JUNE 27, 2026

 “Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end. Failure is something we can avoid only by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.” 

― Denis Waitley

JOB 10-12

13“To God belong wisdom and power;

counsel and understanding are his.

14What he tears down cannot be rebuilt;

those he imprisons cannot be released.

15If he holds back the waters, there is drought;

if he lets them loose, they devastate the land.

16To him belong strength and insight;

both deceived and deceiver are his.

17He leads rulers away stripped

and makes fools of judges.

18He takes off the shackles put on by kings

and ties a loincloth^b around their waist.

19He leads priests away stripped

and overthrows officials long established.

20He silences the lips of trusted advisers

and takes away the discernment of elders.

21He pours contempt on nobles

and disarms the mighty.

22He reveals the deep things of darkness

and brings utter darkness into the light.

23He makes nations great, and destroys them;

he enlarges nations, and disperses them.

24He deprives the leaders of the earth of their reason;

he makes them wander in a trackless waste.

25They grope in darkness with no light;

he makes them stagger like drunkards.(12:13-25)

ACTS 8:1-25

On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. 2Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. 3But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.

JOURNAL 

One of the religious sayings I have struggled with for years is, "We don't deserve anything." I understand what people are trying to communicate, but I have always wondered, what does the word deserve even mean? How do you measure it? Compared to whom? According to what standard?

Stephen certainly did not seem to receive what most people would call fair. He faithfully served Christ, was filled with the Holy Spirit, proclaimed the truth without compromise, and was stoned to death. Saul hunted Christians, dragged families from their homes, approved of Stephen's execution, and yet God chose him to become Paul, the greatest missionary in history. Job is described as blameless, yet he loses everything while his friends spend chapters confidently explaining why he must have deserved it.

Scripture refuses to fit inside our definition of fairness.

That is why I have always viewed "Deserve Victory" differently. It is not a demand that God owes me success. It is not a claim that if I do enough good things, life will reward me. It is a mindset. It is a commitment to become the kind of man who prepares faithfully regardless of what tomorrow brings. Victory is never guaranteed, but faithfulness always remains within my control. The more I read Scripture, the less concerned I become with what I deserve and the more concerned I become with where I am seeking wisdom for today.

Job reminds us that wisdom belongs to God alone. He raises nations and brings them low. He humbles rulers, exposes darkness, and governs history in ways no human can fully understand. If that is true, then my greatest need each morning is not to figure out whether life is fair. My greatest need is to seek the One who sees what I cannot.

That raises a far more practical question. Are my actions congruent with my seeking? If I say I trust God's wisdom, do I actually pursue it? If I claim that his Spirit directs my life, do my decisions reflect that? Am I receiving my energy, purpose, courage, and direction from him, or am I quietly depending on myself?

Stephen and Saul remind me that God can transform any heart. Job reminds me that suffering is not proof of failure. Both remind me that I cannot judge a story before God has finished writing it. So today is not about determining what I deserve. Today is about receiving the wisdom God freely gives and living in alignment with it. My responsibility is not to control outcomes but to faithfully seek him. The outcome belongs to God.

Isaiah gives the invitation that answers the whole question. Those who hope in the Lord renew their strength. They run without growing weary. They walk without fainting. Strength does not come from believing life is fair. It comes from trusting the One whose wisdom is greater than my understanding.

That is enough for today.

The Lord is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired or weary,

and his understanding no one can fathom.

29He gives strength to the weary

and increases the power of the weak.

30Even youths grow tired and weary,

and young men stumble and fall;

31but those who hope in the Lord

will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not be faint.

ISAIAH 40:28-31