The Mobile Phone
1 Corinthians 1:18,19 The teaching about the cross seems foolish to those who are lost. But to us who are being saved it is the power of God. As the Scriptures say, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise. I will confuse the understanding of the intelligent.”
When something bad happens to us, when we’re hurting, our most common reaction is to look out at our circumstances through the lens of that pain. It’s only natural, but that outlook all too often gives us a distorted perspective on what’s really going on.
A good friend of mine, Graham, and I were at a conference recently and as we’re sitting there in the middle of a presentation I managed to spill my glass of water all over the table. He leaned over and said, “Don’t worry, this morning I dropped my mobile phone down the toilet.” We both had a good chuckle at that!
But it got me thinking. Graham is one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. He’s given his life to serving God all around the world and yet God lets him drop his mobile phone down the toilet. Have you ever wondered, why does God let that stuff happen?
And so often, it’s much worse when bad things happen to good people. It just doesn’t seem fair, does it? I don’t have any glib answers but God’s ways … well, they’re not always our ways.
After all, He let His Son die on a cross for you and me. It was brutal and no, it wasn’t fair. I sure would like to know sometimes why HE lets these things happen, but when I look at that cross, I thank God that He does.
1 Corinthians 1:18,19 The teaching about the cross seems foolish to those who are lost. But to us who are being saved it is the power of God. As the Scriptures say, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise. I will confuse the understanding of the intelligent.”
We won’t always know why we have to suffer unfairly. But what we do know is that God is no stranger to unjust suffering Himself. Jesus.
That’s His Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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Ethan Crawshaw
Hi Charmaine, I’m so glad you have been a part of CW for such a long time. You are totally correct in saying how ...
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Hi Charmaine,
I’m so glad you have been a part of CW for such a long time. You are totally correct in saying how important and loving Jesus’ death and resurrection was for all of us. I think this bible verse and this devotional is less about Jesus’ reaction to His own death and resurrection and more about how humans react when we hear the story or when we try to understand what God is doing in our lives. We can be bewildered by the gospel of Jesus and confused as we don’t always know why humans have to suffer unfairly. But the passage in 1 Corinthians here beautifully articulates what you are saying. That there is no bewilderment for you cause you are saved. You understand that God was completely in charge and that the cross was essential to His purpose. And to that measure when ‘bad things happen’ today God is still in charge. Jesus did fully understand and accept that. And we too can understand that because the knowledge of the gospel is “to us who are being saved… the power of God”.
Hopefully, this restores your comfort with this devotional and affirms your feelings.
Blessings,
Ethan.
Charmaine Holmes
Hi thank you so much, I’ve been reading CW for years and it’s fabulous. However this is the first time I’ve felt ...
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Hi thank you so much, I’ve been reading CW for years and it’s fabulous.
However this is the first time I’ve felt uncomfortable on the part of possible first time readers or new Christians, who need to know God in charge of absolutely everything with His perfect holy will.
To my reading the passage makes it sound like Jesus should be bewildered by the unfairness and randomness of the cross, and that we together with Jesus would have felt the arbitrariness of it as we do when ‘ bad things happen’.
Rather it was planted in eternity and it’s the reason Jesus came, and Jesus knew this clearly. It was horrific and intentional and holy love. God was completely in charge, and the cross was essential to His purpose, and Jesus fully understood and accepted that.
Blessings
Charmaine