The Trouble with Convenient Ships

Posted on October 27, 2025 by russellmckinney

But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. (Jonah 1:3, N.K.J.V.)

Jonah really didn’t want to go to Nineveh and preach, as God had plainly told him to do (Jonah 1:1-2). And his reason for not wanting to go there wasn’t noble. Nineveh was the capital city of the wicked Assyrian empire, and Jonah wanted God to destroy the Ninevites. However, even as Jonah heard God’s command to go there and preach, he had a feeling deep down that God wasn’t actually going to lower the boom on those people. He even told God, “If I go there and preach, you won’t condemn those people; you’ll convert them” (Jonah 3:10; 4:1-2).

But I don’t want to focus on Jonah’s vengeful attitude toward the citizens of Nineveh. Instead, I want to focus on that ship he boarded in Joppa, the one bound for Tarshish. Tarshish, in case you don’t know, was in the complete opposite direction of Nineveh. Have you ever noticed how there always seems to be a ship that will take you in the opposite direction of God’s will?

On this subject, H.G. Bosch wrote:

How prone we are to seize upon that which is convenient as being that which is correct! When we get out of the will of God, it is surprising how many excuses we can find for going our own way. Deeply impressed with our carnal desires, we quickly interpret that which may be only coincidental as a significant indication of God’s will for us…Beware of misinterpreting convenient ships! Remember that the so-called “opportunity” may actually be the Devil’s snare, the world’s allurement, or the path of self-will that will result in God’s chastening.

If Jonah operated like a lot of today’s Christians, he arrived in Joppa, found that ship bound for Tarshish, and thought to himself, “If God didn’t want me to go to Tarshish this ship wouldn’t be here for me to board.” Have you ever used that kind of logic? Isn’t it amazing how much God gets blamed for! If Jonah did think that, I’m sure God was sitting up in heaven thinking, “No, I told you to go to Nineveh, not Joppa. If you had minded Me, you’d never have even laid eyes on that ship.”

Jonah, of course, knew exactly what he was doing. He didn’t go to Joppa on a whim or end up there by chance. No, he went there purposely because he knew it was a port city that had a harbor that lead out into the Mediterranean Sea toward Tarshish. In other words, he knew he would find a ship there bound for Tarshish because such ships were commonplace there. Isn’t it interesting how we become diabolical geniuses when we are running from what God wants us to do?

Perhaps you are struggling right now with a decision, and perhaps you are “going Jonah” with it. You know what God wants you to do but you don’t want to do it, and so you have created a scenario whereby you can do what you want to do, and you are calling that scenario God’s open door. Well, all I can say about that is what H.G. Bosch said about it: Beware of misinterpreting convenient ships! 

Don’t think that God is approving your little plan just because He hasn’t personally stepped down from heaven and brought the scheme to nothing. Truth be told, He might even let you keep doing what you are doing for an extended period of time. At some point, though, He’ll start turning the operation sour, and when that happens you can start looking for the “great fish” backlash that is surely headed your way. This, you see, is the ultimate destination of every “convenient ship,” and it’s a destination you’d be well advised to avoid.

Posted in Backsliding, Choices, Decisions, Disobedience, Dying To Self, Faithfulness, God's Judgment, God's Will, God's Work, Man's Freewill, Ministry, Missions, Obedience, Preaching, Rebellion, Sowing and Reaping, Submission | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Holiness, Mercy, Grace, and Wrath

Posted on October 24, 2025 by russellmckinney

Statement #1: God is a God of perfect holiness. Statement #2: Each human being is a sinner. Statement #3: Therein lies the problem.

Fortunately for us, God is a God of love in addition to Him being a God of holiness. And it is out of His love that He extends mercy to each human being. This mercy takes the form of Him not immediately passing the sentence of physical death and eternal damnation that each human being’s sins warrant by violating His holiness.

Thankfully, though, God doesn’t stop at simply being merciful. No, He takes things one step further by offering grace to each sinner (Titus 2:11). Grace is nothing less than undeserved favor. So, now we’ve gone from God’s holiness, to His love, to His mercy, to (potentially) His undeserved favor.

You’ll note that I worked in the word “potentially” there. Why did I do that? It’s because the grace that God offers doesn’t just magically wash over us as we sleep. Instead, it must be purposefully accepted.

Okay, so how do you accept it? You accept God’s grace by accepting Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. As God the Son come down from heaven, Jesus died as the substitutionary sacrifice for the sins of the entire human race and then arose from the dead and ultimately ascended back to heaven. What does Christ’s death have to do with grace? In regards to salvation, it has EVERYTHING to do with it! Consider the following:

  • Grace comes through Jesus (John 1:17).
  • We receive grace through Jesus Romans 1:5).
  • Our salvation comes through Jesus’ grace (Acts 15:11).

And the grace that comes through Jesus doesn’t just stop at salvation. Once you have accepted God’s grace by accepting Jesus, who is the channel of that grace, you are then afforded all kinds of spiritual privileges by that grace. These privileges are referred to as “the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7). Here is a partial list of those privileges:

  • It is by grace that you are saved from the eternal punishment your sins deserve (Ephesians 2:5,8).
  • It is by grace that you are justified, which means “declared righteous” (Romans 3:24).
  • It is by grace that you are given everlasting consolation (comfort, encouragement) and good hope (2 Thessalonians 2:16).
  • It is by grace that you are guaranteed to spend eternity with Jesus (1 Peter 1:13).
  • It is by grace that God’s holy throne becomes a throne of mercy and help to you rather than a throne of judgment (Hebrews 4:16).
  • It is by grace that you are able to stand “in Jesus” (Romans 5:2).

With such spiritual privileges granted to the person who has accepted Jesus as Savior, you would think that everyone would accept Him. Tragically, though, this is far from the case. Even more tragically, if an individual will not accept God’s grace by accepting Jesus, all that is left for that individual is God’s eternal wrath, which stems from His holiness. This takes us back to the original problem: God is a God of perfect holiness, and each human being is a born sinner. God, in grace, has done the work to remedy that problem. So, now the question I put to you is, “Have you accepted that work by accepting Jesus as Savior?”

Posted in Assurance of Salvation, Belief, Christ's Death, Christ's Resurrection, Comfort, Eternity, Faith, God's Holiness, God's Love, God's Wrath, God's Mercy, Grace, Mercy, Salvation, Sin, The Gospel | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Step by Step

Posted on October 22, 2025 by russellmckinney

Imagine taking a trip in which God says: “I want you to get in your car and start driving and I’ll let you know where you’re going sometime along the way. As you drive just keep listening for My voice at every turn, stop sign, intersection, crossroad, and exit ramp. If I say, ‘Turn here,’ make that turn. If I say, ‘Get on this road,’ get on that road. If I say, ‘Take this exit,” take that exit. If I say, ‘Stop here at this place,’ stop at that place.”

I wonder, could you travel like that? Could I? It would surely be a hard thing to do, wouldn’t it? And yet, I can think of at least three Bible stories in which God instructed people to take such trips.

#1: God told Abram (Abraham), “Get out of your country, from your family, and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you” (Genesis 12:1). Hebrews 11:8 says that Abraham “…went out, not knowing where he was going.” Do you understand the obedience and faith it would take to uproot from the only life and home you had ever known and head out into the great unknown with God?

#2: Following the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt, their only daytime GPS was a pillar of cloud, and their only nighttime GPS was a pillar of fire (Exodus 13:21-22). There were probably over two million people in that group, and God expected that massive horde to do their traveling by following the appropriate pillar. Wherever that appropriate pillar went, they followed. Whenever it stopped, they stopped.

#3: As part of Saul of Tarsus’ encounter with Jesus on the Damascus Road, Jesus told him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do” (Acts 9:6). Saul, who had been struck blind by the encounter, was led into Damascus by some helpful men. Once there, he waited in blindness that was not only symbolic but also literal for the next three days, eating nothing and drinking nothing. Only then did God send Ananias, a Damascus Christian, to lay hands on him, after which he immediately regained his sight.

What each of these stories shows us is that God’s will is oftentimes revealed on a moment-by-moment basis. Oh, but we don’t like living like that, do we? We don’t like having to ask God for day-by-day bread (Matthew 6:11; Luke 11:3). We don’t like having to get up each morning and look to him for our next allotment of manna (Exodus 16:1-36). No, we want Him to give us the whole bakery at once and trust us to do a good job of managing it.

But God knows that the regiment that best allows us to build our trust in Him and our obedience to Him is the moment-by-moment, day-by-day walk. That’s why He gives us meal-sized portions rather than the whole pantry at once. It’s also why He doesn’t let us know the end from the beginning as we travel life’s road.

So, if you are genuinely confused about what your next move should be, let me advise you to do two things. First, sincerely ask God for His guidance, having the faith that He’ll answer that request (James 1:5-8) by way of: a Bible passage, an open door, a closed door, a word of counsel, an undeniable burden, a specific word from His Spirit, or a circumstance. Second, as you await that guidance, just do the next thing that is right in front of you. After all, sometimes you don’t get the guidance for the second step until you’ve taken the first one.

Posted in Choices, Commitment, Decisions, Dying To Self, Faith, Faithfulness, God's Guidance, God's Will, Obedience, Trusting In God | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Going Backward in Life

Posted on October 20, 2025 by russellmckinney

“But this I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you.’ Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, followed the counsels and dictates of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward.” (Jeremiah 7:23-24, N.K.J.V.)

I’d had my driver’s license only a few weeks when I suffered my first wreck. And what was I doing when I wrecked? Going backward.

My dad, my brother, and I were in our family’s Buick Regal and late for a church-league softball game. We’d gotten about a half mile down the road when I realized that I’d forgotten my glove. So, rather than turn the car around like a normal person would do, I just threw the thing into reverse and set about to back all the way home. To this day, I have no earthly idea why I did that. My dad, who was in the passenger’s seat, just kept asking, “What are you doing, Russell? What are you doing, Russell?” My brother, who was in the back seat, pulled the old “duck and cover” move in the floorboard.

I hadn’t gotten very far into my adventure when the car started swerving. That should have been my cue that my plan of attack was a poor one. Undeterred, though, I just kept going, even picking up momentum, like the guy who hears he’s going the wrong way and doubles his speed. And I continued to pick up speed, like a runaway locomotive, right up until the moment I lost control of the car and put it into the ditch off to my right. I still remember my dad having to crawl out by way of the driver’s door because his door was pinned shut. To say that he wasn’t happy with me would be a sizable understatement.

Our text passage caused me to recall that story as the verses speak of going backward rather than forward. Through the prophet Jeremiah, God tells the people of Judah, “Because your forefathers did not obey My commandments but instead followed their own ideas and desires, they went backward and not forward.” Isn’t that interesting? Here these people were, trying to progress and make themselves better by implementing their own logic and ideas, when in reality that logic and those ideas caused them to regress and become worse.

Even today many people think of God’s word as being old fashioned, archaic, outdated, and irrelevant to these modern times. These people say, “We’ve got to get away from the old standards of the Bible so that we can embrace bold, new ideas for this bold, new age. That’s the only way we can move society forward.” But the truth is that anyone who follows the counsels and dictates of their own heart rather than those of God’s word actually goes backward in life. It’s God who is the forward thinker, not us. And when we ignore His word and follow our own thinking, we barrel in reverse toward an inevitable wreck in an inevitable ditch.

Posted in Backsliding, Bible Study, Choices, Coming Judgment, Counsel, Decisions, Depravity, Desires, Disobedience, Faithfulness, God's Guidance, God's Will, God's Word, Man's Freewill, Obedience, Personal, Personal Holiness, Rebellion, Scripture, Sin, The Bible, Trusting In God, Truth | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Fall & You

Posted on October 17, 2025 by russellmckinney

One look out my window today here in the mountains of western North Carolina proves that Fall has arrived. I’ve already got a yard full of dead leaves that have officially made the “fall” from their trees to the ground, and more of their peers will come down today. Despite the fact that I have to deal with all the leaves, I love this season. It’s my favorite time of the year.

My neighborhood is also currently offering vivid reminders that Fall is here as the yards of some of my neighbors look like shrines to Halloween. One guy up the street from me has devoted literally thousands of dollars to turning his yard into a ghoulish graveyard filled with row after row of gigantic, towering decorations (a talking witch, a mummy, a grim reaper, ghosts, zombies, etc.) No wonder Fall is considered the season of death. The leaves die. The grass dies. The long summer days die. The warm weather dies. Following their deaths all these things will be buried for the duration of the winter, and then spring will arrive, the season of new life.

I don’t know what it says about me that Fall is my favorite season of the year. A psychologist might tell me it means that I’m more into death than life. Then again, it might be as simple as me hating bees, mosquitoes, gnats, ticks, and hot weather. Or, since I love baseball, maybe my mind subconsciously associates fall with the Major League playoffs and World Series. For that matter, since October 3rd is my birthday, I don’t necessarily associate fall with death anyway. I associate it with life, at least mine. Take that, Mr. Psychologist.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 is one of my favorite passages of scripture. It’s one that I reference often. The passage’s opening two verses say:

To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, And a time to die…(N.K.J.V.)

Perhaps today, as you read this short post, there is something in your life that needs to die. Maybe that something is a pet sin. Maybe it’s a relationship that isn’t God’s will for you. Maybe it’s a mindset that isn’t pleasing to God. Maybe it’s a course of action that you’ve started that God never wants you to finish. Maybe it’s something else. Whatever it is, there is no better time of year to put it to death. If you think about it, God’s symbolism for the death is seen all around us right now.

Posted in Backsliding, Change, Conviction, Creation, God's Will, Personal, Personal Holiness, Repentance, Sanctification, Sin | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Can You Trust Your Work?

Posted on October 15, 2025 by russellmckinney

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10, N.K.J.V.)

It is said that Napoleon once ordered a coat of mail. (Mail is a steel mesh kind of armor in which metal rings are linked together and worn over the top half of the body to protect the chest.) When the artisan completed the armor, he hand-delivered it to Napoleon. To the artisan’s surprise, though, Napoleon promptly ordered him to put the armor on himself. Then Napoleon took a pistol and fired several shots at the armor. Fortunately for the artisan, his work stood true, after which Napoleon rewarded him with a large fee.

I have no idea whether or not this story is actually true, but it certainly conveys a valuable spiritual lesson to every Christian. That lesson is: As we do our work for Christ, we should make sure our work is high-grade quality. Anything done for the King of Kings demands nothing less.

As for the testing of our work, well, each Christian will surely have his or her moment standing before the King for examination. Have you heard of the Judgment Seat of Christ? Romans 14:10 and 2 Corinthians 5:10 tell us that every Christian must appear before that judgment in heaven, and 1 Corinthians 3:13-15 explains that the judgment will somehow involve fire. Worthy work will come through the fire unscathed and be rewarded with heavenly reward, while unworthy work will be obliterated by the fire and fail to merit heavenly reward.

We Christians are so busy, aren’t we? We spend our days and nights running here and there, doing this and that, trying to carve out our various niches in life. But will everything we are doing withstand the fire of the heavenly Judgment Seat of Christ? Ah, there’s the question. No doubt the sad truth is that we shouldn’t be doing some of the things we are doing, and we aren’t doing a good enough job with some of the things we should be doing.

Christian, my purpose in writing this post is simple. I want you to slow down long enough to ask yourself, “When it comes to serving Jesus, am I doing the work I’m supposed to be doing? And am I doing that work in a worthy manner?” You see, your work isn’t my work and my work isn’t your work, but make no mistake, the Lord has work that He wants each of us to do.

The ideal, of course, is each Christian doing the right work in the right way. All such work will ultimately be rewarded handsomely in heaven. But if we are doing either the wrong work or the right work in a slipshod manner, we needn’t expect any heavenly reward for it. While the fire of the Judgment Seat of Christ can’t create a lost salvation, it can and will create a loss of some eternal rewards. That’s why you need to get this right, Christian. Neither your life nor your salvation is depending upon it, but the number of eternal rewards you will one day receive definitely is.

Posted in Backsliding, Commitment, Discernment, Discipleship, Doing Good, Eternal Security, Eternity, Faithfulness, God's Will, God's Work, Heaven, Individuality, Ministry, Obedience, Priorities, Reward, Sanctification, Service, Sowing and Reaping, The Judgment Seat of Christ, Work | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The Man Who Couldn’t Sort Potatoes

Posted on October 13, 2025 by russellmckinney

A farmer hired a man to work for him. The worker’s first job was to paint the barn. The farmer said, “The job should take you about three days.” To the farmer’s surprise, however, the worker finished the job in one day.

Next the farmer gave the worker the job of cutting firewood. Since the supply of wood had gotten low, the job was a big one, even bigger than painting the barn. The farmer said, “I figure this job will take you about four days.” To the farmer’s surprise, however, the worker completed the job in a day and a half.

The next job that needed doing was sorting a large pile of potatoes. The farmer told the worker, “I want you to arrange these potatoes into three piles: seed potatoes, food for the hogs, and potatoes that are good enough to sell. This is easy work. It shouldn’t take long at all.” But when the farmer checked on the worker a few hours later the worker had barely begun the job. The farmer said, “What’s the problem here? You finished those first two jobs so quickly that I assumed you’d knock this one out in no time.” The worker said, “The problem is that I’m a hard worker but I can’t make decisions!”

Do you find that you have a lot in common with that worker? Do you have trouble making decisions? If so, then allow me to share some Bible passages with you. As you read these let the truth found in them wash over you. And what is that truth? It’s that God will help you to make the right decisions if you will seek Him, His wisdom, and His plan for your life. Here are the passages:

  • Who are those who fear the Lord? He will show them the path they should choose. (Psalm 25:12, N.L.T.)
  • The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.” (Psalm 32:8, N.L.T.)
  • Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6, N.K.J.V.)
  • Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left.” (Isaiah 30:21, N.K.J.V.)
  • If you need wisdom — if you want to know what God wants you to do — ask him, and he will gladly tell you. He will not resent your asking. But when you ask him, be sure that you really expect him to answer, for a doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. (James 1:5-6, N.L.T.)
Posted in Choices, Decisions, Discernment, God's Guidance, God's Will, Trusting In God | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

“This Is Good!”

Posted on October 10, 2025 by russellmckinney

A king in Africa had a close friend who had a habit of looking at any situation and proclaiming, “This is good!” One day, as the two were hunting, the friend had the job of loading the king’s gun. Unfortunately, something went wrong in the loading process and the king’s thumb was blown off by backfire when he fired the gun. The friend looked at the king’s mangled hand and said, “This is good!” The king, as would be expected, couldn’t have disagreed more. He said, “No, this is NOT good!” and promptly had his friend imprisoned.

A year later the king went hunting again, and this time he dared venture into a dangerous area known to be occupied by cannibals. But the gamble cost him severely as a cannibal tribe captured him, took him to their village, tied him to a stake, and began to build a fire underneath him. It was then, however, that they noticed that he was missing his thumb. Being superstitious, they labeled him “damaged goods” not worthy to be eaten and immediately released him.

On his return trip home, the king recalled the events that had caused him to lose his thumb and started feeling remorse about how he had treated his old friend. Upon arriving safely home, he made his way to the site of the friend’s imprisonment to order the man’s release. After setting him free, the king said to him, “You were right that it was good that my thumb was blown off.” Then he told his friend the harrowing tale of his close call with the cannibals. He finished by saying, “So, you see, I shouldn’t have had you imprisoned. It was very bad of me to do that.” But the friend, in typical fashion, said, “No, this is good!” The king asked, “What do you mean? How can you being imprisoned wrongly be GOOD?” To that the friend replied, “If I had not been imprisoned, I would have been with you on the hunting trip.”

Even though this isn’t a Bible story, it does illustrate the Biblical truth that God is sovereign enough to take even bad things and use them to accomplish great good. Death, diseases, sicknesses, accidents, divorces, family problems, loss of employment, financial troubles, etc. are decidedly NOT good. No one is saying they are. The lesson, though, is that God can bring good out of all of them.

It’s been said that God never wastes anything because He knows how to use everything in His service. Well, that’s true, and it even includes bad things. So, here’s a helpful spiritual exercise for you to do: Think about any bad thing that has happened to you, and then spend some time honestly assessing the fallout from that thing and giving God credit for the good that He has brought out of it. If you will do this exercise, I think you’ll find that the good is there. Our problem is that we rarely take the time to look for it.

Posted in Adversity, Attitude, Balance, Comfort, Complaining, Contentment, Death, Decisions, Depression, Disappointment, Discernment, Divorce, Divorce & Remarriage, Doubt, Encouragement, Faith, Fear, Friendship, God's Foreknowledge, God's Omniscience, God's Provision, God's Sovereignty, God's Will, Grace, Persecution, Perseverance, Problems, Restoration, Sickness, Suffering, Thankfulness, Trials, Trusting In God | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Being a Godsend

Posted on October 8, 2025 by russellmckinney

And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith. (Galatians 6:9-10, N.K.J.V.)

An article in the USA Today newspaper told the story of a couple who boarded TWA flight 265 in New York to fly to Orlando for a trip to Disney World. Thirty minutes into the flight the woman, who was almost seven months pregnant, doubled over in pain and began bleeding. She was going into premature labor.

A doctor was badly needed and fortunately there was an internist from Long Island, New York, on the flight. He volunteered his services and with his help the woman soon gave birth to a boy. But the baby was in trouble. The umbilical cord was wrapped tightly around his neck and he wasn’t breathing. The lack of oxygen had already turned his face blue.

At this point, two paramedics volunteered to help, and one of them just happened to specialize in infant respiratory procedures. He asked if anyone had a straw because he planned to use it to suction fluid from the baby’s lungs. Unfortunately, the plane didn’t stock straws and so there were none to be found.

However, a flight attendant happened to remember that she had a straw left over from a juice box she had brought on board. That straw was quickly located, and the paramedic inserted it into the baby’s lungs as his fellow paramedic administered CPR to the child. While they were doing all that, the internist used a passenger’s shoelace to tie off the umbilical cord.

Four minutes passed as the three men worked feverishly to save the lifeless baby. Then, at last, the child whimpered. Shortly afterward the child was breathing on its own. Cheers went up all over the plane as it was announced that the little boy was fine. The parents named the boy Matthew, which means “Godsent” or “Gift from the Lord.” According to the father, the people on board the plane “were all Godsends.”

This true story is a perfect example of how God meets peoples’ needs through other people. Rather than send down angels from heaven to deliver that baby, He orchestrated events to have an internist and two paramedics on board that flight. Rather than cause a straw to miraculously appear out of thin air, He arranged things so that a flight attendant could carry it on board that airplane.

So, my question to you right now is: Who do you know that has a need that God could meet by using you as His Godsend? People with needs are everywhere. We just have to start looking a little more closely and listening a little more intently to find them.

Posted in Doing Good, Friendship, Giving, God's Provision, God's Sovereignty, God's Work, Influence, Ministry, Missions, Money, Needs, Obedience, Problems, Service, Stewardship | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Making Music Out of All the Noise

Posted on October 6, 2025 by russellmckinney

Famed American composer/pianist George Gershwin was standing on a crowded beach talking to a friend. The waves were crashing into the shoreline. Other people were engaged in conversations. A nearby merry-go-round was operating in full volume. Venders were trying to drum up business by shouting out the praises of their products. It all made for quite a noisy scene.

Gershwin, who was a man who understood sound, music, and symphony far better than most, paused to listen to it all for a moment and said to his friend, “All of this could form such a beautiful pattern of sound. It could turn into a magnificent musical piece expressive of every human activity and feeling, complete with pauses, counterpoints, blends, and climaxes of sound that would be beautiful. But it is not that. It is all discordant, terrible, and exhausting — as we hear it now. The pattern is always shattered.”

Gershwin had it right. The sounds of life don’t naturally align themselves into beautiful music, do they? To the contrary, they exhaust us and make us long for quiet peace and tranquility. Rather than symphony, we get stress.

It is only by you placing saving belief in Jesus Christ and bringing every corner of your life under His Lordship that all your noise can become God’s symphony. Psalm 23 and John 10:11-15 explain that Jesus becomes the shepherd of the Christian’s life, and in keeping with that Psalm 37:23 tells us the Christian’s steps are ordered by the Lord. Romans 8:28 even promises us that all things, even bad occurrences, work together for good for the Christian who loves God.

What these passages are trying to get us to understand is that Jesus brings a divine order to the Christian’s life. High notes. Low notes. Flat keys. Sharp keys. Sweeping movements. Subtle movements. Fast beats. Slow beats. Core sections. Transitional sections. Majors. Minors. Ensemble parts. Solo parts. Jesus can orchestrate it all into a rhythm and harmony that makes for a beautiful symphony that runs the gamut of all aspects of life. Without Him as your Maestro Conductor, though, life is just noise to you, noise with no order, direction, flow, or purpose. And that’s no way to live.

So, tell me, when you stop and listen to your life these days, can you hear God’s music in it? Can you hear what He is doing in your life? Can you hear where He is taking you? Can you hear how He wants to use you? If you can’t, then I advise you to pray a simple prayer. I offer it in closing:

Jesus, right now I give myself completely to you. Take me wherever you want to take me and let me experience every ounce of the scenery along the way. Your will is now my will. Do with my life as You see fit. You be the Shepherd and I’ll be the sheep. You supply the leadership and I’ll supply the followship. Take the podium as my Maestro Conductor and organize this mess I call a life into a beautiful, harmonious symphony. I’m tired of just hearing noise. Help me hear the music.

Posted in Belief, Brokenness, Choices, Commitment, Decisions, Discernment, Discipleship, Dying To Self, Faith, God's Omnipotence, God's Omnipresence, God's Guidance, God's Omniscience, God's Sovereignty, God's Will, God's Work, Human Life, Music, Peace, Prayer, Priorities, Problems, Restoration, Salvation, Submission, Suffering, Trusting In God, Worry | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment