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Started reading
July 7, 2017
Embrace relational uncertainty. It’s called romance. Embrace spiritual uncertainty. It’s called mystery. Embrace occupational uncertainty. It’s called destiny. Embrace emotional uncertainty. It’s called joy. Embrace intellectual uncertainty. It’s called revelation.
This is good point to make
Jesus never promised security. What He promised was uncertainty:
I think it reduces spiritual uncertainty. I think we can have what Scripture describes as a peace that passes understanding. I think we can know that we know we are children of God, our sins are forgiven, and we’re going to spend eternity in heaven. But following Christ may actually increase uncertainty in other areas of our lives.
No problem equals no miracle.
“Sometimes the unexpected is an unforgettable moment that transforms a standard wedding into a memorable experience. The sweetest memories are seldom the result of planning.”
At the end of the day, embracing uncertainty comes back to our perspective on life. (Doesn’t everything?) Do we really believe that God is ordering every footstep even when it feels like we’ve taken a misstep? Do we really believe that God is sovereign when nothing seems to be going our way? Do we really believe that God is good even when bad things happen to us? It is the sovereignty of God that gives us a sense of destiny. And it is the sense of destiny that helps us embrace the positive and negative uncertainties that happen in our lives.
But Joseph never lost faith, because his faith wasn’t contingent upon his circumstances.
Joseph interpreted a dream and went from prisoner to prime minister of Egypt.
This one verse summarizes Joseph’s outlook
on life and reveals his explanatory style.
We all have questions we’ve been saving for God, don’t we?
There are secrets the Lord God has not revealed to us.
At some point in our spiritual journeys, we run into something called reality.
The psychological term for this experience is “cognitive dissonance.”
We experience psychological conflict resulting from incongruous beliefs.
something happens that doesn’t jibe with w...
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Dissonance comes in two primary flavors: unanswerable questio...
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experiences. And I have tasted lots of...
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feelings. I remember feeling helpless. There was nothing I could do to bring him back. And I remember feeling overwhelmed. You almost go into a state of shock because you experience emotional overload. The grief is consuming.
lost a loved one, you know the feeling. During the funeral, I realized that I couldn’t stop sighing. I later read that sighing is one way we process grief. It is a physiological response to distress. I didn’t know how to vent or verbalize what I was feeling, so I sighed.
love Ted Loder’s perspective in Guerrillas of Grace:
How shall I pray? Are tears prayers, Lord? Are screams prayers, or groans or sighs or curses? Can trembling hands be lifted to you, or clenched fists or the cold sweat that trickles down my back or the cramps that knot my stomach? Will you accept my prayers, Lord, my real prayers, rooted in the muck and mud and rock of my life, and not just the pretty, cut-flower, gracefully arranged bouquet of words?
Will you accept me, Lord, as I really am, messed up mixture ...
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The greatest hazard to your spiritual health is thinking that your past is haphazard or that your future is left up to chance alone.
Our confidence is contingent upon the character of God.
You have to do something counterintuitive if you want to reach your God-given potential and fulfill your God-given destiny.
Stop spending all your energy making plans for God, and start seeking God.
Faith is embracing un...
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Following Christ reduces spiritual uncertainty, but it doesn’t reduce circ...
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Your explanations are more important than your experiences. While you can’t control your experiences, you...
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The more you’re willing to risk, the more God can use you. And if you’re willing to risk everything, then there is nothing God can’t do in you and through you.
Everything we change changes everything.
Every choice has a domino effect that can alter our destiny.
Life is full of what I call “one small step, one giant leap” moments.
one small step that proved to be one giant leap.
Let me tell you something about stepping out in faith: You almost always second-guess yourself. You make the decision to get out of the boat—you change careers or end a relationship or invest in a stock—and you have second thoughts. You wonder if you made a mistake.
Generally speaking, you are probably never going to be more than 80 percent certain. Waiting for greater certainty may cause you to miss an opportunity.
you can’t experience success without risking failure.
creators and criticizers. There are people who get out of the boat and walk on water. And there are people who sit in the boat and criticize water walkers.
Sinking is better than sitting.
Remember the regrets of action and regrets of inaction from
A regret of action is doing something you wish you hadn’t done. A regret of inaction is not doing something that you wish you had done.
All of us have action regrets, but I think our deepest regrets are missed opportunities.
Action regrets taste bad, but inaction regrets leave a bitter aftertaste that lasts a lifetime.
Inaction regrets haunt us because they leave us asking, “What if?” We wonder how our lives would have been different had we taken...
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Henry David Thoreau offered timeless advice when it comes to redeeming regret: Make the most of your regrets; never
smother your sorrow, but tend and cherish it till it comes to have a separate and integral interest. To regret deeply is to live afresh.
Some of us approach our relationship with Christ like we’re called to play a “prevent defense” when we ought to be in a “two-minute offense.” Some of us act like faithfulness is making no turnovers, when faithfulness is scoring touchdowns. Faithfulness has nothing to do with maintaining the status quo or holding the fort. It has everything to do with competing for the kingdom and storming the gates of hell. With a squirt gun, if necessary!
Teaching a Stone to Talk,
it’s time for Christ followers to put on crash helmets and play offense.
