Tag Archives: Choices

Chapter-a-Day

“Even if Someone Rises from the Dead”

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[Abraham] said to [the rich man], ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”
Luke 16:31 (NIV)

This past Sunday Wendy and I volunteered to help usher people into Easter worship and find seats.

There’s always a large crowd.

I’ve regularly attended weekly worship for most of my life. Along the way, I notice patterns. A few weeks before Easter attendance will slowly swell. The crowd arrives on Easter. Wendy and I help them find a seat.

Then the crowds go away.

Numbers recede back to normal.

Until a few weeks before Christmas.

It makes me wonder how often we are drawn to moments…but resist what they’re actually calling us into.

Today’s chapter is two scenes stitched together, both whispering (and sometimes shouting) about money, loyalty, and what we truly trust.

First, there’s a manager caught mismanaging his boss’s money and is about to be fired. Instead of panicking, he gets… creative. He cuts deals with his master’s debtors so they’ll welcome him later.

And here’s the twist—his master commends him for being shrewd.

So is Jesus praising the dishonesty? Not exactly. He’s saying: “Look how creatively people pursue temporary security… why are my people so passive about eternal things?”

Then He tightens the screws:

  • Faithful in little → faithful in much
  • You cannot serve both God and money

Money isn’t the villain. It’s the test.
It’s not about having it. It’s about what it does to your grip—does your hand open… or tighten?

In the next scene, Jesus pulls back the curtain on eternity.

A rich man lives in luxury.
A poor man, Lazarus, lies at his gate—hungry, broken, ignored.

In a world where the rich get remembered and the poor forgotten Jesus flips the script. God knows the poor man’s name. Not the rich man.

Both die.

Now the tables turn:

Lazarus finds himself in eternal comfort.
Rich man finds himself in eternal torment.

Interestingly, the rich man isn’t condemned for cruelty, but for indifference.

He didn’t beat Lazarus.
He merely stepped over him… every day.
Not out of hatred… just habit.

And the haunting line:

“Between us and you a great chasm has been set in place….”

No crossing. No do-overs.

And in the quiet this morning, the text leans in close, lowers its voice, and asks me something a little dangerous:

What am I really living for?

Not what I say.
Not what I post.
What my calendar, my bank account, and my quiet decisions reveal.

Jesus isn’t subtle:

  • This life is a test run, not the main event
  • Money is a tool, not a lover
  • Faithfulness in the small, unseen moments… that’s the real résumé

And maybe the most piercing truth of all:

The gap between heaven and hell isn’t created at death.
It’s revealed there.

I am becoming someone right now.

With every choice
Every act of generosity
Every moment of indifference
Every quiet “yes” or “no” to God

I am shaping the person who will step into eternity.

And for me, the most haunting line of all this morning was the final one.

‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

Translation? I already have more than enough truth to change my life. The question is whether I’ll listen.

An annual visit to God on Easter probably won’t make much difference.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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Chapter-a-Day

“Break This Wild Pony!”

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“Break This Wild Pony!” (CaD Lev 26) – Wayfarer

“‘If after all this you will not listen to me, I will punish you for your sins seven times over. I will break down your stubborn pride and make the sky above you like iron and the ground beneath you like bronze.’”
Leviticus 26:18-19 (NIV)

Last week I wrote about our granddaughter Sylvie and her two-year-old willfulness. I will never forget the words of our son-in-law as he and our daughter addressed the subject of their daughter’s stubborn self-will.

“We’re going to break this wild pony!” her father proclaimed with all of the love and resolve of a parent who ultimately wants what is best for his daughter. He knows instinctively that allowing her self-centered tenacity to continue will not be healthy for her or those around her in the future.

Exactly.

We are down to the final two chapters of God’s ancient priestly manual for His ancient Hebrew people in the toddler stages of humanity. Today’s chapter reads like a father addressing his toddler in simple and direct terms.

“Trust me on this, kiddo. If you obey and do as daddy says, then things are going to be good between us. Life is going to be better and more enjoyable all around for you. If, however, you refuse to obey and continue in your stubborn, willful disobedience, then I’m afraid life is going to get extremely difficult and not at all enjoyable for you. You can learn this the easy way or the hard way. It’s your choice, but I love you and I am not going to let you get away with being a self-centered little shit-hill.”

[By the way, “shit-hills” is what my grandma Vander Well called me and my siblings after spending a week with us while our parents were on vacation in the UK. I was five. I’m sure we earned the four-letter-laden moniker. It seemed apt in this context.]

What really blew me away as I read through God’s warning to His brood of toddlers is that it is a prophetic foreshadowing of exactly what is going to happen 750 years in the future:

“I will set my face against you so that you will be defeated by your enemies; those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee even when no one is pursuing you.”

Eventually, about 500 years after God warns His children about this in today’s chapter the Hebrew family splinters into two with the siblings factions at war with one another. That’s what happens when stubborn toddlers grow up to be pig-headed adolescents. About 200 years later, one set of siblings is conquered by the Assyrian Empire. About 150 years after that, the other set of siblings falls to the Babylonian Empire.

“When you withdraw into your cities, I will send a plague among you, and you will be given into enemy hands. When I cut off your supply of bread, ten women will be able to bake your bread in one oven, and they will dole out the bread by weight. You will eat, but you will not be satisfied.”
Leviticus 26:25-26

When they were conquered, the city of Jerusalem was surrounded in a siege by the Babylon. The Hebrew people stuck inside the walls slowly used up all of their provisions until starvation set in. Jeremiah describes it in his poem of Lamentations:

All her people groan
    as they search for bread;
they barter their treasures for food
    to keep themselves alive.
“Look, Lord, and consider,
    for I am despised.”
Lamentations 1:11

God goes on in Leviticus:

“You will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters.” (vs 29)

Jeremiah goes on to describe this eventuality:

“Look, Lord, and consider:
    Whom have you ever treated like this?
Should women eat their offspring,
    the children they have cared for?”
Lamentations 2:20

God continues in today’s chapter:

“I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out my sword and pursue you. Your land will be laid waste, and your cities will lie in ruins.” (vs. 33)

Jerusalem was utterly destroyed along with Solomon’s famous temple, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Both the Hebrew children of the northern kingdom and southern kingdom were taken into exile by the Assyrians and Babylonians, just as God foreshadowed.

But the bitter consequences of a child’s stubborn will and rebellion do not change the love of a parent. The hope is that those harsh life lessons will eventually lead to a change of heart. God even foreshadows this in today’s chapter.

“‘But if they will confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors—their unfaithfulness and their hostility toward me… I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land. Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them or abhor them so as to destroy them completely, breaking my covenant with them.’” (vss. 40, 42, 44)

It was while in exile in Babylon that the stories of Daniel, Esther, and Ezekiel take place. Just as promised, God does not abandon them in exile, but uses them to encourage His people and bear witness to their enemies. In the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, God brings His humbled and repentant children back home to Jerusalem like the Prodigal Son in Jesus’ parable. They rebuild Jerusalem and their lives.

There are even more direct prophetic connections and spiritual truths in today’s chapter than I have time and space to unpack. I hope you get the picture. In the quiet this morning I am amazed at the layers of meaning and spiritual truth contained in one chapter. God and humanity, parents and children, prophecy and fulfillment, historical events and metaphorical spiritual lessons that are applicable for me today are all crammed into 46 verses.

As I enter my day, I am reminded that no matter how old I get in physical human terms I never stop being a child of God. Each day my heart, my mind, my actions, and my choices can search out and follow my Father’s will. I can also choose to follow my own stubborn will, self-centered desires, and indulge my base human appetites. It is the same every day. It is my choice. My choices have natural consequences of both flesh and Spirit.

What choices will I make today?

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!
Chapter-a-Day

Ceaseless Maturation

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Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults.
1 Corinthians 14:20 (NIV)

I had a conversation the other day with parents who have a child in their late teens. As with most parents, they were struggling with that fact that this intelligent, capable child regularly makes really stupid choices and foolish decisions. Yep.

I shared with my friends that Wendy and I both observed a major shift in our daughters as they reached their mid-twenties and their brains were fully developed. I learned how much the brain is a part of our maturation process. We don’t control it. It just is.

At the same time, I know fully functioning adults who continue to act like teenagers as if their brains never fully developed. They allow themselves to be led by their self-centered appetites and passions. They repeatedly make foolish life decisions. Their lives are always in chaos. They are perpetually trying to escape the painful consequences of their own childish foolishness.

Paul is dealing with people like this among the Jesus’ followers in Corinth. In today’s chapter, he once again tells the Corinthian believers to “grow up” and stop acting like children.

One of the things I thought as a foolish child was that adults reached a level of complete maturity around the age of 30 and then it was sort of smooth sailing after that. You act like an adult and the rest of life is easy. It was around the age of thirty I started making some of the most foolish and childish life decisions of my entire journey!

As a disciple of Jesus, I’ve had to embrace that the process of growth and maturity never ends. Jesus said He was the Vine and I am a branch of that vine. What healthy plant stops growing, developing new growth, and bearing fruit? So it is with life in the Vine.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself thinking about the many ways I still need to prune, water, feed, and cultivate continued spiritual growth and applied wisdom in my life. I do this so that as my aging body wanes my life continues to grow, flourish, and remain spiritually fruitful until the end.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!
Chapter-a-Day

Awkward Moment at the Pub Part II

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Awkward Moment at the Pub Part II (CaD 1 Cor 8) – Wayfarer

Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall.
1 Corinthians 8:13 (NIV)

In the 18 years I’ve been writing this chapter-a-day blog, I’ve always found it fascinating which posts resonate with people. There are days that what I write something that I think a lot of people are going to want to read and no one does. Then there are days that I just sort of write a quick post and throw it out there and suddenly it’s getting unexpectedly read and shared all over the place.

Last week I wrote about an awkward moment I had in the pub in which a Christian couple I know stopped to talk to me as I was sitting at the bar having a pint, but they refused to actually enter the pub. Instead, they stood and semi-shouted their conversation with me while making sure they didn’t cross the threshold. It was a popular post and even yesterday I had people stop me to ask if the story was true (it was).

Today’s chapter addresses an issue that was creating conflict with the Corinthian believers of Paul’s day. It is, however, not an issue that we deal with here in the 21st century. In the pagan religious culture of Greece and Rome, there were pagan temples everywhere, and people regularly sacrificed animals at these temples. The meat from the sacrifices found their way to the local market and were sold as food to anyone who would buy it. Among the followers of Jesus in Corinth there were those who felt that they could not, with a clear conscience, purchase and eat meat that had been sacrificed to a pagan god. Others among the Corinthian believers thought it was not a big deal. The two factions were at odds with one another and things were getting heated.

While meat being sacrificed to a pagan Roman god is not an issue today, I’d like to return to my friends who stood outside the doorway of the pub making sure their feet didn’t cross the threshold. It was obvious that my friends had been taught, and believed, that it was wrong to enter an establishment that serves alcohol. I’m equally sure that they are teetotalers. As silly as I might think they are being, it is certainly a matter of conscience for them and this is the point that Paul is making with the abstainers and eaters in Corinth.

I might disagree with my friends’ personal views on having a beer or entering a pub, but as a disciple of Jesus I am called to consider others ahead of myself.

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”
Philippians 2:3-4 (NIV)

Knowing their feelings about drinking, I’m going to be considerate of those feelings if I find myself having a meal with them or socializing with them. I’m not going to flaunt the freedom of conscience I have if it’s going to create tension with my friends. Rather, I’m going to humbly respect their feelings and choose not to drink around them. In fact, if the awkward conversation at the door were to ever happen again, I think the right thing for me to do is simply leave my pint at the bar for a minute and step out onto the sidewalk to have a chat.

In the quiet this morning, I’m reminded that Jesus calls me to be considerate and servant-hearted with others. Sometimes this means that I serve others by submitting to their customs or preferences even if I don’t share them.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!
Chapter-a-Day

Profound Simplicity

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Profound Simplicity (CaD Eph 5) – Wayfarer

Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.
Ephesians 5:4 (NIV)

I have a reminder set for later this morning to get the turkey out of the freezer so it can thaw before Thanksgiving Day on Thursday. A few weeks ago, Wendy and I weren’t sure what we were doing for Thanksgiving this year. We’d talked about a small, quiet affair with a couple of other family members. That suddenly swelled to a total of fourteen who will be gathering at our house for the feast. We are grateful for the opportunity to host members of both our families. It’s going to be wonderful day of love and feasting.

Thanksgiving was, no doubt, on my heart and mind in the quiet this morning as I read today’s chapter. Paul provides for the disciples of Jesus in Ephesus stark contrasts between how those in the world live and how disciples of Jesus should conduct themselves in life and relationships. Among the contrasts he provides is the difference between the “obscene,” “foolish,” and “coarse” conversations and “thanksgiving.” I found it interesting that the Greek word translated “thanksgiving” is eucharistia which is the root of the word eucharist that many followers of Jesus use to name the bread and cup of the sacrament of Communion.

In yesterday’s post/podcast I talked about how I invest my budget of words daily. Paul is, quite obviously, continuing this theme and providing contrasting examples. If I was “mic’d up” like players and coaches in the NFL and then all of my words for a day were run through AI to summarize and describe all of things I’d spoken yesterday, what would the result be? What adjectives would describe the flow of words that came out of my mouth? “Foolish,” “empty,” “coarse,” “obscene,” “negative,” “critical,” “mean,” “gossip?” Would the adjectives “grateful,” “gracious,” “kind,” or “encouraging” even make it on the list?

As I meditate on these things in the quiet this morning, my mind conjured up another contrast. This chapter-a-day journey just finished slogging through the 48 chapters of Ezekiel. To be honest, it’s a tough trek in which finding daily spiritual nuggets requires study, history, context, and deeper than average meditation. This quick trek through Ephesians has been almost a mental shock for me by contrast. An entire post could spring from almost every sentence Paul writes, and the truths he addresses are often profound in their simplicity.

Profound in its simplicity is what I’m taking from the chapters this week. Consider my words. Invest them wisely. Use them well. And there is perhaps no more worthy and useful purpose for my words than to express thanks to God and to others for all that they mean to me. And, dear reader, that includes you. I’m thankful for your companionship on this chapter-a-day journey – even you quiet lurkers out there I don’t even know. I’m going to begin Thanksgiving early this year, by practicing words of gratitude and thanksgiving today and tomorrow. You’re welcome to join me.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Stupid Decisions

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Stupid Decisions (CaD Ezk 18) – Wayfarer

Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel? For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!
Ezekiel 18:31-32 (NIV)

Wendy and I have several good friends who are currently residing in that stretch of life’s journey when one has the responsibility to parent teenagers. No one seems to be having any fun.

The thing about the teen years is that kids begin to get a taste of freedom and of free will, but they’re still about ten years from having fully developed brains. They make really stupid decisions. And, because they are old enough to get into serious trouble, those stupid decisions run the risk of quickly becoming tragic.

As I listen to some of the stories, it brings back memories of both Taylor and Madison. The girls were good kids and I’m happy to say they made far more good decisions that stupid decisions. But make no mistake, they both made stupid decisions. We caught a few of them. Certain stupid decisions are stupid because they’re so stupid that getting found out is a certainty. I’m certain there were stupid decisions that they got away with. Parents are stupid too, to believe that somehow our children won’t make the same stupid decisions we made when we were their age.

Stupid teenager decisions are a great example of what we call sin. We know it’s wrong, but we do it anyway. We do it for any number of reasons.

In the Great Story, sin is the major spiritual problem. It enters the Story in the third chapter of Genesis. Adam knew that he wasn’t supposed to eat the fruit of one tree. But, dang it, it looked so beautiful and juicy and he was really craving a taste of sweet succulent fruit at that moment.

Stupid decision.

Stupid decisions have consequences.

The consequence of Adam and Eve’s stupid decision, God says, is death. Not right away, but eventually. The human body will break down, wear out, and return to the dust of the earth from which it was formed. Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust.

As Paul wrote to Jesus’ followers in Rome:

sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned –

The message God continues to relay to humans throughout the rest of the Great Story is that He is for life. He wants me to be for life. He wants me to experience life.

At the same time, God does not like death any more than the. parent of a teenager likes to get a call from the Police because they have a teenager in custody.

In today’s chapter, Ezekiel relays what, at the heart of it, this very simple message. In fact, it’s as simple as they come. If you make stupid decisions and live a life of selfishness, pride, stealing, cheating others, living in immorality, and never looking out for anyone but numero uno then death is the just consequence for squandering the opportunity life affords.

But that’s not what God wants. He takes no pleasure in it. It’s a tragic consequence of endless stupid decisions.

God wants life, and He even makes a way for it. Ezekiel proclaims it beautifully in today’s chapter:

Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel? For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!

In other words, turn around. Make different choices. Follow God. He’s offering a new heart and a new spirit. A fresh start.

Paul put it this way to the believers in Rome:

For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!

Just as death to all came through one sin, so God would arrange for life for all to come through one death. Life…death…new life.

I will tell you, that the new life began for me when I made one good decision to take the first step:

I admitted I was powerless over my stupid decisions — that my life had become unmanageable.

This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him.
Deuteronomy 30:19-20 (NIV)

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Unexpected

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Unexpected (CaD Ezk 1) – Wayfarer

In my thirtieth year, in the fourth month on the fifth day, while I was among the exiles by the Kebar River, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.
Ezekiel 1:1 (NIV)

Life wasn’t going as planned for Ezekiel. Born into a priestly family, his road in life was as straight and flat as an Interstate 80 in western Nebraska. He would spend his life studying in preparation for his 30th birthday when he would enter the priesthood and begin his priestly duties in the Temple in Jerusalem.

So much for that.

At the age of 26, the Babylonians laid siege to Jerusalem and young Ezekiel was among those forced to make the long 900-mile march to Babylon where he lives in exile with thousands of his people. His momentous 30th birthday arrives, but everything he’s planned for his entire life is gone. There will be no priestly duties in the Temple, which is almost a thousand miles away. Ezekiel finds himself sitting aimlessly by the Kebar River in Babylon. What’s a priest to do living in a foreign land with no Temple in which to perform his duties?

Then, unexpectedly, God shows up.

Today’s inaugural chapter of Ezekiel records the young priest’s first God-given vision, and boy is it a doozy. As I read it in the quiet this morning, I was reminded of a friend in college who described to me what it was like to drop acid. Ezekiel sees some pretty funky-looking creatures. But when you start thinking about the metaphorical meaning and looking at it in the context of the Great Story, it begins to make a lot of sense.

Ezekiel is not alone in receiving visions of God’s throne room. Isaiah had one. The entirety of John’s Revelation is one long vision in God’s throne room. There are many similarities. The number four represents completeness, so four angelic beings (aka Cherubim) with four sides/faces represent the ability to attend to things from all sides. The animals represented are about God’s glory and strength. The intersecting wheels allow for movement in all four directions and the eyes around the rims allow for seeing everything, from every direction. Together, they represent complete attendance to and service of God. Then there’s the Light, the incomparable power and brightness of the light. The “vault” between the cherubim and the throne is the same Hebrew word used in Genesis to describe God separating the waters above from the waters below. In other words, the throne is elevated above and beyond the creatures. It is holy.

Ezekiel may be a thousand miles from the Temple, but he is given a front-row seat in God’s Throne Room. Like Ezekiel, I have discovered along my own life journey that my plans are not always God’s plan.

Ezekiel’s life and prophecies are built upon the foundational theme of exile. It has been argued that exile is the predominant theme of the Great Story. Humanity is exiled from the Garden at the beginning of Genesis and restored into fellowship with God at the end of Revelation. Jesus left heaven to live, teach, suffer, and die in exile on Earth. Joseph was exiled to Egypt, then the Hebrews were exiled to Egypt, and even Jesus was exiled to Egypt. The Jesus movement spread throughout the Roman world in part because persecution drove the early believers into exile. Exile is everywhere in the Great Story.

And, I find that to be a great theme for my own earthly journey. There are seasons of my life that felt like exile because I, like the Prodigal Son, made choices that put me there. In other cases, there were seasons of life when I found myself in places I never expected to be because of circumstances that were largely out of my control. Just like Ezekiel.

The message of Ezekiel is, however, a hopeful one. Ezekiel may be in exile, but God is right there with him. He may not be a priest in the Temple, but God’s got a job for Zeke as His prophet in exile. I also noted as I meditated on this in the quiet this morning that Zeke is not alone. Right up the Babylonian road is a guy named Daniel along with his friends Shadrach, Meshac, and Abednego. They’re living in the same exile, and God has some big plans for using them, too. Despite his feelings of displacement, confusion, and isolation, Zeke is not alone, and he’s right where God has purposed for him to be to accomplish His will.

When I find myself in unexpected places, God shows up in unexpected ways.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

God’s Will: Three Lessons

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God's Will: Three Lessons (CaD 1 Thes 5) – Wayfarer

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV)

When I was a young man, my friends and I spent a lot of time wondering about God’s will for our lives. There are so many big decisions that happen in your late teens and twenties. Where do I go to college? What do I major in? What do I pursue as a career? Will I marry, and if so, who?

Looking back at those years, there were some lessons I learned about God’s will and my will.

Life is like a jet ski. God can’t direct me if I’m not moving. Anyone who has been on a jet ski knows that you can sit there with the motor idling and move the handlebars all you want but it won’t respond. It’s only when you are moving forward (or backward) that it can be directed where you want it to go. It took God about seven years to steer me to the career to which I know that I was led, but I got there. I remember hearing a speaker say, “There’s a bunch of doors in front of you. Don’t sit there forever trying to discern the one door God has for you. Pick one! If that’s not the right door, God will close it.” It was sage advice.

I will make poor choices with good intentions. God will use that, too. I thought I had a good handle on what God wanted me to do vocationally, but I was wrong. That’s cool, though. In those seven years of leading me where I was supposed to be, I learned a lifetime of valuable lessons. I honed skills that would be invaluable to me. I met individuals who would become life-long companions on the journey. It’s easy to think of God’s will in binary terms. You’re either in it, or you’re not. I see it differently now. Sometimes the journey from where I am to where God wants me to be is His will, too. When I live daily life asking, seeking, and knocking, I experience ongoing receiving, finding, and having opportunities open for me. It’s easy to think of God’s will as a destination, but it’s also the journey.

Focus on those things that are always God’s will. And that’s what Paul reminds his friends in Thessalonica in today’s chapter:

Rejoice always.
Pray continually.
Give thanks in all circumstances.

Last month, when our basement flooded for the second time in a matter of weeks, Wendy and I prayed. We praised God and thanked Him. How blessed we are despite the momentary problems. We learned that we had a carpet pad that protects against spills, but it also traps water that gets underneath it. It’s impossible to suck it up through the spill-proof liner. We thought our basement was dry after the first flood, but the pad was still wet and eventually, we would have had a huge mold issue. If the second flood hadn’t happened, we never would have known that.

Some lessons in life are hard. I don’t always know where God is leading us. Things happen that don’t make sense to me. I can get overwhelmed, anxious, and angry, or I can simply keep doing what I know to be God’s will: perpetually rejoice, pray, and be grateful. When I do that, I find myself trusting God more and worrying about my circumstances less.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

A Life in One Phrase

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A Life in One Phrase (CaD 1 Chr 26) – Wayfarer

The lot for the East Gate fell to Shelemiah. Then lots were cast for his son Zechariah, a wise counselor, and the lot for the North Gate fell to him.
1 Chronicles 26:14 (NIV)

Over the years, I have dug into my family’s history. Working on a family tree, you deal with a lot of names that have little or no meaning. They are just names without context, kind of like reading through the list of Hebrew names compiled by the Chronicler in today’s chapter.

I have found it interesting, however, that certain individuals in my family have a reputation that has always been passed down with the name. Typically, I’ve noticed that what gets remembered is not the good things.

“He was a drunk.”
“No one had a good word to say about him.”
“She was always mean.”

One of my great-grandfathers, William, was one of multiple ancestors whose name was rarely mentioned without being followed by the fact that he was a drunk. When I inherited my mother’s collection of family photos and ephemera, I found a book that my great-aunt had written about his life. It would seem that she personally took it upon herself to learn her father’s story to try and understand the man with whom she never had much of a relationship.

The story was heartbreaking. His mother had been hired out to a family on a farm miles away from her home when she was just a young girl. She was treated like a slave. One of the sons seduced her and promised her the moon to have his way with her, but broke every promise. When she wound up pregnant she was dismissed and destitute. Her sister, married off to a well-to-do businessman, finally took her in with the condition she was to stay out of sight and no one would ever know they were sisters. An unwanted pregnancy of an illicit affair to a man who wanted nothing to do with the destitute young mother and her offspring. Welcome to the world, little man.

William’s life was tragic from the beginning. Despite his best efforts, tragedy seemed to follow him like a stray dog. He certainly made a number of mistakes in life that compounded his troubles, but I certainly began to understand why he learned to drown his sorrows. Perhaps the crowning tragedy of his life was that a rather complex and compelling life story was reduced to a simple “He was a drunk” to all of his descendants.

In today’s chapter, the Chronicler lists all of the families in the ancient Hebrew tribe of Levi who were assigned to be gatekeepers and treasurers in Solomon’s Temple. As I read through the long string of rather meaningless names, I was struck when the Chronicler mentioned a gatekeeper named Zechariah and then followed the name with “a wise counselor.” He didn’t mention any positive or negative character qualities about any of the other names. What made Zechariah such a “wise counselor” that the Chronicler was compelled to mention it? How cool to think that Zac, an otherwise forgettable ancient gatekeeper, had a reputation for giving wise advice that would be remembered for over 3000 years.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself asking a simple question: When my great-grandchildren see a photo of me and ask, “Who’s that dad?” What words will follow “Oh, that’s your great-grandfather Tom. He….” What will my descendants remember about me? Into what short phrase will my life be reduced by those who knew me?

Every day I contribute to the reputation by which I will be remembered.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Selective History

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Selective History (CaD 1 Chr 10) – Wayfarer

So the Lord put [Saul] to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.
1 Chronicles 10:14b (NIV)

I enjoy reading the book reviews every Saturday in the Review section of the Wall Street Journal. I’ve found a lot of great books to add to my library and to my wish list. One book that made it on my wish list recently is entitled The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson. It focuses on the months between the election of Abraham Lincoln and his inauguration, and how those months contributed to the eventual secession that led to the Civil War.

I’ve noticed when reading critical reviews of books about history, the critic will often talk about what the author chose to include and exclude. For example, the reviewer of Erik Larson’s book lauded Larson for including “neglected figures” as well as for diminishing his attention to Abraham Lincoln as he is “so familiar a figure.”

In today’s chapter, the Chronicler finally switches from nine chapters of genealogies to the actual narrative of Israel’s history. What’s immediately fascinating is that he picks up the story with the battlefield suicide of mad King Saul, King David’s predecessor.

Back the truck up.

What’s fascinating about this is that the story of Saul is a huge part of King David’s backstory. I would argue that one does not have a true understanding and appreciation for who King David was without the years he spent on the lam from the mad King, refusing to take Saul’s life just to fulfill God’s prophetic anointing as the next King.

At the time the Chronicler is writing his retelling of history, the books of Saul and Kings are well-known. The story of Saul and David is well-known. Much like Mr. Larson, who chose not to tell the history of the entire Civil War, but only the fateful months preceding secession, the Chronicler is being selective in his retelling. He cuts directly to the start of David’s reign. The Chronicler already tipped his hand when he gave precedence to the genealogy of Judah and David in the opening chapters. His focus is on the story of King David’s reign and the reign of David’s dynastic line.

As I meditated on this in the quiet this morning, I found my thoughts floating down two rivers of thought.

Along my life journey, I’ve observed that most people are selective when it comes to which parts of the Great Story they take time to read and study. The four books dealing with Jesus’ life and teaching always make it to the top of the popularity charts and with good reason. The letters of Paul are always popular, as well. They’re quick reads packed with helpful spiritual truth and instruction, much like Proverbs which along with Psalms, You get where I’m going here. The ancient laws of Leviticus and the prophecies of Habakkuk aren’t “go-to” reading for most people. It’s not unusual for the Chronicler to be selective in his retelling, we all do it. What I’m curious to learn is which bits of history he selects to include and exclude, and what lesson there might be in that.

The other river of thought my mind wanders down in the quiet this morning is the reality that if I am endlessly selective in the bits of the Great Story I read and study, I will never fully understand or appreciate those bits and how they connect into the much larger Great Story that God is telling from Genesis to Revelation, from the Alpha-point to the Omega-point, from the beginning to end.

Last year, our local gathering selectively studied seven “I Am” statements that Jesus made in John‘s version of Jesus’ story. I was tasked with unpacking three of them. In each of my lessons, I sought to unpack how “Bread,” “Gate,” and “Resurrection” are recurring themes throughout the Great Story. With each metaphor, Jesus was saying “I Am the entire Story in bodily form.”

But I don’t fully appreciate each metaphor unless I know the entire Great Story, and how everything is connected.

FWIW: Here are links to those three messages:

“I Am the Bread of Life”
“I Am the Gate”
“I Am the Resurrection and the Life”

Having floated down two rivers of thought, I found that they converged in the words of the Teacher of Ecclesiastes: There is a time to be selective, and there is a time to be exhaustive. The Chronicler has chosen to be selective. Great, I’ll go with the flow, and try to learn from his selectivity.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.