Circumstances or God’s Faithfulness

On a daily basis we’re faced with two simple choices. We can either listen to ourselves and our constantly changing feelings about our circumstances, or we can talk to ourselves about the unchanging truth of who God is and what He’s accomplished for us at the cross through His Son Jesus. If you’re anything like me, there’s a good chance you do a lot of listening to yourself every day.

Not long ago, in the final stages of preparing my sermon to preach at church the next morning, I knocked a mug of hot coffee directly onto the keyboard of my laptop computer. The machine gasped out a mournful “ffffttt!” and the screen went blank. In an instant of clumsiness, I’d destroyed my computer, vaporized my sermon notes, and added hours to my preparation time. Frozen in disbelief, I stared dumbfounded at the empty screen.

The keyboard took on the look of a small tropical swamp, its keys poking out of the steaming coffee like lily pads. I wish I could say I trusted God in that moment. Nope. Instead I let out an angry, bloodcurdling “Nooooooo!!” Then I picked my chair a few inches up off the floor and slammed it back down.