If You Want Something Done Right (Friday Devotional)

The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts; so I am helped, and my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.

- Psalm 28:7

With only 3 items in my basket, the self-checkout line seemed like the easiest option. I wouldn’t have to wait behind other customers, I wouldn’t have to make small talk with a cashier, and I’d be in the car in no time.

But when I tried to scan my last item, my plan went awry. For some reason, the $1.50 tin of Altoids I scanned rang up as a $10 bottle of Advil. Seeing the error, I frantically looked for a place on the touchscreen to correct the mistake, but didn’t see any way to do so. I tried cancelling the whole transaction and starting over, but when I scanned the Altoids tin again, I naturally faced the same problem. While I tried to figure out what to do, a mom with three kids wheeled her cart behind me, impatiently checking her watch. Finally, I gave up and did what perhaps I should have done from the beginning: I went to a cashier.

Most people go through life the way I tried to go through the grocery store that day, relying upon themselves even when more capable help is nearby. We’d sooner trust our own instincts than other people’s advice. We’d rather try it our way than follow somebody else’s strategy. Perhaps most arrogantly, we prefer to plan instead of pray.

Scripture consistently encourages us to lean on God instead of relying on our own understanding, to embrace His help, comfort, and salvation. Instead of trying to defend yourself, God can be your shield; instead of trying to muster up power, God can be your strength. All that is needed is the humility to turn to Him.

Living a “self-checkout” kind of life is tempting, but in feeding your pride it robs you of support. In a do-it-yourself world, may you have the humility to turn to the God who stands ready to help.

Looking for Answers (Friday Devotional)

“O our God, will you not execute judgment upon them? For we are powerless against this great multitude that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”

- 2 Chronicles 20:12

Every time we’ve gone on a vacation the last few years—whether by ourselves, with my side of the family, or with my in-laws—Lindsey has planned the trip from start to finish. She buys the plane tickets, she finds where we’ll be staying, she looks up the local attractions, and she sets the itinerary. She is our unpaid travel agent.

But no matter how well-planned the trip is, there’s always going to be a snag somewhere—a flight will be delayed, a rental car won’t be ready, a reservation will get canceled, etc. Life still happens, even on vacation, and you can’t plan for everything. And when such problems arise, the response of everyone in the family—all of us fully functioning adults, mind you—is the same: we look at Lindsey. We don’t have the answers or the plan, but we trust that she will.

That was the attitude King Jehoshaphat had toward God when the enemies of Judah prepared to invade his kingdom. Outnumbered and overwhelmed, the king knew that neither his wits nor his weapons were enough to overcome the enemy. So in a spirit of humility and devotion, he called for a nationwide fast and came to God with one of the most sincere prayers you’ll ever read in Scripture: “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”

Sometimes you don’t feel equipped for the moment. Sometimes you don’t have all the answers you need. We tend to feel ashamed in those moments, to dwell on our own weaknesses, fears, and shortcomings. But Jehoshaphat offers us a lesson in faithfulness—especially in those times, the most important thing is not that you know what to do, but that you know who is Lord.

So when your plans go awry and your good intentions give way to bad results, take a page out of the king’s book and allow your bewilderment to be transformed into faith. Because what Jehoshaphat showed in crisis is the same thing I’ve learned on vacation: sometimes the most important thing is not what you know, it’s who you trust.

Style and Substance (Friday Devotional)

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

- Acts 2:42

I have a weakness for baseball cards. The anticipation when I’m about to open a pack still excites me, the sight of a superstar’s card still thrills me, the disappointment of a mediocre pack still bums me out. In the moments when I’m opening up a new pack of cards, I’m a kid again.

In some ways, the cards have changed a lot over the years. Once stuck between the spokes of bicycles, cards now often go straight into display cases on the off chance that they may be worth something someday. Once sold with sticks of tastes-like-cardboard bubble gum (and, decades before that, cigarettes), the gimmicks are now more centered around the sport—autographed cards, pieces of game-worn jerseys, etc. Once available for pennies, packs now require you dig out a $5 bill.

Yet for all these changes around the edges, baseball cards are still fundamentally the same as they’ve always been. The front of the card has the player’s name and a photo; the back of the card has their statistics. Whether you’re looking at a 1955 Mickey Mantle card or a 2020 Joey Gallo, the card is going to tell you their batting average and how many home runs they hit. The style of baseball cards has certainly changed over the years, but the substance is still the same.

In that respect, baseball cards remind me of the church. When you think about the earliest days of the church, in some ways it seems so ancient and foreign, like a totally different group than the one you worship with on Sunday mornings. They prayed and worshiped in the temple in Jerusalem. They had no New Testament to read from yet, only stories and teachings passed along by word of mouth. Heck, they didn’t even sing “Amazing Grace!” What could this group of first century Jews possibly have to do with your local church today?

Acts 2:42, which offers a summary of the church’s activities after the pouring out of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, gives us the answer: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”

For all the differences in style between the early church and the modern church, the substance remains the same it’s always been. We are still called to draw near to our Lord and to one another; we are still call to worship and fellowship. And ultimately, we are still called to go and share the gospel of Jesus Christ with a world that needs to hear it.

Like baseball cards, today’s church looks a lot different from that of previous generations. But like those selfsame cards, at the heart of things, the church is carrying on the same good work done since its beginning. While our styles may—and perhaps should—change with the times, our substance must be grounded in faithfulness.

Chugging Along (Friday Devotional)

In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.”

- John 5:17

For the better part of a month now, my son Andrew’s favorite toy has been a remote controlled Polar Express train and track. Every morning begins the same way, with him darting to the playroom to connect the engine, coal car, and coach cars, then get it chugging along the track. The Polar Express has become a permanent fixture of the playroom floor.

But now that the novelty has worn off, I’ve noticed something about how he plays with his train. When he first got it, he’d lay on the ground watching it with a level of attention I didn’t know his 3-year old self could muster. He’d press every button on the remote, making the train go forward then backward, making it whistle, and prompting the automated recording to call out, “All aboard!” But now, he’s more likely to turn the train on, get it running along the track, then move on to another toy as it continually chugs along.

So the other day I questioned him about it. “Buddy, since you’re not really playing with your train right now, do you want to turn it off?” His response has stuck with me: “No, Daddy. I like to have it working even though I’m not watching it.”

In the same way, God remains at work even when we’re not paying attention. When we talk about God’s impact on our lives, we tend to do so in transactional terms—I prayed for help and the Lord helped me, I studied the Bible and felt Him speaking to my heart; I worshiped and was encouraged by the experience. Perhaps without intending to do so, we start to give the impression that God operates according to our spiritual remote control, working only when we compel Him to do so.

The truth, as Jesus reminded the Pharisees, is that God is always at work. He doesn’t sit back just because we do. Where we may grow tired, He never does; where we lose interest, His eye remains on His creation. God is both sovereign and sustaining; He is both deeply aware of what’s happening in our world and deeply involved.

So much of life can feel random and chaotic, without rhyme or reason. But however disordered the world can seem, we can trust that God is still in the business of restoring what is broken and redeeming what is lost. Take comfort in the knowledge that, even when you’re not paying attention, God is still working.