Do you feel, like right now, you are in the fire? You were thrown in, because who, in their right mind, would jump in on their own? Maybe your finances are being consumed, your influence, the things you once counted on to define you, or sustain you, gone! Burnt up! You didn’t ask for this, but have been forced into it, and what scares you the most, is you don’t see your way out.
Some are being forced to be quiet during these isolated times. They are struggling, because they don’t know how to live without “noise”, people, parties, activities around them all the time. You see, there are some who don’t want to face what their life really is. It’s not what they wanted, but they haven’t found yet what they “really” need. They haven’t identified true happiness comes from having a relationship with God. Talking to him, hanging out with him.
Here is a beautiful story of three young men, who in the midst of crazy life kept their focus on God. (If you can’t pronounce their names it’s okay. Just substitute in some other name. I do this.)
Daniel 3:26-29 The Message (MSG)
26 Nebuchadnezzar went to the door of the roaring furnace and called in, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the High God, come out here!”
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego walked out of the fire.
27 All the important people, the government leaders and king’s counselors, gathered around to examine them and discovered that the fire hadn’t so much as touched the three men—not a hair singed, not a scorch mark on their clothes,
not even the smell of fire on them!
28 Nebuchadnezzar said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! He sent his angel and rescued his servants who trusted in him! They ignored the king’s orders and laid their bodies on the line rather than serve or worship any god but their own.
29 “Therefore I issue this decree: Anyone anywhere, of any race, color, or creed, who says anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego will be ripped to pieces, limb from limb, and their houses torn down. There has never been a god who can pull off a rescue like this.”
There are people who dismiss others, who claimed to know God when life was good, but these days they can’t look away. They are watching you in the furnace, to see if you will be consumed by the fire of today’s times, if your God will rescue you, or will it be revealed you, are no different than them.
Know God sees you, loves you, and cares so much for you and for those you love. Another part of the story, above, is this: they threw in the three young men, but those looking into the fire saw four men walking around. You may not see God in this moment with you, but He is. You can be confident of it. And perhaps on the other side of these days things aren’t exactly what you would have chosen, if you were in control of the pen writing the story of your life, but because you never took your eyes off of God, you’ll know, it will be okay.
Copyright © 2020 Mark Brady. All rights reserved.
It has been said, faith isn’t grown in a crises, but displayed. I think today’s times would qualify as a crises. I’m not trying to brag, but I, as well as many others, have been at perfect peace for the last two months, or so. How did this come to be? It started a long time ago:
My neighbor, across the street, is taking down his own tree, as you can see in the photo. I looked out the window and commented, “That tree looks naked.” I laughed, but then realized it will no longer serve its purpose. The tree’s beauty will no longer be admired. The shade, the tree once provided, the comfort, will no longer be there.
I have a theory that human spirits are in heaven, with God, and then, the moment a child is conceived a human spirit is installed. It’s just a thought, okay? One reason I believe this is I was in a grocery store and I saw a small child in their mother’s arms. When the child saw me I smiled, and without hesitation the child tried to leap out of the arms of their mother into mine. The child’s spirit wanted to be reunited with God’s Spirit, which dwells in me.
“YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH!” A famous line from the movie A Few Good Men, yelled at Tom Cruise by the one and only Jack Nicholson. Jack’s character thought his actions, which wound up killing a man, were right, because of the location of where they were serving in the military. He thought his truth was real.
Just before a car’s engine runs out of gas it shakes violently, sputters, and knocks hard. It is then, the driver’s stomach does the same thing. Unless you are driving a very old clunker there is a light on the dash that does its best to tell you when you are running out of and in need of filling up again.
There is so much going on in our world right now. I’ve thought about taking pain pills before sitting down and watching the evening news. There is so much devastation, sickness, hate, and crime. It’s no wonder people live in fear. People fear the most what they don’t know. Mainly, they don’t know what is going to happen in the future.
I was saddened the other night, as I watched a news report, of a man whose prison sentence had been commuted. Not so much because he was out early, but when he spoke to the reporters it seemed as if he had not changed at all. He still came across arrogant, and defiant, as if he did nothing wrong. He felt he was unjustly charged, but was found guilty and put behind bars. Prison didn’t change him.
“If it’s too good to be true, it usually is.” Something a few people forget before they get taken financially. In other words, there aren’t many good deals or 100% guarantees in life. So when I saw the picture with this blog post, which is a sticker that was on the side of a product, I laughed.
Well this isn’t going to be fun, but I feel the need to write out a self-evaluation. While reflecting on some recent events I was reminded of the following flaws in my personality:
brady, mark a. 