Here are some of the good reads found this week:

Why, My Soul, Are You Dejected? HT to the Story Warren. “Some people beat themselves up for feeling sad. Recently, an older Christian shared with me the many ways they do this. They said, ‘I know it’s bad, I should be happier if I have faith in God, right?’ They treated their sorrow with gut punches of shame. Some medicate it with distractions. Some do all they can to avoid it. Sadness surprises and embarrasses them. It shouldn’t.”

God Brings Us Bad to Give Us Best, HT to Challies. “When God lobs a hand grenade into life and rattles our faith to the core, we wonder how he’ll work the pieces of shrapnel together for our good. What does good mean, anyway?”

Why We Should Expect Witnesses to Disagree, HT to Knowable Word. “No two people are alike, so no two people experience an event in precisely the same way. If you’ve got three witnesses in a murder case, expect three slightly different versions of the event. Don’t panic, that’s normal. In fact, when three different witnesses tell me the exact same thing, I start to get suspicious.” J. Warner Wallace then applies this to the gospels and explains why variations between them don’t make them unreliable.

Helping Husbands After a Miscarriage, HT to Challies. This is part of a series from Biblical Counseling Coalition on reproductive loss.

Are You Scattering Bad Seed? “Every day good seeds are being sown into the lives of the people around us, the people we love and are called to serve. And every day we are tempted to plant thorns among them, to sow weeds among the wheat and tares among the crops.”

The Trouble with Competitiveness, , HT to Challies. “Competitiveness comes in many forms, which is part of its sneakiness. And because of its prevalence in our culture, we can easily deceive ourselves into thinking that it’s really not such a big deal. Author Jerry Bridges names competitiveness as one of our ‘respectable sins.’ And this respectable sin may seem fun for the moment, but it’s anything but harmless.”

The Procrastination Spiral. How procrastination becomes cyclic, discussion about whether or not it is a sin, and tips for breaking the cycle.

What Pastoral Productivity Can and Cannot Do For You, HT to Redeeming Productivity. Even though this article is aimed at pastors, I found the principles helpful as well. “Although the benefits of productivity can change your life and maybe your ministry, life in a fallen world means the benefits of productivity are limited. . . Although productivity can help you fulfill your purpose, productivity should not be your purpose.”

When you think of what you are, and despair;
think also of what He is, and take heart.
–Charles H. Spurgeon