From today’s reading...
But I will be for her an encircling wall of fire, says the LORD,...”
Being surrounded by fire doesn’t sound like a good thing...unless you are an ancient city with no walls to protect your people as Jerusalem was at the time Zechariah wrote this.
Then having God protect you with fire is a good thing.
How many times have you see a blessing come from something you thought was not a blessing?
Maybe you over-slept and then learned of a major accident on your normal path to work and you realized that could have been you.
Maybe the woman of your dreams broke up with you, which opened your eyes to true love and now you’re happily married to a woman who would never leave you and you are raising little bundles of joy who teach you what love is on an entirely different level.
Maybe you were injured at work or your years of neglecting your health finally caught up with you and you find yourself unable to live like you used to live but now you realize you weren’t living at all. You were taking your work, your health, your family, your friends, even your future for granted so now you savor every moment.
There are two sides to every coin.
We cannot control most of the things that happen in our lives, but we can control how we react to the things that happen.
So follow the principle that daily discipline done diligently determines destiny, and that includes being disciplined in your reactions to your surroundings.
It’s the best way to...
Stay the course.
Keep the faith.
Endure.
