The Word For Today

Without God's word, most of our experiences in life make no sense whatsoever. With it, we can decipher our experiences. Few things are more comforting than knowing that God is the one putting together the jigsaw puzzle of your life.

It was a London cartographer, John Spilsbury, who is credited with commercialising jigsaw puzzles around 1760. During the Great Depression, they were popularised in America as a cheap form of entertainment. Puzzles come in all shapes and sizes, including the latest and greatest - 3D spherical jigsaws. But the method of assembly has not changed. It requires the fitting together of oddly shaped, interlocking pieces. The key is the picture on top of the box. Without it, you're lost. And that's why many of us feel helpless and hopeless at times - because the pieces of our lives don't seem to fit together, and we can't see God's vision for the whole.

Few have suffered more than the apostle Paul, yet he wrote: 'Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal' (2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NKJV). Yes, bad things do happen to good people. But God has promised to recycle and redeem the bad, and use it for our good and his glory.

Without God's word, most of our experiences in life make no sense whatsoever. With it, we can decipher our experiences. Few things are more comforting than knowing that God is the one putting together the jigsaw puzzle of your life.

It was a London cartographer, John Spilsbury, who is credited with commercialising jigsaw puzzles around 1760. During the Great Depression, they were popularised in America as a cheap form of entertainment. Puzzles come in all shapes and sizes, including the latest and greatest - 3D spherical jigsaws. But the method of assembly has not changed. It requires the fitting together of oddly shaped, interlocking pieces. The key is the picture on top of the box. Without it, you're lost. And that's why many of us feel helpless and hopeless at times - because the pieces of our lives don't seem to fit together, and we can't see God's vision for the whole.

Few have suffered more than the apostle Paul, yet he wrote: 'Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal' (2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NKJV). Yes, bad things do happen to good people. But God has promised to recycle and redeem the bad, and use it for our good and his glory.

Helen Keller overcame the difficult challenge of being left without hearing, speech and sight after contracting a fever as a baby, and she learned to communicate by learning Braille. Her life inspired millions of people. One of her ardent admirers was author Mark Twain. She was invited to visit every president at the White House from her childhood on. What many don't know is how hard Helen worked as an adult. After graduating with honours from Radcliffe College, she worked to help others until her death at eighty-eight. She authored numerous articles. She gave lectures for the American Foundation for the Blind and raised millions of dollars for them. On her eightieth birthday, she was given the Helen Keller International Award for those who give outstanding help to the blind.

In the Bible, Paul prayed for the Colossian Christians: 'That you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing him'. And he gave them two ways in which they could do this: 'Being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God' (Colossians 1:10 NKJV). Faith and works; spirituality and service; ministering to the Lord and meeting the needs of others. That's how Helen Keller lived.

You say, 'But my goal is to please the Lord rather than people.' Here's how you do that: 'With goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men' (Ephesians 6:7 NKJV). Hymn writer Charles Meigs wrote: 'Others, Lord, yes others, let this my motto be. Help me to live for others, that I may live like Thee.'

Helen Keller overcame the difficult challenge of being left without hearing, speech and sight after contracting a fever as a baby, and she learned to communicate by learning Braille. Her life inspired millions of people. One of her ardent admirers was author Mark Twain. She was invited to visit every president at the White House from her childhood on. What many don't know is how hard Helen worked as an adult. After graduating with honours from Radcliffe College, she worked to help others until her death at eighty-eight. She authored numerous articles. She gave lectures for the American Foundation for the Blind and raised millions of dollars for them. On her eightieth birthday, she was given the Helen Keller International Award for those who give outstanding help to the blind.

In the Bible, Paul prayed for the Colossian Christians: 'That you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing him'. And he gave them two ways in which they could do this: 'Being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God' (Colossians 1:10 NKJV). Faith and works; spirituality and service; ministering to the Lord and meeting the needs of others. That's how Helen Keller lived.

You say, 'But my goal is to please the Lord rather than people.' Here's how you do that: 'With goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men' (Ephesians 6:7 NKJV). Hymn writer Charles Meigs wrote: 'Others, Lord, yes others, let this my motto be. Help me to live for others, that I may live like Thee.'

God said: 'Call to me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know' (Jeremiah 33:3 NKJV). He asks you to call too.

Joshua's army was battling the combined might of five hostile armies, and he was winning. But he was running out of time and needed more daylight. So he did something no one in recorded history has done before: 'Then Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel: "Sun, stand still."...So the sun stood still...till the people had revenge upon their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of Heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. And there has been no day like that, before it or after it, that the Lord heeded the voice of a man; for the Lord fought for Israel' (Joshua 10:12-14 NKJV).

Like Joshua battling five kings, you may be battling discouragement, disease, despair, defeat or death. Respond in prayer - honest, continual and audacious prayer. You're a member of God's family. You come to him as an heir. Confidently approach his throne (see Hebrews 4:16). Earnestly make your requests known (see Philippians 4:6), not because of what you've achieved but because of what Jesus has done on your behalf. Because Jesus shed his blood for you, you can confidently pour out your heart before God, knowing you'll get results.

God said: 'Call to me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know' (Jeremiah 33:3 NKJV). He asks you to call too.

Joshua's army was battling the combined might of five hostile armies, and he was winning. But he was running out of time and needed more daylight. So he did something no one in recorded history has done before: 'Then Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel: "Sun, stand still."...So the sun stood still...till the people had revenge upon their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of Heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. And there has been no day like that, before it or after it, that the Lord heeded the voice of a man; for the Lord fought for Israel' (Joshua 10:12-14 NKJV).

Like Joshua battling five kings, you may be battling discouragement, disease, despair, defeat or death. Respond in prayer - honest, continual and audacious prayer. You're a member of God's family. You come to him as an heir. Confidently approach his throne (see Hebrews 4:16). Earnestly make your requests known (see Philippians 4:6), not because of what you've achieved but because of what Jesus has done on your behalf. Because Jesus shed his blood for you, you can confidently pour out your heart before God, knowing you'll get results.