Tiny Devotional for Monday, 11/16/2020

 A great GOOD MORNING to all my friends and neighbors out there in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by: I hope you slept well last night.

The Lord has made everything for its own purpose,
Even the wicked for the day of evil.
Proverbs 16:4, NASB


A 300 word Tiny Devotional is NOT the place for me to wax theological, but I want to address God making the wicked for the day of evil.

When I was a brand-new Christian in 1973, I believed that God was the IMMEDIATE cause of EVERYTHING.  I was in the Army, stationed in Germany, and I spent all my free time with a CLOSE group of other believers. The car won’t crank first time? That means God doesn’t want us to go. They ignored me; we went anyway.

The good aspect: I was thinking about God all the time, instead of thinking about how I could get high.

The bad aspect: Because everything was a sign from God, I spent ALL my time trying to interpret signs, and very little time in action. (It made me a bit crazy, but I didn’t tell anybody, so they didn’t send me to a shrink. And, I DID get better! )

Yes, God made us; God made everything. But He does NOT control us like puppets. He gave people the power to choose. We can heal, or kill;  build, or destroy. 

Could God undo the actions of the wicked, every time, so they wouldn’t be wicked? Yes, if He wanted robot slaves, instead of children. 

As a father of adult children, I understand this, a bit.

God makes the wicked, the same way He make the righteous: He gives us freedom, and permits consequences (with occasional miracles).


Peace be on your household.

Comments

  1. mylonNovember 16, 2020 at 6:55 AM

    It’s a balancing act.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Old NFONovember 16, 2020 at 12:43 PM

    He gives us the 'latitude' to choose, for good or evil, but it's OUR choice, sadly...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mary CatelliNovember 16, 2020 at 8:24 PM

    We got our warning from the Tower of Siloam about expecting everything that happens to be immediately apparent in its meaning.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tiny Devotional for Wednesday, 06-21-2023

Image
A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, the Fairmount Pattersons are Papa-sitting this morning! It is better to live in a corner of a roof Than in a house shared with a contentious woman. Proverbs 21:9, NASB Today is the 21st of the month; so, Proverbs 21. I have written about verses 1-8;  it’s verse 9’s turn. Thus, my selection of this verse has NOTHING to do with my wife, mother, sisters, or daughters! All of them are intelligent, confident, and assertive; they are NOT contentious. ‘Contentious’ does NOT mean ‘has a different opinion’!  A man who has lived with a contentious woman gives the definition by example: I was 20 years old, and stupid (those might be the same thing).  I thought our marriage would work because she was beautiful, and I was, too. It didn’t take long before I realized I was wrong about that. Most of the time, it didn’t matter what I did; I couldn’t please her. We were married for 3 years,
Read more

Tiny Devotional for Sunday, 08-20-2023

Image
A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, Piper doesn’t like her food. Differing weights and differing measures, Both of them are abominable to the Lord. Proverbs 20:10, NASB If this verse weren’t so important, I’d skip it, because I discovered it in a painful time. Others were involved, and their stories are not mine to tell. So, you get a parable: Stockman Bubba ran a cattle station, in partnership with his horse, Nancy. They worked hard together, and although they were not rich, they had achieved a degree of success. One day, a platypus stung Bubba, incapacitating him. Bubba tried to continue running the station, but after two years had passed, he realized it was time to retire. Nancy couldn’t adjust to this, and she left for life on her own. Three years later, Bubba realized Nancy was never coming back, and considered getting another horse. However, he was concerned that the other station owners would think bad
Read more

Tiny Devotional for Sunday, 07-23-2023

Image
 A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, reach for the sky. Do not let your heart envy sinners, But live in the fear of the Lord always. Surely there is a future, And your hope will not be cut off. Proverbs 23:17-18, NASB Today’s verse is 18, but I included 17, because I THINK they are a couplet. I wrote about verse 17 last month, and will try not to repeat myself. Our senses describe the present, our memory describes the past; the future is described by our hopes and our fears. In this little verse, we are given one of the strongest foundations for peace: yes, you DO have a future, and it’s a good one. Under most circumstances, we take the future for granted. If you have ever been forced to doubt that a future exists, you know how chilling that is. ‘No future’ is MUCH worse than ‘bad future.’ This verse draws us back away from the abyss of nothingness, and back into reality: yes, you DO have a future.  (If that
Read more