There's an Enemy of our souls who seeks to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). He twisted Scripture into temptation for Jesus in the wilderness, so I shouldn't be surprised when he twists good things into temptations for me. Good things can be easily twisted into pride, idolatry, and arrogance. Meanwhile, God takes the bad circumstances and situations in our lives and brings good out of them. It's up to us to see the good. The obvious biblical example that comes to mind is of Joseph who was left for dead, sold into slavery, falsely accused, and forgotten. But God. His brothers intended to harm him, but God used it for good to accomplish the saving of many lives (Genesis 50:20). It's easy to wallow in self-pity at the current state of our world, but God is constantly calling me up to see the good. He is at work! He has not abandoned us! He is bringing good out of the hard! Will I open my eyes to see it?
Good into Bad
There he goes again
twisting my good into bad
It seems like it happens all the time
turning a God-given talent
into pride
turning a spiritual discipline
into a judgment on others
turning a means of stepping into my calling
into an obsession
turning my church/ministry-related whatever
into a temptation
It has happened with good things like
Bible art journaling
Scripture memorization
VIPKid (a straight-up blessing from You)
It's so frustrating
I'm disillusioned into thinking
that the more I seek after You
the less I'll have to deal with temptation
Should I consider these attacks a compliment?
Should I be flattered?
No, wait -- that leads to more pride!
Grr...
The Enemy twisted truth into lies for You, too,
trying to use Scripture against You in the wilderness
I should expect these attacks
instead of letting them take me off guard
Help me put on Your armor
as I walk in Your footsteps
Good from Bad
There You go again
bringing good from the bad
redeeming the broken
spoiled
forgotten
failure
When the Enemy intends to
harm divide weaken break
You intend to bring good
even out of the worst circumstance
The Enemy set out to harm Joseph
but You wove good into all the ups and downs of his life
and it resulted in the saving
of many lives
Through all this COVID craziness
You are bringing good
teaching me how to enjoy my family
bringing the world together
lifting our eyes off the shifting sands of this world
and onto the only solid, unchanging One
Praise the Lord!
For I know that my Redeemer lives!
You are constantly bringing good
from my missteps and inadequacies
from the evil so prevalent in this world
from paranoia of pandemic proportions
You are good
and what You do is good
Teach me Your decrees
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