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A Bible-reading approach that has been fruitful for my spiritual growth is one that I call the “that doesn’t sound right” strategy. I’ll take a chunk of Scripture, sometimes a chapter, sometimes several chapters, and as I read along, I simply wait for my mind/heart to spout out, “that doesn’t sound right.” Then, I stop reading and look back over the words that caused my reaction. Sometimes, I just didn’t understand the words and so I study them more.

Back in March, Pastor Tim preached a sermon as part of the Love One Another series on Jesus’ act of washing the disciples’ feet out of John 13. It was a fantastic sermon with tons of powerful imagery.

I’ve been reading through Exodus this past week, and one of the character traits of our Father that jumped off the pages for me is the simple recognition that God has deep compassion for the most vulnerable among us.

I expect we’re probably all familiar with the dangers of comparison. How comparing our situation to other people’s situations in any of a variety of areas robs us of contentment and peace, leading to spiritual death. Yet, despite knowing the practice of comparison is an unhealthy dead-end, we still do it. So, let’s share in a brief reminder as we fight this sin.

Every now and again, my soul strolls into the shadows of despair. Sometimes it’s easy to pinpoint the trigger. Sometimes it’s not. Sometimes it feels like a nebulous weight pressing down. Sometimes it feels like a malaise where the exact same activity that was bright and full of life yesterday is bland and constraining today. Intellectually, you know the Truth that produces joy, but emotionally, the feelings just won’t fall in line. Sometimes, the despair lingers, slowly and increasingly suffocating. The more you think about the shadows, the harder it is to escape.