Blog
Bootstraps
God heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. God determines the number of the stars, and gives to all of them their names. The Holy One lifts up the downtrodden, and casts the wicked to the ground. God covers the heavens with clouds, prepares rain for the earth, and makes grass grow on the hills. – Psalm 147:3-8 (abridged)
I don’t know the names of all the stars, and I’ve never tried to count them. I’m content with trusting that God has done so.
I cannot assemble the clouds or provoke them to rain. I make no claim to a green thumb, and I’m fortunate when a houseplant thrives despite my best efforts. It’s just as well that God sends rain to the grass and rivers to the sea. I certainly cannot.
Yet I have nagging doubts about God’s capacity to cast down the wicked. (See how well wickedness is thriving in the world!)
And I wonder whether God can be trusted with the brokenhearted, considering how many generations pass down the pain of unhealed wounds.
It’s not complicated to praise God’s talents with nature. It’s harder to praise God’s abilities with people. Or maybe I just find it easier to praise God for the kind of work that I can’t control. Maybe I find it difficult to trust God with the kind of work I tell myself I should control. Rain falling, plants growing, seasons changing, rivers flowing—that’s clearly God’s work. But I think I should bind my own wounds so God doesn’t have to, and pull my own pieces together so the Holy One doesn’t waste time lifting me.
Bootstraps really trip up my faith. Still I keep trying to use them.
Prayer: Great is thy faithfulness, morning by morning. Merciful God, teach me my work and let me love you for yours.
shared through the Daily Devotional
Delicious Desserts
Those of low estate are but a breath; those of high estate are a delusion. [Therefore] if riches increase, do not set your heart on them. Power belongs to God, and steadfast love belongs to you, O Lord. – Psalm 62:9-12 abridged (NRSV)
Popularity is the sweet dessert of ego’s delusion. It’s the icing on the cake of pride. It’s the sweet lie we gobble up when we believe that numbers reflect our inherent value.
Numbers like political polls, Facebook likes, and church size. Numbers like social media follows, public accolades, and credit scores. The higher the numbers, the higher our value in the world. The more votes we receive, the more popularity we have, the more power we believe ourselves to control.
But feeding our sweet tooth for popularity is never good for us. The sugar rush of ego’s delusion tends to be accompanied by a whole menu of unhealthy dishes: like a salad of dissatisfaction, overly dressed in self-defense; like a main course heaped with the protein of pride and an overcooked side of suspicion; like a few cocktails of impatience. Focused only on the dessert of “high estate,” our hearts crave ever-higher tiers of treats.
That our love of popularity so easily inflates our sense of self-worth is just the [chef’s kiss] of ego’s delusions.
That our adoration of others’ popularity leads us to shower them with power is the coup d’état of sugary faithlessness.
That I love my own tasty nibbles of popularity, that I feed the same cake to others or (regrettably more often) resent those who dine on it, is a quick recipe for sin.
Popularity doesn’t measure inherent value and God-given worth. Polls and crowds don’t measure steadfast love, in which the holiest power is found.
To the Most High, I confess: Yours is the honor, mine is the craving. Yours is the power, mine is the sweet tooth.
also published through the Daily Devotional
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