcome whether fair or unfair has an intended purpose of drawing you closer through repentance to God.
release yourself and those around you from strong verdicts sourced in a snapshot of how things are going right now, and let the good or bad of your life right now draw you through thanks or desperation towards God.
KG Korner
(a few wise words from lady kristen macdonald)
Have you ever played WHACK-A-MOLE at a carnival or arcade? It’s that game where you have a mallet to hit toy moles, which appear at random, and then in due time climb back into their holes? That’s what comes to mind when I think of the anxieties that many of us encounter on a daily basis. There are circumstances or problems that come to the surface that rob you of peace and you use logic and rationale to problem solve or to ‘hit them down’ so to speak. Sometimes we call a friend to get advice or for those of us that call ourselves Christians we pray in effort to release these weights on our hearts and minds. But no matter how ‘good’ you are at problem solving or prayer or resourcefulness, you can feel like you are playing a carnival game that never ends!
Lest you feel alone in the difficulty or like you are the only one with anxiety I remember describing it kind of like this to someone a while back: sometimes we think that we can go purchase a backpack, fill it with a bunch of rocks, and carry it around and then somehow we are surprised that it is weighing us down. But, that’s how anxiety can feel, am I right?!
Proverbs 12:25 says, “Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.”
This Proverb brought so much joy to my heart because I experienced this on a day that I felt so weighed down by the anxieties I knew of. I literally wanted to fall asleep at 1 p.m. (which I’m glad that I didn’t) because I would have missed out on the blessing of a good word. That afternoon a friend of mine texted and shared encouragement. It was one of those moments that she could have left what she shared or had experienced unsaid but because she wanted to share with me something good, she produced joy.
What good word do you have to share with those around you? Maybe it’s an answer to prayer. Maybe it’s a situation where God literally placed someone in your life who needs Jesus and you see little by little God opening up their eyes. Maybe it’s the message at church that touched your heart or a verse that convicted you. Or maybe it’s even a worship song that will minister to a friend over and over again. Think about it this way, you have the ability and quite honestly the grand opportunity to change the trajectory of someone’s day for the positive with your good word. So, what are you sharing when you are with people? The news headlines or the great thing you just can’t wait to get off your heart.
I love the illustration that 1 Corinthians 12 gives about the body of Christ being made up of all different parts. The ear isn’t better than the toe, they just have different roles and without each part life would be worse. Brother or sister, we need you in the body of Christ! Whichever ‘part’ you are and whatever platform God has given you may the spirit guide you in how and when to encourage the people you encounter. And when you don’t have a good word on your tongue but you can see someone weighed down by the anxieties of the heart, pray for them. Sometimes our feeble words leave us doing nothing but prayer can bring the encouragement that someone needs most.
a thing on leadership
train up a child in the way you wish you had gone and when he is old, he will not depart from it. — proverbs 3.5-6 (unwise parenting translation)
there is an incredible temptation in parenting to try and fix what you don’t like about your own life by pushing your kids certain directions.. whether you have disdain for how your parents did things (i don’t) or frustration at some of the choices you made along the way (i do), we must fight the tendency to make our kids a reaction to our feelings about ourselves.
i i got married add ‘to’ my high school sweetheart (good decision) — does that mean i should encourage them to date early and often?
i had a pretty crummy experience in college at a fussy christian school i no longer really respect (bad decision) — does this mean my kids should be forced to skip christian education and go to a state school?
i got married young and had kids fast (good decisions) and worked 60-70 hrs a week through my 20’s towards a sensible goal i didn’t achieve (retrospectively idk decisions)- does this mean i should encourage every gap year and needless graduate degree and whim of fun my kids come up since responsibility didn’t really pay off for me (yet)?
of course we should take the things we have learned and try to advise + guide + help our kids the best we can. but our life outcomes aren’t inherently predictive for theirs, so we must have the gentleness to help them find their own path, not simply re-adjudicate our regrets or triumphs through them.
#superchristianguy
book review
hot seat: what i learned leading a great american company -- by: jeff immelt
this book is fantastic because it isn’t about a runaway success story. mr. immelt oversaw G.E. during an era in which it had some success and also lots of failure. this makes his candid look at 16 years running a giant company much more useful for normal people like you + me. he is impressively candid about his good + bad choices. his insights into 9/11 + 08/09 mortgage crisis are worth the price of the book alone. the company made money, but it’s stock didn’t perform very well.
is that because he did a bad job or because what he inherited was overhyped?
was jeff immelt a mediocre CEO or a good one who was dealt some bad cards?
his first day as CEO was september 10, 2001. he was the protege of Jack Welch who oversaw the company during two decades of almost unstoppable systemic economic growth. so was their respective track record more tied to their choices or outside effects? these questions makes this book a rare business/leadership memoir that is more than just a highlight reel. i learned a lot, i bet you will too.
stuff to click on
i found this song really encouraging the last few days…
cal newport is one of my favorite thinkers on solutions for our cluttered minds in the social media age. his new short article on what we have learned about productivityduring this work from home year was useful to me …