August 21

Proverbs 27, 28 I Thessalonians 5 Today's reading from Proverbs begins with this caution, "Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth."  A few weeks ago, I thought I had my week planned out.  On Monday I would do this, on Tuesday, I would do that and on Wednesday, another thing.  As it turned out, none of what I had so carefully planned worked out.  Circumstances are often beyond our control.  Plans change, people make promises that aren't kept, and sometimes a natural disaster gets in the way.  What comforts me is that my circumstances are never beyond God's control.  I used to get angry, frustrated and upset when my plans changed.  Then, one year, when I was so upset that circumstances had prevented us from going somewhere we'd planned to go, I later learned if we had gone, we would have driven right into the path of a tornado.  That really made me think and from that point on, I can't say that I have never been upset by a change in plans, but I have always tried to remember that even though it seems frustrating, God has it under control. How do you handle times when things seem out of control? In Thessalonians, Paul uses the contrast of day and night to show the differences between a believer and a non-believer in his or her approach to Jesus' return.  Having said that the day of the Lord will "come like a thief in the night", he goes on to say "you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet." What a great picture of the happiness and security we feel when we think about Jesus' return – we can wear that hope of salvation as a helmet to protect us from the arrows shot at us by the world which scoffs at the idea that he is coming again. Does this encourage you?