We Will Understand Someday

proverbs-3-5-6

We do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.

2 Corinthians 4:18

Recommended Reading: Proverbs 3 “My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:2 For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:4 So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.8 It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.9 Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:10 So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.11 My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of his correction:12 For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.13 Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.14 For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.15 She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.16 Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour.17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.18 She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.19 The Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens.20 By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew.21 My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion:22 So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck.23 Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble.24 When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.25 Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh.26 For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.27 Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.28 Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee.29 Devise not evil against thy neighbour, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee.30 Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm.31 Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways.32 For the froward is abomination to the Lord: but his secret is with the righteous.33 The curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just.34 Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly.35 The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools.”

COMMENTS:  Today’s scripture from Proverbs 3 gives us wonderful – wise council and instruction good for boys and girls as well as men and women of any age.  Yet, reflect with me how well its wisdom has been or is followed over the centuries.  Consider how positively following such advice has and continues to impact the lives of those who follow its advice.  That wisdom is valid whether believe in and follow God or not, but the key verses (vs 5-7) point out to us that the only way to take full advantage of all the wisdom contained in this proverb is to also embrace the author of this wisdom, God Himself.  To embrace and follow Him is to not only embrace His wisdom but to embrace His loving and helping Hand enabling us to actually change and implement His wisdom into the depths of our souls and lives.  Otherwise, His wisdom will only be implemented in part in our lives and we will still be prone to likely fail when times are difficult and temptations are strongest.

We will often be discouraged and confused because we can’t see long distant as God can.  We can’t see results of faithfulness 100 years in the future or 50 years in the future or even 10 years in the future and, yes, sometimes we can’t even see a day in the future either.  So, we need His helping Hand, the hand of the Holy Spirit available to use to guide us especially when we can’t see result of following His instruction.  It is then our faith is greatly tested and also most prone to grow.  Faith exercised is faith strengthened and faith more able to withstand even greater tests and trials.

How were the Christians of the 1st century time able to withstand great persecution and prison and even death while remaining faithful to Christ?  How were they able to stay true even when seeing their families facing suffering and death too?  THEY KNEW AND COULD SEE THE GOAL OF A HOME WITH CHRIST IN HEAVEN FOR ETERNITY.  They knew the consequences of failing and benefits of success.  They also knew the only way to be and remain faithful was to keep their minds and focus on Christ and to sustain a daily fellowship and relationship with the Holy Spirit.  By doing so, they accomplished amazing and unbelievable things.  Their numbers even increased during such times of suffering.  The same mystery has been unfolding in China, which has enduring similar persecution at the hand of their government in order to stop the growth of Christianity.  But instead, Christianity has grown explosively in China.  Same is happening in many Moslem dominated countries and even in North Korea. 

Christians have become weaker and diminished in numbers in countries not experiencing severe persecution and where cost of faithfulness are less.  That is the other side of this mystery but truth.  We need to be tested in order to grow and without tests and trials we become weaker.  This is true of athletes who fail to maintain the diligence of training and exercise.  It is also true when we fail to maintain our relationship with Christ.   Peace and comfort are more desirable and appealing but are not what we need in order to grow in Christ.  Christ prefers to bless us but He desires our growth more than our comfort.  He knows we need rest but won’t allow us to be at rest for long periods of time because He knows such will make us weak and less prepared for future battles we need to prepare for.  But since we can’t see or know those battles, we become confused and discouraged when face today’s battles and trails. 

So, do you and I have enough faith to trust Him during today’s trials knowing they prepare us for tomorrows battles and trials and give us greater strength and faith to pursue and possess a closer and richer relationship with Christ too?  I hope and pray so, for much is at stake and much to be gained if we do….

“God knows the way, He holds the key, He guides us with unerring hand.”

Maxwell Cornelius, hymnist

 

If you wish, you can access my blog at “https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com“. There you will find 316 blog posts I have made plus a link to my devotional journal material archives from 2013 to present.                                                                                                                                                                                              You may also access my Facebook page and request to be my friend and automatically receive my daily journal publications daily.  My Facebook page is: https://www.facebook.com/Dondevotionals/ Many thanks to a pastor and dear brother in Christ in Nepal who set up the above Facebook page to help and encourage and give opportunity for more to   explore and use my devotional blog materials.

My hope and prayer are, my blog and devotional materials will become a source of encouragement and tools in ministry for you.

Published by donsdevotions

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Don McDaniel - Who am I? Hello everyone and welcome to my devotional journal blog. In order to get acquainted and help you get to know me a bit better before considering following my blog, let me give you some background. I am a 74-year-old male and a retired engineer. I worked for a major supplier of underground mining equipment for nearly 40 years before retiring in 2012. Arlene and I have been happily married since April 1978 and have two grown – married children, one granddaughter and 2 step grandsons. I joined the local United Methodist church at age 12 after accepting Christ as my Savior at age 10 during revival services in that same church in 1961, so I have been a “Born Again” Christian all my teen years and adult life. Christ has helped and guided me all that time. He guided me in choosing my wife and life’s career. My life journey has included regrets and failures, but God has picked me up and protected and spared me from life threatening consequences and dangers more times than I can recall or count. But many I do recall and encourage and motivate me to trust and follow Christ with more passion than ever. Christmas 2011 our daughter gave Arlene and I each a devotional journal. Journals were books with devotion for each day and space to give personal impressions and thoughts related to each devotion. Her desire was to have a lasting legacy she could refer back to and share with her children and grandchildren especially after we are gone. I was touched by that gesture. My parents and Arlene’s were devout Christians, so we would have greatly treasured having that from them, so we felt a sense of urgency to honor her request. I finished my journal first and returned it to our daughter the following Christmas. I’m glad I did it then because Parkinson’s has caused my hand writing to deteriorate since then. The exercise was such a blessing for me. Discipline of keeping journal helped me gain a deeper walk with Christ and greater discipline in honoring my time of prayer and devotion with Him each day. So, I decided to continue the practice but since I could not find a paper journal I liked, I decided to create my own. I had already been receiving electronic devotions by email every day from several sources, my favorite being “Turning Point” from Dr. David Jeremiah. What I decided to do was to include devotional scripture but add my own thoughts and comments only so there would be no issue of copyright infringement. Creating and maintaining journal by computer also addressed my deteriorating handwriting ability. I started an electronic devotion journal January 1, 2013 and have been faithful to that practice every day since. I prayed about method and level of distribution. My initial intent was to only share it with my two children by email, but quickly discovered others in my family, my church, and friends from work (both retired and still working) who knew me and wanted to be included in distribution when they learned what I was doing. I now distribute by email my daily journal at the beginning of each month to over 150 friends and relatives. God has richly blessed and encouraged me. I am concerned with the state of our church and nation, and world for that matter, believing we are living in the end times the prophets of old and Christ have talked about in scripture, so time is short. I desire to be true to my Savior and a witness to help others come to a saving knowledge of Him and equipped to share His Good News too. If my journal can encourage and help others, I believe God wants me to share it. I struggled, for a time at first, because I know many others keep similar journals but only for their own edification and do not want to share them because they are private. However, Christ has stirred my heart to share it as a witness tool. Our son and daughter have a long-time friend who grew up with them who we also befriended nearly 25 years ago. He had a lot of family problems, so would gravitate to our family as a refuge and eventually thought of us as his adopted parents and he as our adopted son. We lost contact with him for some time when he grew up and left home. He traveled around the U.S. and eventually ended up in Ukraine where he resided for next 10 years. He had to return to the US to renew his visa and took opportunity to recommend I begin a blog of my devotions and helped me set it up. He is also an active blogger and has been an email subscriber to my journal for several months, so he has been suggesting I expand my distribution by starting a blog to get broader exposure. After reflection and prayer, I concluded God was in this, so he is helping me set up my blog site. This brief autobiography is my first entry. He returned to Ukraine, then resided there until circumstanced made him decide to move back to US with his young son. This biography was my first post February 29, 2016 . I have published 600 posts from 2016-2023 automatically sent to all my Facebook friends, published on WordPress to be accessible to anyone curious or seeking a deeper walk with God. I decided to take a sebatical to prepare for a new chapter. In 2014 I was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease which affects patient ability to walk, drive, do physical work, and eventually talk. By mid 2023 it became evident our home for last 42 years (previously owned by my parents for previous 44 years and by my mother's grandparents for 39 years before that) would eventually not meet my needs so we decided to sell it and move into 1st floor of a duplex we also owned that was the town school from 1855-1913. Likewise, the property was requiring more maintenance that I was no longer able to keep up with. 2023 involved selling our home and moving into apartment next door and then in early 2025 an opportunity to move closer to our daughter and granddaughter in Kentucky which was completed in May 2025. For a number of months I have been seeking direction seeking God's direction and timing to return to blogging as my journey with Parkinson's continues to unfold with God's guiding hand in mine. I hope and pray my devotions will continue to be a blessing for you. God certainly has become closer and more real to me since started this blog in 2016. I have spent time with Him studying scripture and praying and listening and writing this journal. I will continue seeking God’s help and will welcome your input to make this site as meaningful as I can and true to God, who is motivating me to create and maintain it. I will also welcome input in order to make format more meaningful going forward. Don & Arlene McDaniel In His Service, Email: mcdanieldonald769@gmail.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Don1951 If you wish, you can access my blog at “https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com“. There you will find 600+ blog posts I have made plus a link to my devotional journal material archives from 2013 to present (https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com/2016/03/02/link-to-dons-devotional-journal-entries-2013/ ) You may also access my Facebook page and request to be my friend and automatically receive my daily journal publications daily. My Facebook page is: https://www.facebook.com/Dondevotionals/ Many thanks to a pastor and dear brother in Christ in Nepal who set up the above Facebook page to help and encourage and give opportunity for more to explore and use my devotional blog materials.

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