Thursday Devotional - Jesus is Truth – The Unique Provider (12/14/23)

 

Jesus often did things in unique and unexpected ways. He certainly did with the healing of the blind man! My daughter, Alexis, thought Jesus’s method was quite gross.

John 9:1-7 ¹As he went along, he [Jesus] saw a man blind from birth. ²His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" ³"Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. ⁴As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." ⁶Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes. ⁷"Go," he told him, "wash in the Pool of Siloam" (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.

Jesus wasn’t even present when the blind man received his sight! Yet, he healed the blind man for God’s glory!

 

As I was giving a lecture on this passage yesterday, numerous technology aspects didn’t work out as planned. First, we couldn’t get the projector to turn on for the PowerPoint slides to display. Second, the music was muted so we ended up singing a cappella. Third, the recording device we normally use was missing. God did eventually provide a way to get the projector to turn on with the help of someone remotely. Then, He had my husband and I brainstorm an alternative recording method that worked. It certainly wasn’t a smooth Bible study, but God gets the glory for being the unique provider once again!!!

 

How about your challenging situations? Will you look for ways God might accomplish His purposes through it? He is aware and has a plan!

Thursday Devotional - Unpredictable and Unique

After Israel celebrated the Passover in the Promised Land and began enjoying produce from the land, it was time to get to work. Their first stop was the secure walled city of Jericho. I’m not sure if they had some sort of human plan as to how to proceed, attack and conquer, but God had a unique and detailed plan!

Joshua 6:1-7 &11 Now the gates of Jericho were securely barred because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.

² Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. ³ March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. ⁴ Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. ⁵ When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.”

⁶ So Joshua son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant of the Lord and have seven priests carry trumpets in front of it.” ⁷ And he ordered the army, “Advance! March around the city, with an armed guard going ahead of the ark of the Lord.”…

¹¹ So he had the ark of the Lord carried around the city, circling it once. Then the army returned to camp and spent the night there.

God is unpredictable. We can see that over and over again in the Bible. His unique plans surprised people in the Bible and surprise us today. He doesn’t fit into any of our boxes of expectations. God sometimes asks us to do strange things to accomplish His purposes. No matter how strange it is, following His lead always results in a blessing (whether tangible or intangible).

I mentioned a few weeks ago how God prompted me to go for a jog on a night I don’t normally run and on a route I’ve never jogged in order to reveal our lost license plate!

Whether big or small, where is God asking you and me to do something that seems impossible or strange? Let’s patiently follow His lead one step at a time (without jumping ahead) and expectantly look for His blessings! God’s plans are unpredictable and unique!  

Alice

Our Journey to Adoption, Part IV - Unique and Unexpected

We never dreamed we would be connected to our future children by shopping in a boutique shop downtown Saline, but that’s what happened!

My Mom met a friend for coffee and afterwards her friend wanted to look around in a shop across the street. They struck up a conversation with the store owner who started talking about her daughter (Brook). Brook had recently taken in a special needs baby, but had later been approached by another foster Mom to consider adopting two small children who needed a good home. The parental rights for the two small children were likely to be terminated soon. However, Brook wasn’t able to take them on, too. My Mom then chimed in and said that we were licensed to foster and gave the store owner my number!

My number passed through several hands before getting to the foster Mom, and it somehow got transposed in translation so she wasn’t able to reach me. God had her be persistent, though. She reached out to Brook again and Brook realized she knew my sister. So, she Facebook messaged my sister for our numbers and the foster Mom finally got through to Joe! We told the foster Mom we were very interested in meeting the children and scheduled our first meeting at a park in July of 2015!

Coincidence? I don’t think so. I think God had ordained the meeting a long time ago. What seemed like an unexpected and unusual encounter was part of God’s plan to accomplish His purposes!

In my Bible study this week, we studied Jesus’ unique and unexpected way of healing a blind man. It all happened the way it did so God would get the glory!

John 9:1-7    As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. ² His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” ³ “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. ⁴ As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵ While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” ⁶ After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. ⁷ “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.

God does things today for the purpose of displaying His work. He displayed His glory in the unique and expected way we met James and Sarah!

How have you seen God work in unique and unexpected ways? How does that help you and me trust Him for the future?

Alice