God

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Where Are You Dwelling?

Castle RuinsIt is often interesting to learn why a person lives where they do.  Although each story is unique, there are several themes that are often repeated.  Work related issues, educational opportunities, love for family and relatives, and climate are common reasons many have for living in a certain area.

Christmas is a story about choosing a place to live.  Isn’t that what John writes about in John 1:14:

“And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

God became human and lived among us.  God chose a time and place that He, as Jesus, could live among the people He loved so much.  Just as we have reasons for why we live where we do, Jesus had reasons for living where He did.  He had work to do.  Jesus knew from the beginning that His work on earth would be accomplished through His death and resurrection.  Jesus came to teach and train followers who would take the good news of His life to the world.  Jesus dwelt among us — His creation, those He had chosen to adopt as children of God.  And in all of this, the climate was right.  Not the weather, but the timing.  In the fullness of time, Christ was born.  When His time had come, Jesus was lifted up to be crucified.  His dwelling among us had purpose.  The church today exists because Jesus was willing to live and die at the right time, at the right place, and for the right reason.

Will you allow the Word to become flesh in your life?  As you dwell among the world, is Jesus being seen in you?  Has Jesus become flesh and dwelt in your community because He lives through you?  I believe that God has placed His Spirit in each of His children so that as He lives among us, we and the lost around us would see the glory of the Father.

Where are you dwelling?

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Finding The Perfect Gift

Here in the United States, the Christmas shopping season has arrived.  Yesterday, “black Friday”, was the unofficial start — a day when multitudes of people stand in lines at stores through the night for the chance to find the “perfect gift” at the “perfect price”.  Many times, the rudeness level of America skyrockets on this day as patience grows thin and tempers flare among people striving to obtain satisfaction by finding the ultimate bargain before someone else beats them to it.

I think it would be amazing to follow the life of a few of these perfect gifts over the next year.  I wonder how many of them will bring the life-changing satisfaction that the purchaser anticipates?  How long the joy will remain in the life of the gift recipient?  Will the excitement of something new outlast the credit card debt required to obtain it?  How many lives will be truly transformed because of the perfect gift found for them on “black Friday”? 

I didn’t participate in the shopping frenzy yesterday.  I did make it to the local Menard’s to look at bathroom medicine cabinets, but there wasn’t anything I needed badly enough to make me wait among the crowd of people lined up to check out.  No, my day was spent at home with family — my immediate family and members of the extended family that stopped by throughout the day.  It was a joy to see the little ones playing with a box of old toys.  Nothing fancy in it; just a few cars, a truck, tractor, some blocks, and other “old-fashioned” toys.  Yet even those “simple” toys weren’t necessary as the play turned to the box itself and then to some plastic containers from the cupboard. 

The perfect gift?  It was here!  The peace, joy, and contentment found among family who love one another and have no need to “one-up” anyone.  The pleasure of sharing a meal and the simplicity of spending time together with this family will not lose its luster like the expensive gifts being bought and sold in the stores.  The work that it takes to maintain the relationships is worth the value of the gift that it is. 

As you think about the gifts you want to give and the gifts you want to receive this Christmas, meditate on these words from James 1:16-18:

“Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers.  Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like the shifting  shadows.  He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.”

This Christmas season, don’t be deceived by the glitter and sparkle of the advertising industry.  Don’t expect to find the perfect gift on the shelf of any store — it won’t be there.  You may find some nice things, but they won’t be the “good and perfect gifts” that the Father really wants for you to have.  The things you give and receive may complement the true gift, but they will never match it.  It is so easy to be deceived about what we need, what we have to have, what we must give, that we miss the gift of Jesus.  The Father’s choosing to give us birth through the word of truth — through Jesus — is the greatest gift of all. 

May you and I recognize the truth that “every good and perfect gift is from above”.  May we do more than recognize that truth, may we reflect it in the things we do and say.  May we constantly thank God for the good and perfect gifts that only He can provide.  May we keep the things of this world in proper perspective as we acknowledge God’s gift this Christmas season and each day that we live.

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I Can Relate

Experience has a way of forming and tempering who we are.  Not only in the way we react and respond to a particular situation, but also in the way we view the words and actions of others.  Our presumed knowledge of another’s experiences often determines if we trust their counsel, advice, and help when we are in need.  We really are looking for two things, someone that has been in similar circumstances so we feel we can relate to them and we want that person to have overcome whatever difficulty that you had in common. 

We all probably know people who claim to have the solutions for all of our problems, all of our communities’ struggles, and all of the world’s ills.  I quickly become skeptical when it appears as if they have never struggled with any of the problems that I, my community, and the world face.  The answers are too neatly packaged because they do not reflect real life.  On the other hand, it is equally frustrating to have someone try to convince me they have the solution I need when they are worse off than I am.  I know many people who try to teach on the benefits of Godly financial stewardship, yet their personal financial picture is in ruins.  I believe there is great benefit to handling finances in such a way that God is honored and He comes first, but I’m not sure it helps a lot to have someone try to teach that principle when their life appears like they haven’t lived it.

That is why the verses in our study from Hebrews 2:14-18 are such an encouragement.

“Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death — that is, the devil — and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.  For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants.  For this reason he had to be made like his brothers and sisters in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.  Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”

Jesus not only experienced the human-ness that we have, and everything that entails, He overcame the temptations that continually cause me to stumble.  He knows how hard it is and He can relate to the difficulty you and I have in living life in faithful obedience.  He is not a “pie in the sky” God that looks down his nose at us and questions why we don’t get it right — He did it, why can’t we?  He knows that sin and temptation can be overcome, but He also knows how hard that is.  Jesus had the same struggles we have in facing the temptations to sin, yet he refused to give in.  In the struggles we have, He says, “I can relate”.  His mercy comes from an understanding of the frailty of mankind. 

This is a Savior I can trust!  He has been where I am at and He has successfully conquered every problem that I will face.  It wasn’t an easy, natural thing for Him any more than it is for me.  I can trust Him to walk me through each temptation without my having to give in to it because He has already been down that path without sin.  I can also trust Him to show mercy and forgiveness if I stumble and “don’t get it right” because He understands just how hard it is.  His challenge that I “have not yet resisted temptation to the point of shedding blood” is a poignant reminder that He does know just how hard it is — He shed His blood. 

Praise God!  His mercy endures forever! 

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Mercy Received, Is Mercy Given?

I wrote in an earlier post, Seventy Times Seven, about Peter asking Jesus how many times he should forgive someone.  Not only does Jesus give the short answer of seventy times seven (or seventy-seven, depending on the translation), He goes on to tell a parable to illustrate why we ought to forgive and show mercy.

As you read this familiar parable, ask God to help you see accurately where you are in it.  In Matthew 18:23-34, Jesus says;

“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.  As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him.  Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
The servant fell on his knees before him.  ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’  The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.  He grabbed him and began to choke him.  ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’
But he refused.  Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.  When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.
Then the master called the servant in.  ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to.  Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’  In anger his master handed him over to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.”

We read the account of that servant and we think, “What a jerk!”  His enormous debt was canceled and he goes straight out of his master’s presence and demands justice be served on a fellow servant who owed him a minute fraction of what he had just been forgiven of.  This servant had received mercy of a magnitude that is really hard to imagine.  In an American culture and equivalent, this debt that was forgiven could be approaching the five billion dollar mark (see note below).  I can almost hear Peter and the others who may have been listening, gasp when Jesus first brings up the amount of this servant’s debt.  It would have been clear to them that there was no way this debt would be re-payed — ever!  I can also imagine the surprise, and the relief — Jesus had said this story was about the kingdom of heaven — when the master took pity and canceled the debt.  Wow!  Who would have thought such a debt would ever be forgiven? 

That is why the second part of the story had to come as such a shock.  Here is a man who you would think would be filled with joy and gratitude.  A man that should have such an immense feeling of relief and freedom.  And yet we see this man go out and immediately abuse, threaten, and take to court a fellow servant who owed him much, much less than he had just been forgiven of.  Again, our American culture equivalent could approach ten thousand dollars (see note below).  Obviously not an insignificant amount — at least not until you compare it to the first servant’s debt.  I’m sure that nearly everyone who hears this story for the first time has the same response that the rest of the fellow servants of these two men had — they were outraged.  How could someone who had been forgiven so much treat another human being with such contempt?  The unfairness of it all took the fellow servants to the master to report all that had happened.  The result is predictable.  The master becomes angry that the first servant had not shown mercy on his fellow servant in the way that it had been shown to him.  The punishment is declared and swiftly carried out.  The man is thrown in jail to be tortured until he should pay back his debt — a debt so large it seems beyond repayment.

It is a nice, challenging story that we can walk away from thinking, “Good story.  Serves him right.  That guy deserves an extreme punishment.”  At least we could if it wasn’t for verse 35 where Jesus makes the application to us.  He says, “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive a brother or sister from your heart.” 

So, where do you see yourself in the story?  We are all there — at least in the beginning.  It is a story about the kingdom of heaven.  We are all that first servant who has accumulated a debt that we can never repay.  As Christians, we have received mercy from God.  He has paid the debt Himself and canceled our obligation to the penalty of sin.  So, what is our response?  How do we treat other people, even fellow Christians, who “owe us”?  What is our reaction when a fellow servant sins against us? . . .  A servant of the same Master who has forgiven us our sin against Him.  How often do we abuse, threaten, and take to court a fellow Christian whose wrong pales in comparison to the sin God has forgiven us of?  Paul says this shouldn’t be.  Jesus says, “Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?” 

You and I have received much mercy.  Our response needs to be a giving of much mercy. Just as the unmerciful servant was handed over to be tortured for eternity — until he could pay back an un-payable debt — Jesus says God will treat us in the same way if we do not show mercy.  May you and I be mercy givers because we have been mercy receivers.

  

         — note:  Here is my math.  The commentary I looked at listed a talent as 20 years of a day laborer’s wages.  To use round numbers, I used a figure of $25,000 a year for a laborer times 20 years is a half million dollars per talent.  10,000 talents times .5 million dollars is 5,000 million dollars, or 5 billion dollars.  The same commentary lists a denarius, or silver coin, as the daily wage of a laborer.  Using the same annual figure and a 5 day work week, I come up with $100 a day, or denarius.  100 dollars times 100 coins equals 10,000 dollars.  At least that is the way my math works with the information I have. 🙂

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Mercy: What A Delight!

I had the opportunity to preach Sunday evening about the mercy of God.  Preparing for that made me think about the whole idea of mercy and what it is.  I looked up the word mercy in the dictionary and it gave the definition as “compassion: kindness or forgiveness shown especially to somebody a person has power over”.  While I would quickly agree that compassion, kindness, and forgiveness all have something to do with mercy, I felt that the definition given was just too weak . . . too inadequate for this characteristic of God that we call mercy. 

You see, I think the dictionary was missing a key element of mercy — at the heart of mercy is the fact that it is undeserved.  If we deserve the compassion, kindness, and forgiveness shown to us, then it is something we earned and not mercy at all.  No, real mercy comes when we know we deserve punishment, condemnation, consequences, or retaliation and it is not given out to us.  I used the following illustration Sunday night that I think many people can relate to.

A few years ago I was on my way to a graduation open house on a Sunday afternoon with my mind a million miles away.  I was in full time youth ministry at the time and Sundays were days that were jam-packed full of activities and responsibilities that kept my attention all day long if they were to be accomplished well.  Anyhow, this particular afternoon I was simply driving to my destination without paying much attention at all to my surroundings or where I was.  As we were nearing the house we were headed to, my wife tells me that the sheriff’s car that had just went by us just did a U-turn and was likely coming after me.  Sure enough, the flashing lights appeared in my rear view mirror and as I pulled over to let him by he simply pulled in behind me.  I was caught.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t really sure what I was caught at.  This section of road was actually a fairly notorious speed trap, so I assumed I was its latest victim.  However, I wasn’t paying any attention and didn’t even know for sure if I was speeding and if so how fast I had been going.  The officer soon approached my car window and asked the question, “Do you know why I stopped you?”  I don’t know if that is a normal question, but it seems like a strange question to me.  Especially at this moment because my answer was something like this, “I’m not real sure, but I would guess I was driving too fast.”  And so I told him the truth.  I was paying absolutely no attention to what I was doing and therefore had no idea how fast I was driving.  He took me back to his car to show me the radar reading and sure enough, I was doing 47 in a 35 mph zone.  I simply told him that if that is what it said, then I must have been doing that.  I apologized . . . I expressed my regret . . . I confessed my wrongs of driving too fast and not paying attention.  I acknowledged that I was caught and I was guilty.  And then the mercy came.  He calmly and mildly reprimands me and tells me to pay attention when I drive and watch my speed.  Thank you and have a good day!

Wow!  Individuals that know me and were also going to the open house, gave me a hard time about my little roadside visit.  When I told them the officer just wanted to chat about my driving habits and encouraged me to pay attention and do what I ought, they couldn’t believe it.  It seems that “everyone” who gets caught on that section of roadway gets a ticket.  For me, it was mercy in action.  I didn’t demand it, I didn’t really even request it.  I definitely didn’t deserve it.  I simply confessed my sin and humbly took responsibility for my actions that I knew were wrong.  Any other course of action would have made mercy unlikely at best. 

God is a lot like that.  Micah 7:18 says He is a God “who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance.  [He does] not stay angry forever but delight[s] to show mercy.”  God longs to show mercy if we would just come to him in humility.  A broken and contrite heart, He will not turn away.  His anger over our sin will melt away when he sees us come to Him in repentance.  God is always calling us to Himself, longing for us to recognize that we are guilty and in need of His mercy.  Mercy that is freely given to all who humble themselves and confess their sin as He is “faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 

May you and I bring delight to God by being honest with Him in our need for His mercy.

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Where Is This “Coming”?

Have you ever gotten tired of waiting for something?  . . . So tired that you gave up on ever seeing, getting, or doing whatever it was you were waiting for?  I remember, not so much from memory but from home movies of the event, a time when I was in grade school and got so tired of waiting for my grandparents to show up for my birthday party that I gave up on them and went to sleep in the recliner.  I wanted the birthday celebration to come.  I was even sure that it would, at least I thought so.  But I finally gave up.  Watching and waiting grew old and I just couldn’t do it any longer.  If somehow we could just understand the reason for the delay, maybe — just maybe, we would wait more patiently.

Peter writes in 2 Peter 3:3-9,

“Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.  They will say, ‘Where is this “coming” he promised?  Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.’  But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water.  By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed.  By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
But do not forget this one thing, dear friends:  With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.  The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.  Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

Peter writes that individuals will give up on the promise of Jesus returning.  They will mock any and all who continue to believe that this return is not only possible, but a sure thing.  Such an attitude is contagious.  Negativity has a way of creeping through a group of people and before you know it, entire congregations, cities, and even nations are infected.  Like a spreading disease, doubt eats away at people when they are required to wait with no understanding of why.  Yet faith is just the opposite — it is the growing confidence in the yet unseen that is strengthened through understanding. 

I experienced that contrast a few weeks ago when I made the trip to Nappanee to help with the tornado damage clean-up.  Coming into town, the final 5 miles took an hour to drive.  You talk about trying a person’s patience!  Many could not understand the delay and car after car did a U-turn in the roadway and headed back to where they came from.  Yet many of us had at least a partial degree of understanding.  We knew it would take time to direct and park all of the cars that were streaming to this small town to help.  We were confident that the purpose of the delay was a result of the number of people wanting to help.  And so it was, thousands of people were converging on this town and the numbers were overwhelmingly greater than anticipated.  Was it worth it?  I say,”Yes!”  Even the delays were worth it because my focus stayed on the purpose and anticipation of assisting a community that needed help.

As we wait for the return of Jesus, Peter reminds us to pay little attention to the negative attitudes and the scoffers that try to dissuade us from our faith.  The delay has purpose.  The purpose is God’s desire that none would perish, but all would come to repentance.  He is deliberately delaying His return to give people all the opportunity in the world to see Him for who He is and turn to Him in repentance before He returns to judge the world and all who are in it. 

The delay has purpose, so we wait.  But we do more than wait, we work.  Peter goes on to write in verses 14 and 15, “since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.  Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation”.  We eagerly await the return of Jesus, making every effort to be doing the things that please and honor Him.  Our “work” is to live our life in obedience to Christ, spreading the gospel of salvation to all we can.  Knowing that the patience of God is the reason Jesus has not yet returned, how will you live, speak, and act toward those around you?

May you and I celebrate the patience of God that brought us to salvation.  May we also live our life in a way that lifts up Jesus and allows us to be tools in His desire for all to have a saving relationship with Him.

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Seventy Times Seven

Patience and forgiveness — how connected are they in your life?  As I consider these two qualities of God, I wonder if it is even possible to separate them. 

I think of the time Peter asks Jesus, “how many times should I forgive someone who sins against me?  Up to seven times?”  The response of Jesus seems to indicate that Peter missed the whole point of forgiveness.  True forgiveness — mercy — is undeserved each and every time it is given.  There is not a tally sheet that says I will forgive you this time because you are still within your limit and therefore deserve my forgiveness.  No, Jesus says to forgive seventy times seven — or some translations would say, seventy-seven times.  Either way, that principle is not setting up a score card, rather it is emphasizing the patience required in the act of forgiveness.

Think about the connection.  Consider yourself.  Would people say that you are a forgiving person?  Yes or no, does that answer not also fit the question, “are you a patient person”?  Patient people forgive.  Forgiving people must be patient.  Does forgiving in the manner and frequency taught by Jesus require patience?  Absolutely!  Does living out the fruit of the Spirit in practicing patience (long-suffering) with one another require forgiveness?  Without a doubt!

Look at your life a little closer and more deeply and you begin to see the patience of God at work.  Paul put it this way in 1 Timothy 1:15-17:

“Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance:  Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners — of whom I am the worst.  But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.  Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever.  Amen.”

How patient must God be with mankind — with you and me?  Do we want God to quit forgiving after the seventh time we ask?  Or even after the 490th time (70 x 7)?  I don’t think so!  I know I don’t want Him to.  God’s patience is defined by His mercy, both undeserved so that we know without a doubt it is all Him and none of our doing when we are saved.  God suffers long with us, not willing that any should perish but that all would come to repentance.  It is God’s patience that can take a man like Paul, or me, and show mercy to him in order that the purpose of Jesus coming into the world might be accomplished — to save sinners.

Paul wants you and I to know that no one need be without hope.  Yes, the justice of God with His wrath and judgement will come but His very nature of patience and mercy says that He is willing to forgive and forgive, longing for each person to believe in Him and accept His mercy. 

I am thankful that God is patient.  As he works in my life — in this jar of clay that I’ve made available to Him — He is patient and works with loving care bringing the hard and brittle surfaces of my life to a point of softness and flexibility.  His patience allows Him to form me more and more into the image of His Son, Jesus, while not breaking or destroying me.  I pray daily and thank God for His patience with me.  He has not given up, though there have been many times — okay, daily times that he probably should have by man’s evaluation.  But God is not man and man is not God so His patience forms me, carries me, equips me, prods me, challenges me, and changes me into what He desires this lump of clay to be.

May you and I appreciate the patience of God on a daily basis.  May we seek to live obediently and not “try the patience” of God by the things we do and say.

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A Hidden Warrior

What might God call you that would be completely unexpected?  Perhaps He calls you a teacher, a friend, a giver, a speaker, a missionary, an encourager, a helper, a servant, a preacher, a politician, a unifier, a difference-maker, or some other thing that would make you say, “You’ve got to be kidding me!  That’s not what I am.  There is no way I could do that!”

I love the story of Gideon found in Judges chapter 6 and following.  He can relate to God having a different view of you than you have of yourself.  In the context, the nation of Israel has been experiencing severe oppression for seven years as judgment from God for their evil ways.  Finally, the nation cries out to God for relief and help because the desolation and destruction caused by the Midianites is so severe.  God hears their cries and His initial response is to send a prophet who speaks the Word of God to them and tells them that they have brought the judgment upon themselves because they have refused to listen to God.

I have to believe that there was some kind of repentant spirit or action that is not written because the next step of God’s response is an angel of the Lord appearing to Gideon.  Gideon is found in a winepress but he is not pressing out grapes, he is hiding his wheat crop and threshing out grain hoping the Midianites will not find him or his crop and destroy it.  Then God shows up with the unexpected greeting, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”  Gideon’s response is classic.  Does it sound familiar to you? — What! . . . Mighty warrior? . . . The Lord is with me? . . . I don’t think so!  Gideon not only could not see himself as a mighty warrior, he definitely didn’t see God as “with him”.  He challenges this messenger of God, believing that the nation could not be in the condition it is in if God were truly close by.  No, God had evidently abandoned them and given them over to the Midianites.

Yet, even in his doubt and fear, Gideon wants to believe.  When God tells Gideon that he is to go and save Israel out of Midian’s hand, Gideon wants it to happen but doubts his ability to get it done.  After all, he is not only of the weakest clan in all of Israel, he sees himself as the weakest person in his entire family.  His thoughts seem to go along the line, “Okay, maybe You do want to finally rescue us, but I cannot be the person that accomplishes that.”  God’s response is, “Of course not!  I will be with you!  I’ve called you ‘mighty warrior’ because I am close at hand.  Go in the strength you have — the strength you have is Me!”

Gideon is known for a variety of things and mighty warrior is not often one of them.  He is known for his “testing” of God.  The original “putting out the fleece” idea seems to be his.  I think Gideon knew himself and his ability but still wanted God to act and rescue the nation.  Gideon knew that if God wasn’t really with him, it would be a very short rescue effort.  Somewhere in the process, Gideon learned to trust God.  He doesn’t seem to balk when God reduces his army to a mere 300 men.  He goes along with God’s plan for the battle and arms each of his men with a trumpet and a torch covered by a clay jar.  I have to tell you, that this battle plan sounds even crazier than the Jericho battle plan, yet Gideon and his men faithfully carry it out.  As Gideon and his men surround the enemy camp, they blow their trumpets, smash the clay jars exposing the torches, and shout, “For the Lord and for Gideon!”  Then God does His work.  The Midianites turn on one another with their swords and take off in full retreat pursued by the Israelites.  God’s “mighty warrior” lived up to his name, not by his power, might or wisdom, but by obediently following the God that was with him.

So, what about you and me?  When God calls you to teach a group of junior high students about him and you feel you can’t, do you hear Him saying, “I am with you”?  Or when your neighbor or coworker needs an encouraging word and a representative of Jesus to speak truth to them, do you hear Him saying, “I am with you”?  Years ago, when I was in my early twenties, I dropped out of college because they were requiring me to take a speech class.  I was so terrified of people that the thought of speaking in front of the class was too much to consider.  Out of that context, a number of years later God clearly stated within my life that I was to be a spokesman for Him.  My reaction was similar to Gideon’s.  “You’ve got to be kidding!  There is no way that I can speak to people publicly or individually.  People scare me.  It’s impossible, I can’t do it.”  That is when God spoke to me, “I know you can’t do it, but I am with you.  Go in the strength that you have — Me!”  And so I’ve gone.  Hesitantly at first, “testing” God and affirming that He is indeed close at hand.  Slowly learning that life must be lived in complete obedience, even when I don’t understand the plan.  I was a “hidden spokesman”.  I can’t do it, but God continues to do it through me.

May you hear God’s words to you that seem so unexpected and impossible and realize that He is with you.  His closeness allows Him to see you in ways that you cannot see yourself.  As you trust Him to be the strength that you have, He will do what He calls you to.  May you know the closeness of God that both sees and equips you to be what He has created you to be.