But Samuel replied, “What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams. Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft, and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols. So because you have rejected the command of the …

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CHAPTER 16

Sam brushed fallen cherry blossom petals off the park bench and sat down, careful not to spill his steaming cup of coffee. It was a Tuesday. Just a regular Tuesday. And he didn’t have to stop to get Kleinschmidt coffee; that was something Kleinschmidt’s assistant did for him now.

And Sam? Well, he had enough time in the mornings to get a cup of…

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When Samuel finally found him, Saul greeted him cheerfully. “May the Lord bless you,” he said. “I have carried out the Lord’s command!” (1 Samuel 15:13)

Have you ever been gaslit?

We hear about the idea of gaslighting people a lot in today’s culture, but do we know what it is? The term is relatively new, compared to other commonly used terms. Gaslighting

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CHAPTER 15

The eggs crackled in the oiled pan, firming up and sizzling as Sam waited for them to be ready to flip. Sam sipped his coffee and blinked blearily.

It hadn’t exactly been an all-nighter. He’d gone to sleep somewhere around five o’clock, but running on two hours of sleep today was going to be rough.

Still. It was worth it.

The stars creaked as Gid…

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Help me, O Lord my God! Save me because of your unfailing love. Let them see that this is your doing, that you yourself have done it, Lord. Then let them curse me if they like, but you will bless me! When they attack me, they will be disgraced! But I, your servant, will go right on rejoicing! May my accusers be clothed with disgrace; may their humiliat…

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CHAPTER 14

The green armor squealed as Sam slid across the metro platform, metal boots sparking on the honeycomb tiles. He faced the gray-armored soldiers and started to say something smart, but all three of them instantly turned toward him.

The one closest flashed red eyes at him, mechanical voice echoing loudly across the platform. “Scan complete,” it d…

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After the battle was over, the troops retreated to their camp, and the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the Lord allow us to be defeated by the Philistines?” Then they said, “Let’s bring the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord from Shiloh. If we carry it into battle with us, it will save us from our enemies.” (1 Samuel 4:3)

When does a good thing become bad?

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CHAPTER 13

Sam pressed his back against the bench and kept his head down a soldier flung another cop into the concrete wall. More useless shots fired. More screaming.

He took a calming breath and peered around the bench as the metro train began closing its doors. The people trapped on the platform cried out in alarm, but the soldiers stood between them an…

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Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs You are doing if God were not with him.”

Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” (Joh…

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CHAPTER 12

Done.

Sam regarded the printed text on the stark white paper with a critical eye. It was utter nonsense, but that’s what Kleinschmidt wanted. So that’s what he was going to get.

If nothing else, Rinaldi would be a fan. Maybe he should be aiming for a career in marketing.

He scowled.

No, never.

He slipped the paper into a file folder and shoved it a…

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Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God. (Psalm 146:3-5)

I only ever crave Chick-Fil-A on Sundays.

Anyone else have that experience? I don’t think about it any other day of the week, but when it’s Sunday and I need a bite to eat after I’m headed home from doing something at church, I think Chick-Fil-A sounds awfully good. But then—surprise! It’s Sunday. They aren’t open on Sundays.

That is absolutely something I support, by the way. I’m really glad they take Sundays off. But I can’t say I’m not disappointed when I have my mouth set on chicken nuggets and waffle fries and remember their doors are shut.

That’s a silly thing to be disappointed about, isn’t it? Well, it seemed like a relatable picture—more relatable than getting super personal. That’s the thing about disappointment, though, it’s something we’ve all experienced on some level. We’ve trusted another person to keep their promises, and they let us down. We trusted an authority figure to behave a certain way, and then they don’t.

Maybe it’s a car mechanic that says they fixed your vehicle. Maybe it’s a friend or family member who hasn’t supported you the way you hoped. Maybe it’s a pastor or a spiritual leader or some celebrity figure who toppled off the unfortunate pedestal you put him on.

It is part of human nature to elevate other humans. We compare and contrast ourselves all day long, pointing out in detail why one flawed leader is better (or worse) than a different flawed leader. We create little siloed fandom groups who value similar things and turn our backs on others who disagree with us, claiming that they’re weird or strange or just plain wrong.

But when a group of people put another human being above others, eventually that person is going to fail. They’re going to trip or stumble and disappoint the multitudes that expected better from them. Because that’s what human beings do.

We fail.

I wish I could say that people won’t let you down, but that’s not the truth. It’s the opposite of the truth. The best people you know aren’t immune to failure. The wisest people you know won’t always choose wisdom. The bravest people you know will sometimes act like cowards. The kindest people you know might sometimes act cruel. And those of us who strive with every breath to be like Jesus will, at some point, turn away from Him.

This is a real cheerful devo today, isn’t it?

I mean, I think it is. As a recovering performance-driven perfectionist, truly embracing the fact that Jesus doesn’t expect me to be perfect is liberating. That doesn’t mean I give up trying, but it does mean I cling to every moment of grace He offers me. I can’t be good enough.

But Jesus is.

That’s the whole point. Jesus is good enough. For you, for me, for all of us. He is good enough to carry the weight of all our flaws and failures, so that we aren’t burdened with the consequences of our imperfections. And we’re not just talking about eternity here. That’s obvious. None of us can be good enough to get into heaven. That’s the bread and butter of the Gospel.

I’m talking about everyday life too. All of those people who you’ve placed your faith in—you know who I’m talking about—all of those men and women who have let you down over your lifetime, none of them were able to satisfy the needs of your soul in the first place. None of them had shoulders broad enough to bear the weight of your anxieties and heartaches and hopes.

But Jesus does.

It’s so easy to put our faith in people because we see them all around us. It’s easy to be impressed by people because they are loud and in our faces, demanding attention or submission or obedience. Jesus doesn’t do that. He won’t force you to depend on Him. He’s standing at the back of the crowd waiting for you to come seek Him out.

You can put your faith and trust in another person if you want. Nobody will stop you. Just understand that someday in the future, that person will let you down. It might be a moral failure. It might be a physical failure; they might die. It could just be them reaching the end of their strength.

But there is no end to Jesus’ strength. There is no flaw or failure in Jesus. There is no end to Jesus.

The more you get to know Jesus, the more you will see that He has never let anyone down. He has never failed anyone. He has kept every promise He’s made. He has been faithful throughout the ages, even when people who promised to follow Him turned against Him.

You won’t always understand what He’s doing, and most of the time you will need to take a step back and breathe when He acts. Sometimes trusting in Jesus feels like going backward, but ultimately He is the only one who truly knows how to guide us to a good future.

He may not take you the way you want to go either, but what’s awesome about Jesus is that He’s also big enough to handle your disappointment. He won’t wither and collapse. He can handle whatever emotions you are experiencing, and if you keep trusting Him, He will show you why doing life His way matters.

Whatever you’re facing in life today, don’t put your trust in people. Put your trust in Jesus. Do what He says is right. Live the way He has said is true. And let Him work out the details.

He won’t ever let you down.

Questions for Reflection

• Why is it so much easier to put our trust in another human being than it is to trust Jesus with our futures?

• When was a time in your life that Jesus came through for you when you thought all was lost?

• How can we get to know Jesus better?

CHAPTER 11

Sam scrubbed his hands over his face and leaned back in his desk chair. The clock was running double-slow today, like someone had poured honey in its gears. Surely it wasn’t still one o’clock.

Kleinschmidt was out for most of the day in various meetings. All the filing had been done. All the supplies in the office supply room had been restocked…

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The next day there was a wedding celebration in the village of Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the celebration. The wine supply ran out during the festivities, so Jesus’ mother told him, “They have no more wine.”

“Dear woman, that’s not our problem,” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.” But his mother told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” (John 2:1-5)

How do you handle problems that are too big for you?

Problems are a part of everyday life. We all face them. Sometimes our problems are human sized, and we can come up with plans to fix them on our own. Many times, however, we face challenges that are too big for us.

Part of being human is accepting that you need help. I wish that weren’t the case, but I have never met a truly self-sufficient human being. Eventually we all reach the end of our capacity.

This famous story found in John 2 from the life of Christ is one I always had a hard time understanding. Some of it may have been the King James Version I grew up reading, where Jesus is basically like, “Woman, what does this have to do with me?” And as a young person, that sounded a bit snappy. Of course, if anyone was allowed to be snappy with His mom, it was Jesus … but it seemed contradictory to how kids (even adult ones) were supposed to act.

Ah, the value of cultural context!

No, Jesus isn’t being rude to His mom. But also, Mary isn’t nagging Jesus either, which is the other part of this story that always confused me.

Mary knows the family putting this wedding on, and this problem of running out of wine is a big deal culturally speaking. It would harm their reputation. No, it’s not life or death, but it would have a damaging effect on the family.

But what can be done? There isn’t a local WineMart down the street where they can get more. Amazon didn’t deliver back in Bible days. The only option was Jesus. Mary knew it.

Mary had no illusions about her firstborn Son. She knew who He was. I don’t think she fully knew what He could do, but she knew where He came from. That was enough.

All Mary did was to share the problem with Jesus and then tell the ones who needed help to ask Him for it. She doesn’t tell Jesus what to do. She didn’t have that authority (and still doesn’t, by the way). She simply brought Him the problem and left it with Him.

Mary couldn’t fix it. None of the people in charge of the wedding could fix it. All they could do was ask. Jesus is the one who chose to act.

Notice He said it wasn’t His time, not that He wouldn’t do it.

Now, did He act because it was Mary who asked? Did He act because the family was in danger? I don’t know. We don’t have that context. What we do know is that Jesus decided this was worth His time, worth revealing His power, worth making this His first recorded miracle.

When we ask Jesus for His help, He will act when He believes the time is right. He will respond in a way that fits the work He is already doing. It might be flashy; it probably won’t be flashy at all, just being honest. It might be an action so small you miss it at first glance. But He will always respond.

I can’t fix the problems in my life. I can’t fix the problems in the lives of the people I love. All I can do is go to Jesus and tell Him about the broken things I can’t repair. And then I can encourage the people I love to do what Jesus says to do.

Then, I need to step back. My part is done.

I have to let go. I have to trust that Jesus will take care of the things I am powerless to control. It isn’t easy, especially when I feel like I need to be the one checking items off the task list. But the more I try to help, the greater distraction I become to what Jesus is doing.

The only way to handle problems that are too big for us is to do whatever Jesus says to do.

Questions for Reflection

• When was a time that you faced a problem with no humanly possible solution?

• If you took it to Jesus, what did He tell you to do?

• How have you seen Jesus work in your life through your unsolvable problems?

CHAPTER 10

Scowling at the baked-on bit of chicken in the aluminum pan’s corner, Sam attacked with a worn-out chunk of steel wool. The scraping sound felt like nails on a chalkboard.

“You’re muttering, Sam.” Gideon called from his favorite chair.

“It’s stupid to have to wash the dishes before we put them in the dishwasher.” Sam rinsed the last particles of…

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You keep whatever your god Chemosh gives you, and we will keep whatever the Lord our God gives us. (Judges 11:24)

Making history boring should be a criminal offense.

That’s a strong statement, I know, but we do the greatest disservice to the next generation by making history too challenging to learn. History isn’t boring. History is the record of what tho…

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CHAPTER 9

Sam swallowed the urge to yawn as the old goat of a professor started off down another rabbit trail. Why any philosophy class had to be part of his general education credits he would never understand. The old gray-hair adjusted his spectacles the size of oblong nickels and rambled on about something that wouldn’t be on the next test.

Sam made a …

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You can be sure of this: The LORD set apart the godly for himself. The LORD will answer when I call to him. Don’t sin by letting anger control you. Think about it overnight and remain silent. (Psalm 4:3-4)

What makes you angry?

There’s a lot to be angry about in the world right now. My own laundry list of problems could keep us here all day, and that doesn’t even take into account all of the legitimate reasons all of you reading this have to be angry.

The world is broken. People are cruel. The enemy uses people to hurt each other. Innocents get caught in the crossfire. Wicked, selfish people project their own failures on those who are noble in order to ruin their reputations. Self-righteous manipulators bask in success while the ones who do real hard work go unnoticed and forgotten. The list goes on and on and on.

What do you do with anger when you feel it? This isn’t a trick question. It’s a real thought I’ve had throughout most of my life. Most people don’t believe this, but anger is my default emotion. I respond to brokenness and sin and fear and hurt with anger, but my anger doesn’t look like what people expect. It’s a quite, internal anger that simmers away deep in my heart, and it’s almost impossible to purge. I carried unresolved anger around in my heart for decades before I realized what it was.

Anger is a challenge because by itself it isn’t a sin. That’s something we all need to understand very clearly. Just because you feel anger doesn’t automatically make it a sin. Anger is a secondary emotion. It is a natural response to injustice or hurt feelings or fear. The problem with anger is that it leads us to action, and actions taken in anger are often sinful.

Anger is insidious and can take control of our hearts and minds before we even realize it, so we must be wise when we experience it. Otherwise, we will hand over our agency to an emotion that is just as broken as the world around us.

Before we deal with our anger, we must recognize one very important truth: God is in control.

God made you. He designed every part of you, from the tiniest hair on your head to the innermost depths of your soul. He made you for a purpose, intended you to function within His master plan for the universe. When Scripture tells us that He set you apart for Him, that’s what He means. He’s got a plan and a purpose for your life, and when we need Him, we can call on Him and He will answer.

Make all of that the bedrock of your decision making paradigm before you do anything else, because that foundation affects how you handle the troubles life throws at you. Life isn’t perfect, and it won’t ever be, but God is in control and is big enough to take the worst circumstances and turn them into something beautiful that brings Him glory.

With that truth in mind, what makes you angry? What are you angry about right now? What has your blood pressure skyrocketing? I would venture to guess that we all have something that is making our speech a little bit salty today.

If you are angry at injustice, good. If you are angry at how sin has wrecked something God made, good. God is angry about those things too. It’s okay to be angry. Hey, it’s godly to be angry about sin.

But what are you doing to DO about it? That’s the real question. That’s where the rubber meets the road here. It’s one thing to say you believe that God is good and that God is big enough to work things out and that God has a plan, but are you going to live like you believe it? Can you live like that’s the truth when you’re so angry you can’t see straight?

That’s the hard part. That’s the aspect of following Jesus that makes this life so difficult. Our anger is valid. The rage we feel when God is disrespected, when innocent people suffer, when noble leaders are torn down by lesser men is legitimate, but God has not called us to be vigilantes. He has not called us to be fixers. He has not called us to be character assassins. And He will not bless us if we use the weapons of our enemy in an attempt to make things right.

We know from James 1:20 that when we act in anger, we don’t produce God’s righteousness. God’s righteousness only comes from acting in faith, in humility, and in love.

That doesn’t mean we can’t stand up for ourselves, but we should find a way to do with compassion. That doesn’t mean we can’t say no, but we must find a way to say it in kindness. That doesn’t mean we compromise what’s true, but we can stand our ground in love.

Be angry. It’s okay. I am too. About a lot of things. But I know God too well to believe He isn’t already working things out. My job is to take the next right step, to praise Him for what He is going to do, and to stay rooted in the love He has shown me so that I know how to love others—including those who make me angry.

Questions for Reflection

• When you experience anger, what is the primary emotion that causes it most often?

• Why do you think human anger doesn’t produce God’s righteousness?

• How is one way you can bring your legitimate anger under God’s command?

Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’ But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. (Luke 18:10-14)

This devotion is late.

I hate it when I don’t hit deadlines, but the last 40 days have been sheer insanity. I’ll share more about that at a later time, but this wasn’t the only deadline I missed. It was a good lesson for me to learn on several levels. But I didn’t just want to NOT post something, especially because this passage is so important.

And, let’s be honest, it’s relevant.

In our online culture and society, it’s easier than ever to pretend that everything is fine when it’s not. The personal connection we used to have as a society that spent real quality time together is frayed and falling apart in many instances. We rely on social media now to determine and evaluate how another person is doing, and that isn’t a great metric because social media isn’t real life.

Just because someone looks like they have it all together on social media doesn’t mean they do. The lifestyles portrayed in images on Instagram and TikTok and whatever the latest social media network of choice is are easy to manipulate. I just heard the other day that a good percentage of people on BookTok who are all about book reviews haven’t even read the books they’re promoting. That surprised me, although it probably shouldn’t have.

Human beings love attention. We love to be noticed and acknowledged as successful or worthy of following. Our egos crave recognition. And, let’s be honest, recognition by itself isn’t inherently bad. It’s good to acknowledge when someone has done a good job. It’s biblical to praise what is worthy of praise, but earning praise is hard work. Legitimate recognition requires sacrifice and focus and effort, and it’s so much easier to fake it, to pretend like you’ve done all the work when you haven’t even done the bare minimum.

Jesus told this story in the gospel of Luke to demonstrate the difference between those who are confident in their own righteousness versus those who know how much God has done for them. The religious leaders of the day were haughty and proud and self-righteous, claiming that they were holier and better than the average person because of all the laws they kept. I guess some of it was true; they were rigid in discipline, focused on the minute details of right and wrong, and unyielding in their definition of justice. But because of how they lived, they considered themselves better, and deep inside they weren’t any different than the next sinner in line.

It’s easy to call the Bible a book of rules you have to follow to be righteous. To be fair, the Bible does have a lot of rules, a lot of direction, a lot of guidance, but none of the rules listed in Scripture have anything to do with making ourselves righteous. Rules in Scripture are intended to help us live a godly life—not to justify us in God’s sight. Nobody can live righteously enough to earn holiness. That’s what the religious elite in Jesus’ day misunderstood. That’s what those who cling to religion today get wrong too.

The tax collector in Jesus’ story got the message. He knew how wicked he was. He understood that nothing he could do would redeem his soul, so he approached God with humility and begged for mercy. God hears prayers like that. God sees hearts like that. God answers people with that attitude.

All of us are going to fail at some point. That’s not to say we should give up and just expect mediocrity, but it’s important to know so that we don’t place our value or our personal identity in our successes (or our failures).

When you present yourself as holy and righteous outside of God’s mercy, there’s not much He can do for you other than let you go your own way. So go for it. Exalt yourself all day long. Demand attention and recognition of your sacrifices and prove to everyone around you how good you are. Eventually, your own actions will give it away and reveal you as a fraud.

But if you want God to exalt you, if you want God to acknowledge you, there’s only one way: Humble yourself.

Understand where you’d be without God. That will show you how you should approach the Lord when you come to Him. When you choose humility, God will reward you. And His rewards are better than anything you can get by showing off to the world.

Questions for Reflection

Why is it so difficult to be humble?

What makes choosing humility so scary?

Why do you think people choose to exalt themselves rather than waiting for God’s?

CHAPTER 8

Sam mumbled to himself as he skimmed the typewritten words on the doctoral thesis open on his lap. On a wild hare, he’d dropped by one of the research libraries connected to the National Museum of Asian Art. As he’d hoped, several doctoral students from multiple universities over the years had developed their theses using Smithsonian resources …

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CHAPTER 7

Masquerade balls originated in the 14th and 15th centuries in connection with the European Carnivals. Characterized by extravagant costumes and concealing facial masks, these events provided opportunity for many participants to break social norms without consequence.

Sam sat back in his seat, scowling thoughtfully at the handwritten paragraph. I…

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