A Story with a Lesson
The donkey told the tiger, “The grass is blue.”
The tiger replied, “No, the grass is green.”
The discussion became heated, and the two decided to submit the issue to arbitration, so they approached the lion.
As they approached the lion on his throne, the donkey started screaming: ′′Your Highness, isn’t it true that the grass is blue?”
The lion replied: “If you believe it is true, the grass is blue.”
The donkey rushed forward and continued: ′′The tiger disagrees with me, contradicts me and annoys me. Please punish him.”
The king then declared: ′′The tiger will be punished with 3 days of silence.”
The donkey jumped with joy and went on his way, content and repeating ′′The grass is blue, the grass is blue…”
The tiger asked the lion, “Your Majesty, why have you punished me, after all, the grass is green?”
The lion replied, ′′You’ve known and seen the grass is green.”
The tiger asked, ′′So why do you punish me?”
The lion replied, “That has nothing to do with the question of whether the grass is blue or green.
The punishment is because it is degrading for a brave, intelligent creature like you to waste time arguing with an ass, and on top of that, you came and bothered me with that question just to validate something you already knew was true!”
The biggest waste of time is arguing with the fool and fanatic who doesn’t care about truth or reality, but only the victory of his beliefs and illusions.
Never waste time on discussions that make no sense. There are people who, for all the evidence presented to them, do not have the ability to understand.
Others who are blinded by ego, hatred and resentment, and the only thing that they want is to be right even if they aren’t.
Source: https://successminded.co/the-donkey-and-the-tiger/
He Give Quietness (Job 34:29)
Job had days when earth and hell seemed set against him. Many of us have felt overwhelmed and near drowning with each wave after another of conflict, sickness, or financial challenges. How we long to hear Christ’s voice above the screams of the wind whipping through the cords holding the sails of our little boat. “Peace, be still!” He draws near and whispers the assurance of His presence. When He does, an infinite calm keeps our hearts and minds in peace.
Giving God some Elbow Room
We have so much to learn, don’t we? I know I do. Did you ever consider making room in your life for God to act? Haven’t we all boxed God into a particular way to interact with us?
We should give Him some “elbow room” to move more freely. We can often over-calculate or estimate when and how this or that could occur. As an accountant, I ran many “what if” scenarios in my younger years. It can drive others a little crazy. If you are not careful, you could overlook God and His plan. He always chooses when, where, and how He moves.
Do not look for God to come in a specific way but do look for Him. Be alert, but do not expect Him to move in a certain way or how He has done before. Learn this great lesson: At any minute, God may break through. There is always this element of surprise! Stay alert and remember, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD.” Isaiah 55:8
~~~ a paraphrase from Oswald Chambers (1874-1917), My Utmost for His Highest, pg 35.
Tempting the Conqueror
Though it may seem unlikely, temptation is necessary to settle and confirm us in the spiritual life. It acts like winds that cause the mighty cedars of the mountains to strike more deeply into the soil.
Once a noted scientist observed that “early voyagers imagined that the coral-building animals instinctively built up the great circles of the Atoll Islands to afford themselves protection in the inner parts.” But this thought was disproved by showing that the insect builders can only live and thrive confronting the open ocean and in the highly aerated foam of its relentless surf. Likewise, many have held that protected ease is the most favorable condition of life. In contrast, all the noblest and strongest lives prove, on the contrary, that endurance of hardship makes men and is the factor that distinguishes between mere existence and vigorous vitality. Hardship makes character.
So it is with Christians. Temptation drives us deeper into our relationship with our Lord. He uses it to teach us that we can be victorious over those spiritual challenges.
“In all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.” (Romans 8:37)
—- paraphrase of devotion from Streams in the Desert, January 13.
Only You!
In this story, a king entered his garden one morning and found everything withered and dying. He asked the oak that stood near the gate what the trouble was. He found it was sick of life and determined to die because it was not tall and beautiful like the pine. The pine was out of heart because it could not bear grapes like the vine. Likewise, the vine would throw its life away because it could not stand erect and have as delicate fruit as the peach tree. The geranium was fretting because it was not tall, fragrant like the lilac, and so on throughout the garden. Coming to a heart’s-ease, he found its bright face lifted as cheery as ever. “Well, heart, I’m glad, amidst all this discouragement, to find one brave little flower. You do not seem to be the least disheartened.” “No, I am not of much account, but I thought that if you wanted an oak, or a pine, or a peach tree, or a lilac, you would have planted one, but as I knew you wanted a heart’s-ease, I am determined to be the best little heart’s-ease that I can.”
“Others may do a greater work, but you have your part to do, and no one in all God’s heritage can do it so well as you.”
—- copied from Streams in the Desert, Cowman, January 7, pegs 7 & 8
Bill Wyler
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