Discipleship

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How Am I Going To Do That?

Have you ever been given, or taken, responsibility for something that you wondered if you could really accomplish it or pull it off?  Perhaps at work, you’ve been assigned a task that seems like it is beyond normal expectations.  Perhaps at church, you’ve “volunteered” to lead a ministry that reaches out to the homeless and hurting of your community and you’ve just been shown the research of how many people are in need.  Perhaps at home, you’ve decided to tackle a home improvement project that seems to grow in size, difficulty, and cost every time you look at it.  Whatever it is, there is probably something each of us can look at and think, “How am I going to do that?”

When I think of big, potentially overwhelming, “are you sure I can do this?”, kind of projects in the Bible, one of the ones at the top of my list is the building of the temple.  As I read the instructions that are given for the building of the temple and look at the material list of this construction project, I have to wonder if there weren’t times that Solomon thought to himself, “How am I going to do that?” 

Perhaps that is on David’s mind as he gives his son the instructions for building the temple of God.  Then, adding to any self-doubt Solomon may have had, David introduces his son to the entire assembly with these words, “My son Solomon, the one God has chosen, is young and inexperienced.  The task is great, because this palatial structure is not for human beings but for the Lord God.”  (1 Chronicles 29:1)  Wow!  What a confidence-building pep talk.  I know, that wasn’t the purpose of the introduction.  David was enlisting help for his son to accomplish the task before him.  The pep talk came earlier in chapter 28 of 1 Chronicles.  It is there that David gives Solomon words of wisdom that will equip him to take the lead on this monumental task.

In verse 6, David declares to Solomon and all the officials of Israel that it was God who had chosen Solomon to lead the nation and to build God’s house.  That is a powerful piece of information.  How many times when we have asked, “How am I going to do that?“, would we have worked harder, looked more intently for a solution, persevered longer under hardship, if we had only been confident that God had chosen us for the task that seemed so big?  I looked several days ago at the scripture Paul wrote, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”  Many times, we don’t get bogged down with the “who can be against us”  part of the question as much as we wonder and doubt “If God is for us?”.  We believe God can accomplish what He wills and desires, but is this it?  David sought to remove that doubt from Solomon’s mind.  He stated clearly, over and over, in front of many witnesses, “God has chosen you for this task”. 

Okay, pep talk is over.  . . . Solomon knows that God has selected him for the task at hand.  . . . Nothing can stop him now, God is on his side.  . . . But wait!  The pep talk isn’t over.  . . . There is something that Solomon needs to understand yet — something that has the power to impact every area of life.  David knows that as important as building this temple is, there are more important things for Solomon to understand, so he says these words:

“And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts.  If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.  Consider now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house as the sanctuary.  Be strong and do the work.”  1 Chronicles 28:9-10

How often do we go from “How am I going to do that?”, to “Wow!  Look what I have done!”?  David is warning his son that he must remain completely devoted to God and constantly allow God to purify his motives, thoughts, and desires.  There is a hidden downside in being chosen by God to accomplish a monumental task — it is so easy to allow pride to creep in and steal credit and honor from God.  David seems to warn Solomon — don’t let this go to your head, this really isn’t about you. 

How often do you and I need that same warning?  Don’t let this go to your head, this really isn’t about you.  In the midst of doing, it is easy to lose focus and begin to have a divided heart.  We can’t live long with a divided heart.  Joshua put it this way, “choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, . . . as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”  Elijah said it like this, “How long will you waver between two opinions?  If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”  Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters.  Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.”  Throughout scripture we see this call to a wholehearted devotion to God.  God knows if we are following Him grudgingly or passionately.  His desire is for us to continue steadfastly in a single-minded, single-hearted pursuit of Him in the midst of everything we do.

When life has you asking the question, “How am I going to do that?”, trust in an All-Knowing God that knows if you should do “that” and can empower and equip you to accomplish it if you should.  But never forget to do all to the glory of God.  The monumental tasks we accomplish are not about us or our glory, they’re about Him and His glory. 

May you and I be found faithful, doing everything God desires with a willing heart and pure motives.  May we truly love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. 

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Did I Say That Out Loud?

I’m guessing that I’m not the only one who has ever said something that didn’t sound right the moment it left our lips.  Perhaps on its way out of our mouth, we realized we had reached the point of no return and there was no stopping these words that would soon burst into the air.  Maybe its a second later, as our words float through the air and land in our ears, we can’t believe what we’re hearing.  Or another moment passes and we see the looks of disbelief and shock on the faces of those around us as our words register in their mind.  We want to ignore the statement — going on as if nothing had been said.  We want to brush our words aside and hope no one heard or remembers.  We want to explain what we really meant.  We wonder to our self, and even verbally question, “Did I say that out loud?”

I get the sense that David has one of those moments in Psalm 139.  It is a wonderful Psalm.  A well-known Psalm — at least the first 18 verses and the last 2 verses.  In the first two-thirds of the chapter, David writes of an All-Knowing God that has created him and has known his entire life before a day of it came to be.  He acknowledges that there is no where that he could go to hide from God — God will know where David is.  He even writes about God knowing the words he will speak before they are even on his tongue.  God knows intimately every detail of David’s life and he marvels in his writing of such an incredible God.

And then comes verses 19 – 22:

“If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
   Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
 They speak of you with evil intent;
   your adversaries misuse your name.
 Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,
   and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
 I have nothing but hatred for them;
   I count them my enemies.”

Whoa!  Did he say that out loud?  How do you go from, “How precious to me are your thoughts, God!  How vast is the sum of them!” to “If only you, God, would . . . “?  As David unloads his heart before God regarding the wicked and those who live against God, I think the words coming out of his mouth slowly began to register in his mind.  Perhaps that question crossed his mind, “Did I say that out loud?”  In light of what he had just expressed in the previous 18 verses about God’s knowledge of everything, even before it came into being, did it matter if it was said out loud? 

The reason that I think David wondered about his words, is his request in the final two verses of Psalm 139.  I get the image in my mind of David saying, “That didn’t sound right, but I know what I meant.”  And then it hits him — God also knows what he meant.  David had just declared so beautifully God’s complete knowledge of all things.  Now was the time to seek input from this All-Knowing God.  God could see through all of the personal feelings — the hurts, the fears, the worries, the pride, the selfishness, the sin in his life — and know exactly the intent of his words.  And so we have those wonderful verses in Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” 

I’ve been there, haven’t you?  I say or do something that could be taken wrong.  I know, or at least am fairly confident, that I had good and honorable intentions but it doesn’t come across that way.  It’s the, “Wow, did I say that out loud?”  “You know that is not what I really meant.”  And so I come to God as David did.  Search me, God.  You do know me even better than I know myself.  Look within and examine my very motive for that thought and statement.  Show me if it is indeed pure, or if it comes from worry, fear, selfishness, or pride.  Open me before you and show me anything that you find offensive.  Help me to get rid of whatever it may be.  Lead me.  Lead me not just in some general direction we’ll call life, but lead me in the way everlasting.  Both in the way that leads to everlasting life and also lead me in the way forever and always.  Keep me in the way and guard my heart, mind, and will; that I would not stray. 

May you and I recognize an All-Knowing God who sees everything about us.  When we speak and act out of the passion of our heart, may we turn to God to purify and reveal to us the basis for those words and actions.  May our passion for God be the source of what we think and for what we say out loud.

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Depth of Riches

Have you ever been doing something in faithful service to God in such a way that you find yourself breaking out into song?  I have.  With my singing abilities, or lack thereof, I always hope I am somewhere alone when that happens, but it does happen.  I will be praying, or studying, or simply spending time with God reflecting on His character and the relationship He desires for me to have with Him, and a song wells up within me and must come out.

I get the impression that Paul experienced that same feeling as he wrote Romans 11.  The chapter focuses on Israel’s rejection of God.  Paul makes it clear that their disobedience and stumbling does not have to be permanent.  He addresses the result of this turning away from God as he writes in verses 11 and 12, “Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery?  Not at all!  Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious.  But if their transgression mean riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring!”  Paul continues in this chapter by warning the Gentiles to not become arrogant or think of themselves as better than the people of Israel.  He warns the believers to remain faithful in staying connected to the root of God as he writes, “if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.”  Israel’s rejection of God and God’s mercy to the Gentiles was not to be seen as an unchanging, unwavering decision.  Not that God would change, but He was working to bring change in the lives of people.  His desire is not to replace the people of Israel with the Gentiles, rather He is working to use His display of mercy to the Gentiles to draw His people, Israel, back to Himself. 

It is as Paul contemplates the great mercy that God has shown on Jew and Gentile alike that he breaks out in the following song:

“Oh, the depth of riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
  How unsearchable his judgments,
    and his path beyond tracing out!
‘Who has known the mind of the Lord?
  Or who has been his counselor?’
‘Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?’
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
  To him be the glory forever!  Amen.”

Wow!  What a song!  As I am writing this, the students at Michiana Christian School  are singing the song, “Everlasting Love”, in chapel.  One verse in it states, “Oh, the wonder of His everlasting love is deeper than the sea.”  That seems to be what Paul is getting at in his song.  He has already written about the great riches being opened up to the Gentiles.  Riches that will be even greater as their fullness is spread to the entire world — both Jew and Gentile.  So, Paul writes this “song” proclaiming the vast depth of God’s riches in wisdom and knowledge. 

We often wonder, “What is the difference between wisdom and knowledge?”  That is one of our “daily questions” in the View From The Top:  What Does God Say study that I am using to develop the writings on this blog.  Generally, wisdom deals with the application of what we know.  It is learned through experience and as a gift from God — “If anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives generously without finding fault” (James 1:5).  Wisdom is doing, saying, being, the right thing at the right time.  On the other hand, knowledge is information.  Many people and cultures pride themselves in their ability to obtain knowledge.  Knowledge discovers, investigates, and reveals.  Knowledge by itself is not always discriminate in its use or application.  Knowledge discovers things such as nuclear reactions — Wisdom restrains that discovery’s use to that which brings good and not harm.  In both wisdom and knowledge, God exhibits a depth of riches beyond compare.

His wisdom is beyond searching and untraceable!  God’s experience is limitless as He is not bound by time or space.  God is the true author of wisdom as only He knows the proper and best application for anything that we may come to know.  His knowledge is complete and perfect.  No one has completely known the mind of God nor has He needed any person’s counsel to teach Him something new.  God is the author of the universe and everything in it.  It all came about by His desire and His word.  Nothing we learn as new “earth-shattering” discoveries is new knowledge to God.  The depth of the riches of His knowledge is beyond our comprehension.

So, why did Paul burst out in song?  Why do I find myself singing in the midst of contemplating God?  I think it is for the same reason.  When taking the time to dwell in thoughts of an All-Knowing God’s great mercy, I feel no choice but to praise Him for the depth of riches He chooses to share with me.  I am in awe and wonder that this All-Knowing God, full of complete wisdom and knowledge , desires that I would have a relationship with Him through His Son. 

When you and I struggle with decisions in life, limited in our wisdom and knowledge, may we turn to the One who has a depth of riches that He longs to share with us.

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What, Then, Shall We Say?

Have you ever been speechless?  Confronted with such knowledge, wisdom, and truth, that there is absolutely nothing that your mind can think of to say in response.  Or maybe you’ve been in the presence of such foolishness, ignorance, and lies that there is nothing that you can think of saying that would be profitable to anyone.  For many, being speechless is a rare thing.  We have a response for everything.  We must have the last word, so we’ll say something — anything at all, really.  Just don’t let me get caught without an answer.

Paul gives us one of those statements of knowledge, wisdom and truth as he writes in Romans 8:28-30:

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.  And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” 

What depth of truth!  No wonder Paul raises the question in verse 31, “What, then, shall we say in response to these things?”  What can you say in response to a Sovereign, Almighty God who conforms, calls, justifies, and glorifies according to his incredible knowledge — a foreknowledge that knows what was, what is, and what will be in your life and mine more clearly than we know our self this moment.  Because of what God knows about those whom He has already seen that choose to pursue Him in obedient trust, God can state that He works to the good in all things for those who have been predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.  He can do this because He knows in advance what our choice about Him will be.

And so Paul asks, if this is the kind of God we serve, what can we say?  “If God is for us, who can be against us?”  I’ve always looked at this thirty-first verse of Romans eight and thought, “That’s an easy question.  No one, of course!”  Yet there is one, isn’t there?  If God is for me, who can be against me?  Me!  The Bible teaches that God allows me to choose my master.  God has chosen to limit His sovereign, almighty nature by giving mankind choices — free-will to do either right or wrong.  The decision is ours to accept or reject the very grace and mercy that defines God’s love for us. 

The part that is so hard for me (and you?) to fathom is that God knew every day of my life before I was even born.  He knew how I would respond to the missionary speaker at The Country Church calling for people to surrender to the Lordship of Jesus.  He knew the times I would drift and wander — both away from Him and back toward Him.  He even knows if I’m finally back in submissive obedience to Him for the rest of my life or if there are still periods of wandering yet to be lived.  I choose. 

I choose to be done with wandering.  I choose Jesus as my Sovereign, Almighty Lord.  Because God knows I choose, He is faithful and just and will conform me to the image of His Son — calling me, justifying me, and glorifying me as He brings me to maturity in Christ.  What, then, shall I say?  If God is for me, who can be against me?  No one!  Because I choose Him, no one can be against me and win.

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A Night With The Lions

I love the story of Daniel in the den of lions!  Coming from a guy in full time prayer ministry, that is probably not a surprising statement.  As central as prayer is in the context of the story, it is not what I consider to be the main theme of Daniel 6.  I see greater themes — such as integrity, trust, living a consistent lifestyle when people watch and when they don’t, and God’s Almighty nature.

The chapter begins with king Darius appointing 120 rulers to oversee the kingdom with 3 administrators over these rulers.  One of these 3 administrators is Daniel.  The same Daniel who was taken captive and brought into the service of the Babylonians as a “spoil of war”.  In some ways, the story reminds me of the account of Joseph recorded in Genesis.  Daniel is not in Babylon by choice but he determines to live a life that honors and respects God regardless of the circumstances he finds himself in.  By trusting God and refusing to eat from the king’s table, Daniel places himself in a position that God knows it is He who will be honored in anything Daniel does.  So Daniel rises in influence and authority to the point where “Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.”  (Daniel 6:3) 

Even Daniel’s rivals and fellow leaders could find nothing in his life to drag out of the closet.  Here was a man that was so  squeaky clean that no amount of digging and investigating was going to come up with anything to dirty his image — let alone remove him from leadership.  Daniel exhibited true integrity.  His enemies “could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent.”  In our current American political culture, I find this amazing.  I’m not sure I know of any political leader today whose enemies would conclude they can find nothing against them.  Yet here is Daniel, living a life so upright and God-honoring . . . God-honoring . . . that is it!  So, the rival leaders conclude, “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.”  If he is so God-honoring then we will use that against him.  And so they do.  They set up the king to influence him to make a law that prayers can only be prayed to the king for a thirty day time period.  Oh, and any lawbreakers — they get to spend the night in the den of lions.

What would you or I do in Daniel’s spot?  I can hear myself now.  “That’s not fair!”  “That’s a trap.”  “Prayer is such a private thing anyway, who will know if I’m praying and who I’m praying to?”  “God will understand if I change my practice of prayer to fit this culture I am in, He surely wouldn’t want me to die.”  This could be a long paragraph if I continued, but I think you get the point and could add some excuses of your own.  Daniel’s integrity and trust in God would allow him to have no part in making excuses or justifying a different action.  After Daniel had learned of the decree, “he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem.  Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.” 

Daniel would not allow others to bully him out of his relationship with God and his daily times of prayer.  His integrity would not allow him to make excuses to change his routine so that he could “pray it safe”.  I can actually picture the apostles thinking of Daniel as they respond to leaders of their day, “We must obey God rather than men.”  So, the trap is set . . .  the bait is taken . . . the victim is brought before the king for punishment . . . and the king has to be thinking, “what kind of leaders have I appointed that they have managed to pull this over on me and leave me with no way out.”  The text tells us the king was distressed and made every effort possible to try to save Daniel until the end of the day.  Finally, his time is up and his last ditch effort to save Daniel actually surprises me.  I had to look twice — yes, there it is . . . isn’t this against the law?  It sure looks to me like the kings final, “when all else fails”, solution is one that sounds familiar — he prays!  As Daniel is about to be thrown into the den of lions, the king says, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!”  Sounds a lot like a prayer to me, how about you? 

So, a night with the lions begins.  I’ve heard all kinds of imaginative minds describe what it must have been like for Daniel that night.  The Bible really doesn’t give much detail about his night, but it does describe the night the king had.  The king was worried about his friend.  He “spent the night without eating and without any entertainment being brought to him.  And he could not sleep.”  Can you imagine the weight of putting to death your friend, your trusted adviser, the only one of your leadership team who truly lived with integrity?  You’ve allowed your pride and gullibility to make your decisions for you and force you into an action you absolutely hated to do.  Wow, what a night!  No wonder the king heads to the lions’ den at first light.  All the while wondering, “Is it even possible that this God whom Daniel serves continually could actually rescue him from these lions?”  And that is his question when he arrives, “Daniel, did your God save you?”  Imagine the relief and joy the king felt when Daniel replies, “My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouth of the lions.  They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight.  Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, Your Majesty.”  Just as his friends had done when facing the fiery furnace a few chapters earlier, Daniel believed in a God who was mighty enough to rescue even from death.  Yet as great as those rescues are,  the greater story is the unwavering obedience shown by these young Hebrews when forced to choose between compromise and life or obey God and die. 

How often do you and I find ourselves making the wrong choices — even when the immediate consequence of our disobedience isn’t physical death.  We choose compromise and acceptance over obedience and rejection.  We choose compromise and fleeting pleasure over obedience and endurance.  We choose compromise and expediency over obedience and patience.  We choose compromise over obedience!

May you and I learn from the integrity of Daniel.  May we live our life with such integrity that no one can find anything to charge us with unless it has something to do with our obedience to God.  May we practice our integrity, serving God continually, in ways that will influence those observing our interaction with our God.  May we do what is right, because it is right, regardless of the consequences.

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I Can’t and I Won’t!

Have you ever had something asked of you that was so far outside of your comfort zone that you simply refused to do it?  Perhaps there is something new being expected of you that you have never done or tried before and there is no way you are about to start now.  Maybe the task at hand just sounds too hard — impossible for anyone to accomplish, let alone someone like me.  My guess is that you have been there with me more often than you want to admit.  We get really good at the excuses, don’t we?  We drag out all kinds of reasons as to why we can’t do whatever is being asked or expected.  Sometimes we get really creative and sometimes we respond with a simple, “I can’t”.

Yet, I wonder.  How often is that really true?  Do you and I know that it is really true when we respond that way?  I often heard a phrase growing up that went like this:  “Can’t never could ’til he tried.”  As much as I would try to push that thought aside or simply ignore it, there were always times when I would say, “I can’t”, and that phrase would jump into my mind and ask the simple question, “How do you know?”  When asked honestly and intently of our self, this question often reveals the true answer isn’t, “I can’t” but “I won’t!” 

We don’t like to get caught using the “I won’t” response.  It sounds so selfish.  It makes us appear lazy and unconcerned.  It puts the emphasis on our unwillingness to be involved.  We much prefer “I can’t”.  It gives the impression that we care.  It makes it sound like we want to, we simply are unable to.  “I can’t” says it is impossible.  The timing is wrong.  The request is wrong.  The setting isn’t right for me.  The task is beyond my ability.  I’m too young or too old.  Often these are just ways that we excuse our “I won’t” and attempt to portray it as “I can’t”. 

In the years that I directed children’s ministry and was a youth minister, I was constantly in need of volunteers to help with a wide variety of ministry tasks.  As I would ask, recruit, and even beg people to serve in some area of need, I would get a lot of “I can’t do that” but I do not recall ever having anyone actually say, “I won’t do that”.  I-can’t-itis is a plague that is wreaking havoc in our society and in our churches as it is symptomatic of the selfishness that defines the American culture.  Do you hear yourself in any of these statements?  . . . I can’t serve in the nursery.  . . . I can’t attend Sunday School, or any other Bible study for that matter.  . . . I can’t teach a children’s class.  . . . I can’t participate in a focused gathering of prayer for my church and community.  . . . I can’t be a sponsor at a youth event.  . . . I can’t make people feel welcome.  . . . I can’t tolerate people who sing, look, or act differently.  . . . I can’t help at a church work day.  . . . I can’t be involved in a nursing home, homeless center, or any other ministry that would take me out of my comfort zone.  . . . I can’t.  . . . I can’t.  . . . I can’t!

Well, just maybe you are right and you can’t — but God can!  Throughout the Bible, God selects common, ordinary people to do extraordinary — even impossible — things.  Imagine life if Noah had said, “I can’t build this boat, or ark, or whatever it is You are saying I need.”  . . . Oh, wait!  There wouldn’t be life, would there.  Or David saying, “I can’t defeat this giant.”  Imagine if Daniel had said, “It’s a law.  I guess I can’t pray.”  Or Mary saying, “I can’t be the mother of this Messiah that you say I am to have.”

Each of these people, along with many others, would have been right — at least by our definition.  The task expected of them was huge — seemingly impossible by our standards.  We get a good idea of this in Luke as God sends an angel to give Mary the news that she would give birth to the very Son of God.  Her immediate response doesn’t quite sound like “I can’t”, but it is at least a question at the heart of her words; “How will this be since I am a virgin?”  I know that because the angel responds with a way that it is possible by telling Mary that the baby she will have will be conceived by the Holy Spirit.  The angel goes on to say that not only will you Mary, a virgin, have a baby, but your aunt — the one who is beyond child-bearing age and is known to be barren, that aunt is going to have a baby as well.  I know the thought was at least forming in Mary’s mind that this can’t be because the angel states in Luke 1:37 that this will all happen because “nothing is impossible with God.”  Even with any questions and thoughts Mary may have had about why she couldn’t, she didn’t use the “I can’t” as cover for an “I won’t”.  Convinced or not of her ability to do what was being stated, she took the angel at his word that “nothing is impossible with God” and she responded with a willingness to be involved as she replies, “May it be to me as you have said.”

How about you and me?  Do we believe that nothing is impossible with God?  Do we live as if we serve a God who can do things in and through us that we think are impossible?  Does knowing that nothing is impossible with God make our statements of “I can’t” seem more like the “I won’t” that they are?

May you and I live obediently to God, surrendering anything that we say, “I can’t”, and asking Him if “He will”.

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Nothing Worth Fighting About

Have you ever been in a “really good” fight and forgotten what it was you were fighting about?

I remember when my mom would ask my brothers and I that really hard question, “What are you fighting about?”  By the time she had interrupted our “activity”, many times we would just look at her and honestly respond, “I don’t know.”  You do know that it is not just a kid problem, right?  Adults argue and fight with one another — sometimes for days, months, and even years.  The disagreement turns into a feud and people no longer talk to one another.  They go out of their way to avoid contact unless they are planning a way “to get back at them”.  Yet when asked why they are fighting, many of the participants in these ongoing “personal wars” respond in similar fashion, “I don’t know” or ” I don’t remember”. 

I have an idea — well it is not really my idea, but it is an idea.  James writes, “What causes fights and quarrels among you?  Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?  You desire but do not have, so you kill.  You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight.  You do not have because you do not ask God.  When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”  (James 4:1-3) 

We have our “discussions” with people and are “at war” with them because we want something and they are not willing to give it.  Sometimes we want an actual physical object or item.  More often, we simply want our way.  When we don’t “get”, we insist.  When we still don’t “get”, we get mad and begin the plotting and scheming that is the start of the “war”.

That is when we need help.  In the midst of a war — of our making or from someone else — we need a refuge.  A refuge is more than a hide-out.  It is more than a place of peace.  It is a place of safety and protection.  In the midst of conflict that desires to consume us, where do we find a true refuge?  The Psalmist writes, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”  (Psalm 46:1)   Psalm 46 continues by describing some pretty intense conflict.  . . . Though the earth give way.  . . . Though the mountains fall into the sea.  . . . Thought the waters roar and foam and shake the mountains.  . . . Even if the earth itself seems against you, God is a refuge!  Verse 9 says, “He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth.  He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire.”  As I read that, I wondered, “What would make wars cease?” 

That is what took me to the passage in James that I quoted above.  To understand what would make wars cease, it is helpful to know why they exist.  God says they exist because we want and do not get.  To make wars cease we would need to remove the desire for the things we want or we would need to remove the very objects of our desire from existence.  God has the power to do both.  In the context of Psalm 46, we read of the desolation God has brought on the earth.  The desolation would have the result of leaving nothing worth fighting about.  Most of the world’s wars, conflicts, military actions, and whatever else they care to label them, would not have existed if there were nothing in any of the lands of the earth worth protecting or worth taking.  I don’t know of anyone who would wish utter desolation on the earth simply to stop wars from taking place.

There is another way for wars to cease, and that is for our desire to get to be dealt with and removed.  I believe the writer of the Psalm offers that instruction as well as we read in verse 10, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”  God says, “Be still”.  Don’t simply put a lot of effort into not moving, but really be still.  He is talking about an inner stillness — a peace and calm on the inside that can exist because of who God is.  As our inside is still and we “know God”, there is no desire that can remain to get the things of someone else.  The only desire that can remain in this inner calm and peace is the desire to know God.  When we take refuge in God and are “still” before Him, we find that we have nothing worth fighting about. 

I don’t know about you, but to end wars and conflict in my life I would much rather be still before God than experience utter desolation. 

I pray that as you take refuge in the Almighty God, you will “Be still and know that [He] is God.”  May you live a life of peace with others, knowing that between you and them, there is really nothing worth fighting about.

by

How Alarming!

What do you do when life comes at you 100+ miles per hour and your internal alarm bells are clanging loudly and will not be silenced? 

You’ve been there, right?  Perhaps you are there right now.  . . . Bad news just arrived from the doctor.  . . . Word has been circulating for weeks that the company is in trouble and jobs will have to be eliminated.  . . . A “good friend” has betrayed the confidence you placed in them and has begun to “share” private information with others — information that will damage, even destroy, your reputation.  . . . God has been speaking to you heavily through His Spirit and His Word about taking a stand for Him in your neighborhood and you know some people won’t like the transformation that could take place.  . . . On the list could go. 

We each have our list of alarming events, don’t we?  I remember (somewhat clearly) being so sick twenty some years ago that I often struggled just to get out of bed each day.  The doctors were coming up with no answers and I was alarmed — so afraid that the worst of the worst must be happening to me.  I think that may have just been preparation because it was even more alarming when the Mayo Clinic doctor finally said, “You have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.  There is nothing we can do for you.  Goodbye!”  So long and have good life.  I hope it works out for you.  Wow!  If they couldn’t do anything to improve my physical health, then I was in bad shape.  How alarming!

I also remember, even more clearly, a month my wife and I spent at the Ronald McDonald House at the University of Chicago Children’s Hospital.  Obviously not a normal vacation spot for most families.  No, this was a visit brought about by a trip with our daughter to a local ER for an ongoing seizure that ended with her kidneys and liver shutting down and a quick ride to Chicago.  Alarming enough?  I thought so.  Then, as the doctor worked methodically to discover the reason for her body shutting down and the ensuing coma, he finally calls us into a conference room and says, “There is nothing more we can do.”  Okay, now we’re at alarming.  Five-alarm alarming!  How do you respond to that?  What do you do when life seems to be all stacked up against you and you are afraid?

How about when you are under attack?  . . . When the enemy is coming at you full force and nothing can stand in its way?  . . . When an army is coming out to destroy you and take everything you have — an army so vast that its reputation strikes fear into everyone long before it arrives?  . . . Oh, wait.  . . . That sounds familiar.  . . . That was yesterday’s text in our “A View From The Top:  What Does God Say” study.  In 2 Chronicles chapter twenty, we find that very scenario laid out before us.  It was a frightening time for Judah and its king, Jehoshaphat, as reports arrived of this “vast army” coming to attack.  So, what did Jehoshaphat do?  What can we learn from his actions? 

Jehoshaphat began by recognizing his fear and dealing with it appropriately.  We read in 2 Chronicles 20:3-4, “Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all of Judah.  The people of Judah came together to seek help from the Lord; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him.”  Yes, Jehoshaphat was alarmed.  He had every reason to be.  Yet in his fear, he made a decision that he would not waver from.  He resolved to ask God what was up.  He wasn’t approaching God with his list of demands, rather he was “resolved to inquire of the Lord”.  His resolve gathered the whole nation around him to fast and seek God — that He would be heard and listened to.  As the nation gathers in prayer and fasting, Jehoshaphat leads them in seeking God and calling on Him to take care of this situation as only He can.  Jehoshaphat lays out before God their trust in Him, their obedience to Him, their reliance on Him as their deliverer.  He acknowledges that on their own, they are helpless before this invading force.  So, as the nation gathers before God, they say, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”  We don’t have an answer, but we trust that you, God, have one.  We’re not going to make up a solution on our own rather we will fix our eyes on God and expect Him to give the plan.  And so it is in this time of expectation that, “All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the Lord.”  (1 Chronicles 20:13) 

As the nation stands before the Lord seeking His instructions, God speaks through the Spirit of the Lord on a man, Jahaziel.  God’s message in the midst of this alarming situation was, “Don’t worry about it.  I’ll fight this one for you.”  God instructs the people to take up their battle positions and to stand firm.  Stand firm — not to fight, but to be spectators and worshippers as God wins the victory and defeats the enemy army.  And so they do.  The people go out to their positions singing, “Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.”  2 Chronicles 20:22-23 says, “As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.  The Ammonites and Moabites rose up against the men of Mount Seir to destroy and annihilate them.  After they finished slaughtering the men from Seir, they helped to destroy one another.”  . . . They helped to destroy one another?  . . . Helped who?  . . . Whose battle was it?  . . . Who would be claiming the victory?  . . . God had said the battle was His.  He had fought the battle and the victory belonged to Him.  As God’s people sang and praised Him, He enlisted the enemy to help destroy one another.  What a powerful, Almighty God!

Now, back to you and me.  I’ve seen this power, how about you?  In those alarming times of life, I am getting better at seeking Him but have room for improvement.  I can look back and see times of growth.  Twenty-some years ago as I struggled with the attack on my physical health, I tried to deal with the fear and unknown on my own.  It took a gentle and loving God to draw me to the point of seeking Him in the midst of my battle with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.  It’s funny, but somewhere along the journey I learned to seek Him and trust Him with that and it slowly and gradually became a non-issue.  I learned a lot through it and it definitely helped prepare me for the things God was calling me to do and somewhere in that process of learning and preparing, it lost its power over me. 

Oh, I left a little bit out earlier in describing our alarming news at the University of Chicago Children’s Hospital.  The doctor did come in and say, “There is nothing more we can do.”  But he also continued by saying, “We can pray.  It’s the only thing that keeps some of our patients alive over at the county hospital.  Here, we rely too much on our technology when we ought to pray.”  Wow!  The five-alarm alarming comes and the reminder to seek God comes from a very unexpected source.  And so we do.  We seek God and acknowledge our trust in Him and His ownership of our daughter.  We stand before Him and watch, knowing that He cares for our daughter even more than we do and He can see the results of her life continuing just as clearly as He can see the results of it ending.  So, as we waited — as we praised God for His presence — our daughter began to improve.  Over then next few days and weeks, her condition began to stabilize; allowing the doctors to do work and procedures that her frail body would not handle when we first arrived.  For weeks, her condition was back and forth.  Then she finally woke up.  Her kidneys and liver began their return to normal function.  Dialysis was ended and we left that hospital with a daughter that needed physical therapy and rehab, but with normal functioning kidneys and liver and we had a renewed reminder that this precious child was indeed a gift from God. 

Wow!  This post has gotten long, but once I get started on how God has taught me — and continues to teach me — to be resolved to seek Him during alarming times; I have a hard time stopping. 

So, when life comes at you and me 100+ miles per hour and the alarm bells are clanging loudly and refuse to be silenced, God calls us to seek Him as the Almighty One.  When we are alarmed, may you and I be resolved to inquire of the Lord.  May we stand firm and watch God deliver us in, through, or around, the alarming situation in our life.