Filtering Life - Martin Wiles

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. Psalm 136:1 NLT

I met him on an informational walk on the Foothills Trail—a thru-hiker of the Appalachian Trail.

Meeting and talking with a thru-hiker excited me. As he discussed his adventure, he related the only time he had to leave the trail. He had visited a trail shelter where trail angels left fresh fruit in a nearby stream. Without thinking, he lunged into an apple without washing it. He soon found himself suffering from giardia from water bacteria and sidelined from the trail for a few days of misery.

I’ve never drunk unfiltered water from creeks, lakes, or streams without filtering it. Spending the money required for a dependable filtering source is worth the effort, as is ensuring I replace the filter and clean it regularly.

Filtering life’s experiences isn’t quite as easy as filtering water. All I must do with water is place the filter in the water source and pump. What comes into my drinking canister is at least 99% pure. The chances I’ll be infected are slim. Not so with filtering life. Life’s experiences vary in intensity and probability, and advice on how to face them is plentiful.

The psalmist concluded everything he said about God with the refrain, “His (God’s) faithful love endures forever.” This is a dependable filtering system. Whatever comes our way, we can rest assured that God’s faithful love for us endures forever.

God doesn’t filter his love through our behavior. If he did, most wouldn’t experience it regularly. Instead, he filters his love through his nature—which is love. While his nature also encompasses holiness—which involves his divine wrath against sin—his nature is to love all people, good and bad.

God’s Word is the only reliable filtering source. Other sources may or may not allow bacteria that could taint how we respond to a particular life experience. As the psalmist used God’s revealed Word throughout his life journey to filter his experiences, we, too, can find there a source of instruction and encouragement to help us filter life. When filtered through God’s Word, unpleasant life experiences will lose the potential to infect us with bitterness, anger, confusion, unbelief, and doubt.

Change your perspective on life experiences by filtering them through God’s Word.

Father, when difficulties come my way, lead me to filter them through the teachings of your Word. 

Tweetable: Through what are you filtering your life? 

If you enjoyed this devotion, please share it with your friends. 

I invite you to try my newest book, Life's Many Moods: A Collection of Poetry, in eBook or paperback. Throughout the years, poets have expressed emotions in various ways through the picturesque method of poetry. Click on the title above to order your copy today. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.