#God's Ways

[momentsbeforemass]

Someone else's miracle

I saw God at Walmart last week.

A mom was getting shoes for her two little boys. They looked to be about 4 and 7 years old.

She had found a pair of shoes that fit the older one. And he really liked them.

The younger one really liked them too. And that was the problem.

Because the 4-year-old didn’t just want the same shoes that she found for his big brother. He wanted the same shoes – in the same size as his big brother.

She was trying to get him to try on the shoes, but in a size that would fit him. And he was having none of it.

The more she tried, the more upset he became. Because she wouldn’t give him the same thing that she got for his brother.

He didn’t understand that she was trying to get him shoes that would work for him. Instead of the comically huge ones that he was demanding.

It gave me a glimpse of how you and I must look from God’s perspective.

When we see something that God did for someone else – someone else’s healing, someone else’s healthy relationship, someone else’s promotion, someone else’s successful struggle with addiction, someone else’s growing business.

And get bent out of shape because God didn’t do the exact same thing for us. Because He didn’t give us someone else’s miracle.

We all do it, just like the people in today’s Gospel. We pray for something, we ask God for it, we believe for it. And then get upset when God doesn’t do it for us the same way that He did it for someone else.

Whether our reaction takes the form of doubting ourselves, wondering whether we prayed and believed hard enough for it. Or if it takes the form of doubting God. Maybe even rejecting God because we didn’t get someone else’s miracle (or trying to kill Jesus like in today’s Gospel). It really doesn’t matter.

Because all of them leave us in the same place as the 4-year-old who was angry with his mom for not getting him the shoes he was demanding.

His anger makes perfect sense. But only to his self-absorbed 4-year-old brain.

All because he can’t see the big picture. Because he can’t see beyond himself enough to trust that his mother loves him and wants the best for him.

The challenge for you and me when it comes to our relationship with God?

To see if we can do better than a self-absorbed 4-year-old.

Today’s Readings

#Walmart #Someone else's miracle #Doubting #Demanding #God's ways #God's love #God #Jesus #Catholic #Christian #Church #Moments Before Mass

[bibleversegarden]

All God's Judgments are Righteous, Just and True

Holy, loving, faithful, gracious, compassionate, merciful, longsuffering God, is righteous, just and true, and so are all His judgments, in all the earth.

Thus says the Lord God: "I will take also one of the highest branches of the high cedar and set it out. I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and will plant it on a high and prominent mountain. On the mountain height of Israel I will plant it; and it will bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a majestic cedar. Under it will dwell birds of every sort; in the shadow of its branches they will dwell."

"And all the trees of the field shall know that I, the LORD, have brought down the high tree and exalted the low tree, dried up the green tree and made the dry tree flourish; I, the LORD, have spoken and have done it." (Ezekiel 17:22-24)

"Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints! Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before You, for Your judgments have been manifested." (Revelation 15:3-4)

- A Walk In The Garden Devotions

Related Bible Readings: Deuteronomy 32:1-4; 1 Samuel 16:6-7; Psalm 19; Psalm 23; Psalm 75; Psalm 89; Psalm 105; Psalm 145; Proverbs 14:34-35; Ezekiel 31; Isaiah 46:12-13; Isaiah 61:8-11; John 7:24; Acts 10:34-48; Revelation 19 and further study Revelation in its entirety.

View Related Devotion

#Bible Reading #christian encouragement #christianinspiration #God's ways #God's righteousness #Righteous God #True God #God's judgments #God's attributes #christian devotion #garden devotion

[officialyourdailyinspiration]

Obey the King

1 Who is as the wise man? and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? a man’s wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the boldness of his face shall be changed. 2 I counsel thee to keep the king’s commandment, and that in regard of the oath of God. 3 Be not hasty to go out of his sight: stand not in an evil thing; for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him. 4 Where the word of a king is, there is power: and who may say unto him, What doest thou? 5 Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man’s heart discerneth both time and judgment.

6 Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him. 7 For he knoweth not that which shall be: for who can tell him when it shall be? 8 There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it. 9 All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time wherein one man ruleth over another to his own hurt.

10 And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done: this is also vanity. 11 Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. 12 Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him: 13 but it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God. 14 There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there be just men, unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there be wicked men, to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also is vanity. 15 Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun.

16 When I applied mine heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth: (for also there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes:) 17 then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea further; though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it. — Ecclesiastes 8 | Authorized King James Version (AKJV) The Holy Bible: Authorized King James Version; Cambridge University Press, the Crown’s patentee in the UK. All rights reserved. Cross References: Genesis 47:9; Exodus 1:20; Exodus 22:11; Exodus 34:29; Deuteronomy 4:40; 2 Samuel 21:7; Job 9:12; Job 14:2; Job 21:7; Psalm 42:8; Psalm 49:7; Psalm 73:3; Psalm 73:16; Proverbs 10:7; Proverbs 12:21; Ecclesiastes 1:11; Ecclesiastes 1:13-14; Ecclesiastes 2:1; Ecclesiastes 2:23; Ecclesiastes 3:1; Ecclesiastes 3:14; Ecclesiastes 3:16-17; Ecclesiastes 3:22; Ecclesiastes 4:1; Ecclesiastes 5:8; Ecclesiastes 6:12; Ecclesiastes 10:4; Ecclesiastes 12:13; Daniel 4:35; Romans 2:4; Romans 11:33; Romans 13:5; 2 Peter 3:9

#God #fear #reverence #obedience #King #God's ways #mysterious #Ecclesiastes 8 #Book of Ecclesiastes #Old Testament #AKJV #Holy Bible #Authorized King James Version #Cambridge University Press

[lotrmusical]

never let anyone tell you that trawling through mediocre victorian poetry isn't worth it. we just happened upon an absolute BANGER of a worm poem. go read it or else 🪱🪱🪱

#was calling beckett and scouring the works of eliza cook looking for lesbianism #good amounts of lesbianism in evidence but unfortunately very little in the way of good poetry #APART from this worm one which DOES NOT MISS #eliza cook #is there a thriving eliza cook tag on tumblr. somehow i doubt it #the hand of the giant and the heart of the brave / must turn weak and submit to the worm and the grave! #not an original theme ofc but GOD the treatment is delightful. so fresh so gleeful some rlly nice use of sound. rlly solidly constructed #words #gay belligerence

[adriles]

they are Cancelling me for dealing with my grief as best i can . also for the vicious war Crimes

#book 24 #the conversation between the gods at the beginning there is just this #greatest hits #all i say is vicious war crimes in a vague way #and you all start frothing at the mouth like rabid dogs #a lot of yall get the memo with the blorbo tags but also. seeing quite a few strange pulls #not exactly war crimes but Ok #sometimes normal vicious crimes can just be normal vicious crimes ok guys #can yall stop tagging this as israel u guys r fucking weird…. #if u see this and think it is a joke about actual fucking horrific war crimes and ethnic cleansing. u may be fucked up in the head #please be normal #will people stop commenting on this please. none of yall r funny

[lilislegacy]

imagine being someone at new rome university and not knowing percy is the same guy as “percy jackson, son of poseidon, two-time hero of olympus, former praetor” because the thought doesn’t even cross your mind. like… he’s percy. he’s a total frat boy. on a normal night, he walks into a party, refers to everyone as bro or dude, socializes with every living (and not-living) person in the room, makes at least 50 sarcastic comments, plays 12 rounds of beer pong, drinks way too much, and then skates around campus on his skateboard yelling “I LOVE NEW YORK” (which makes no sense, because they’re in california) until someone calls his girlfriend to come get him.

and then one day there’s an attack, and frat boy percy is all of a sudden a fighting machine. he’s yelling battle cries alongside the praetors frank zhang and hazel levesque as they lead everyone into battle. (why is he with the praetors? and why…. why in the world do the praetors seem to be following his lead?) his sword slashes through armies of monsters faster than you’ve ever seen. he’s controlling the entire river surrounding the camp, creating huge waves as tall as skyscrapers that crash down all around him, wiping out monsters and causing mass destruction to his enemies’ ranks. the sky is suddenly dark above you, ice-cold water droplets are slashing through the air, and the wind is blowing so aggressively that it’s making it hard to stand up steadily. because he’s somehow created a hurricane.

and he looks terrifying. you can feel the power radiating off of him. he’s like a god. or maybe a monster. it’s hard to tell. you’re a little scared of him, to be honest. but also in total awe, because it’s extraordinary. he’s extraordinary.

frat boy percy is not who you thought he was.

#but at least it makes sense why annabeth chase is dating him lol #I AM NOT SAYING PERCY IS A BIG DRINKER #if he even drinks at all #it’s just the frat boy concept #it’s just for the sake of the post #anyway #i love how fast his mood changes #he’s so terrifying #but in a cute way #frat boy percy #percy jackson #annabeth chase #percabeth #trials of apollo #chalice of the gods #heroes of olympus #percy jackson and the olympians #pjo

[polysyndetonaddictsupportgroup]

I cannot put into mortal words how fucking badly I want that swedish goat to burn. We live in a modern surveillance hellscape and not only is big brother watching you but he’s monitoring your purchase habits so he can sell you a smart refrigerator that will spy on you for the cia. the full weight of modern technology can be rallied to protect that straw monument to human hubris and I want us to burn it anyway. I want the might of modern society to crumple in the face of a drunk swede with a zippo lighter. we can do it just take my hand

#gavle goat #gavlebocken #god please just burn it to the ground #to be loved is to be changed #and I love that goat for how it burns #I’m way too intense about it please just burn the goat please please

[variksel]

i hate you ai art i hate you "unalive" i hate you youtube premium i hate you twitter 8$ checkmark i hate you nfts i hate you therapy app advertisements i hate you non-chronological timelines i hate you instagram reels i hate you subtle tiktok filters that cant be turned off i hate you family bloggers i hate you ads on true crime episodes i hate you facebook i hate you vr glasses on chickens i hate you dystopian social media

#sorry but genuinely sometimes i feel like we live in a fucking dystopia #i get ads of chat bots designed to look like cute girls who will listen to your problems and it. god #its so unbelievably strange in some indescribable way #how am i supposed to explain that the word unalive makes me want to tear my hair out #vent #rant #idk

[oars]

#i feel like tge fact im apprehensive about posting this is kinda proving my point #the way everyone talks about both weight gain and weight loss is just horrendous #like idek if i could fit all i wanna say in here especially while im at work but #i so badly wish people could be normal about weight gain and talking about it #its like if youre not in some constant state of wanting to lose weight people want to kill you #god forbid you want to put on weight to feel more comfortable in your body outside of muscles and a butt #fatphobia is a given thats a whole other few paragraphs #im grateful i have mutuals and friends who are normal but ill have or hear these convos and go #ok i feel sick. why do i feel this way why do you feel that way. #anyways i think fatphobia is one of the worst things to ever happen

[camilleflyingrotten]

𝘖𝘩 𝘈𝘻𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘦…

#good omens #aziraphale #crowley #ineffable husbands #aziracrow #illustration #interpret it the way you like best #it’s God’s hands lmfao #digital art #procreate #my art

[momentsbeforemass]

Ball

When my daughter was little, we lived on a busy street.

One day, the ball that we were playing with got away from us and bounced off towards the street. She took off after the ball. And I took off after her.

As the ball rolled into traffic, I scooped her up into my arms.

I hugged her close and told her I loved her – while she fussed and squirmed and struggled to get down. The whole time, she kept looking for the ball. Which we never saw again.

As I saw things, I had kept her from running into traffic. I could breathe again. My daughter was safe.

But as she saw things, I had made her lose her ball. She was not happy about it.

I tried to tell her why I did what I did. But she was too young, too upset (maybe both) for it to make any sense to her.

When she finally gave up looking for the ball, she relaxed and snuggled into my shoulder.

If I had to do it all again, I would. Without a moment’s hesitation. Just like any other parent.

I bring this up, because I think it shows us what’s behind this passage in Isaiah (in today’s first reading),

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways,” says the Lord. “As high as the heavens are above the earth, so are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts.”

I did what I did with the very best of intentions. I could not love her more. But it made no sense to my three-year-old daughter.

Why? Because of the difference between what we as human beings understand when we’re three and what we understand when we’re adults.

If a difference like that can cause trouble understanding another human being, then it’s no surprise that we as human beings (no matter how old we are) don’t always understand what God is doing.

And that’s okay.

Because God does what He does with the very best of intentions. God could not love you more.

The next time it doesn’t work out the way you thought it would, the next time God keeps you from running into traffic?

Instead of getting lost in a “why God” moment, let it go. Quit looking for the ball.

Trust that the One who loves you, the One who is holding you close, is keeping you safe. And snuggle in.

Today’s Readings

#Understand #Understand God #God's ways #God's Love #God #Jesus #Catholic #Christian #Church #Isaiah #Moments Before Mass

[secondbeatsongs]

for anyone too young to know this: watching The Truman Show is a vastly different experience now, compared to how it was before youtube and social media influencers became normal

before it was like, "what a horrifying thing to do to a human being! to take away their autonomy and privacy, all for the sake of profits! to create fake scenarios for them to react to, just to retain viewership! to ruin their happiness just so some corporate entity could harvest money from their very humanity! how could anyone do something so evil?"

and now it's like, "ah, yeah. this is still deeply fucked up, but it's pretty much what every influencer has been doing to their kids for a decade now. probably bad that we've normalized this experience"

#the truman show #sbs rambles #I keep thinking about how children on popular youtube channels should probably have laws to protect them #social workers assigned to them maybe #I dunno #they did not sign up to have their lives sold for profit #but here we are #tho #I guess none of us signed up for it #and our data is harvested more than ever #god #high-tech capitalism sucks turns out #OH WAIT because tumblr is bad at getting context sometimes #let me specify: #I am not saying that the movie The Truman Show is bad or that it normalizes this #like all good sci-fi (because it is kind of sci-fi) it's there to warn us of what the future could hold #and it did that in a very good way - it's a beautiful movie #I could see someone with a bad faith take assuming I meant that it was part of the problem #it absolutely wasn't. it didn't normalize this; we did #youtube did and social media #it's us that's the problem #or more specifically: big corporations and a lack of regulation #that's the origin of most modern problems

[officialyourdailyinspiration]

Man's ways lead to ruin...

There is a way which seems right to a man and appears straight before him, But its end is the way of death.

There is a way which seems right to a man and appears straight before him, But its end is the way of death. — Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25 | Amplified Bible (AMP) The Amplified Bible Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Cross References: Proverbs 12:15; Proverbs 16:26; Romans 6:21

#man's ways #contrary #God's ways #ruin #death #Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25 #Book of Proverbs #Old Testament #AMP #Amplified Bible #The Lockman Foundation

[chernozemm]

Crowley got a new packer for that grey sweatpants temptation

(he knows exactly what he’s doing)

#good omens #crowley #aziraphale #ineffable husbands #aziraphale x crowley #crowley x aziraphale #myart #god this was fighting me every step of the way #not my best but it has heart

[snek-eyes]

Can we go back to this for a sec? To Aziraphale having to explain the concept of being in love to the other angels? Because I cannot imagine what a trip it has to be, falling in love with someone when that is literally not something you are supposed to be able to do. When it is something you barely understand. When the object of whatever this is isn't supposed to be able to feel this way either, except as time goes on you start to realize it's happening to him too. And neither of you can actually talk to each other about it.

#here they are infected by humanity in the best way but at the same time it's also a trap because what can they do with it #The concept of falling in love for angels is useless at best and blasphemous at worst! #You're supposed to be devoted to God alone #and forget demons #they're from the same stock and anyway you're supposed to be out for yourself #v watches good omens #good omens meta #aziraphale

[oifaaa]

Fun new game I'm playing while watching the new Percy Jackson show called "Was this actually different in the books or is my memory just shit"

#percy jackson #pjo #just with small things like #wasnt it a thing in the books #that all the gods children had designated tables #and its one of the ways you could tell the hermes cabin was over crowded #bc there was hardly any space at the table #i could always just reread the book again to see #but im busy enough rn #so hopefully one of you lovely people will tell me #oifaaaposts