During our granddaughter’s school band concert, I was impressed by how well this group of 11- and 12-year-olds played together. If each of them had wanted to be a solo performer, they could not have achieved individually what the band did collectively. The woodwinds, brass, and percussion sections all played their parts and the result was beautiful music!

To the followers of Jesus in Rome, Paul wrote, “In Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us” (Rom. 12:5–6). Among the gifts Paul mentioned are prophecy, service, teaching, encouragement, giving, leadership, and mercy (vv. 7–8). Each gift is to be exercised freely for the good of all (1 Cor. 12:7).

One definition of in concert is “agreement in design or plan; combined action; harmony or accord.” That’s the Lord’s plan for us as His children through faith in Jesus Christ. “Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves” (v. 10). The goal is cooperation, not competition.

In a sense, we are “on stage” before a watching and listening world every day. There are no soloists in God’s concert band, but every instrument is essential. The music is best when we each play our part in unity with others.

A backyard bash was underway when a man carrying a gun approached and demanded money from the partygoers. The partiers would have handed their money to the bandit, but no one had any cash! So they offered what they did have—a drink. Surprisingly, the crook accepted and joined their party. An unexpected response changed everything.

According to psychologists, “responding in an unexpected way to prompt a positive response” is called noncomplementarity. In the vernacular, it’s called upending. As trendy as it may seem, the idea is centuries old. Jesus said, “Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those you hurt you” (Luke 6:27-28).

Paul and Silas modeled upending when they didn’t run away from a jail where they’d been locked up. God used a late-night earthquake to unfasten their chains and open the prison doors. Shaken awake, the jailer assumed his prisoners had escaped. He drew his sword to end his life, but Paul shouted to him, “Stop! Don’t kill yourself! We are all here!” (Acts 16:28).

Although the jailer had been the one to restrain them in stocks and keep them confined, they prevented him from hurting himself. Perhaps because of their kindness, he fell down before them pleading, “What must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30). That day the prison guard and his whole household trusted Jesus for salvation.

As the Holy Spirit gives us the power to go against our natural instincts for self-protection and revenge, it will cause people to wonder why. Kindness toward offenders reveals the reality of Jesus and His grace at work within us. Choosing a Spirit-led response in difficult situations honors Him—the greatest “upender” of all time (Luke 23:33-34).

Skittish chickens scattered as relief trucks clattered past the weathered huts of the village. Barefoot children stared. Traffic on this rain-ravaged “road” was rare.

Suddenly, a walled mansion loomed into view of the convoy. It was the mayor’s house—although he didn’t live in it. His people lacked basic necessities, while he lounged in luxury in a distant city.

Such unfairness angers us. It angered God’s prophet too. When Habakkuk saw rampant oppression he asked, “How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen?” (Hab. 1:2). But God had noticed, and He said, “Woe to him who piles up stolen goods . . . who builds his house by unjust gain!” (2:6, 9). Judgment was coming!

We welcome God’s judgment of others, but there’s a pivot point in Habakkuk that gives us pause: “The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him” (2:20). All the earth. The oppressed along with oppressors. Sometimes the appropriate response to God’s seeming silence is . . . silence!

Why silence? Because we easily overlook our own spiritual poverty. Silence allows us to recognize our sinfulness in the presence of a holy God.

Habakkuk learned to trust God, and we can too. We don’t know all His ways, but we do know that He is good. Nothing is beyond His control and timing.

Have you ever gone out of your way to do something kind for others, only to have them ignore your effort? You stayed up past midnight to finish a report for your boss or planned a special getaway for your family. You were excited to please them, but ended up disappointed when they didn’t even say thank you.

Jesus can empathize. He once entered a village with much on His mind. He was walking to Jerusalem where He knew He would die on the cross (Luke 18:31-33). His deep thoughts were interrupted by the shouts of ten lepers, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” (Luke 17:13). Ostracized by society, they’d been shut off from family, friends, and even God. (They were not allowed to enter the temple; see Leviticus 13:45-46.) They were in agony, dying, and alone. Jesus was their only hope.

He called them over and said, “Go show yourselves to the priests” (Luke 17:14), in accordance with Mosaic law, which required those cured of leprosy to offer sacrifices (see Leviticus 14:1-57). On their trip to the temple, they noticed their skin was healthy again. Their sores were gone. Shouts of joy must have startled other travelers, yet only one leper—inexplicably only one—returned to thank Jesus for his healing.

Jesus noted the ingratitude of the other nine. He said, “Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” (Luke 17:18). He didn’t sweep their lack of response under the rug. Instead, He focused on the grateful person kneeling before Him. “Stand up and go. Your faith has healed you” (Luke 17:19). Although all the lepers were healed, only one person’s gratitude led him to the Savior.

Jesus continued to heal all the way to Jerusalem, where He gave His life to heal us. May we thank Him with hearts full of gratitude today.

In the workplace, words of encouragement matter. How employees talk to one another has a bearing on customer satisfaction, company profits, and co-worker appreciation. Studies show that members of the most effective work groups give one another six times more affirmation than disapproval, disagreement, or sarcasm. Least productive teams tend to use almost three negative comments for every helpful word.

Paul learned by experience about the value of words in shaping relationships and outcomes. Before meeting Christ on the road to Damascus, his words and actions terrorized followers of Jesus. But by the time he wrote his letter to the Thessalonians, he had become a great encourager because of God’s work in his heart. Now by his own example he urged his readers to cheer one another on. While being careful to avoid flattery, he showed how to affirm others and reflect the Spirit of Christ.

In the process, Paul reminded his readers where encouragement comes from. He saw that entrusting ourselves to God, who loved us enough to die for us, gives us reason to comfort, forgive, inspire, and lovingly challenge one another (1 Thess. 5:10–11).

Paul shows us that encouraging one another is a way of helping one another get a taste of the patience and goodness of God.

Police were sent to a home in response to a report of domestic child abuse. When they arrived at the house, they found a scared four-year-old girl with a black eye, swollen cheek, and bruises covering a majority of her tiny frame. The officers were devastated when they asked her to say her name and she meekly replied, “Idiot.”

In light of this particularly heart-wrenching example of both physical and emotional abuse, Psalm 127 has some vital words of wisdom for those who’ve been entrusted with children. Many believers in Jesus are familiar with verse 3, which says, “Children are a gift from the Lord ; they are a reward from him.” Indeed, this verse is frequently attached to birth announcements and is spoken often by parents who are experiencing joy for the children with which God has blessed them (Psalm 127:5).

Theologian Albert Barnes says that Psalm 127 “emphasizes the happiness God intends for parents to derive through having children, and explains the divine favor bestowed on parents whom God’s entrusted with children’s lives, health and virtues.”

But if people view kids as a burden, abuse will sometimes follow. For those struggling to love and protect their children, Barnes suggests looking deeply into this passage and recognizing that as we depend on God and are guided by the Scriptures, we’ll receive what’s needed to wisely and lovingly nurture them.

If you’re not a parent, consider how you can be used to love and encourage children. Most of us have children in our lives that we’re influencing in some way. May we be encouraged that the Bible can help us better understand and live out our roles. And may we seek the Holy Spirit’s power in living out His love for children.

A few months ago I received an email inviting me to join a community of “driven people.” I decided to look up the word driven, and I learned that a driven person is someone highly motivated to succeed and who will work hard to achieve his goals.

Is it good to be a driven person? There is a test that never fails: “Do it all for the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). Many times we do things for self-glory. After the flood in Noah’s day, a group of people decided to build a tower in order to “make a name” for themselves (Gen. 11:4). They wanted to be famous and avoid being scattered all over the world. Because they were not doing it for God’s glory, though, they were erroneously driven.

In contrast, when King Solomon dedicated the ark of the covenant and the newly constructed temple, he said, “I have built the temple for the Name of the Lord” (1 Kings 8:20). Then he prayed, “May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in obedience to him and keep the commands” (v. 58).

When our greatest desire is to bring glory to God and walk in obedience, we become driven people who seek to love and serve Jesus in the power of the Spirit. Let our prayer echo Solomon’s. May our “hearts be fully committed to the Lord our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands” (v. 61).

The Swedish writer Fredrick Backman’s 2012 debut novel A Man Called Ove is the tale of a man who sees no reason to live. After the death of his wife (the one person who brought him laughter, intimacy, and joy) and after losing his job, Ove plots his suicide. But then he’s drawn into the larger story around him: There’s a pregnant woman who needs his support, a neighbor in conflict with authorities who are trying to force him into a nursing home, and a young man estranged from his father. Ove discovers reasons to live as he moves beyond himself and toward others.

The apostle Paul describes a similar movement—how our lives take on new meaning as we’re caught up into the great purposes of God’s grand project of salvation. The apostle describes the gospel (or the “Good News about Christ”) as that “power of God at work, saving everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16). This was a shocking pronouncement because Paul boldly declared how God’s interests were not, as some supposed, only for Israel but rather for both the Jew “and also the Gentile” (Romans 1:16).

As Paul explained, he felt a “great sense of obligation to people in both the civilized world and the rest of the world, to the educated and the uneducated alike” (Romans 1:14). Paul’s energy exploded with new vigor because of this revelation: God’s love and renewal is for everyone. And Paul could participate in His bold scheme.

We find our own small stories erupting with new meaning when we allow God to pull us outside ourselves and place us in the center of His work rescuing the world. As Stanley Hauerwas says, “Salvation is the delightful surprise of having your little life caught up in the purposes of God for the whole world.”

My father once admitted to me, “When you were growing up, I was gone a lot.”

I don’t remember that. Besides working his full-time job, he was gone some evenings to direct choir practice at church, and he occasionally traveled for a week or two with a men’s quartet. But for all the significant (and many small) moments of my life—he was there.

For instance, when I was eight, I had a tiny part in an afternoon play at school. All the mothers came, but only one dad—mine. In many little ways, he has always let my sisters and me know that we are important to him and that he loves us. And seeing him tenderly caring for my mom in the last few years of her life taught me exactly what unselfish love looks like. Dad isn’t perfect, but he’s always been a dad who gives me a good glimpse of my heavenly Father. And ideally, that’s what a Christian dad should do.

At times earthly fathers disappoint or hurt their children. But our Father in heaven is “compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love” (Ps. 103:8). When a dad who loves the Lord corrects, comforts, instructs, and provides for the needs of his children, he models for them our perfect Father in heaven.

In his book Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis wrote, “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse.”

The people of Jesus’ day were confronted with this choice. Although the Teacher’s words and actions set Him apart, “the people were . . . divided in their opinions about him. Some said, ‘He’s demon possessed and out of his mind. Why listen to a man like that?’ Others said, ‘This doesn’t sound like a man possessed by a demon! Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?’ ” (John 10:19-21).

At the height of the controversy, “the people surrounded him and asked, ‘how long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly’ ” (John 10:24). “I have already told you, and you don’t believe me,” Jesus replied. “The proof is the work I do in my Father’s name. . . . The Father and I are one” (John 10:25,30). Ironically, even when Jesus spoke plainly to them, the crowd struggled with His response. No sooner had He made this declaration than “once again the people picked up stones to kill him” (John 10:31).

The struggle to accept Christ’s claims continues today. If you harbor a lingering doubt about who He is, prayerfully consider what He revealed about Himself (John 10:24-30). The One who died and rose again that we might have eternal life—revealing His power over sin and death—is the Messiah, our Shepherd, and the Giver of life (John 10:24-28). Jesus is the Son of God! (John 10:30).

A woodcut illustration in a German book from 1512 depicts a woman tossing out a baby along with wastewater from a bucket. This is the first known use of the idiom, “Throwing the baby out with the bathwater.” Some say this phrase came from the idea of a family sharing bathwater (from oldest to youngest) until, finally, the last one—the baby—could barely be seen in the dirty water. Whether this story is true or not, we can be grateful for the invention of modern plumbing!

Unfortunately, “throwing the baby out with the bathwater” is something like what I did when it came to honoring the idea of Sabbath-like rest in my life. During college, I remember reading Isaiah 1 and being shocked at the way God describes the Sabbath and other religious observances, calling them meaningless, detestable, and even disgusting (Isaiah 1:13). I used this verse to come to the conclusion that the Sabbath had little value for me, and that it was theologically acceptable to neglect the rest and refreshment found through spending time with Him.

But if you read this chapter carefully, you see that God doesn’t despise the Sabbath in itself. The reason He wouldn’t hear Israel’s prayers was because the people were guilty of injustice (Isaiah 1:15). So it’s not the Sabbath that God hates, but the Sabbath without the pursuit of justice. Isaiah says that the Sabbath still holds great value, especially as one of the main ways in which people are identified as believers in God (Isaiah 58:13).

Though we no longer need to celebrate the Sabbath as a legal requirement (Colossians 2:16), the idea of Sabbath rest still holds tremendous value for us. In a culture where we’re constantly busy and stressed, it’s nothing less than a gift from God. May we take time to rest today in the Lord of the Sabbath—Jesus Himself (Matthew 12:8).

As a young man, my dad was traveling with a group of friends to an out-of-town sporting event when the tires of their car slipped on the rain-soaked roads. They had an accident—a bad accident. One of his friends was paralyzed and another was killed. My dad was declared dead and taken to the morgue. His shocked and grief-stricken parents came to identify him. But my dad revived from what turned out to be a deep coma. Their mourning turned to joy.

In Ephesians 2, the apostle Paul reminds us that apart from Christ we are “dead in [our] transgressions and sins” (v. 1). But because of His great love for us, “God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions” (vv. 4–5). Through Christ we have been brought from death to life.

So in every sense, we all owe our life to the Father in heaven. Through His great love, He has made it possible for those of us who were dead in sin to have life and purpose through His Son.

Our pastor wasn’t pleased that his newspaper had been arriving late each morning—for two weeks. So he impatiently stood at his front door, ready to verbally pounce on the newspaper deliveryman and unleash his anger over the tardy papers. Before he did, however, he thought better of it. Instead, he asked, “How’s it going, Tom?” When he did, he found out that Tom’s house had burned to the ground two weeks before. He and his family were homeless. Tom had recently picked up extra work on a local farm to earn more money. Now he had to wake up even earlier than usual. It had been the worst two weeks of his life.

Needless to say, my pastor was humbled. He told us he had thought he had Tom all figured out as a lazy, thoughtless person. He was wrong.

This reminds me of another time people jumped to conclusions. In Luke 13:1-4, Jesus told his listeners that those murdered by Pilate in the temple and the eighteen who died when a tower in Siloam crushed them didn’t suffer because they were worse sinners than anyone else.

Back then (and sometimes today) people believed that suffering always resulted from people’s sins. In other words, they brought it on themselves. So whenever something bad happened to others, people thought they had it all figured out: Someone must have sinned. That’s why Jesus’ disciples asked Him, “Why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?” (John 9:2). But Jesus replied, “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins” (John 9:3).

It’s dangerous to label others and think we have them figured out. Instead, may we pray and ask God to help us extend His grace to those we’re struggling with—realizing we can’t know it all.

A family headed for missionary training was killed by a truck driver, just months before they were set to leave for Japan. The father had explained their mission in his blog: “The Japanese people are either the largest or second largest unreached people group on earth . . . The church in Japan is not yet large enough to share Christ and disciple new believers on its own. There is a need for more laborers.” This family answered God’s call but died on their way.

The family’s pastor spoke of the mysterious providence of our Creator. “God is sovereign over all events, and this tragedy did not surprise Him. So we take Psalm 46 to heart, ‘Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and mountains fall into the heart of the sea. . . . The Lord Almighty is with us.’ He’s ‘our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble’ (Psalm 46:1-7).”

Yet there’s more to consider. Paul wanted to visit the church in Thessalonica and encourage them in the joy of the gospel. He said we “tried again and again” to “come to you,” but “Satan prevented us” (1 Thessalonians 2:18). Paul believed in the sovereignty of God, but he also knew we’re in a spiritual war. He wrote, “We are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against . . . evil spirits in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).

God is sovereign over all things. Yet He has given us freedom to choose both good and bad. He has also allowed Satan a season to battle against good. The evil one prevented Paul from visiting the Thessalonians, and he may have prevented this family from reaching Japan.

The battle continues. God’s call still stands. “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” By His strength, may we say, “Here I am. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8 NIV).