Daily Devotional For Saturday, March 15, 2025
It’s Saturday and you can do a little dance that the weekend is here. Good morning. We live in a very dangerous and deceptive world. As a result, life can be very tenuous and uncertain. The challenges we face are real—deception, manipulation, fear, confusion, anxiety, anger, violence … the list could go on and on if we choose. Psalm 18:30 says, “As for God, His way is blameless; The word of the Lord is tried; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him” (NASB). We believe this verse when things are going well but not always when things are not going well. God said this through the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 55:8-9:
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. (9) “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts” (NASB).
As troubling as these things are, we can rest in the knowledge that our Lord is not surprised by any of it. His knowledge covers all the verb tenses: He was not surprised by anything that happened in the past. He is not surprised by what is in the news today. And He will not be surprised by what will happen tomorrow. Neither is He unprepared for these things.
We may feel overwhelmed by what we see, but God is not. He has a perfect plan for this world, and He will see it through until Jesus returns. I encourage you to respond to uncertainty by being more committed to reading God’s Word, more persistent in engaging with Him through prayer, more ready to listen for His voice, and more eager to obey when He speaks. The challenge we have when life throws us “curve balls’ is we think God owes us an explanation. And when we do not get one, we either get mad at God, or we get mad at God and walk away from God or we take a step of faith and trust Him.
Pastor and author John Ortberg tells this true story:
“Many years ago I was walking in Newport Beach, a beach in Southern California, with two friends. Two of us were on staff together at a church, and one was an elder at the same church. We walked past a bar where a fight had been going on inside. The fight had spilled out into the street, just like in an old western. Several guys were beating up on another guy, and he was bleeding from the forehead. We knew we had to do something, so we went over to break up the fight. … I don't think we were very intimidating. [All we did was walk over and say,] "Hey, you guys, cut that out!" It didn't do much good.
Then all of a sudden they looked at us with fear in their eyes. The guys who had been beating up on the one guy stopped and started to slink away. I didn't know why until we turned and looked behind us. Out of the bar came the biggest man I think I've ever seen. He was something like six feet, seven inches, maybe 300 pounds, maybe 2 percent body fat. Just huge. We called him "Bubba" (not to his face, but afterwards, when we talked about him).
Bubba didn't say a word. He just stood there and flexed. You could tell he was hoping they would try and have a go at him. All of a sudden my attitude was transformed, and I said to those guys, "You better not let us catch you coming around here again!" I was a different person because I had great, big Bubba. I was ready to confront with resolve and firmness. I was released from anxiety and fear. I was filled with boldness and confidence. I was ready to help somebody that needed helping. I was ready to serve when serving was required. Why? Because I had a great, big Bubba. I was convinced that I was not alone. I was safe.
If I were convinced that Bubba were with me 24 hours a day, I would have a fundamentally different approach to my life. If I knew Bubba was behind me all day long, you wouldn't want to mess with me. But he's not. I can't count on Bubba.
Again and again, the writers of Scripture pose this question for us: How big is your God? Again and again we are reminded that One who is greater than Bubba has come, and you don't have to wonder whether or not he'll show up. He's always there. You don't have to be afraid. You don't have to live your life in hiding. You have a great, big God, and he's called you to do something, so get on with it!” (Source: John Ortberg).
We can face the future with confidence, knowing that God has a plan and that it is good, even if it includes some “curve balls” and unexpected pain.
Questions To Consider
- When you are going through a very rough time, does your attitude and actions reflect that you believe Psalm 18:30? Why or why not?
- What is some unexpected pain God has allowed in your life that make you question His thoughts and His ways? If you worked through it, how did you do that? If not, what is holding you back today?
- When life throws you curveballs, you can still hit a home run by running home to Jesus first. Is this your first response or later response? Why?
- In the true story by John Ortberg, you can see the humor but you also sense the tension. What they did had no effect . . . until . . . the 300lb 6.7ft bouncer appeared. So, when life throws you some curveballs, how big is your God in terms of your thoughts, attitudes and actions? What is the proof of this?
Scripture To Meditate On: Proverbs 30:5, “Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him” (NASB).
Prayer To Pray: “Heavenly Father, You are never surprised, caught off guard, or intimidated by the challenges we face. I want to mirror Your response and yield to You more completely. Open my eyes to see You more clearly, open my ears to hear Your voice more distinctly, and give me an awareness of You that will instill the confidence I need to face the future with anticipation of what You will do. Help me to come to You first before I do anything else when life throws me some curveballs. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside!--Pastor Kelly