Welcome That Bad News

For Monday, June 20

Welcome That Bad News

1 Kings 22:1-53; Acts 13:16-41; Psalm 138:1-8; Proverbs 17:17-18 (click to read)

(1 Kings 22) 7 But Jehoshaphat said, "Just to make sure, is there another of the LORD's prophets we can ask?" 8 "We could ask Micaiah son of Imlah," Ahab said. "But I hate Micaiah. He always has bad news for me."

Surely it is obvious to us all - bad news, when accurate and especially when timely, is really good news. But how often am I tempted to "fudge" the details or circumstances to make the outcome fit what I want. I have discovered that I also have a "talent" for seeing only what I want to see, and for being one-sided in my selection of view. It leads, of course, to bad decisions. It leads to lack of wisdom. It leads to surprising failures, rather than to careful tactics or well thought out victories. The reality view is sometimes hard to embrace, yet it is the only foundation for success. That doesn't mean God is absent or that His Spirit is not part of the reality view - Jesus has His Plans and I want to be reality based in them. Just as Paul (in the Acts reading) goes to such great lengths to demonstrate both the resurrection of Jesus and the prophecies of that event, so I want to hear from God's Spirit, from any "Michaiah" person God sends my way. Ultimately, I want to be firmly based on God's reality so my choices are both "guaranteed" and "directed" in His Will.

Lord - Give me a mature ear, and mind to receive Your Input, be that a warning or an encouragement. Thank You for encouragements and insights that can lead me everyday into the center of what You are doing around me and for me.

(You can download the Pathway 2011 Bible reading list here.)