Thursday 16 Feb 2023

February 16: Mark 8:27-33

Key Verse: Mark 8:33
But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. ‘Get behind me, Satan!’ he said. ‘You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.’

Devotion:
What has been the hardest thing in life for you to believe or understand? As a person with a scientific and engineering mindset, I have always looked for the practical answers to almost everything in life and have found most things to be explainable in some manner, but when it comes to the ways of the heart and spiritual ways, I find myself lacking in understanding and sometimes lacking in faith because of that!

Another thing I struggle with is biology and things concerning the body; my hat goes off to all the doctors and nurses out there who have an understanding on how the human body works!

So what do you do when you don’t understand? What do you do when you find yourself lacking the knowledge or wisdom to get through the next step you are trying to take? I found this out when I was in hospital because I had no idea how serious my illness was until I was well enough to speak to the doctors and nurses who looked after me – I then began to understand the seriousness of my situation! But, all throughout my stay in hospital, I knew God was looking after me and He was encouraging me to look for the positive and spiritual sides of everything.

When we don’t understand things we need to defer to someone who does understand and someone who knows what the outcome is going to be! I had no idea and so deferred to God because I had no idea. But for someone who has a partial understanding, it may have been a very different story! I find that with mechanical stuff – I know it is possible and I know there is a physical way forward, but sometimes I cannot see the wood for the trees!

Points to Ponder:
Do you give God a chance to explain things?

Or do you rush in and break stuff?