No one will ever know how much energy the human race has wasted through worry. Today, we want to think along scriptural guidelines as we rediscover a life characterized by rest instead of rush, calm instead of confusion, peace instead of panic, tranquility instead of turmoil.
Our belief or disbelief in God adds nothing to nor takes anything away from His glory, any more than our sight or hearing commands the sun and the birds. But if we were suddenly struck by disobedience and self-conceit to steal God's glory, even then He would remain undiminished. God's glory is His and His alone, and with no other does He share it.
How tempting it is to claim the credit ourselves for the mighty works God does in and around us. Perhaps no one feels that temptation more than those who serve God in a public ministry—those who have been called to hold His glory in sacred trust. Whether their work becomes a movement of God or calcifies into a monument to themselves depends on one crucial factor: who gets the glory.
God has wired us to find comfort, security, and identity in the familiar, the routine, our customs and traditions. Losing them or changing them can throw us off balance and that’s uncomfortable.
We can use a lot of energy and resources in our lives to build up our internal sense of worth or to form an identity for ourselves. Who we believe we are defines how we behave.
The church has always been known for its resolute spirit. Problems occur, though, when we think that because the church’s message is changeless, the church’s methods must be changeless too. How can we expect to make a difference in a rapidly changing world if we’re living in the past? Are we ready for the changes the future will bring?
We want to be right (as we see it, of course) more than we want to love our neighbours as ourselves. At that point our personal preferences eclipse any evidence of love. I am of the firm conviction that where grace exists, so must various areas of grey.
Like the Japanese art of Kintsugi, in which a potter creates priceless treasures by fusing broken pieces of porcelain together with gold, the Lord fills the cracks in our lives with the glowing gold of second chance.
We meet all sorts of people on our path. Some we meet only briefly, and yet God uses seemingly insignificant events to shape us. The people we meet on our path leave us forever changed, and we do the same for them.
Sid Vicious is an example of the downward spiral of someone living with no sense of worth. If you’re wondering if your life has any value, consider this: the God who created the universe has written your name on the palms of His hands.
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Insight for Living is committed to excellence in communicating the truths of Scripture and the Person of Jesus Christ in an accurate, clear, and practical manner so that people will come to an understanding of God’s plan for their lives, as well as their significant role as authentic Christians in a needy, hostile, and desperate world.
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