Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Scripture- “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.”- 1Corinthians 1:27
Insight: – God doesn’t see things the same as the world does. God doesn’t look to the people whom the world would say have it all together. He doesn’t choose the richest, the best looking or the most accomplished to achieve His plans. Most of the time, He uses the exact opposite of what “common sense” would dictate. God uses the broken, the humble and the meek to confound the wise, as it says above in 1 Corinthians 1:27. God has always used seemingly foolish things to shock the world. Better yet, he asks for our deep faith and belief and then uses our own foolishness to glorify Himself. The Bible is full of stories and events that the world looked at as utterly ridiculous. The circumstances were so unreal that they seemed ludicrous. Sarah buying maternity clothes at age 90.? Noah building an Arc and preparing for a flood in the middle of a Desert? David, the least likely in the world’s eyes to be anointed King of Israel by Samuel, running to the battlefield to fight a giant with a slingshot? The Israelites marching around Jericho blaring trumpets? Peter stepping out of the boat in the middle of a lake? The response to all of these situations by casual bystanders at the time must have been, are you kidding me? You are totally insane. I could see Sarah standing in line at the Old Testament version of Mommies R Us and the looks she must have gotten. Tell me the Lord doesn’t have a wicked sense of humor?
Well, here we are some 2,000 years later from the time of Christ’s last breath on this earth, and not much has changed. People who are striving to follow Christ still seem foolish in the world’s eyes. Maybe more so than ever. I often feel like I look foolish telling friends that while I used to get drunk or high to cover my pain, I now have a much better answer in Jesus, who’s love and grace has removed all my deep-rooted pain from me. I have replaced the world’s medicine cabinet with God’s. I look foolish in the world’s eyes when I pray for people I don’t even know or send money for Kingdom purposes to people thousands of miles away or forgive those who have truly tried to harm me. Just trying to be a God-fearing man leads to many situations on a daily basis where the world considers my attempts to honor God as sheer foolishness. Let alone how many times I profess my love for Christ and then fall flat on my sinful face in words, deeds and actions that don’t live up to my professions or His standards .Trying to live a life of humility that doesn’t revolve around the “kingdom of self” is quite foolish in today’s world of instant gratification and self-promotion. How does God respond when I stumble and fall? With more love, more grace and more forgiveness. That is the part that people who don’t know Jesus can ever understand. He is a God of immense love, and there is “no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” according to Romans 8:1
The battle of flesh vs. spirit is clearing being waged at a feverish pitch in this world right now, and I think it is safe to say that flesh has an insurmountable lead at the moment. I can hardly go a day when I don’t feel the overwhelming temptation to give in to my fleshly desires. But I remember how much Christ loves me, and that helps me stay strong. I feel his love so much not because nothing is too big for Him, but because nothing is too small for Him. He gets into the granular areas of my life and sets up shop in the areas of my life that the world looks at as mundane. The granular places are where He breaks in and changes me, from the inside out. When I am in tune with this truth and strong in the word, I am willing to be boldly foolish for the Lord. I am willing to take risks and try things that the world would see as foolish. But in my quest for joy in this world, looking foolish for the Lord is as close as I can come to finding true meaning and purpose. May I be increasingly eager to take risks for the Lord, and to look foolish in the world’s eyes, for that is where I am most connected to my living God!
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