Skip to main content

Picture Perfect World

 

chris standing and looking at the park
It's too bad that a picture-perfect world only exists in our imaginations. Of course, we have movies, TV, and books where we can enjoy that perfect world in our minds, even if it is only temporarily. Don't we love stories where the good guys always win, the girl finds the love of her life, and daddies always come home? Too bad life doesn't always play out in a "they lived happily ever after" scenario, right?

One thing I love about the Bible is the stories tell us just how it happened. There's no sugarcoating or smoothing things over. The writers, inspired by God, didn't try to make our heroes out to be perfect. We have the stories and the characters just as they were in real life. Those of us who live in picture-imperfect worlds need to see the blunt realities the Bible portrays. We need to see how God's grace carried them through, even when they messed up - and boy, did they! It's okay  - I mess up too.

As my thoughts ran through so many of my favorite Bible stories, they landed on Samson. God called Samson before he was born; that's a pattern we see throughout the Bible. Later on, Samson totally messed up. He blatantly followed a path that God and his parents had forbidden. He ended up in the lap of the seductress, Delilah. Samson lost it all. He lost God's gift of strength, his dignity, his freedom, and his eyesight. He lived the rest of his life in chains and didn't even get the woman in the end. (I wonder if Delilah ever repented...)

But when you look at the Believer's Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11, guess who's there!! Samson! He purposefully chose disobedience, yet God still fulfilled His promise to and through Samson. God still used him, and he was listed among the fathers of our faith. Doesn't that just blow your mind? 

I mess up sometimes, too. But it's generally not because I disobeyed on purpose. It's usually because I'm impatient or just dumb. Lol. As caregivers, we live in a less-than-picture-perfect world - not because we sinned, not due to anything that is our fault. So, I'm pretty sure that God can walk into our less-than-perfect worlds and extend His grace and mercy to us too. If He redeemed the likes of Jonah and Samson - He's got His eye on us, and He's got our backs too!

Today, I'm determined to get over myself and my situation and look past my glaring faults and blemished soul and gaze at His grace instead. I'll remind myself of how God always "gets His man" (or woman), and He has come after me and you too! My meditations will be on the constant presence of His grace - enough for today. Enough for this week. Enough to carry us through these caregiving days. And I'll choose to trust Him for one more day. Will you join me?


                                                                                                                                           


Would You Like to Help Dove's Fire Ministries?

Maybe you've wondered about helping support all that goes on at DFM. One way is to shop my personal bookstore, which has devotionals, Bible study guides, and more that I have written. Dove's Fire Ministries Bookstore.

You can also donate via PayPal at paypal.me/dovesfireministries 
Or you can donate via CashApp: $JeanieOlinger
Or if you have Venmo my ID is:@Mary-Olinger-6


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Ups and Downs

  Maybe it's just "that time of year" for me, but I've struggled a lot the last few weeks. I still affectionately  call it the caregiver's fog. Lol. Okay, maybe it's not-so-affectionately. I know I can share my true feelings with you guys because you get it. You understand the day-to-day grind of caregiving. The military has a saying about there being no easy day. I think we live in that reality. It's just not easy caring for another whole person, is it? Caregiving presents many difficulties. We can find ourselves alone, so very alone on this journey. It doesn't just go away. We don't just work through it. It seems to go on and on. There are lots of ups and downs - and that can be about every 90 seconds some days. Right? (smile!) As I've been working through this emotional maze the last few days, I turned my thoughts to Daniel. Let's take a realistic look at his circumstances because as we read his story in the Bible, we tend to glamorize i

The Practical Side of Caregiving

 This week, I've been reading the book of Acts. I am enjoying the journey of the early church. Can you imagine what it would be like if your church saw 5000 people saved in a day? Mass chaos would ensue as leadership tried to figure out how to serve that many people! It'd be great and difficult at the same time - kind of like caregiving. Lol. But yesterday, I got stuck in Acts 9 thinking about a practical caregiving issue. In verse 32, we read that Peter was traveling around and encouraging all the new believers. He came to the town of Lydda. Verse 33 says in the NLT, There he (Peter) met a man named Aeneas, who had been paralyzed and bedridden for eight years. Now, the next verses talk about how Peter proclaimed healing, and the man just got up! That's so amazing. But my brain got stuck on some of the practical parts. Aeneas was paralyzed and bedridden. My mind compared the situation to my son, of course, even though he's not "paralyzed." I started wondering

Seasons Are Temporary

  This morning, I found myself reading in Isaiah 28. I ended up there because I was looking for something in particular, and even though I didn't find what I was looking for, I found what I needed. God's so cool like that, isn't He? My eyes first fell on verse 29, which says in the NKJ: This also comes from the Lord of hosts, Who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in guidance. I rolled that over in my mind and heart a few times and spent a few minutes thinking about how I'd seen His counsel in action in my own life. We've all had those times when we weren't sure what to do or where to go, and suddenly, an idea drops into our thoughts. There are many ways He provides direction for us. He may direct our steps through a passage of scripture, a trusted spiritual leader such as a pastor, a YouTube teacher, and maybe even a lowly blog writer. Lol. No matter how He chooses to deliver His counsel, it comes - but we must listen. After I had rolled these thoughts and t