Divine Diversions

Our Daily Bread 

Our Daily Bread is hosted by Les Lamborn

READ: Matthew 1:18-25

And he called His name Jesus. —Matthew 1:25

I tend to get stuck in my ways, so anything that diverts me from my routines and plans can be very annoying. Worse yet, life’s diversions are sometimes unsettling and painful. But God, who said, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways” (Isa. 55:8), knows that He often needs to divert us in order to make more of our lives than we would have if we had stuck to our original plans.

Chaos Now For Beauty Later

Written by Claire Colvin

“For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” (Isaiah 43:19, NLT)

I am in the midst of a kitchen reno and my house looks like a disaster zone. The simplest tasks are complicated and frustrating. The kettle is in the en suite bathroom, the tea bags are on the coach, the mugs are somewhere in the living room. Everything takes longer. Nothing looks familiar.
Even when it’s time to rest it’s hard to relax in a room that is literally stacked to the ceiling. The other day I stood on the bare concrete floor and thought about the beautiful kitchen that is going in. I remembered all the years I had prayed for a place of my own and I took a deep breath. “It’s chaos now for beauty later,” I said to my roommate and I heard a whisper in my heart. Oh, there’s a lesson in that.