Press the arrow to listen to 10th Avenue North sing “By Your Side” as you read today’s devotion about setback.

Scripture
God has blocked my way so I cannot move.
He has plunged my path into darkness.
He has stripped me of my honor
and removed the crown from my head.
He has demolished me on every side, and I am finished. Job 19:8-10

Observation
I was born to achieve. I even make a “to do” list on my day off.  The way that I’m wired, the path of life is paved with an  unending series of checked boxes of finished projects. I even check emails while I’m on the phone.

The problem with achievers like me, is that we make no provision for setbacks. When we face road blocks we feel failure creeping in and failure is kryptonite for achievers. Job felt that way. His life had been unbelievably successful. He had more camels than a petting zoo and enough children to stock an orphanage. Life for him had been straight A’s, until disaster struck. Job thought he was finished.

Application
What would happen for achievers like me if we accepted that failure is not an interruption in the path, but part of the roadway? Failure is not always an accident; it can be designed by the Lord to open the way for better things.  There was an immaturity in Job that he grew out of by the time he reached chapter 42 of his life story. That immaturity was his need for constant accomplishment and success. After his ordeal, he could see that failure was as much a part of God’s plan as was success. True maturity comes not just when I can retrospectively see the hand of God in setbacks but when I can stand in current rubble and see that this too is part of God’s purpose yet untold.

If I am to mature as a Christ-follower, I must find a deeper motivation than the satisfaction of achievement. My satisfaction should be two fold. First, is the contentment of learning from every difficulty. Nothing is wasted if I learn from it.  Second, is the surprise to see what God will do next because of my faith.  Setback is part of my life progress. I must embrace that to mature and learn to live expectantly in the middle of a traffic jam of disappointments.

Prayer
Father, help me today to make room for disappointment. Amen.

Press the arrow to listen to Parachute Band sing “To Live is Christ” as you read today’s devotion about significance.

Scripture
But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, “I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.” Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. And the evil spirit answered and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” Acts 19:13-15

Observation
Who are you?

That must be one of life’s most useful questions to be asked. It peels away our veneer of significance and shows the chipboard of our character below.

The seven brothers felt important because their dad was a big wig. A Chief Priest was far more important than a plain priest; and to be the son of a Chief Priest was something to brag about. To be the father of seven sons who were willing to travel the world as missionaries, must have filled Sceva with pride. That sense of significance must have infused into his boys. In the synagogue everyone recognized these famous brothers.

But the demons weren’t impressed with their last name. One sentence melted them. “Who are you?”

The demons recognized only two people. Jesus and those close to Jesus. Everyone else was insignificant. “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?”

Application
If someone asked me today, “Who are you?” what would be my reply? Would I use my title, my address, my resume or even my father as my label? The only mark of significance would have something to do with the name of Jesus. In the world I live in, one can advance with values other than Jesus. But it is best to live as if none of them have significance. May my only value be that somehow I am in right connection with Jesus.

Prayer
Father, keep me rightly connected with Jesus. Amen.

Press the arrow to listen to Lincoln Brewster sing “Today is the Day” while reading today’s devotion about life from God’s point of view.

Scripture
For though I were right, I could not answer;
I would have to implore the mercy of my judge. Job 10:15

Observation
Prior to the equivalent of September 11 in Job’s life, from all outward appearances the man of God seemed to have his relationship with God together. But it took tragedy and pain to reveal something to Job that he didn’t see in himself.

What was Job’s flaw? He put up with God. He accepted that God is sovereign and can act as he chooses. But deep down, Job felt that somehow he knew better. He imagined, if only he could have an audience with the Lord he could clear things up and God would see things his way.

It would take 40 Bible chapters of pain before Job would come to see things from God’s point of view. Job would discover that the greatest prayer is when we clasp a hand over our own mouths to keep ourselves from speaking in light of the majesty of a sovereign God.

Application
There are long and tedious waiting periods in pain. In those moments, the Father invites us into a stillness and silence, where prayer gives way to trusting in the eternal purposes of God. Our questions are put into storage as we become content worshipping the God we do not fully know who accomplishes all that we desire in ways that we do not understand. It is then that we discover a deep level of prayer, not trying to convince God of our point of view, but in seeing life from his point of view.

Prayer
Father, there are Job moments in my life, when I don’t understand why you disassemble things in order to build new things. I do not want to be one who puts up with you, harboring a superior sense of “I know better”. Instead, I trust what I do not understand because You I do know. When life is bad, I know that God is good. That is enough for me. Amen.

Press the arrow to listen to Desperation Band sing “Who You Are” while reading today’s devotion about developing leaders.

Scripture
Now the leaders of the people lived in Jerusalem, but the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to live in Jerusalem, the holy city, while nine-tenths remained in the other cities. And the people blessed all the men who volunteered to live in Jerusalem. Nehemiah 11:1-2

Observation
Volunteering to live in Jerusalem in Nehemiah’s day was like putting up a hand to live in New Orleans after Katrina. In years to come, homeowners would outbid each other for a chance to live inside of those same city walls. But first it would take courageous pioneers to live in the rubble to rebuild.

There is something haunting about the picture of Jerusalem as a ghost town, with a puny band of courageous men living there to keep the lights on. I can imagine the empty space between neighbors and frightened outsiders looking at their glowing campfires from a safe distance of miles away. Others would follow these courageous pioneers.  But first these leaders would have to be comfortable living in uncomfortable places of vulnerability

Application
Today I’ve been thinking about the importance of having leader producing churches. We have buildings, we have people, but at the heart of things, where the leaders live, there is so much empty space.

My passion is developing pastors, particularly the Millennial ones. The answer is not just in developing pastors who serve but in inciting their vision to become leaders of churches who produce leaders.

For me that kind of church is natural. It’s the only kind I’ve ever been part of. But for many leaders that vision is not there. I spoke yesterday with my nephew, a 36 year old, passionate, risk-taking, church planter in western Michigan. He bemoaned that in the front yard of his alma mater, an enormous Christian university, pumping out thousands of students, that his denomination had planted only one church in recent memory.

The leader vacuum exists because the risk factor is too low. Where are the Nehemiahs who rally young leaders to live in the rubble? There is too much boredom in church life to inspire young people to loose their lives in something eternal. I want to be that kind of leader. I want to be part of that kind of church.

Prayer
Father, I ask today that you would help me to inspire not just leaders in my own church, but help me to be one who produces many other leaders. Amen.