Lunch time found me traipsing down shady downtown streets with my co-worker in pursuit of a somewhat healthy lunch. The heat rose from the sidewalk and seemed to hover at waist height. We took our time, chatting about projects and upcoming vacations. In the near distance, I saw two young women in matching blue t-shirts. My first impulse was to cross the street to the other side to avoid confrontation. But I was with my colleague and she didn’t seem to be holding back a “fight of flight” impulse. So, I continued on. As soon as we came into the girls’ focus, the one in front stepped out of the shade and waved at us.

“Hey! How are you? Come talk to me - I’m awesome!”

No, this wasn’t a typical scraggly hipster-type asking me if I’d registered to vote while weakly holding out a tattered clipboard. This girl looked like she was on her way to track practice - around the perfume counters at Saks Fifth Avenue. Her hair was in a cute ponytail on top of her head and mascara perfectly accentuated each and every eyelash. Her friend’s stylish fedora framed her large smile and cast a shadow on the giant diamond studs sparkling on her earlobes. As we came closer, they sensed that we were slowing down and they moved in for the kill. How does one turn down the invitation to talk to the “popular girl” when she says, “I’m awesome…and I want to talk to you!”??

Within five seconds, it was clear that they were on a mission to get us signed up as card-carrying Greenpeace members. Of course, I’d heard of the organization, so I really didn’t need the speech. But Girl #1 kept right on going. Upon learning that my co-worker  was already a member, she gave her a high five and proceeded to tell us what Greenpeace was doing about the massive oil spill in the Gulf. There was nowhere to go and we didn’t want to seem rude. So, we listened. And, you know what? They were actually interesting to listen to. Personable, upbeat, engaging, humorous…they reeled us in. Before I knew it, I was agreeing to send Greenpeace $15 a month and signing on a dotted line. Afterwards, Girl #2 gave me a hug, saying that all new members got one (Girl #1 gave my co-worker a hug too since, apparently, old members get them as well). We walked away and waved at them like they were old friends. As we continued on to lunch, I could feel the conflict beginning to boil inside. How had I allowed myself to sign up for something like that - on the spot? How had they done it?

Then, naturally, my thoughts changed to how the work that the girls were doing was vastly different, yet the same, as the work that we, as witnesses of the gospel, should be doing. Was it possible, I thought, for a couple of church-going youth to stand on a street corner and engage passers-by in the same way that these two young ladies had? Seemingly, four key factors made their pitch successful:

Approachability: Even before we were within ear shot, we were able to read the body language of the Greenpeace Girls. They appeared to be having a light-hearted conversation and their postures were relaxed and fluid. They didn’t seem rigid, frightened, or prepared to dart into the bushes at a moment’s notice. They had the air of two friends chatting in the commons after class. Unassuming and “normal”, they didn’t attract unnecessary attention (besides the giant “Greenpeace” emblazoned on their shirts).

Confidence: I’ll repeat Girl #1’s line, as it keeps ringing in my head. “Come talk to me - I’m awesome!” Now, I don’t know if, exasperated after a long morning of rejection, she had just thrown caution to the wind and was now blurting anything that came to mind. Whatever the case, she exuded confidence. Her invitation told us that she was comfortable being out in the Texas heat and she was comfortable about her message. She had something to share and if we wanted to listen to it, great. If not, she was secure enough to know that someone else would walk up who would want to hear it. The line was so unusual that it caught me off guard…and made me want to hear how she would proceed. As they talked to us about Greenpeace’s mission and work, they looked us straight in the eye and smiled. It was as if we were having a conversation…and I didn’t even know them. I found myself listening intently, and instead of looking for an escape, I just wanted to hear them out.

Friendliness: The high-fives, the hugs, the little jokes and banter between the girls…all that made the entire exchange a friendly and upbeat one. There was no guilt-tripping, passive aggressiveness, or index finger wagging in admonition. As soon as Girl #1 found out that my colleague was Canadian, she grasped a hold of this detail and didn’t let go. She made an immediate connection with her, listing friends that she had in Vancouver (my co-worker’s hometown) and extolling the virtues of our Northern Neighbors. We were completely at ease now. I could have walked away, saying “No thanks,” but instead, I thought, “Why not?”

Conviction: Girl #1 gave us her best “sincere look”, complete with one arched eyebrow. “Listen,” she confided in us, “Greenpeace doesn’t pay me enough to stand out here in this heat. We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t really believe in the organization and the work they’re doing!” Now, I’m sure all the volunteers or staff are trained in their pitches, so I took this in stride. However, she seemed so sincere as she spoke - we could feel her genuine passion radiating through her words. As she continued, I could tell that she knew her stuff. I was impressed as she rattled off numbers and statistics and told of her experience protesting in front of the capitol building. The tempo of her words increased and the pitch in her voice elevated as she explained, from the heart, about how “the people” can fight corporations that do things to hurt the environment. When she was finished, I almost believed that my one little signature and 15 bucks a month could actually do something. Her conviction was contagious.

All things considered, I could just be the biggest sucker on the planet. That’s not the point. The point here is that this experience made me think about our work as Christians. When we witness - on a street corner, in a dorm room, or in the hallways at work - are we as effective as the Greenpeace Girls? In the way that we deliver the gospel, are we approachable, disarming, and open or do we repel people? Are we confident of our purpose and our calling or are we “still trying to figure that one out”? Do we open up our hearts and our arms in genuine friendship, or are we lurking about with a thinly veiled agenda? Do our actions stem from a deep-rooted conviction in our beliefs (intelligently reasoned, I might add), or do we just do things “because we’ve been told”?

While I still might have a hard time thinking of myself standing on a sidewalk and engaging people with the story of Christ the way these young ladies gushed about Greenpeace, I certainly think that we have a lot to learn from others in this department. May the day come quickly when we can draw people in with a starting line like, “Hey! Glad to meet you! Come talk to me - Jesus is awesome!”

That’s right. All. That includes your pastor, your neighbor, Mother Theresa, Barack Obama, you and most definitely me. We have all sinned. It’s a tough pill to swallow and as we get closer to Christ our understanding of this will go through different stages. Here are a few:

DENIAL
We all have heard the denial of this fact in one form or another. It comes in the shape of the “humanity is inherently good” theories. The lesson points out however, that when we understand what true goodness is, and when we measure ourselves against God, the only good one, we find that we all are flawed.

DECEPTION
The lesson talks about a number of misconceptions the world may have about sin and evil. One is that humanity has and will continue to improve and that morality is increasing. But is this really true? There are arguments on how many days of peace the world has had since World War 2, and although no one has settled on a number, most people’s estimates are alarmingly low. Our turn away from God and into sin has meant increasingly violent times across the world.

On a much smaller scale however is the self-deception that leads us to think ourselves better than others because we see our sin as less extreme than that of others. Another self-deception is to think that we can fix our own sin problem through our own effort. But we would be wrong on both counts.

ACCEPTANCE
It can be depressing to realize our true state. But what a relief to know that through Jesus we can find redemption and salvation. When we accept our sinfulness and turn to Him, we can find righteousness through faith in Him. It means we can be truly without sin before the father, because we become covered in Jesus’ righteousness.

REPENTANCE
There is no other way to Salvation. Once we realize our sin, we’ve got to admit it, and give it up. And no one can do this for us - we must do this voluntarily on our own. When we do, however, we receive the power from God to overcome the temptations that come our way in the future.

RECREATION
We all come before God sinful, but we do not need to stay this way. God’s love created for us the opportunity to be cleansed and to have new life in Him. We are no longer the sinful beings we were, but we are recreated into sons of daughters of Christ.

In Romans, Paul tells us that all of have sinned and fall short of God’s glory. But later in 2 Corinthians 5:7 he reminds us that “… if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

That’s a final stage worth striving for.

He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

1 John 4:8

When I think of basic tenets of the Adventist faith, several things come to mind. The Investigative Judgment. The mark of the beast. The state of the dead. The Sabbath. Creationism and the age of the earth. These are all topics that make Seventh-Day Adventists unique and doctrinally distinct from our Protestant kin. However, maybe you’ve noticed this, too: it is so easy to get wrapped up in these details that our debates and well-meaning conversations may completely obliterate a basic fact. What is that fact? Salvation by grace alone? Adherence to the law?

Simply, it is this: God is love.

I am really struck by how little we talk about God’s love today. You know what I mean - sermonizing God’s love is seen as too “touchy feely”, “contemporary Christian”, and “void of theological substance”. “Sure, God loves us,” we seem to shrug sometimes. “Let’s move on to the more interesting topics like identifying the anti-christ.” When we do talk about the love of God, it is in the simplest of terms. How can we correctly describe something we can’t even wrap our minds around? What does this dying world, ignorant of its cancerous state, need right now? What is the only salve for its suffering? What is the only thing that can give people hope? It is the unquestionable, undeniable, ravenously passionate, jealous, stunning, all-consuming, unconditional love of God. When’s the last time you thought about God’s love for you in those terms?

Recently, I was on the gorgeous island of Kauai for a wedding. Sabbath morning, I sat in a little island church in Lawai and listened, rapt, as the Sabbath School teacher illuminated God’s love throughout scripture. I checked the lesson in my lap - lesson 13 was about relationships between people. How had she spun it so that the entire lesson was about God’s love? But yet, it made sense. I found myself stunned, as one who was reading an old unopened love letter from a relationship gone sour. Hearing the teacher speak ignited a spark in my heart as I realized, again, and for the first time, that God’s love:

• Compelled Him to create beings with whom He could share a relationship. (Gen. 1:27; Psalm 8:5; Psalm 139:14-16)
• Obligated Him to engineer a world suitable for our survival and sustenance. (Gen. 1:28-31)
• Bound Him to His covenants and promises to those that love and follow Him (and even those who don’t on some occasions!). (Heb. 10:16, 17)
• Drove Him to sacrifice His son for our freedom and salvation. (Isaiah 53:5 ; Heb. 9:28)
• Inspired Him to design a place for our eternal happiness and joy. (John 14:1-3)

Going back and reading the Bible through the perspective of a loving God, we should be able to see a Being who desires us so fully that He will do anything to have us. That love is the root, the foundation, of everything that we find in the Bible - from the creation of the world to the laws and statutes to the eventual death and resurrection of Christ. God’s love must be foundational in our dealings and teachings because otherwise, they are just senseless noise (1 Cor. 13: 1-3).

Where does that leave us? What does the knowledge of such a love mean to you and me? What should it compel us to do on our end?

There is something fleeting about the summer days, regardless of how much you manage to pack in each day, at the end you still feel like something was left undone. Some book not read, or some trip not taken.

So in an effort to combat this we choose to chronicle this summer by staying the course, bringing our attention to our core issues that the sun and sand shove into the corner.

Each week this summer we’ll feature articles in two simultaneous series.  Back to the Basics will feature posts that focus on the core beliefs of Seventh-Day Adventist that sometimes get swept under the carpet.

There is so much we don’t talk about around the kitchen table. There is too much we don’t discuss in our churches or with our parents. Our second series, Unspeakables will raise the volume on sticky issues that sizzle in our minds yet remain unspoken.

So join us on this journey to dispel myth, confront dogmas, and explore the depths of our beliefs.

Picnic blanket, grapes, and a book.

Sandy ocean shores, a towel, sunglasses and a book.

Hood of car, sunset, mosquito repellent, blaring music and a book.

Choose the destination and accessories but there is something about the summer that just makes you want to find your favorite spot and read.  Before you hit the bookstores (or library if you are broke like me) check out the list below. Compiled by some of our authors these books with challenge, uplift, convict and hopefully ultimately draw you closer to the Author of all the seasons.

This list will continue to evolve and grow during the summer so feel free to send us your own favorites.

Spiritual Development

If My People Pray by Randy Maxwell: An Eleventh Hour Call to Prayer and Revival - great book about the power or prayer. We’ve been using it in our Wednesday night meetings for the past couple months.

In Step With God by Charles Stanley

Walking With God by John Eldridge: an intimate look at one man’s walk with God. This book reawakens within you the desire to hear God everyday.

The Power of Praying by Stormie Omartian: simple prayers that will reignite your prayer life and give you a new perspective as you start each day. This is also a wonderful gift for recent graduate.

Christ Object Lessons by Ellen White

Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis short 3 paged letters that strike at the core of what ails humanity and reveals some of Satan’s daily deceptions that we allow to blind our view on life.

Relationships

Letters to Young Lovers by E.G. White- compilation of letters and responses between Ellen White and young people considering marriage. It is an old book, but very insightful and definitely relevant.

Doctrinal Truth

Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis - A classic. Everyone should read Lewis’ poignant and insightful treatise on the life of a Christian.

The Devil’s Delusion: Atheism and its Scientific Pretensions by David Berlinski - a really great read from a scientific mind debunking atheist rhetoric.

Health

Raw Juices Can Save your life! - Not conventional I know, but this is a guide to juicing with recipes on different natural juices that can help heal many common ailments. I cosign this one based on experience.

Life Portraits

Desire of Ages by E. G. White- Possibly the most beautiful portrait of the life of Christ. Get to know Jesus more intimately by reading this amazing account of His life and mission.

Messiah by Jerry D. Thomas - E.G. White classic book Desire of Ages translated in modern day English hits every note and places you right there in A.D 27. Beautiful

I Will Die Free by Noble Alexander- True story of a young adventist preacher in Cuba who remains faithful to God after being falsely accused, imprisoned and tortured for years.

Ministry

It’s About People by Jim Hohnberger– My leadership team read this book this year and it really helped us refocus on the important part of ministry – the people. The book is an easy and through provoking read that gives suggestions for how to take action.

Books of the Bible

The Book of James by James - All about living the Christian life. James encourages us to walk the walk and not just talk the talk.

As I thought about nature and how I connect to God, or at least try to, through nature, I couldn’t help, but draw an entirely strange picture. Though nature tells me about the God of this universe, I kept seeing my life being played out in nature.

It’s starting to get hot now. In a few months, the leaves will fall and then the snow will stick. Trees look dead and the flowers are no more. Green grass becomes a little browner. Then comes Spring. The grass gets green, the trees grow leaves, the sun shines and the skies are clearer. Then the cycle starts all over again. Year after year after year for the last 22 years of my life. Seasons come and seasons go, but they always return.

Sounds a lot like my life. Seasons. My life goes through them. Does yours go through seasons? Why does my life sometimes seem like a cycle? But instead of one season lasting a few months, it lasts a few days. Friday and Saturday are like Spring. I’m rejuvenated. I’m connecting to the Giver of Life again on Sabbath. Then comes Sunday and it’s still good, but I’m definitely forgetting to water the plants that were just sown. Then comes Monday! The beginning of the work week and things begin to fall apart. The leaves that were once green, begin to dry until they fall all together come Tuesday. By the time Wednesday and Thursday roll around, I forgot any seeds were sown in my heart a few days ago. I didn’t water, I didn’t put Miracle Grow. Nothing. Even worse, there are weeds now! Where there once was healthy grass are weeds! Insects have eaten up the beautiful flowers from Saturday. And the garden that was planted is nowhere to be found. Guess it’s time to replant.

How long can we go on like this? This is not the type of Christian, the type of child our Father wants us to be. A Christian with a cycle of seasons in a matter of days. A Christian is not borne out of Church. He or she is borne out of a constant, ever-deepening relationship with the Master Designer, the Skilled Gardener. I am not suggesting we will not fall ever again. But a true cycle of cherished sin or a continual neglect of time spent with God is not a true Christian. That’s just going through the motions. There is no real heart transformation. It’s just an outward show of flowers in a vase that dies in a few days. No soil, no nutrients. It’s a planned death. Everyone knows flowers in a vase will not last you a very long time. Sure, you can have plastic flowers, but they don’t provide any fragrance. Real flowers will provide a fragrance for a few only days. That’s how it is with our spiritual lives. We need to plant our spiritual lives in soil. Pour Living Water on it. Give it some Son. Feed it with the proper nutrients like the Bread of Life. Not just once, but continually.

We must ask the Lord to free us from our seasons of communion with Him. Let it be Spring in our lives, God! Don’t forget another lesson from the seasons. It may be winter in your life right now. Life is gloomy and cold. God can provide us with resurrection! The long, cold death that the winter brings is forgotten by the resurrection of spring! The only One that can bring life from death is Jesus.

If you have seasons in your life like I do, go to Jesus. Go to Him EVERY DAY and “taste and see that the Lord is good!” Will you join me on a 30 day Journey as we make Spring the only season in our lives? I challenge you to join me on this 30 day Journey. Wake up 20 minutes earlier than you normally do to have worship by yourself or with your spouse. Every day for the next 30 days, until June 5. That’s it. For those of you that already do this, may God continue to bless you. I ask that you pray for those that will join this challenge. As we study about nature, let us partake of the Divine Nature every day. Amen.

We often talk about silence in relation to God not speaking to us or directing us or showing us or teaching us or whatever it is we expect to hear from Him.  But do we ever consider that perhaps we just haven’t shut up long enough to really hear Him?

“To hear God’s voice, turn down the world’s volume.” Those are words from a text my godfather sent me just about a month before he was killed.  I won’t forget them, and I keep them  on repeat especially after my experience with these four other girls.  We cooked together, we ate together, we walked together - all in silence.  The day was spectacular, because it was time to tune out even the noise of our minds’ incessant chatter and tune into God.  Whether it was via His word or a singing bird, we each found Him - or maybe He found us.  We could truly feel His presence.

It’s an experience I can’t articulate well enough to substitute you’re own experiencing it.  I shared the details of my encounter in an email, and an old professor felt the ripple effects sharing, “I have not felt such peace in a very long time.” And yet, it’s is the experience our God desires for us every 7 days when He says, “Come away, Come and spend some time with Me, Come away.”  Pick a Sabbath and push mute.  Do it with friends if you can.  Get disconnected so you can connect.

Woah, wait a minute, God. Let’s talk about something right now. Yes, I do want to be numbered among your ‘elect’. I like the idea of you considering me holy and beloved! I’ve been trying hard to be merciful and you know that I’ve been working on my kindness and humility. Meekness…now that’s another story. But longsuffering? I just looked that word up and it’s defined as an extreme form of patience. I don’t know about you, Lord, but I’m just not that strong in the patience category. There are so many annoying things (and people!) going on my life right now. Can’t I just ignore them and move on?

“For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise…”²

I’m assuming that by “endurance” you mean “patience”. You know, now that you mention it, doing your work certainly requires a lot of patience. I mean, look at all the church drama I’m constantly juggling! Speaking of which, any suggestions on how I’m supposed to deal with everyone in my youth group? Sometimes they can be so stubborn (or lazy)!

“[I ask] that you walk worthy of the vocation in which you are called, with all lowliness, meekness, with longsuffering, forebearing one another in love…”³

There it is again - longsuffering! I know that by the time Sabbath afternoon rolls around, I feel as if I’ve suffered a great deal. But, really, Lord, there’s something else that’s been on my mind. I guess I’m not really keen on being patient with people or situations that I don’t feel are worth my time. I mean, if someone doesn’t want to get with the program, that’s their problem! However, I have a strong feeling that you wouldn’t want me to harbor those feelings. I know, I know, as a Christian - one who bears your Son’s name - I should be emulating your every move. How would you describe your threshold for patience? A few hours? A couple days? Until you just have to move on to the next step, with or without us?

“[I am] The Lord, The Lord, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth.”⁴

Right. I should have known. Ok, but here’s where I’m stuck - you’re God. GOD. Of course you’re longsuffering and all that! You’re perfect! Surely you don’t expect me to be able to live up to your track record!

“[I], the God of patience and consolation, grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify [Me]…”⁵

I keep forgetting that point - that I’m supposed to be keeping my eyes on Jesus and that He’s the only one that can help me achieve these things. It’s just so hard, Lord, to keep an even keel and show the kind of patience to others that you show me. The easy option is to just blow up or give up. Sometimes I think that I expect too much of others, but not enough of myself. Every time I try to do something that I think is right, I’m just swallowed up by the noise and the…well, there’s no better way to say it - the trials. I’m not trying to be dramatic, but you know how it is.

“…Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”⁶

Once again, I had a feeling that all this was to show me something - to somehow mold my character. I just can’t remember that when I’m in the midst of a fire-fight! You’ve told me time and time again, that if there aren’t trials in my life, then there’s something wrong. Well, I’m going to work on this patience thing, but you’re going to have to help me out big time. My fuse is kind of short… Well, I guess you know that already…

“Be confident of this very thing, that [I] who have begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”⁷

Awesome. Let’s get started then, shall we?

¹Colossians 3:12
²Hebrews 10:36
³Ephesians 4:1,2
⁴Exodus 34:6
⁵Romans 15:5,6
⁶James 1:2-4
⁷Philippians 1:6

Have you ever had that feeling? Like your best wasn’t good enough - like the entire sum total of your efforts wasn’t adding up to diddly squat? Of course you have. It’s called failing. And we’ve all experienced it in some shape or form at one time or another.

I recently went through a week of failure. It started with a Week of Prayer which did not look anything like the vision I had for it; continued with a bad presentation on Tuesday and climaxed with a failed attempt at explaining the basics of the Sabbath to a co-worker. By Friday it had led me to a vexing question:

Does God sometimes intentionally let us fail?

No, don’t protest, just think about it. How else could I pray and do my best and still end up a loser? I had taken on Week of Prayer outside of my usual responsibilities? Didn’t that count for something? I had said yes to presenting even though I absolutely hate speaking in front of others. Shouldn’t God have blessed the efforts of my willing heart? In the past three months I’ve made a concerted effort to increase my devotion time and study God’s word so I could be ready to give an account. So what happened to the words that God was supposed to give me to say as He promised in Luke 21:14,15?

So based on this I have to conclude that sometimes God leaves the door open for us to fail. At the very least it seems like failure is inevitable even if you are walking with Christ. And I’m not just spinning wool here, people. I’ve got proof:

Proof # 1 - Botched Exorcism
Matt 17:14-21 : A man brings his son to Jesus to be healed because the disciples tried but failed to do it. Talk about your bad performance review. I can just imagine how the disciples felt. And you could tell they were embarrassed too, because they “…came to Jesus privately…” to ask him what they had done wrong. But wasn’t Jesus the one who had sent them out in the first place? Hmm. Let’s continue.

Proof # 2 - Peter and the Rooster
Matt 26:69-75: Peter denies Christ three times. Jesus told Him it was going to happen. And though Peter thought He would never deny Christ, when he heard the cock crow three times, and realized that failure indeed was his. Who was more committed to Jesus as a disciple than Peter? It seems like moments of failure in this Christian walk are inevitable.

Proof # 3 - 1844
Really? Need I say any more? I have a new appreciation for William Miller. I thought my failure with my co-worker was rough, but imagine studying and praying and prophesying the return of Jesus not once, not twice, but three times and being wrong all three. I cannot begin to imagine the feelings of despair that arose from the 1844 Great Disappointment. Miller prayed and studied for years to come up with the dates in 1843 and ‘44, so how could he get it so wrong?

In every situation there were good intentions. So what went wrong?

In listening to a sermon by W.D. Frazee on Relating to Others’ Failures, my attention was drawn to the following text:

“Woe unto the world because of occasions of stumbling! for it must needs be that the occasions come; but woe to that man through whom the occasion cometh!” - Matt 18:7 ASV

The second part “…for it needs be that the occasions (of stumbling) com;” was what caught my eye. Are you telling me that occasions of failure are inevitable? But why? Here are a couple suggestions:

To reveal to us what is in our own heart
Sometimes it is only through failure that we see our own pride and devotion to self. At times these can even be disguised as zeal for Christ, but in the face of failure the difference it is clear. But as our own selfish motives lie open before us, we have the chance toe let Christ exchange them for humility and meekness.

So God can fulfill his purpose
Ministry of Healing p 489 reads”…He who is imbued with the Spirit of Christ abides in Christ…Nothing can touch him except by the Lord’s permission. All our sufferings and sorrows, all our temptations and trials, all our sadness and griefs, all our persecutions and privations, in short, all things work together for our good. All experiences and circumstances are God’s workmen whereby good is brought to us…”

To help us stay dependent and keep us humble
As one writer said, “Our short-changed prayer life is a warning signal, but we find that easy to ignore. Failure is much harder to ignore.”Another points out that self-confidence can be a great hindrance to God using us. But there’s nothing like a touch of failure to send us running back to God, submitting completely to His will and His guidance.

To test us and give us experience dealing with problems
Judges 3:4 reads “And they [other nations residing in Canaan] were left, to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would hearken unto the commandments of Jehovah, which he commanded their fathers by Moses.” Frazee noted that as Israel entered the Promised Land God allowed many of the heathen nations to remain in Canaan and to prevail against Israel on occasion to test the loyalty of the newer generations of Israelites to God. Could God be using our challenges and failures to test us? To prove to ourselves and maybe to others our loyalty to Him?

As I lick the wounds of my own week of failure I have learnt a few things about myself, which in essence, was what God was trying to do all along - teach me. What is He trying to teach you?

Photo thanks to Bob.Fornal