Cancel Your Plans: God Has Something Better for You

Freedom comes with responsibility.

Parabol

 

IF YOU ASK me, one of the great mysteries of human existence is the tension between freedom and the sovereignty of God. I have strong opinions on the matter, but even the most studied scholars would be foolish to claim they've unraveled the matter in totality; the wisest among humans is still a fool compared to God.

Some sects claim free will is an illusion. God controls everything like a master puppeteer or perhaps a computer programmer. Though it seems like we can decide things for ourselves, we can't.

Others reside on the opposite end of the spectrum. They say God does not intervene or regulate anything in our reality. Everything is up to us.

Change Your Entire Outlook on Death with this Weird Historical Fact

A preview of June's email-only article.

Christina Morillo

HAVE YOU EVER pondered the afterlife?

That's the question we're asking in this month's email-only article. No doubt you've though about what lies beyond death before, but maybe you've never thought about the privilege of revelation that we all enjoy today.

Every month I publish an exclusive article for my email subscribers, and if you'd like instant, free access, fill out the form below. (If you are already a subscriber, check your inbox!)

Here's a snippet of this month's exclusive:

Job's vision of death and the beyond is something much different than what you or I imagine. He sees an existence filled with darkness where even the light is like darkness. In fact, as many commentators have pointed out, Job actually uses three different Hebrew words to signify darkness.

At this point, Job just wants to be left alone so he can enjoy a few moments before he dies because, in his mind, death results in eternal gloom.

The question, then, is how did we transition from Job's view of eternal darkness to one of everlasting light?

 
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If We Are God's Masterpiece, Why Are We So Broken?

Sin results in dust, but God has a restoration plan in place.

Thrive by Daniel Popper, photo: Marianna Smiley

 

THE BOOK OF Job is one of contrasts. You see the uprightness of Job juxtaposed with the evil of Satan. Job is wealthy and healthy one moment then brought to poverty and disease in the next. But perhaps the biggest contrasts we see are the stark differences between expectation and Job's reality.

Job's friends expect that only the wicked should suffer, so they blame him for his problems.

Job knows he's innocent, but he eventually gives up trying to convince his friends and instead starts petitioning God for answers. Job essentially holds the same expectations his friends have, which renders his downtrodden reality all the more puzzling considering his blamelessness. It's the classic, Why do bad things happen to good people? question that just about every human everywhere throughout time has asked at one point or another.

In the midst of these petitions, Job asks God the following:

Job's Response to Suffering Might Make You Rethink Your Approach

 We can't see in the dark, but God can.

Observer by Mari Lezhava

 

THE ENEMY WANTS you to embrace meaninglessness.

When unfortunate, coincidental, evil, tragic, or random events jam their way into our lives, the evil one wants us to stop asking why and instead conclude that no why exists. Because when we give a giant bear hug to the idea that life is purposeless, we lose hope and such a state opens up all kinds of possibilities for Satan and his minions.

The hopeless person really has nothing left to lose.

The Best, Worst Things about Bearing God's Image

   A preview of February's email-only article.

Jared Rice

LIFE HAS A way of beating us down at times. But no matter how bad our circumstances, often the worst part is not knowing why terrible things occur.

Every month I publish an exclusive article for my email subscribers, and this month we're looking at Job 10. Job reached some depths of despair most of us will never know, but he always held on to one truth. We discuss that truth in this month's article.

If you'd like instant, free access, fill out the form below. (If you are already a subscriber, check your inbox!)

Here's a snippet of this month's exclusive:

When we open up the tenth chapter of Job, we find our protagonist in a dark place.

Of course, Job spends most of the book in metaphorical darkness, but here in chapter ten he takes a turn for the worse, admitting, "I loathe my life" (v. 1). Life, the most precious of gifts, the most beautiful and fragile and rarest of possessions, and yet Job loathes it.

What does it mean to loathe? Merriam-Webster defines loathing as great disklike; disgust. Job is disgusted with his own life. Why? You know the reasons. His children have died. His possessions have been plundered. His health has deteriorated to an excruciating degree. His wife told him to "Curse God and die" (Job 2:9). His friends, helpful at first, descend into jerk territory—accusing him of sin, suggesting his children deserved their fate, and proclaiming he should repent—all for want of a better theology.

Penniless, abandoned, bereaved, confused, accused, and afflicted, you can see why Job's life might disgust him. Earlier in the book he even said it would have been better if his mother had miscarried! That's some pretty dark stuff right there.

Have you ever loathed your life?

 
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When Even the Best Medicine Can't Cure You

"Every human heart carries the feeling of disquiet and of separation from its true home."¹

Nathan Dumlao

 

THIS WORLD OFFERS a taste of some of the most beautiful, exhilarating, and heartwarming phenomena. God's creation—intrinsically good—can leave one filled with awe at the sight of something as mundane as a sunset. The earth spins away from the sun once per day, yet still we marvel at its magnificence.

If you ask me, one of the best things about life is comedy. I love to laugh.

Most people do, of course, but why do we laugh? Why do we enjoy it?

What Makes You Feel Secure?

  A preview of January's email-only article.

Jaime Spaniol

IT IS TEMPTING to focus our energy and efforts on the material world, especially when it comes to security. We build stronger houses, install better locks, and design more intelligent surveillance systems.

These things are no inherently bad, but if we're not careful we can shift our focus from the the eternal to the temporary.

Every month I publish an exclusive article for my email subscribers, and this month we're looking at a verse from Proverbs 14 that will help provide some eternal prospective regarding the concept of security. If you'd like instant, free access, fill out the form below. (If you are already a subscriber, check your inbox!)

Here's a snippet of this month's exclusive:

While it's true Solomon may have borrowed or modified many proverbs from ancient sources, Proverbs 14:11 is nevertheless intriguing considering the context in which it was written. The verse reads, "The house of the wicked will be destroyed, but the tent of the upright will flourish."

The surface reading is pretty obvious: God honors upright living and disaster besets those who are wicked. And the implications are just as obvious: be good, not evil.

But beneath the surface level we can observe a few additional layers of meaning that help us better understand how to apply the verse to our lives.

One can see right off the contrast between the house of the wicked and the tent of the upright. One is sturdy, able to withstand storms, while the other is flimsy and subject to the elements. And yet the house is destroyed, not the tent.

What are we to make of such a phenomenon?

 
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