2026-01-09
1 Corinthians 13:12 NCV
When Corrie ten Boom travelled the world sharing her experiences, she would often speak with her head down. She appeared to be reading notes, but she was actually stitching a needlepoint design. When she would finish telling her story of the atrocities she suffered from the Nazis, she would reveal the needlepoint she had been working on.
She would first show the back side, which was just a tangle of coloured threads with no distinct pattern. And she would say, “That’s how we see our lives. Sometimes it makes no sense.” Then she would flip the needlepoint over to unveil the finished side. And she would say, “This is how God views your life, and someday we will have the privilege of seeing it from His point of view.”
Then she would end her talk with this poem written by Grant Colfax Tullar, a minister: “My life is but a weaving between my Lord and me; I cannot choose the colours, He worketh steadily. Oft times He weaveth sorrow and I, in foolish pride, forget He sees the upper, and I the underside. Not till the loom is silent and the shuttles cease to fly, will God unroll the canvas and explain the reason why. The dark threads are as needful in the Weaver’s skillful hand, as the threads of gold and silver in the pattern He has planned.”
Paul writes, “Now we see a dim reflection, as if we were looking into a mirror, but then we shall see clearly. Now I know only a part, but then I will know fully, as God has known me.”
Soul food: Lev 15-17; Luke 2:1-7; Ps 46; Prov 1:32-33
2026-01-08
Psalm 90:12 NKJV
Motivational speaker Denis Waitley describes an experience that marked his life forever. He was trying to catch a flight for a speaking commitment and was running through the airport terminal. He reached the gate just as the agent closed the door. Denis explained his dilemma, but the agent didn’t reopen the door. That’s when his annoyance turned into anger.
He stomped out of the boarding area and returned to the ticket counter to lodge a complaint and reschedule his flight. His anger increased as he waited for over twenty minutes in a line that hardly moved. Right before his turn at the ticket counter, an announcement over the intercom changed his life, because he realized that by missing that flight, his life had been saved. The flight he missed, Flight 191 from Chicago to Los Angeles, had crashed on take-off with no survivors. Denis never lodged his complaint. He also never returned his invalidated ticket for Flight 191. He brought it home and tacked it on a bulletin board in his office.
In the aftermath of that experience, anytime he felt irritated or upset, all he had to do was look at that ticket from Flight 191. It was an unforgettable reminder that life is a gift that should not be undervalued. The psalmist wrote: “The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are eighty years… it is soon cut off, and we fly away… So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (vv. 10, 12 NKJV).
Soul food: Lev 13:38-14:57; Luke 1:67-80; Ps 3; Prov 1:29-31
Psalm 90:12 NLV
Die motiveringspreker Denis Waitley beskryf ‘n ervaring wat sy lewe vir ewig verander het. Hy moes ‘n vlug haal om ‘n motiveringspraatjie te gaan gee, maar was laat en het deur die lughaweterminaal gehardloop om die vlug te probeer haal. Net toe hy die hek bereik, het die agent die deur voor hom toegemaak. Denis het sy dilemma verduidelik, maar die agent wou nie die deur weer oopmaak nie.
Hy het woedend omgedraai en na die kaartjietoonbank gegaan om ‘n klagte in te dien en sy vlug te herskeduleer. Sy woede het toegeneem terwyl hy meer as twintig minute in ‘n ry wat skaars beweeg het, moes wag. Net voor hy sy beurt by die kaartjietoonbank sou kry, het ‘n aankondiging oor die interkom sy lewe verander. Die vlug wat hy misgeloop het, Vlug 191 van Chicago na Los Angeles, het neergestort kort nadat dit opgestyg het. Daar was nie enige oorlewendes op die vlug nie. Denis het nooit sy klagte ingedien nie. Hy het ook nooit sy kaartjie vir Vlug 191 wat hy nooit gebruik het nie, weggegooi nie. Hy het dit huis toe geneem en dit op ‘n kennisgewingbord in sy kantoor vasgeplak.
In die nasleep van daardie ervaring, het hy elke keer as hy geïrriteerd of ontsteld gevoel het, net na daardie kaartjie van Vlug 191 gekyk. Dit was ‘n onvergeetlike bewys dat die lewe ‘n geskenk is wat nie onderskat moet word nie. Die Psalmdigter het geskryf: ‘Die getal van ons jare kan 70 wees, of as ons sterk is, 80… Die lewe is gou verby, en ons bestaan nie meer nie… Leer ons ons dae só gebruik dat ons wysheid kan bekom’ (verse 10, 12 NLV).
Sielskos: Lev 13:38-14:57; Luk 1:67-80; Ps 3; Spr 1:29-31
2026-01-07
1 Kings 19:4 NIV
Elijah got so depressed that he wanted to die. Here is the threefold prescription God gave him for climbing out of his depression:
(1) Refresh yourself. “An angel touched him and said, ‘Get up and eat.’ He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again” (vv. 5-6 NIV). Elijah was exhausted. He had just fasted for a long time, so his body was weakened. He had also run eighteen miles to deliver the good news of his victory over the pagan prophets, adding to his physical weakness. Adequate rest and a balanced diet can do wonders for your life.
(2) Focus on God. When you take your eyes off God and focus on yourself, you begin to amplify every difficulty you encounter and disregard the One who can solve every problem you have. God told Elijah, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord” (v. 11 NIV). One minister notes, “When God has your ear, He can speak into it. When God has your heart, He can minister to it.”
(3) Attend to others. God told Elijah, “Anoint Hazael king over Aram. Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha… to succeed you as prophet” (vv. 15-16 NIV). Perhaps you need to find someone to minister to. You’re not the only one who has problems; there are people in worse straits than you. If you want to see the haze of depression dissipate, stop looking within and begin looking outward.
Soul food: Lev 11:1-13:37; Luke 1:57-66; Ps 42:6-11; Prov 1:24-28
1 Konings 19:4 NLV
Elia het so depressief geword dat hy wou doodgaan. Hier is die drievoudige voorskrif wat God vir hom gegee het om uit sy gat van depressie te klim:
1) Verfris jouself. ‘…’n engel het hom aangeraak en gesê: ‘Staan op en eet!’ Hy kyk op en dáár sien hy ‘n roosterkoek wat op warm klippe gebak is en ‘n kruik vol water. Hy het geëet en gedrink en weer gaan lê’ (verse 5-6 NLV). Elia was uitgeput. Hy het pas vir ‘n lang tydperk gevas en sy liggaam was verswak. Voldoende rus en ‘n gebalanseerde dieet kan wondere vir jou lewe doen.
2) Fokus op God. Wanneer jy jou oë van God afneem en op jouself fokus, begin elke moeilikheid waarvoor jy te staan kom groter lyk as wat dit is. Jy begin om die Een wat elke probleem wat jy teëkom kan oplos, te ignoreer. God het vir Elia gesê: ‘Kom buitekant toe en gaan staan voor My op die berg…’ (vers 11 NLV). Een prediker merk op: ‘Wanneer God jou oor het, kan Hy daarin praat. Wanneer God jou hart het, kan Hy dit versorg.’
3) Gee aandag aan ander. God het vir Elia gesê: ‘…jy [moet] Gasael salf tot koning van Aram. Dan moet jy Jehu seun van Nimsi salf tot koning oor Israel. Jy moet ook Elisa… salf om jou as my profeet op te volg’ (verse 15-16 NLV). Miskien moet jy iemand vind wat jy kan help en kan dien. Jy is nie die enigste een wat probleme het nie; daar is mense in erger situasies as jy. As jy wil sien hoe die waas van depressie verdwyn, hou op om na binne te kyk en begin na buite te kyk.
Sielskos: Lev 11:1-13:37; Luk 1:57-66; Ps 42:6-11; Spr 1:24-28
