Day 257 Bible Readings – Psalm 135: 15-18 (ESV)

Isaiah 33-35, Galatians 1: Psalm 135: 13-21

Psalm 135: 15-18 (ESV)

“The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; they have eyes, but do not see; they have ears, but do not hear, nor is there any breath in their mouths. Those who make them become like them, so do all who trust in them.”

Verses 15 through 18 from Psalm 135 makes so much sense to me that if you worship an idol that is not God, you will become like the idol. These verses talk about idols made of silver and gold, which people used to worship when this Psalm was being written. These idols have eyes and ears, but they do not see or hear because they are not alive. But I think “idols” can also apply to more modern idols that are worshipped like money, prestige, or fame. If we worship idols other than God, we will become like these “idols”. We will not see, hear, and become dead inside like our “idols”.

Worshipping money makes our life easier and can answer material prayers, but the idol of money doesn’t care about us. The idol of money is not moved by our prayers and is an indifferent God. For people who belief in God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, we worship a living God. Our God has eyes to see our lives, ears to hear our prayers, and is alive and has powers to answer our prayers and shower us in miracles in our life if we need them. I am glad I worship a God who cares about me and only wants to the best for me in my life.

Day 256 Bible Readings – 2 Corinthians 13: 5 (ESV)

Isaiah 31-32, 2 Corinthians 13, Psalm 135: 1-12

2 Corinthians 13: 5 (ESV)

“Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!”

Verse 5 from 2 Corinthians 13 shows us Paul’s recommendation to the Church of Corinth to ask themselves if they are really followers of Christ. Paul told them that they need to test themselves if Christ in within them. When I read the Bible commentaries on this line, I was struck by what Charles Spurgeon wrote about this verse. Spurgeon wrote that “The true Christian carries the cross in his heart; and a cross inside the heart, my friends, is one of the sweetest cures for a cross on the back. If you have a cross in your heart – Christ crucified in you, the hope of glory – all the crosses of this world’s troubles will seem to you light enough, and you will easily be able to sustain it.”

I never thought that having Christ in my heart meant to think about how Christ was crucified for my sins, and all the pain and agony he went through in his trial and his final death. If think about how Christ died and suffered, I can see why my own troubles would never compare to what Christ suffered and would seem paltry and insignificant. And if my troubles are that small compared to Christ’s troubles, then my own season of trouble could easily be sustained. I know we all tend to look at our troubles as so big and horrible, but when we compare them to what Christ went through then there is no comparison. I grew up Catholic and at Lent leading up to Easter we used to do walk and view the Stations of the Cross in our church on Fridays and meditate on the suffering of Christ. I never understood why we did this as a child, but now after reading Spurgeon I understand the reasoning behind the practice. The Stations of the Cross meditation needed to be performed so we could understand what Christ went through and remember that our sufferings were nothing compared to sufferings of Christ. I don’t remember ever being told why we did Stations of the Cross at my childhood church, but I wished they would have explained it using Spurgeon’s text. I might not have fully understood this explanation as a child, but it would have made some sense to me as to why this ritual was practiced and would have gotten more out of it as well.

Day 255 Bible Readings – Isaiah 30: 18 (ESV)

Isaiah 29-30, 2 Corinthians 12: 11-21, Psalm 134

Isaiah 30: 18 (ESV)

“Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.”

Verse 18 from Isaiah 30 is Isaiah telling us to trust in God’s timing. Isaiah tells us that when God seems slow to answer our prayers, it always because he has a purpose behind that is in our best interest even if it may not seem like to us at the time. When we receive mercy from God, he is exalted in our eyes because he has given us his grace. God will deliver justice and answer our prayers, but only to those who are willing to wait on God’s timing.

I know for myself that waiting for God’s timing to answer prayers is a hard thing. But God’s timing in my experience is always perfect, even though I only see how perfect God’s timing is in hindsight a long time afterwards. Because we cannot see into the future, we need to trust in God’s timing. God sees our past, present, and future. So we need to always trust God’s timing and rely on his promise to us that he will always answers our prayers in a way that serves us for our ultimate good.

Day 254 Bible Readings – 2 Corinthians 12: 9-10 (ESV)

Isaiah 27-28, 2 Corinthians 12: 1-10, Psalm 133

2 Corinthians 12: 9-10 (ESV)

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Verses 9 through 10 from 2 Corinthians 12 shows God’s response to Paul when he asked him to take a thorn from him. Paul had begged God three times to take the thorn away. God’s told Paul that “my grace if sufficient for you.” Paul’s situation is something I think everyone has in their life - a “thorn” or some kind of problem that people of faith have been praying to God to take away in their life. That “thorn” can be an illness, lack of money or some kind of lack, a feeling of doubt against God, or any number of things. I have a “thorn” in my life that I have been praying about since 2018, and God has not taken the issue away.

I have read many bible commentaries on these verses, and they say the same thing that I am wresting with today. God sometimes does not remove the “thorns” in our lives, because he is trying to strengthen us and deepen our faith in his grace. Pastor David Guzik wrote on these verses that “We really don’t believe God’s grace is sufficient until we believe we are insufficient. For many of us, especially in American culture, this is a huge obstacle. We are the people who idolize the “self-made man” and want to rely on ourselves. But we can’t receive God’s strength until we know our weakness. We can’t receive the sufficiency of God’s grace until we know our own insufficiency.”

I know God is telling that me that only “God’s grace is enough for me.” I cannot rely on myself or other people; I need to only rely on God for everything in my life. This is a hard lesson for me, and I am relying on God’s grace to help me understand why knowing my own insufficiency is a good thing and not a bad thing. I know I need to rely only of God for everything in my life, and I pray to God every day to help me know that God’s grace is enough for me.