When I was 15, my family fell apart and, with it, my general belief that God was good and He was for me. I was left with a lot of questions and not a lot of great advice, much like our friend, Job, in this week’s reading.
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In two short chapters we watch Job’s life fall apart— his family, his wealth, and his health. Job wrestled to reconcile God’s justice with his own personal suffering, because it’s clear he had done nothing wrong. We read in Job 1:8 that Job was “a man of perfect integrity, who [feared] God.” Job’s story challenges Western ideas that are basically “Christian karma”— that if we’re good, God will be good to us, and if we’re experiencing suffering it’s because of something wrong we did.
 
The mental anguish revealed in the subsequent dialogue is not grief over loss of Job’s possessions, rather grief over his perceived abandonment by God...
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However, there is one thing that can ruin that good feeling quickly: coffee grounds.
 
It’s amazing to think those beloved beans that make such a glorious concoction can also create quite the ruckus in my mouth. Who has ever wanted to chew their coffee? Certainly not me. No thank you. This is why it is so important to use the right filter.

​When I think about it, the key to enjoying both my coffee and my life in peace aren’t all that different. Pleasant coffee and a pleasant mindset both require the same thing: good filters.
 
In Philippians 4, the apostle Paul is dishing out some practical advice to new believers—specifically, how to live in peace...
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