Author: William Douthwaite

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

The journey of a lifetime

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Brett Patzke on Unsplash

A few more “through the bible” thoughts from Jonah 1.

It’s a life and death situation when the sailors cast lots and find out Jonah is responsible for the raging storm that threatens to capsize the ship (Jonah 1:4,7). Jonah says, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land” (Jonah 1:9).

Wait a minute. Doesn’t Jonah’s story begins with his deliberate disobedience to God’s command to go to call out Nineveh for its evil? He doesn’t sound like someone who fears God. I guess Jonah didn’t fear God until the storm hit. Either than, or fear of God doesn’t equate to obedience.

Since “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31), “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7). Just like us, Jonah had a lot to learn about God and a lot to learn about obeying God. It’s a journey. It’s a difficult journey. It’s the journey of a lifetime.

We don’t have to learn to fear God in dire circumstances, although those situations are a great classroom. But we learn from others, too. God’s people learned a lot of lessons that “were written down for our instruction” (1 Corinthians 10:11). Hopefully, we’ll learn to not make the same mistakes. In reality, though, we will, and we too will learn to fear God and maybe even obey him.

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

Ugly grace

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Liza Summer on Pexels

Some “through the bible” thoughts from the Old Testament book of Jonah.

After Jonah is thrown off the boat, swallowed by a fish, and spit up onto the beach, we find out why he didn’t want to go to Nineveh in the first place. Jonah says to God, “That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster” (Jonah 4:2).

God’s grace is wonderful when applied to our lives. It’s harder to swallow when he’s gracious to someone else, someone we know deserves to be punished.

I find it hard to understand how God could forgive people who have done atrocious things. This struggle reveals a shocking self-righteousness, as if there was nothing very sinful going on in my life.

The truth? I’m much more sinful than I realize. The ugliness of the cross reveals the ugliness of my sin, which Christ took on himself. Rather than thinking of myself as less-needful of grace, I’m need to be reminded I’m less deserving of grace than I thought.

The Jonah in me needs a regular reminder of God’s unlikely yet very real grace, mercy, and steadfast love.

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

He’s a safe place

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by philippe collard on Unsplash

Some “through the bible” thoughts from Joel 3.

The Lord roars from Zion,
    and utters his voice from Jerusalem,
    and the heavens and the earth quake.
But the Lord is a refuge to his people,
    a stronghold to the people of Israel. (Joel 3:16)

In the 1950s and 60s, people built bomb shelters to survive radioactive fallout from nuclear weapons. In the midwest, people have storm cellars on their property to escape approaching tornados. Otherwise, go to an inner, windowless room in your house. Radio announcers urge listeners to “seek shelter now” when severe thunderstorms pop up on weather radar. When approaching hurricanes are a day or two away, shelters open where those who will get hit hardest along the coast can be safe.

We tend to think of a refuge or a stronghold as a place. But in the bible, it’s God. Ironically, in Joel, God is the one who roars, shaking the heavens and the earth, bringing judgment on the nations. And he is also the shelter from the approaching destruction and judgment.

Storms don’t always look like weather. Judgment doesn’t always come in the form of an earthquake or other “act of God.” Sometimes it’s a collision, cancer, or conflict. It could be failure at work or the loss of a job. Kids get in trouble and unexpected expenses pop up. You can run, but you can’t hide from the surprises of life.

The only thing that doesn’t change is God. That’s why he is the shelter, the refuge, the stronghold. Ultimately, with him, your life is safe.

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

God’s hedges

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Piotr AMS on Unsplash

Some “through the bible” thoughts from Hosea 2.

Because God’s people have a tendency to be unfaithful, he plans to plant a hedge around her so she can’t wander. It’d kind of like grounding the kids to discipline them.

“Therefore I will hedge up her way with thorns,
    and I will build a wall against her,
    so that she cannot find her paths” (Hosea 2:6).

But other times God puts a protective hedge around a person. According to Satan, that’s why Job was so faithful.

“Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land” (Job 1:10).

So I guess the question is, “What kind of hedge surrounds me right now?” Are there thick, plant-like walls around me to keep the world out, or to keep me confined? Because let’s face it, there’s a lot of bad stuff out I should avoid.

In a recent bible study, an author challenged his readers to explore God’s purposes in “unfulfilled aspirations.” In a world that praises productivity and achievement, failure is not an option. But what if God has something completely different in mind? What if being stuck in one place, in a dead end job, without a home, or no longer able to do what you used to do is a place where God needs you to be?

I don’t like the thought of that any more than you do. I would much prefer to have God simply watch my back while I go off and do whatever I want to do.

But that’s not the way it works. God knows me too well and loves me too much to simply let me wander off. My shepherd comes looking for me, keeping me in the sheepfold and keeping predators out for the night.

What hedges of protection has God placed around you? What hedges of confinement has he set in place? Be thankful for both.

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

Imagining the temple

Posted on by William Douthwaite

Some “through the bible” thoughts from Ezekiel 40-42.

To be honest, I don’t find chapters 40-42 of Ezekiel inspiring. There’s little devotional material here.

Twenty-one years ago, as my church made plans to build a new sanctuary, the architect included a thick volume of specifications for the construction along with the blueprints. It was not inspiring either. But we had one man, retired from construction, who took them home and digested them!

However, the architect also supplied us with artist renderings of the finished building, along with a scale model to display in the entryway of the church. That was inspiring! That got everyone excited. That fueled the fund-raising which made the new building possible. Not only could we see the finished structure, but we could picture ourselves worshiping there.

So I figure that these chapters from Ezekiel helped his audience picture the restored temple when God brought them back to Jerusalem to rebuild what the Babylonians had destroyed. It was intended to inspire and excite those who would undertake that effort. They would once again be worshiping there.

A few years after, our church attempted a capital campaign to pay down debt and reduce our mortgage payment. It was a flop. No one gets excited about debt reduction.

But a building program? Everyone loves that! Maybe Ezekiel’s description encouraged the hearts and minds of the exiles waiting to go home.

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

Physical Benefits of Spiritual Practices

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

Yesterday, I promised to explore spiritual pursuits that have physical benefits. I’ve been pondering that throughout the day. To tell you the truth, the converse was easier. But (as usual) I came up with a few examples.

  • The obvious example is healing. Prayers for healing are powerful. Healing may come through medication, doctors, time, or rest. But it’s all ultimately from God.
  • Spiritual activity brings you into the church, where surrounded by other believers, we find mutual encouragement and support. We help meet the physical needs of others; they meet ours.
  • We often pray for and give thanks for tangible things. Safety. Protection. Homes. Food. Whatever we need to live. All physical blessings from a spiritual source.
  • Fasting as a spiritual discipline has a physical benefit, at least according to the intermittent fasting experts. Who knew?

God knew what he was doing. Spirit and flesh, body and soul, physical and spiritual. It all works together.

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

I’ll just have a salad

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Nadine Primeau on Unsplash

Some “through the bible” thoughts from Daniel 1.

When Daniel and his friends are taken in to exile, they are quickly selected for education and training, to work in the king’s palace. Rather than the usually fare of food and wine, Daniel asks that they be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. In a place far from his home and family, he has little control over his destiny. This small request is a way of sidestepping food that may have been an offering to an idol. It is one small corner of his life where he can still have control and still be faithful.

After ten days, Daniel and his friends are in better health than any of their classmates. They also surpass the wisdom and abilities of all the other magicians and enchanters in the kingdom. In a sense, they become better Babylonians than the Babylonians!

In this account, a physical habit has a spiritual benefit. Their choice of foods becomes a way of being faithful, of demonstrating their trust as they obey the statutes of God.

So I’m wondering: What other physical habits benefit someone spiritually?

  • Closing our eyes to pray. Shutting out visual distractions heightens our other senses, helping us focus on both speaking and listening. The folding of hands brings us fully into that moment.
  • Walking in the morning heightens my awareness of the creation around me, which reveals God’s glory and power.
  • Some will fast to escape the habitual shopping for, preparing, eating, and cleaning up after meals to focus on prayer.
  • When I enter a church that burns incense, the aroma seems to say, “This is a sacred space.” The smell of candles and wine proclaims that reality, too.
  • Some of my best devotional thoughts have come to mind while walking or running.

Those are just a few things that come to mind. As people with both bodies and souls, our physical and spiritual selves are vitally connected.

Next time: how does spirituality affect our physical lives?

Posted in Nature

Trimming tall trees

Posted on by William Douthwaite
(This is a stock photo, not our tree guy.)

Every time I cut the lawn, I would look up at our tallest palm trees and think, “I really need to find someone to clean up those branches.” Lately, ten-foot long dried up fronds have been blowing down whenever a storm blew through. Even the trees were telling me they needed a trim.

Someone gave me our tall front yard palm trees when they were only a foot high. Now, they’ve grown to twenty-five feet tall, far beyond what I can trim myself.

When I heard a knock at the door, I saw his truck out on the street. John had trimmed my palm trees before. I was really glad to see him. It had probably been three years since his last visit. He walked about the base of the four tall trees, sizing up the job and quote me a price. We shook hands and he and his partner got to work.

He’s been doing this kind of work for about forty years, as long as the community has been here. He pulled a twenty-four foot extension ladder out of his truck, and as his assistant set it in place and raised the top portion, he sat down, attached tree climbing spikes to his boots, and sharpened his chain saw.

I didn’t remember him using the climbing spikes before. I soon found out why he strapped them on. He climbed up to the top rung of the extended ladder, strapped himself to the tree, and then used the spikes to climb another six feet up the tree. From there, he started up the chain saw and cleaned up the overgrown branches. His assistant held the ladder and carried each trimmed branch to the trailer.

I could hardly look. But I couldn’t look away, either. He was careful, but fearless. He was efficient and finished the whole job in less than ninety minutes. Two-thirds of the job was putting up the ladder, climbing up and down, and loading up the trimmed fronds.

As we said the last two times, “It’s worth every penny.” There’s no way I’d be up there with or without a chain saw. And I suspect he charged less than the tree services who are often in our neighborhood looking for business. He just cruises the county roads, looking for overgrown trees.

And, he takes a check for payment.

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

A night with an angel and lions

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Jonathan Cooper on Unsplash

Some “through the bible” thoughts from Daniel 6.

First, a summary of the classic Sunday School story. Then, some unorthodox thoughts that come to mind.

When other officials fail to dig up any dirt to discredit Daniel, they decide they will use his faith against him (Daniel 6:5). They set him up, getting the king to establish an ordinance that no one can pray to anyone else but him for the next thirty days. The penalty? Offenders will be cast into the den of lions (6:7).

When Daniel deliberately disobeys and prays to God has he always did, the king has no choice but to throw him into the den of lions, wishing him the best: “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!” (6:16).

The next morning, Daniel is safe and sound, explaining, “My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me” (6:22). It’s not that the lions weren’t hungry. Those who conspired against Daniel, along with their wives and children, were immediately torn apart when they were thrown to the lions (6:24).

Wouldn’t you like to spend the night with an angel? I would. Perhaps I need to consider what radical faithfulness would look like for me, so that I could have that opportunity.

In the same vein, wouldn’t it be great to spend the night with lions, especially knowing that they wouldn’t harm you? We used to line up early for feeding time at the Philadelphia zoo, eager to see the lions sink their teeth into some large slabs of beef. How great would it be to stroke their manes and hear them purr?

Daniel got to experience both of those things by simply giving God thanks on a regular basis. That simple spiritual habit was not only courageous and faithful, but resulted in a night he would never forget!