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 and listen to worship music while reading today’s devotion.

Jeremy Camp Let it Fade

Scripture
The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.
I will advise you and watch over you.
Do not be like a senseless horse or mule
that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control.”
…Unfailing love surrounds those who trust the Lord.
So rejoice in the Lord and be glad, all you who obey him!
Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure!
Psalm 32:8-11, selected

Observation
In my file drawer I keep a thick folder of stick figures drawn by my daughter, finger paints of my son and every encouraging note and email I’ve ever received. In fact that folder has turned into many volumes of scrapbooks I keep in storage for days when smiles come with more difficulty. The label on the top of the file reads “Joy File”. On sullen days I pull it out and chuckle again.

If we should recycle our garbage, should we not also recycle good things as well? Rejoicing is another word for recycling our joy, for this is a choice to re-joy life by smiling again over old things.

Rejoicing is more than something that gives me pleasure, it’s also something that gives God flexibility to improve my life. When I don’t rejoice I take my negative opinion too seriously. Without joy I listen only to my own narrow point of view. My neck becomes stiff and my heart becomes stubborn. The Bible word to describe me is something close to donkey, but not as pleasant. When I have not pursued the pleasure of re-joying I become like a stubborn mule. God can only lead me with the two-by-four of consequences. The best he can do with my life is to keep me under control. There is no willing following of him.

When I rejoice I become flexible to God’s direction and life becomes fluid as I move through his grace to his next plan for me. The question is: how can we rejoice when there is nothing fresh to take joy in? The answer is: recycle past joys and be happy again about them. Joy never wears out, it can always be used again.

Lilly Bailey was the most optimistic human being I’ve ever known, best of all she was my aunt. There were many downbeat moments in her life. She lost a son to a fever and a grandson was tragically run over by his own mother’s car. She outlived three husbands, becoming a widow three times. Yet at 96 she was as chipper as ever. She could always find the positive in anything. We were once driving through a depressing part of town with dilapidated houses. Of course, Aunt Lilly didn’t see all of that, instead she pointed to an upper window and exclaimed, “See those pretty flowers!” In the midst of the slum was a vase filled with red roses. When asked the source of her jubilant spirit she explained that her father was something of an ogre, a negative man. She made a choice as a child to say something positive or nothing at all. Joy is a choice, and with that joy God can move anything forward in our lives.

Application
The psalm writer said, “Unfailing love surrounds those who trust the Lord.” There is much joy along the road of my journey if I will look for it and use it to speed my way. The world’s largest royal palace is the Forbidden City in Beijing, China. There I saw a slab of stone probably 90 feet long intricately carved with dragons and phoenixes. The sign explained that the slab came from a quarry miles away, yet without modern transport, the stone was delivered in one piece on the building site. The workers moved the stone in the frigid winter. Along the roadway wells were dug at intervals. Water was drawn and poured over the dry roadbed. Allowed to freeze overnight, the mud became like a luge and the stone like a bobsled shuttling toward Beijing. There is much joy along our journey, no matter how heavy the load may be, for we are surrounded by the unfailing love of the LOrd. Our joy and the choice to rejoice and recycle our joy makes it possible for the Lord to move things that no one else can budge. What is in my joy file today. It is time to rejoice.

Prayer
Father, through out this day let my mind reflect over the thousands of happy moments you have invested into my life. Let me live on the reruns of joy this day. Amen.

Every Season by Nichole Nordeman

Scripture
She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home. Then she told him this story: “That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me. But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.” Genesis 39:16-17

The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him. Genesis 40:23

So Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.” Genesis 41:16 (NKJ)

Observation

Joseph had a dream planted in his heart by the Lord. It was more than just an idea that Joseph had for his life. It was a plan that God has for him. That dream was like a seed buried deep in him. One day, in right conditions, that seed would grow. Meanwhile, that seed would need to remain hidden from view under prison clothes deep in his heart.

There were people that God put into Joseph’s life who made holding onto dreams difficult.

He first met the Dream Taker, Mrs. Potiphar. When she couldn’t steal his dream with her swinging hips she turned to purgery. Because Joseph made the right choice, she could snatch his cloak but she could not steal his dream. Sometimes we have to leave our reputation in the hands of others so we can hold onto the dream God has given to us.

Then Joseph met the Dream Faker, Mr. Cupbearer. Joseph showed genuine concern for his injustice, and gave him a great gift of hope. But words were forgotten and all the promises made were never delivered. There are many people in life who will promise opportunity and never deliver. Networking is a remarkable advantage in life. God can use it to open doors. But there are many who never deliver. Their lack of performance does not in any way hinder the power of a God-given dream. A true dream can survive disappointment.

The only reason Joseph’s story survives nearly 4,000 years later is because he met the Dream Maker, the Lord himself. As David Seamonds said, “Joseph was in prison but he did not let prison get into Joseph.” The last two years of waiting were the most important. Marinating in disappointment, Joseph never let it mutate into discouragement. Instead he came to the conclusion that he had been given a God given dream, which only the Lord could fulfill if he would so choose to do. His first public words tell it all: So Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.” He now knew that God alone could fulfill dreams.

We built our first house with the rustic feel of a ski lodge. Strewn about the job site were many left over blocks of timber. One hefty chunk of wood lay sunk in a mud puddle. I had walked around it many times, until the day came to craft the mantle piece. I needed a nice, thick slab of Cyprus pine to do the job. When I measured I found that the only one to fit the bill was the muddy beam in the puddle. I cleaned it up and went to work with my planer and router. Once the outer husk was peeled away, the beauty of heart of the wood sang out. With a sand and shine I fixed the mantle on top of the fireplace as the feature of the room. Just as mud could not deter the purpose of that board, so too disappointments from Dream Takers and Dream Fakers cannot inhibit God from working his purposes out through us.

Application
I could give some names for Dream Takers and Dream Fakers in my life. But I know there is a Dream Maker watching over me. He has surprised me before and he will likely do so again…when the time is right.

Prayer
Father, you alone interpret dreams. Fulfill through me what you have placed deep inside of me. Amen.

Scripture

Job continued speaking:
“I long for the years gone by
when God took care of me,
when he lit up the way before me
and I walked safely through the darkness.
When I was in my prime,
God’s friendship was felt in my home.
The Almighty was still with me,
and my children were around me. Job 29:1-5

Observation
Some people view life like a snapshot and others know that life is really more like a movie.

Snapshot people take the golden moments of their lives, capture the memory an ideal picture, wrap it in a gilded frame and hang it in a place of honor. It may be a memory of when their children were little before the nest emptied. Or there may be memories of life before parents died or a particular home or a wedding day, or frat house or high school days or whatever life season that was filled with warmth, laughter, prosperity and respect. Snapshot people think the old days were the best days. When they look at the current life they lead that exists around the snapshot they feel sad. If only they could somehow enter back into the framed picture and live those days again they would be so happy.

People who see life not as a snapshot but as a movie know that the only permanent thing in life is change. Life is not a frozen photo moment, instead life is living and it is one the move like a movie. People come, people go, money comes, money goes, heath comes, health goes, jobs come, jobs go, honor comes, honor goes. Frame by frame life flows on. No one flickering moment defines a whole life.

Movie people are realistic. When a golden moment comes they know that it cannot be clenched forever. The scene can be enjoyed but the movie moves on. But they also know that because a movie is moving they are never stuck with the disappointing episodes. The reel is moving on. If they will keep munching their popcorn something new is up ahead. The current disappointments will make the future segments that much more interesting and enjoyable.

When we read the book of Job we know how the movie ends, but Job does not. He is in the middle. He wants to push the rewind button and put his life on pause at family moments so he can frame the golden moments. But if he will be patient and let the movie move forward he will discover that the end is better than the beginning. The best is yet to come.

Every movie comes to a resolution of the closing scene when the plot resolves itself. In fact it happens with every well-written book too. Plot has development, climax and resolution. I’ve often pondered as I’ve finished a movie why it is that everything works out in the end. I’ve come to the conclusion that the resolving of every movie and story is one of the hints in life that God does exist. As the Bible says, “He makes all things beautiful in his time.” God is the master story teller. His writing paper is life, his pen are human lives and our footprints leave the ink trails on the paper that record the story. Movies and novels are a human attempt to emulate the story telling of God. But the real story is happening in your life and mine.

Application
If I delete a snapshot view of life and instead accept that life is a movie then I can learn to be patient to hold on to see how things will work out. Too often I camp in old life moments and refuse to keep moving on. I have not yet lived my best day. The best is yet to come. I wonder if Job lived differently after his family picture was restored to him? I hope so and think so. An experience like his would have changed me. Instead of living in the past, I must enjoy the present knowing that God is developing the plot of my life to a surprise ending.

Prayer
Father, there are old days I’d like to live again but I cannot. Help me to enjoy what you have given me today and I look forward to the best that is yet to come. In the end I know I will end up in heaven and all my life is leading there. At home in heaven I will have one thing in common with every person there. For as I tell the story of my life to bystanders on the streets of gold, my story will end with the same line that theirs will, “And then I ended up here.” The best really is yet to come. I give you the freedom to keep the film of my life playing right to the end. I won’t hit pause and live in the past. I’m ready to move on.