Tag Archives: Fear

Chapter-a-Day

Three Forces Rule the World

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Three Forces Rule the World (CaD Acts 19) – Wayfarer

The assembly was in confusion: Some were shouting one thing, some another. Most of the people did not even know why they were there.
Acts 19:32 (NIV)

I saw a meme on social media over the weekend that caught my eye. It was a quote from Albert Einstein who said, “Three great forces rule the world: stupidity, fear, and greed.” The more I meditated on this notion, the more I realized the truth of it.

The quote came to mind this morning as I read today’s chapter because all three forces are at work during Paul’s stay in Ephesus. Paul’s presence and Jesus’ Message had a powerful effect in Ephesus. So many people were choosing to believe in Jesus that the local union of idol makers began to fear (there’s the fear) that they would lose significant income (there’s the greed). So, they grabbed two of Paul’s companions and started a protest in the city’s amphitheater. The protest grew into a confusing, riotous mob, and many of the people who joined in had no idea what they were rioting about (there’s the stupidity). Eventually, a local official got control of the crowd and convinced them to disperse and take up their grievances through proper legal channels.

The local Jews had been so obstinate in refusing to believe Jesus’ Message through Paul, that Paul gave up going to the local synagogue. I found it fascinating that the local Jews participated in the idol makers’ protest. How fascinating that for hundreds of years, God spoke through the prophets and sent His people into exile in part because they wouldn’t give up their idolatry. Here, the Jews of Ephesus reject God’s Son and support the local idolatry union. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

In the quiet this morning, I found myself meditating on how the forces of fear, greed, and stupidity are at play in our own time and in our world. Paul and the disciples in Ephesus displayed the opposite of fear, greed, and stupidity. Paul was unafraid of the angry mob but wisely chose not to go to the theater and make a bad situation worse. When an entire group of sorcerers became believers, they chose to burn all of their sorcery and witchcraft scrolls which were worth fifty thousand drachmas. A greedy person would have sold them instead.

On the night of His arrest, Jesus told His disciples that He wanted them in the world proclaiming and living out His Message. In a world driven by fear, greed, and stupidity, Jesus wanted His disciples to live lives of peace, generosity, and wisdom so that others in the world could see the contrast, and be drawn to the Message. It’s a good reminder as I start another work week. Lord, help my daily life to be marked by your peace, generosity, and wisdom.

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

Chapter-a-Day

Shepherd and Sheep

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Shepherd and Sheep (CaD Jhn 10) – Wayfarer

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me…”
John 10:14 (NIV)

I mentioned in previous posts that John’s account of Jesus’ story is put together thematically, and John chooses seven miraculous signs of Jesus to introduce us, his audience, to Jesus. Seven is not an arbitrary number. Throughout the Great Story, the number seven is repeatedly used and indicates completeness. At the very beginning, in Genesis, God creates everything in seven days, calls it good, and establishes a complete week. In Revelation, the final judgments come in three sets of seven, where three represents the divinity of the judgments and seven indicates their completeness.

John also chooses to share seven metaphors and “I am” statements that Jesus used about Himself:

“I am the Bread of Life.”
“I am the Light of the World.”
“I am the Gate.”
“I am the Good Shepherd.”
“I am the Resurrection and the Life.”
“I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”
“I am the True Vine.”

These metaphors are not confined to Jesus’ declaration as each has deep connections throughout the Great Story.

The metaphor Jesus uses in today’s chapter is that of the Good Shepherd. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob/Israel were shepherds and Israel referred to God as the Shepherd of their lives. Moses was a shepherd. David was a shepherd. The prophets repeatedly referred to the kings of Israel and Judah as the appointed shepherds of God’s people. Jesus repeatedly used the metaphor of the Shepherd and sheep in His parables. In Revelation, Jesus is referred to as the Shepherd who leads His sheep to springs of living water. In claiming to be the Good Shepherd, Jesus is channeling the metaphorical thread that God has woven throughout the Great Story itself from beginning to end.

As I meditate on the metaphor of Jesus being the Good Shepherd, I can’t help but focus on David’s famous lyrics in the 23rd Psalm. As a life-long follower of Jesus, the opening line is particularly poignant: “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.” There is a relationship and intimacy between the Good Shepherd and His sheep. The Shepherd is a provider, protector, and guide. The Shepherd knows and calls each sheep by name. The Shepherd will leave the flock to find one lost sheep. When predators attack, the Shepherd will lay down his life for them.

Having grown up on a small farm, Wendy loves to reminisce about the sheep and lambs they raised and cared for. “They’re so dumb,” she tells me. This fact also gets added to the mix as I meditate in the quiet this morning. It’s easy to observe people, recount my own poor choices in life, and conclude that people are “dumb” too. I present myself as Exhibit A. We wander aimlessly through life, afraid, threatened, and needy. “Like sheep without a Shepherd,” is what the ancient prophets liked to say.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself comforted as I think about the Lord being my Shepherd. I am currently in a season of life in which many things are uncertain. It’s easy to feel fear and anxiety. Then I look back at my entire life and can easily recount the many ways that God has always led, directed, provided, and protected me. He has been a Good Shepherd to this dumb sheep, and I can trust Him to continue being so. It’s who Jesus is. He said it Himself.

I’m back on Facebook for those who liked to read my chapter-a-day posts there! Facebook refuses to give me access to my old, hacked account, but I have started a new account. Please search for me on Facebook and friend me. If Facebook won’t let you friend me, please go to my Facebook profile and “Message” me, which should then allow me to friend you. Cheers! -Tom

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

Chapter-a-Day

Antidotes to Fear

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Antidotes to Fear (CaD Lk 21) – Wayfarer

“But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves.”
Luke 21:9 (NIV)

Every January, as a new year launches, the media is filled with thoughts, predictions, meditations, and prognostications regarding what the new year will bring. I would summarize the thoughts, feelings, and outlook for 2024 that I’ve been reading and hearing to be gloomy at best and at worst, doomsday. We have war in Ukraine, war in Israel, tension in Taiwan, terrorism, political division, protests, rampant crime, struggling economy, immigration crisis, and in America an election year that everyone is dreading.

Along my life journey, I’ve observed that we human beings are emotional creatures. Fear is a useful emotion, for politicians in particular, but also for media and business, especially drug companies. Fear short-circuits reason.

Over the past few years, I’ve tried to counter-balance my fear with both facts and faith.

Factually, we live in the best of times for human existence. The folks over at Gapminder.org have been diligently documenting these facts for years. They continue to shout like a voice in the wilderness, and I find it so fascinating that no one wants to listen. I’ve found their information and resources a welcome and useful antidote to the doom and gloom pedalers everywhere. I encourage you click on the graphic below and take a quick perusal of all the facts they present on the linked page on their site. In fact, I encourage you to go through it and the other resources they provide on their site on a regular basis.

When I absorb the facts and then survey the wholesale fear and anxiety in the world around me, I’m struck by two things. First, I’m struck at humanity’s ability, no matter how good things get, to perpetually muck things up. Second, I’m struck at humans’ almost addictive need for fear. It’s ironic and downright Shakespearean.

The other counter-measure I personally employ against fear is faith. As a disciple of Jesus, this isn’t optional. It’s a direct and repeated command from Jesus. If I really believe what I say I believe, then no matter what happens in the world around me I know that all things are moving toward a conclusion that is already determined by Jesus who ultimately has both me and everything else ultimately in His eternal control.

In today’s chapter, Jesus provides His own prophetic doom and gloom outlook for how things are going to eventually go down. As I’ve repeatedly written in my posts over the years, prophecy is layered with meaning. Some of the events Jesus prophesied in today’s chapter happened just 40 years after His death and resurrection. Others have yet to happen. But three times amidst His prophetic outlook of wars, persecution, upheaval, and cataclysmic events Jesus tells His followers not to be frightened or anxious. I particularly loved the words He used in the verse I quoted at the top of the post: “Make up your mind not to worry beforehand….”

Fear is an unconscious emotional reaction. Faith is a conscious Spirit response.

In the quiet this morning, I’m getting ready to sit down with Wendy and read the weekly TGIF column at the Free Press by Nellie Bowles. It’s her witty and sarcastic recap of the news this week which we’ve come to look forward to every Friday morning. We need it because when laughter is combined with faith and facts, it makes a powerful anti-fear cocktail.

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

Chapter-a-Day

The Futility of Flight

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The Futility of Flight (CaD Jer 42) – Wayfarer

This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you are determined to go to Egypt and you do go to settle there, then the sword you fear will overtake you there, and the famine you dread will follow you into Egypt, and there you will die.
Jeremiah 42:15b-16 (NIV)

Wendy and I were once cast in a production that was eery little story about a young couple being stuck in a myriad of ways. We did not play the couple, but were rather part of a dream-like menagerie that revealed the couple’s true relational issues.

In the course of the story, Wendy’s character confronts the young woman, who keeps trying to run away in fear. No matter where she runs, however, the young woman runs right into Wendy.

That show came to mind as I read today’s chapter, in which the small contingent of former soldiers who took vengeance out on the rogue Ishmael and his gang of assassins in yesterday’s chapter, now ask Jeremiah to pray for them as they plan to flee with their families to Egypt in fear of Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon’s wrath.

God’s answer through Jeremiah was not what the contingent wanted to hear.

Jeremiah tells the group that they must do the hard thing. Stay, stand firm, and face the consequences with the Babylonian overlord. Yes, the same King of Babylon who just destroyed Jerusalem, killed countless numbers of their fellow citizen, and took most of the other residents captive. “Trust Me,” God says. “Have faith that the King of Babylon will do the right thing, and I will make sure that every little thing is gonna be alright.”

What I really found fascinating was the next part of God’s word through Jeremiah. He tells the contingent that if they flee to Egypt (and it sounds like God knows they’re going to do it anyway) then all the things that they are running from are the very things they will run into in the land of the pyramids. Their flight would be futile.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself thinking back to the stretches of my journey in which a ran from different things. There have been times when I ran out of fear of a conflict or confrontation. There have been times when I ran away from facing up to my own mistakes or poor choices. Other times I have run away from doing the hard thing and instead sought out an easy alternative. As a follower of Jesus, however, I have found that God’s economy works just like the device in that production. No matter where I run or how far I run, God is there asking me to face the very thing I fear. As David put it in Psalm 139:

Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
    and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

Time and time again in the Great Story God reveals that His purpose is a relationship with me in which I grow into intimacy and spiritual maturity. That growth curve requires growing pains, struggle, trials, and even suffering. This is the exact opposite of culture and the human condition that continue convincing me that things on this life journey should be easy, comfortable, pleasurable, free of pain, full of fun, and always lucrative. The more I’ve learned to trust God in my trials, the more I’ve come to acknowledge the futility of my fleeing whatever it is that I don’t want to face. When I trust God to stand and face whatever it is I’m afraid of the less time and energy I waste fleeing from whatever it is that I’m only going to run into again and again and again.

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

Chapter-a-Day

Faithful Tenacity

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Faithful Tenacity (CaD Jer 40) – Wayfarer

However, before Jeremiah turned to go, Nebuzaradan added, “Go back to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed over the towns of Judah, and live with him among the people, or go anywhere else you please.”
Jeremiah 40:5 (NIV)

Jerusalem is in ruins. The walls that kept the Babylonians out for some 30 months have been demolished. Solomon’s Temple, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, is demolished along with the Palace. The Babylonians burned the entire city. It lies uninhabitable.

Having failed to find a puppet King of Judah who didn’t rebel against him, Nebuchadnezzar follows his destruction of Jerusalem with destruction of the monarchy. He proclaims the region a Babylonian province with its capital in Mizpah. He appoints a man named Gedaliah as the new provincial Governor answering to Babylon.

Interesting, that both Gedeliah’s father and grandfather are mentioned when the Babylonian Commander suggests that Jeremiah go to live under the Governor’s protection. Gedeliah was from a family of Scribes. Scribes were held in high esteem in those days as the number of people who could actually write were very few. Even in the days of Jesus some 500 years later, Scribes were the ranking authorities within the powerful religious party of the Pharisees. Jeremiah being a prominent prophet, he would have been well-known by the Scribes for his prophetic work. But, there’s even more of a connection with Gedeliah.

Jeremiah began his prophetic ministry half-way through the reign of the reformer King Josiah. It was during this period of time that Gedeliah’s grandfather, Shaphan, who presented the rediscovered Book of the Law to King Josiah, leading to sweeping religious reforms in 2 Kings 22. Jeremiah would have been politically and religiously in alliance with Shaphan, King Josiah, and the sweeping reforms that temporarily put an end to idolatry and called upon the entire nation to worship the God of Abraham, Moses, and David alone. Back in chapter 26, when Jeremiah’s enemies attempted to have him killed, it was Gedeliah’s father, Ahikam, who protected Jeremiah from the mob. Gedeliah and his family were supporters and allies of Jeremiah.

It’s equally fascinating that the Babylonian Commander, Nebuzaradan, offers Jeremiah protection should he decide to return to Babylon. It was very common in religions of that day to believe that when a prophet spoke, it was his or her words that caused the prophesied events to happen. They would have believed that if Jeremiah had kept his mouth shut, the siege, the famine, the death, the destruction, and the exile would not have happened. The fact that Jeremiah was right would not have gotten Jeremiah off the hook. It would have made him an even bigger target as a scapegoat whom people could blame for their dire circumstances. Nebuzaradan understood that Jeremiah needed protection and was willing to provide it if Jeremiah was going to Babylon. If he was staying, Gedeliah was best person with the political power (backed by Babylonian force) to get the job done.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself thinking about Jeremiah’s life journey and the incredible things God asked of him throughout his entire life. There was never a point at which he was not in danger of insult, mockery, public humiliation, verbal attack, physical attack, or the threat of death. And in the multiple cases in which attacks were made on his life, God always provided a protector whether it was Gedeliah, Ebed-Melek, or an Akikam.

We aren’t sure when and how Jeremiah died, though Jewish tradition from extra-Biblical sources hold that he was taken to Egypt where he continued his prophetic proclamations to the exiles and was finally stoned by his fellow countrymen. Given the historical record we do have, this sounds quite plausible. I have to admire Jeremiah for his faithful tenacity in the face of perpetual threat.

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

Chapter-a-Day

Certain Calling in Uncertain Times

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Certain Calling in Uncertain Times (CaD Jer 1) – Wayfarer

Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”
Jeremiah 1:9-10 (NIV)

“It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.”
Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

The past seven years have been the craziest stretch in my lifetime. I’ve heard some of my elders compare it to the 1960s and early 1970s. I was but a wee-one back then. I was six when Nixon resigned. I remember watching it on television.

The political turmoil, the division, the global upheaval of the pandemic, and the heightened conflicts in virtually every layer of society have been fascinating to observe. What’s made it even more fascinating for me is to recognize that the upheaval flies in the face of a well-documented reality: The earth as a whole has never been such a great place to live in all of human history. Life spans have never been longer. Humans have never been so rich, so educated, so healthy, or so safe. If you don’t believe me, please pick up a copy of Hans Rosling’s book Factfulness or stop by his website gapminder.

What has been so fascinating for me to witness is seeing so many claiming that the world has never been a worse place to live and that things have never been worse economically, racially, and in the quality of life. When I observe this disconnect, I personally conclude that there is something happening on a spiritual level.

For those who have been trekking along with me on this chapter-a-day journey, our trail this past year has been through the story of the history of the Hebrew tribes from the time of the Judges through the monarchies of Saul, David, and Solomon, to the years of the divided kingdoms of Israel (north) and Judah (south). We ended 2 Kings in which the kingdom of Judah is taken into exile by the Babylonians, and we then followed the prophet Daniel to Babylon.

Life at the end of the Hebrew monarchy and the time of the Babylonian exile was a period of tremendous upheaval on almost every level of society for the people of Judah. There was political instability, and conflict everywhere along with violence, war, and famine. It feels to me as if it was, for the common person living through it, not unlike what we have been experiencing in our own period of history.

There was a man who lived through this period of upheaval. His name was Jeremiah. God called Jerry to be His prophet and the prophet wrote the longest book in all of the Great Story (by Hebrew word count). He not only records the words God gave him, but he was also not afraid to record his personal emotions about his life and circumstances. He was not afraid to cry out to God against his personal enemies. Jerry is a very human being who is living in strange times. And so, I think it is a good time to make another journey through his story, and through his writings.

In today’s chapter, God calls Jerry to be His mouthpiece. He’s young. He’s too young, the young man tells God. He’s probably parroting what he’s been repeatedly told by his parents, his teachers, his culture, and every adult he’s ever known. But, as Paul instructs young Timothy, God tells young Jerry not to let anyone look down on him because he’s young. God doesn’t put a minimum age on being His instrument. That’s a lesson that earthly religious institutions have never really embraced. Human institutions prefer the bureaucratic control of hoop-jumping and meritocracy to the messiness of mystery, faith, and surrender.

What God makes clear to Jerry from the beginning is that, as the Author of Life, He has had a plan for Jerry before he was formed in the womb. He likewise is authoring the Great Story on a geopolitical scale and the storyboard is already sketched out. Jerry’s job is to fulfill his role and to communicate the script that’s already written.

This gives me encouragement as a disciple of Jesus walking through my own strange times. I believe that I was known before I was formed in my mother’s womb. I believe that what is happening in the modern geopolitical landscape and our own period of history is every bit as storyboarded as the events of Jeremiah’s day. If I really believe what I say I believe, then I have nothing to fear nor do I need to be anxious – just as Jesus instructed The Twelve on the eve of His execution. I simply need to fulfill the role I’ve been given and trust the story that’s already written.

The featured image on today’s post was created with Wonder AI

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

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Destructive Deference

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Destructive Deference (CaD 2 Ki 16) – Wayfarer

[King Ahaz of Judah] took away the Sabbath canopy that had been built at the temple and removed the royal entryway outside the temple of the Lord, in deference to the king of Assyria.
2 Kings 16:18 (NIV)

I hate conflict. I don’t like difficult situations. I’m sure I’m not alone.

One of the realities of this life journey in this imperfect world is that conflict is unavoidable (not that I haven’t tried to avoid it) as are difficult situations and crucial conversations.

This morning as I sat in the quiet and wrote my Morning Pages, what poured out of me was a string of events, situations, and relationships over many, many. years in which I chose passivity rather than purposed initiative, silence rather than strife, and escape rather than engagement. As the confession rolled off my ballpoint onto the pages I had to acknowledge the collateral damage I caused because of my unwillingness to simply step up to the plate and into the box.

Then, I opened the Great Story and it was as if God had synchronized my confession and the content of today’s chapter.

Ahaz takes the throne of Judah. The political situation in Judah is tenuous. Judah has been squeezed and diminished by enemies on all sides who have whittled away at their territory. Ahaz appears to be the quintessential “pleaser” who caters to everyone. There’s not a god he won’t worship, not a sacrifice he won’t make (even his own child), nor an offering he won’t give to ensure his power and security.

The Arameans and the Northern Kingdom of Israel come to lay siege to Jerusalem, and Ahaz appeals to the ascendant Assyrian Empire for help. Ahaz steals gold and silver from God’s Temple and sends it to the king of Assyria as a gift. When Assyria comes to the rescue, Ahaz visits the Assyrian king. He then sends word to the high priest Uriah back in Jerusalem to build an altar like the Emporer uses for worship and to put it in God’s temple. He orders that God’s temple be altered to be like the one where the Emporer worships. He orders that the worship of God be changed to be like what the King of Assyria does. He does all of this “in deference” to the king of Assyria. Ahaz’s faith was in appeasement. His trust was in the most powerful human protector he could afford.

Along my life journey, I’ve observed that deference can be a noble quality in the right context. However, the twenty-twenty hindsight in my Morning Pages this morning also reveals that I have often used “deference” as a cover and an excuse for my fear. I used it as an excuse for not appropriately confronting people and circumstances when I should have. I leveraged it to rationalize my passive avoidance of crucial conversations. Like Ahaz, my deference has been ultimately destructive.

Mea Culpa.

In the quiet this morning, I am grateful for God’s grace, mercy, and forgiveness. No matter how far I get in my spiritual journey, I still have more to learn, more to confess, and more to grow. I can’t do anything to change the mistakes of my past, but I can make different choices and decisions today than those I made before.

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

Chapter-a-Day

An Easy Thing

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An Easy Thing (CaD 2 Ki 3) – Wayfarer

This is an easy thing in the eyes of the Lord…
2 Kings 3:18a (NIV)

I woke up this morning in a fog. I was having really strange dreams and my brain didn’t want to wake up. I really just wanted to go back to bed. Nevertheless, I got to my office and pulled out my journal to write my morning pages. I scribble out 2-3 pages, stream-of-consciousness style. Whatever is on my heart and mind I pour it onto the page. I try to keep the pen moving and not let my brain wander down rabbit trails which then causes my hand to stop writing. That’s hard for me. I have a very active inner world.

Out of the brain fog, my hand began scribbling out some of my fears about what God is doing, or not doing, and my doubts about what He is doing and will do. These are the fears and doubts that my conscious brain stuffs deep down most of the time. Then they ooze out the side in strange places and ways. I began to counter these doubts and fears by scribbling out words of affirmation and declarations of faith.

“Open the doors. You can open the floodgates,” I wrote in my scribbled prayer.

Having finished my morning pages, I read today’s chapter. The Kings of Israel, Judah, and Edom go on a campaign against the Kingdom of Moab, marching their army through the desert of Edom. It is hot and they run out of water for themselves and their animals. The campaign is doomed. But the King of Judah asks if there’s a prophet of the Lord nearby, and an officer says that Elisha is. Elisha is called and prophesies that even though the armies will not experience rain or a storm, yet the valley will fill with water.

“This is an easy thing in the eyes of the Lord,” Elijah states.

Sure enough, God opened the floodgates and the next morning the river beds were full of water.

Oh, me of little faith. Some mornings I find the synchronicity between my heart and the Great Story amazing in humbling ways.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself simply embracing the reality that what I need and desire is “an easy thing in the eyes of the Lord.”

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

Chapter-a-Day

Doom & Gloom from Zeph to CBS

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Doom & Gloom from Zeph to CBS (CaD Zeph 1) – Wayfarer

“That day will be a day of wrath,
    a day of distress and anguish,
a day of ruin and devastation,
    a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick darkness….”
Zephaniah 1:15 (NRSV)

Wendy and I start most mornings with coffee, breakfast, and the newspaper. We read through the news and discuss world events. We talk about the elections and the latest prognostications from modern-day prophets on the editorial pages. More often than not we chuckle at the horror, the doom, and the gloom that we find there.

There is something innately human about the way humans flock to bad news. News outlets know that we, like lemmings, will be drawn to blood (10 Dead in Latest Rampage) and fear (Study Shows Water Will Kill You). Publications on the left know that their readers are motivated by fear of the right (Ted Cruz Wants to Arm Babies!) and publications on the right know that readers are motivated by fear of the left (Hunter’s Laptop Gave ISIS Our Nuclear Protocols!). What’s more, fear generates clicks and draws viewers which, in turn, generates advertising dollars. And fear creates lucrative financial opportunities (Do Cell Phones Breed Brain Worms? Congress Earmarks Funds for Research).

Be afraid. Be very, very afraid.

The ancient prophets were also doom and gloom-ers. Read today’s chapter and it’s enough to motivate a call to your physician for a prescription of Zoloft. The scenes of devastation that Zephaniah pictures are horrific, much like the scenes of devastation described by CBS Sunday Morning and their predictions of the earthquake,  “The Big One,” that will someday hit the Pacific northwest.

The thing is, there is truth in the doom and gloom. Read the historic accounts of Judah’s siege and devastating defeat to the Babylonians and all of a sudden Zephaniah seems fairly prescient. When you think about 15,000 dead in the Japanese earthquake and tsunami a few years ago, the predictive doom and gloom for Seattle and Portland become more than mere yellow journalism.

History is full of tragedy, destruction, war, famine, suffering, and death. It has always been part of the human experience and it always will be. The question is not whether bad things will happen but how I will respond when they do. I can obsess in fear about what might happen in the future, or I can be wise in how I walk life’s journey on this day. I can choose to focus on anxiety-producing “what ifs” regarding tomorrow, or I can choose to focus on being a person of love, joy, peace, patience, and kindness today.

This morning, on this day, I am focused on Jesus’ words:

“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”
Matthew 6:34 (MSG)

  A Note to Readers
I’m taking a blogging sabbatical and will be editing and re-publishing my chapter-a-day thoughts on David’s continued story in 2 Samuel while I’m taking a little time off to focus on a few other priorities. Thanks for reading.
Today’s post was originally published in March 2016.

The featured image on today’s post was created with Wonder A.I.

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

Chapter-a-Day

Blind Spots

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Blind Spots (CaD 2 Sam 13) – Wayfarer

When King David heard of all these things, he became very angry, but he would not punish his son Amnon, because he loved him, for he was his firstborn.
2 Samuel 13:21 (NSRV)

I have been doing leadership development with the management team of one department of a client this week. It’s been both fascinating and a lot of fun as I spent time with each team member, learned their Enneagram Type, shadowed them as they went about their job, and observed them coaching their team members. Today, I get to sit with the team and review my observation and recommendations. They are great people and have a lot of potential but they also have a lot of challenges both individually and collectively.

David was a great warrior, a great general, and a great leader of men. Evidence leads me to believe that he was not, however, a great husband or father. As we’ve read David’s story he has slowly been amassing wives like the spoils of war and the result was many children. But, an army of children does not an army make. A family system and the complex relationships between birth order and gender can be difficult enough for a monogamous, nuclear family. I can’t imagine the exponential complexities that emerge when you have eight wives, ten concubines, and children with almost all of them.

As I read through these chapters I’ve noticed that I never read of David telling his children “no” nor do I read of him disciplining them for their behavior. David appears to have even had a reputation among his offspring for not refusing their requests. David’s daughter, Tamar, tells her half-brother Amnon that if he simply asks Dad she’s sure he’ll let them get married. When Amnon rapes Tamar instead and then turns her away we hear of David’s anger, but he doesn’t do anything about disciplining his beloved firstborn son. When Tamar’s full brother Absalom plots to kill their half-brother Amnon in revenge, Absalom goes to David and presses good ol’ dad until David relents and sends all the brothers on Absalom’s little fratricidal sheep-shearing retreat.

David has a blind spot. He can lead an army to endless victories but his record as leader of a family is a tragic string of failures and defeats.

I cannot point at David without three fingers pointing back at me. We all have our blind spots. The managers I’ve been mentoring this week have been learning that their Enneagram Type reveals their tremendous strengths, but also their core fears and weaknesses. If they are going to succeed as a team, they will have to embrace both within themselves and their team members. Our greatest strengths have their corollary weaknesses. We cannot escape this reality, but we can escape being enslaved to it. What we can do is be honest about our blind spots. We can choose to shine a light on them and invest time and attention in addressing them. We can surround ourselves with others who will graciously help us see them, work through them, and who will patiently love us as we do.

 A Note to Readers
I’m taking a blogging sabbatical and will be re-publishing my chapter-a-day thoughts on David’s continued story in 2 Samuel while I’m take a little time off in order to focus on a few other priorities. Thanks for reading.
Today’s post was originally published in May 2014.

The featured image on today’s post was created with Wonder A.I.

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