Showing posts with label Baskets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Baskets. Show all posts

Tuesday, 26 March 2013

Thanking God for Unanswered Prayers

March 26, 2013

Dear Reader: Happy Passover! For the next eight days, we celebrate Pesach (Passover), offering you devotional reflection tied to this very special observance as well as Torah readings for each day. Since no work is done on the holiest of these days, these devotions were prepared in advance for you.
"His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him." —Exodus 2:4

Today is Day 1 of the eight-day Passover celebration. The Torah reading for today is from Exodus 12:21–51 and the Haftorah is from Joshua 3:5–7; 5:2–6:1; 6:27.

What if God answered every prayer with a resounding "YES"? Would the world be a better and happier place or a worse one? For example, what if God had answered Miriam's prayer as she stood among the reeds next to the Nile River where her baby brother, Moses, floated in a basket designed to protect him as he drifted in the water?

As you remember the story, Miriam and her mother had placed Moses in the basket as a last resort. The Egyptians had resolved to kill every single Hebrew baby boy. Miriam and her mother hoped that a non-Egyptian would find the infant and have mercy on him.

Sunday, 8 July 2012

What's in Your Basket?

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

Do you like cooking shows? My family and I like to watch the cooking show CHOPPED. In that show, several top-notch chefs are given a basket of ingredients with which to hopefully make a savory dish. The challenge is in the ingredients; there is always an item or two that no chef in his right mind would choose. How does anyone make a five-star dessert with gummy worms ... or grits ... or baby beets? (I hate beets.)

Amazingly, the master chefs are able to take all the odd-ball ingredients in each course basket (appetizer, entree, and dessert) and work them together to make a great-tasting meal.

GOD IS THE MASTER CHEF

When it comes to life, God is the Master Chef. He is the One who is able to take all the difficult experiences and bad-tasting ingredients that befall us in life and work them together for good. He is the God who is able to give beauty for ashes (Isaiah 61:3).

I talked to a friend this week who is facing some very tough circumstances. Complications from a routine cataract surgery ended up costing him his right eye. And if that weren't enough to deal with, he is fighting prostate cancer that has spread. Without question, he has found some bad ingredients in his basket.