Author: Chad Bandy

Ephesians 6 reads.

12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and have done all, to stand.

The “darkness of our age” comes from covert and overt places.  On the overt occasions, we can see and respond with our opinion when we encounter a situation or question about our faith.  We try to teach our children the Biblical foundations of living a Christ-like life, and how to respond to the many challenges each day that we experience.  There are times when we can witness to our friends, family, and children during a family dinner, a phone conversation, or a ride in the car.

The covert places of “darkness” are what I worry about.  The daily saturation of our friends, family and children with social media that is constantly barraging their hearts and minds to see things they shouldn’t see and tempt them in ways they may not be prepared. Our “armor of God” can be eroded each day by one swipe, one comment on a post, and the daily grind of trying to keep up with a technologically connected world.

I worry about the sexually explicit images young boys are tempted with every day.  Social media platforms like Snapchat and Instagram are constantly saturating our sons, nephews, and grandsons with sexually implicit images that demean women.  How do I know this?  Because I have profiles on these platforms to see what my children are experiencing.  Literally, they are one click away from pornography, on their phone, without any accountability.

The simple nature of “staying connected” with friends can create a desire to be included and accepted in a fictitious world that will never be satisfied.  Rather than having a strong foundation of faith in Christ, believing they are loved for who they are, regardless of what they look like, that they are loved, cherished, and were perfectly designed by their Father in Heaven, our young people and adults are being barraged with images and ideas that they are missing something.  The pressures and temptations of social media platforms cause our youth to question their looks, wish they had more material items like their “cool friends” who are having so much fun without them, and seed a constant desire that they should be something different than they are.  You are missing out…if you only had…you would be so much happier if you only…you would be so much thinner, funnier, cooler, and the list goes on of feelings and desires that will never be met.

The only constant and predictable solution to ridding ourselves of selfish desires, eliminating feelings of inadequacy, and removing doubt and guilt from our lives is following Jesus Christ.  When I hear of someone’s unhappiness or troubles, I think “they need some Jesus.”   Jesus is the one who removes all shame, doubt, and unhappiness.  Jesus is the one who turned away the devil, in the flesh, after being tempted many times.  Having “more Jesus” in our lives is not some cliché statement without tangible meaning.  Our God, who came to earth to be a man in our flesh as Jesus, changed the course of the world for billions of people by providing us guidance and a formula to a genuine sense of fulfillment, satisfaction and happiness in our lives.

Wondering how to get your family, friends, or children on the right course?  I would implore you to find a great Bible-based church, in person or online, to listen and read the words of our Savior Jesus Christ.  Jesus is the only “true armor” that will ride with us each day that will fulfill us when times of doubt and temptation arise.  No doubt, these moments will happen but our faith in Jesus is the best defense against a world of sin working against those that we love.

Happy Independence Day today to you all.

My heart is heavy and grateful this week as our daughter returned from a weeklong mission trip in Guatemala and my wife and I celebrate our 25^th wedding anniversary tomorrow, July 5.

While in Guatemala, our daughter visited a home for young women who have been trafficked, ranging from the ages of 12 to 17, many with children of their own.  One of the young women our daughter met, said her favorite chapter of the Bible is Psalm 10.

In Verses 10 and 11 of Psalm 10, David said 10 “So he crouches, he lies low, that the helpless may fall by his strength, 11 He has said in his heart, God has forgotten; He hides His face; He will never see.”

No matter how bad the world around us seems to be, God has not forgotten us.  He sees us. His promises and love are true, and He fulfills His promises.  The challenge is that God’s timing is not our timing, and our understanding of the hate and sin of this world are not easy to comprehend.

The suffering and sin that we see in our world has occurred since the beginning of time.  If the Bible does anything, it shows us that even back to Adam and Eve, mankind has made poor choices that are evil, inconceivable, and against God.

The sins of the world are not the fault and doing of God.  The deplorable sins and suffering are caused by man alone.

Yet God still fulfills his promises with every new day. A life following Christ washes away even the worst of our experiences and refreshes us with a new life and hope knowing we are loved and wanted by our Creator.

What about the poor and the weak?  What about the vulnerable that are taken advantage of by evil people?

Hebrews 10:23 says “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.”

A life without suffering is not possible. Suffering provides us a path to Christ.  We seek solace in times of pain and challenges wanting an end to our unhappiness.  We challenge and frequently deny the need to relent and depend on God for our strength.  Suffering brings about resilience and strength to understand that our faith in Christ provides the solace and satisfaction in this life.

God does not leave us or forsake us.  God’s love is eternal for all, every day, every year, and every generation.  No matter what our situation, sin, or pain, God is walking with us, with every step. Many times, we just need to stop and ask Him for wisdom, guidance, and strength.

Throughout our 25 years of marriage, we certainly have experienced the highs and lows of life.  What is most certainly true is the happiest times of our marriage are when we are walking in faith with our Lord and turning to His Word for guidance and understanding.  Our marriage has been sustained by our faith, together, in Christ.

Happy 25^th Anniversary to my bride…and many more!

Today’s reading is from Isaiah 52, where the prophet Isaiah spoke of God’s redemption of the Jewish people after years of oppression.

Pain, suffering, oppression, strife, and difficulties in this life are challenging to understand.  I write about this topic often as my studies of the Bible lead me to find meaning and understanding to make sense of difficult times.  I don’t question God, by any means, but challenges do cause me to ask questions and attempt to find meaning.  The Jewish people turned away from God in different generations, defied His commands, and He punished them.  It is difficult to comprehend why God would cause pain and such severe punishment to the Jewish people.

As a parents, we want what is best for our children.  We provide guidance to help them choose the right path in life. We do our best to have patience, allow them to make their own decisions, and live with the consequences.  Sometimes, our children make bad choices.  Sometimes those choices cause minor issues. Unfortunately, their choices can come with major consequences as well.  Depending on their age, we as parents are forced to deliver discipline, which is ultimately painful for them and us, or discipline can come others involved in their life.

There should be no doubt that God tests us in our lives. We can see time and time again that God brings challenges into our lives to validate our faith and increase our trust in Him. There are times when God provides discipline in our lives based on our actions and poor choices, just like we do as parents.  Here are a couple of verses that speaks to how we should view life’s trials.

1 Peter 1:6-7 – 6 In this you greatly rejoice, through now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials. 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more previous than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 – 9 And he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in the infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak then I am strong.

Do you feel strong in times of trouble? My first reaction, unfortunately, is resentment, anger, questioning the reason, and attempting to solve the problem. What I fail to realize is that the testing of my faith is an opportunity to build resilience.  I have the opportunity to focus on God’s Word, as the potential reasons and meaning may not be known now or is this life, but I must trust God’s plan and purpose for my life is perfect.  This is difficult and something I work on each day.

James, Jesus’s half-brother, said in James 1:2, “Consider it pure joy my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds.”

We must rely on the promise that all this world’s trials and troubles are building us up for a perfect purpose and our benefit, which ultimately strengthens our faith and bring us closer to Him.

Acts, written by the disciple Luke, speaks to what occurred following the final resurrection of Jesus.   It speaks to how the disciples organized and began the work of spreading the Gospel as commanded by Jesus.  It also recounts the most critical moments in the history of Christianity, and mankind, when the disciples initiated the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth to proclaim Him as the Son of God and the only way to salvation.

As a student of history, I frequently watch and read biographies of presidents and leaders, dive into a World War II documentary, or learn about key moments in our nation’s history related to the Civil Rights Act, Watergate, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, and the list goes on.

Events in history are recounted and reported based on interviews or statements from those that were a part of the event as well as historians who read documents and evaluate historical relics to summate the events that occurred. Much of history is interpreted and reviewed years later by historians that were not at the event.

Why do we believe historians record of what happened in the past?

What strikes me most about the Bible, and specifically Acts, is we are reading the words of the man who was there.  Luke, who was a disciple of Jesus and traveled with Him throughout His ministry, witnessed with his own eyes the miracles and life of Jesus.  In the Book of Acts, Luke chronicles how the disciples were commissioned to spread the Gospel and begin what we know as today as Christianity.  Here is an article that indicates there are 2.3 billion Christians in the world, which is nearly a third of the world’s population.

What I continually consider is the first five books of the Bible were written by people who were eyewitnesses to the life of Jesus. Why do people not believe the testimony of an eyewitness to the life and miracles of Jesus?

My first thought is that the events we read in history books don’t necessarily ask us to make changes to the way we live our lives.  We can hear and believe in the chronicles of JFK, MLK, and FDR but it doesn’t change our way of life today.

Listening and validating the life and miracles of Jesus challenges us to believe that Christ is the Son of God.  The historical parables and stories of the Bible provide us examples of how to live our lives, as well as how not to live our lives.  Nothing is new under the sun.  We think our challenges and strife are unique to us, but they are not. Mankind has continued to struggle with the same challenges and issues over and over.

The value of the Bible is that we can learn from the lessons and parables and improve our daily life as well as provide us purpose.  Life is hard. Challenges and strife do not make sense. The angst and negativity can be impossible to bare.  We can learn and appreciate the stories and parables in the Bible. Yet could all the challenges in our lives be for a purpose?  Perhaps God has a plan for all our heartache and unhappiness?  The Bible tells us time and time again that our lives will be forever changed while we are on earth, and in eternity.

James 1:12

Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

John 16:33

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

Psalm 34:19

The righteous person may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all.

Revelation 21:4

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.

Romans 5:3

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance.

Romans 8:18

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

I pray that you will read this today, and trust the prophets and disciples, otherwise known as historians, that wrote the Bible.  Their words could change your life, for eternity.

Who do you turn to for advice?  Do you listen to advice even though you do not want to hear what the person has to say?

Our lives are a series of events, traversing through different phases and stages, hopefully learning, and becoming wiser along the way.  The lessons we learn, although difficult and some painful, can mold us into being more thankful and content.

Unfortunately, in some cases, life can make us more bitter and angry.  Perhaps events have altered us so negatively, we have lost our trust in others.  Our perspective on life can become jaded and negative, no matter what the circumstance.

Today’s reading is from the Book of Jeremiah, verses 1 to 19.  Jeremiah, a prophet of God, had the grueling lifelong task of professing to the Jewish people about the pending doom and destruction of Judah.  For forty years, Jeremiah preached to the Jews telling of the pending destruction that would come upon them unless they turned to God to repent.   Jeremiah implored the Jews to ask for forgiveness, turn away from sin and idols, and praise God.  Unfortunately, they did not listen and ultimately, the Jews were overtaken for years of torture and imprisonment by the Babylonians.

Back to the advice of others, I have learned that “there is nothing new under the sun.” We live our lives and at times, we feel alone.  We struggle.  We are frustrated.  We are angry.  We are sad.  We are heartbroken.  We close ourselves off from others.

Why?  Because our focus can become selfish and self-centered.  I am not talking about those that deal with mental illness and perhaps cannot control their emotions.  Sometimes, we only blame others without owning our piece of responsibility.  Perhaps there is someone in our lives who is trying to help us, providing counsel and advice, but we refuse to listen or do not want to hear what they have to say. We can become arrogant and closed off.

Sometimes, the answer to solve our problem, is not what we want to hear.  Perhaps the advice we are receiving is about taking a difficult path or requires us to make changes to our lives.

From my perspective, the most important trait to preserve in our lives is humility.  Humility enables us to hear the perspective of others, consider their opinion, and explore whether we have room to change or grow.  Humility opens our ears and mind to the opinions of others and helps us consider how we ourselves can solve a challenge and not just blame others.

The Jewish people received guidance and advice, straight from God, and they shunned Jeremiah because they did not want to hear what he had to say.  Maybe there is a “Jeremiah” in your life right now that is trying to help you.  Perhaps there is a friend or family member that you “shut down” because they offer you advice you do not want to hear.   My prayer is that we open our hearts and mind, listen to the Word of God, listen to those trying to help us, and stay humble.

Our eternal lives may depend on it.

Psalm 51

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God.

And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

11 Do not cast me away from Your presence.

And do not take Your Holy Spirt from me.

2 Samuel 11 outlines a salacious story about King David, a chosen leader of God.  David, who was king of Israel, saw an attractive woman on the roof of her home.  Being a man of great power, David called on the woman, who he found out was the wife of one of his leading warriors.  Even though David knew of her marriage to one of his loyal fighters, Uriah, David had a relationship with the woman, Bathsheba.  Bathsheba became pregnant. Discovering this, David arranged for Uriah to be sent to the frontline of battle where he knew he would be killed.  David not only slept with a married woman, but he also had her husband “murdered.”

King David was rich, was the most powerful person in Israel, and was accountable to no man.  He was accustomed to getting what he wanted.  He was accomplished and things typically worked in his favor.  His expectations of his life became bigger than his accountability and commitment to God.

What gives us a “moral compass” to do the right thing? How do we hold ourselves accountable to what is good and what is bad?

Acknowledging that we need guidance and admit when our life goes “off track” is imperative.  The inspiring part of this story is that David acknowledged his sin and prayed to God to “cleanse him” of his sin and help him be a better person.  We will sin.  We will make bad decisions.  God wants us to acknowledge our sin, which we call repentance, and apply His commands to our lives.  God will allow us to sin. He does not control our actions. The most vital decision for us is to admit and acknowledge when we have done wrong.

Admitting we are wrong can be a hard “pill to swallow.”  Humility is not always a common trait. Life will throw us challenges and strife, along with happy times and hopefully prosperity.  The constant in our journey on earth is that God loves us and wants us to give Him reverence and praise for our blessings.  Even when we sin, God loves us.  He is a loving Father that wants what is best for us. But as a loving Father, He allows challenges and strife in our lives so we will appreciate and acknowledge His love and grace for us.

My wife and I have reflected often about what we thought parenting would be like and what has been our real-life experience. I can honestly say be both really looked forward to being a mom and dad. You have foundations, lessons, and ideals that you want to teach your children, hoping the result will be well-adjusted, loving, and faithful adults.  You rely on your own experience, gain perspective in your own life, as well as watching, and learning from your parents. Then, you discover it’s likely the most difficult thing you will ever do.

Along come cell phones and social media, and you are now dealing with challenges that you are not prepared for. Add on the treacherous content on laptops and mobile devices, which include pornography, the glamorization of what life “should be like,” along with the pressure that kids feel to be included and popular.  Let’s not forget peer pressure which includes vaping, drinking, and sex. All that, and we are not out of the middle school years yet!

With all of that, it can be a challenge to develop a loving relationship with your children and discipline them at the same time. You are constantly counseling and advising them.  You are constantly monitoring their friends, where they go, and who they socialize with. Can you remember your parents telling you as a child, “I am only doing this because I love you…” followed by a punishment?  Wait, you love me, but I am (insert punishment here)?

The nature of humans is that we need to be disciplined.  Our nature is to sin.  Without the constant presence of the Holy Spirit in our heart, we stray from God.  We will worship worldly things more than God.  We will commit sin and stray from our commitment and faith to our God. The world will tempt us and we will struggle.

In the Old Testament, God spoke through His prophets. God was directly involved in administering punishment to the people of Israel because they worshiped idols, committed adultery, were spiritually corrupt, engaged in prostitution, and continually turned away from God. As their Father, God was continually trying to nurture and teach the Jews throughout the Bible about following His Word and worshipping Him, rather than earthly possessions.  He was not happy with the sins that pulled the Jews away from His commandments.

The Book of Hosea was written by the prophet Hosea, who prophesized the punishment God would bring upon Israel based on their transgressions.  Chapter 9, verse 7 exclaims “The days of punishment have come; The days of recompense have come. Israel knows!” In verse 9, “They are deeply corrupted, as in the days of Gibeah. He will remember their iniquity; He will punish their sins.”

God loves us even when we are committing the worst sins.  Even though God spoke openly about the consequences that would come to the Jewish people for their sins, and He still loved them.  As a Father, He was acting, sometimes what may seem extreme to us, to discipline His children and get them right with their faith and fellowship with Him.

Even though God disciplines us, He still loves us. Scripture in the Bible tells us that continually.

1 John 4:7-8: 7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

1 John 4:9-11 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Isaiah 54:10 Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Just like we love our children unconditionally, God loves us unconditionally as well, even when we are sinful.  In fact, mankind has continually defied God, our creator, and He sent His only Son to suffer and die to demonstrate His love for us. Yes, punishment is hard to accept, and even harder to administer, yet it is essential for us as humans to experience the good and bad to make the right choices in our life. Love and punishment go together.  We cannot fully understand love unless we understand that punishment and suffering is to bring us to appreciate and understand the “right path.”

In Mark 12:1-12, Jesus was traveling and teaching the Gospel.  At every turn, members of the Jewish authority resented Him and attempted to trap Him into saying something blasphemous so they could arrest Him.  Jesus told the parable of man who built a vineyard and leased it to vinedressers. The vinedressers were to take care of the field and harvest the vineyard.  The landowner lived away from the property and sought to receive a portion of the fruit at harvest time.

As the parable goes, the landowner sent many servants to receive a portion of the harvest, and “they threw stones, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully.”  In verse 5, “And again he sent another, and him they killed; and many others beating some and killing some.”  Verse 6, “Therefore still having one son, his beloved, he also sent him to them last, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’”

Verse 7 tells us that the vinedressers said “This is his heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.” Verse 8, “So they took him and killed him and cast him out of the vineyard.” Verse 9, “Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vinedressers and give the vineyard to others.”

At this point, the parable is hopefully beginning to make sense.  Jesus was describing the vineyard as the blessings God had provided to the Jewish people, and us, and His servants were the many prophets God had sent to the Jewish people to save them. Clearly, the “son of the landowner,” was Jesus, whom God sent to earth.

Blessings come in many forms and many times we may not recognize them at the time.  God provides for us in all ways and the best outcome for us may not always seem like it in the moment.  We live our lives searching for meaning and understanding.  We seek satisfaction and happiness from material things.  Our hearts are programmed to accept sin and we turn away from God due to our selfish, sinful tendencies. Our human nature is sinful, and the challenge is to recognize what God’s purpose for lives are and not our own.  What blessings is God providing me that I may not recognize?

Perhaps the relationship that you thought was “meant to be” did not work out. Maybe you still think about the promotion at work that you did not get and are still bitter about. Perhaps it was the home that you wanted to buy that you could not afford.  All the things we seek have consequences and impacts.  Perhaps the relationship that did not work out would have pulled you further away from God. Maybe the promotion at work would have been too much time away from home and your family.  Maybe the house you could not afford would have taken your marriage into a stressful place that would not have been productive for your relationship.

God is sending us “servants” all the time to give us messages and signs about His will for us.  Our Lord loves us unconditionally and wants what is best for us, but we may not recognize what “best” is in the moment. I strive to recognize during the disappointments or challenges, “What is God’s purpose right now? What does He want to me see that I am not seeing?  What does He want me to hear in this moment?”

Do you look back on trying times and see them differently now?  As you get older and experience life at different stages, do you recognize moments that might be “God’s purpose?”  The most difficult question for me to answer is “What is God’s plan?”

Jeremiah 29:11 – “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Esther 4:14 – Perhaps you were born for such a time as this.

Romans 8:28 – And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Psalm 33:11 – The plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of His heart through all generations.

Jeremiah 1:5 – Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.

2 Peter 3:9 – The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

Psalm 32:8 – I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.

Proverbs 3:5-6 – Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

My prayer is that we have the humility and heart to listen to “God’s voice” in the moments when we “cannot hear” anything.  My hope this that we rest knowing there is a plan, and someday we will understand more completely the struggles and trials, when God’s plan is revealed to each of us in Heaven.

Restoration is a great word.  Webster’s dictionary defines as “the act of restoring or the condition of being restored: such as a bringing back to a former position or condition; a restoring to an unimpaired or improved condition.”

As previous Bible journal posters have written, Lamentations is a troubling book of the Bible.  The prophet Jeremiah is “lamenting” about the Babylonians capture and takeover of Jerusalem.  Scripture tells us that God warned the Jewish people, for generations, of their sinful ways through the prophet Jeremiah, but they did not listen and dearly paid the price for it.

In Lamentations, Jeremiah outlined the total devastation and enslavement of the Jewish people.  Every aspect of their lives had pain and strife because of their unwillingness to relent and follow God’s wishes.  The sad part of this chapter is that the people that suffered the most were not necessarily the individuals that committed the most sins.  Generations of Jews had sinned while God was warning them and when they were captured and enslaved, future generations suffered the consequences of their ancestors.

This lesson causes me to think about the legacy our actions and faith leave for our families, sometimes generations to come.  Our willingness to acknowledge the power of our almighty God is imperative to not only our faith but to our children, their children, and future generations.  We are not just committing to faith for our own soul, but we are carving a path for our children to choose to have a relationship with Jesus. If we model the love and commitment to our faith, that we choose to follow Jesus, we are providing an opportunity for our children to follow our example.

Lamentations 5 was a “Prayer for Restoration” for the Jewish people.  They were in a very dark and miserable place. Verse 7 says, “Our fathers sinned and are no more. But we bear their iniquities. There is none to deliver us from their hand.”

Our choice to follow Jesus can save our children from a life of despair and pain.  Choose faith not only for your own life and soul, but the generations of your family to follow.  I have written before that I am so fortunate to have grandparents and parents who were believers.  We went to church, and I was baptized, but I had to make my own choice whether to believe in Jesus to be saved.  All we can do is expose our children to the teachings and lessons of the Bible so they can experience for themselves the saving grace of Jesus during their lives.

Back to restoration.  Sometimes we don’t appreciate the good times unless we experience the bad times.  Our sinful nature is to take for granted when things are going well and expect things to continue that way forever.  In our time on earth, the older we get, the more we realize that pain, death, and sadness are a part of our lives.  The beautiful thing about our relationship with Jesus, as believers, is that we know no matter how bad or awful things get, Jesus will restore us.  He will restore us while on earth through a “peace and understanding,” although still in pain, we can rest during the bad times.  But the glorious celebration will occur when we die, when we are “restored” and provided a new life in Heaven.  Revelations 21:4 tells us “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”  Heaven will be a glorious place.  I love my family with all my heart and soul. I would do anything for them and don’t want to leave them.  But I don’t fear death.  I am confident my death will be a glorious reunion with my loved ones who are already in Heaven, and my worries, pains, and discomfort will be gone. What a glorious day that will be!

That is true RESTORATION.

Satisfied. Pleased. Gratified. Fulfilled. Happy. Cheerful. Unworried. Untroubled. Happy. Cheerful. Cheery. Glad. Delighted. Tranquil. At Ease.  At Peace. Comfortable. Serene. Placid.

The above are words used to describe being content.  The definition of content is “in a state of peaceful happiness.”

As we traverse life, how often do we feel content?  How often are we happy and fulfilled?  How often do we feel great about our life?

Psalm 86 is titled “A Prayer from David,” who was one of the most famous Jews in the Bible.  This is the same David who slayed the giant Goliath.  This is the same David who rose to be the king of the Jews after being raised in a common family.  This is the same David who had an affair with Bathsheba and had her husband murdered.  David lived a life with an intense faith for God, but he also lived a life where he committed terrible sins.

Although we do not know during what part of David’s life this was, he was exhorting this prayer as he walked through a range of emotions crying out to God for help.  He expressed his desire for God to be merciful to him and stated his humility and faith in God’s purpose.  David is clearly suffering from something in this prayer, and it appears his life is at risk.  David, in the face of death, comes to God to state his belief and humility toward God.

Do we react the same when our life is in turmoil?  Do we cry out to God in humility and reverence, or do we cry out in anger and resentment?

David demonstrates a clear recognition in Psalm 86:11 “Teach me Your Way, O Lord; I will walk in your truth; Unite my heart to fear your name,” that God is in control, and he needs to give his fears and insecurities to God.

For me, the most difficult part of faith, is being ok with not being ok.  Meaning, something in my life is uncomfortable.  There is strife, discontent, or unhappiness with an aspect of my life.  A family member is ill or unhappy, a relationship is strained, or the world around me feels like it is crumbling. Faith for me means accepting the unhappy times and recognizing that I need to ask God for guidance and discernment during those moments of strife.  I understand that I don’t know why the troubles are happening, but I know that if I turn to God, He will provide a path for mercy and contentment.  Our God is compassionate, and He is good.  God wants us to be happy and never promised to remove us from the sinful nature of our world. Our lives will endure pain and we must have faith that our God will provide a way for us to thrive.

Is it possible that we can be content through bad times?  Can we have peace when it seems we should be miserable?

I follow Jesus because of that promise.  The promise that I am loved, regardless of what is going on in life, and that every aspect of my life has a purpose.  What that means to me is that even in the worst moments, God is working on me to understand His purpose and not mine.  My life is about living for Him and not for myself.  My nature is to try to control things.  I am a doer.  I am a worker.  I will not be a victim.  Those principles don’t apply to working through most of the unknown tribulations of our lives.  Those traits don’t fix you when your heart is broken, or your soul is crushed.  The more blame and anger I let in, the worse the problem evolves to be.  When I praise God, ask for His mercy, humble myself, and plead for understanding and grace, He provides me a sense of peace and contentment.  Every day is a new day, and it is a daily fight against this world to maintain faith. But I know that I am loved, and I can feel Jesus’s saving grace in my heart when I truly give my troubles to God.  May you have the rest and assurance on the bad days, just like you do on the good.

Psalm 86:15 “But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth.”