Feeling the Agony of Defeat?

 

My husband and I have a passion for protecting Texas public schools. We did not plan this, it came about organically due to working in public education for 37 years in various positions from teacher to superintendent, all over the state of Texas. Together, we have a perspective into public education that very few Texans are privileged to see. We have seen the amazing work that public school employees do daily, against all odds and we know it is God’s work. We have repeatedly seen educators take on the role of not only educator, but protector and mentor for the children in this state and we are passionate about public education for that reason.

"Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me" (Matthew 25:40, 45, NIV)

We have also seen first-hand, the well-planned relentless attacks and lies about public schools and their educators by those in state office who want to use public school funding for their own purposes. Many Texans are buying into their deception and we are heartbroken. In our own county, we have seen a qualified experienced public school supporter defeated at the polls by an unqualified candidate who supports the defunding of public education. We are discouraged to say the least. But the following story helps me take heart in the face of this defeat.

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In Acts 20, the situation was that the Apostle Paul had been spreading the good news about a risen Christ to people all over, establishing thriving churches full of followers of Christ. However, Paul is told repeatedly that he would go to jail and suffer for this work. And he knew this to be true.

 "And now I am bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. I don't know what awaits me, except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead. But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus-the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God. (Acts 20:22-24 NLT)

We know that Paul continued in his work and was imprisoned and he did suffer. He must have had moments where he succumbed to thoughts of defeat. In his lifetime he only saw a tiny portion of the success of his mission. But we also know, looking back two thousand years later, that Paul’s efforts were not in vain. God used his work in spreading the gospel to the world and today we read his words in the millions of Bibles that are currently published.

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You see, the lesson is that yes, we may not see success of our mission in this lifetime. But God is in charge and he will make beauty come from the ashes. And our part we play is to listen to his voice and follow the God-given passion in our hearts. So know that if God has ordained it, you must continue even in the face of eminent defeat. We have seen that God takes small efforts and assignments and exponentially multiplies the outcome.

What If?

 What if I don’t take care of everyone? What if I don’t finish my to-do list? What if I don’t control my mouth? What if I don’t control my insecurity? What if I don’t care for those in need? What if I don’t control my desire for revenge? What if I don’t pretend to like folks that are unlikeable? What if I don’t make myself get out of bed in the morning? What if I don’t ask forgiveness?

What if I give all of the above to God and relax? What if God does this all for me? 

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He does. He did. He will. Always. 

Let go. 

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Matthew 11:28-30 NIV
 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

"Going 35 With a Rocket Inside"

 

Image by Jackson David from Pixabay

This is a line in the song Say I Won’t written by Mercy Me. I heard it several times before I got what Bart Millard was talking about.  Here is a link to this song.

Understanding this line in Say I Won’t happened this way. In the sermon Pastor Jan preached, she was talking about sanctification. This is a big word for maturing in your faith, growing closer to God, and being who God intended you to be. She recommended a short book called Sit, Stand, Walk by Watchman Nee. I read the first part of the book called ‘Sit’ over and over, highlighting so many enlightening statements until it dawned on me what “Going 35 with a Rocket Inside” meant. 

Christ is in me. He has been since I gave my life to Him as a small child. But I always had the compulsion to work for Christ. I didn’t let Him have control because I was always trying to fix myself for him. I never got that I was supposed to abide but rather felt like I needed to correct myself for him. It is like when I clean my house for the housekeeper. I am trying to clean up the clutter before I let Jesus clean the really bad stuff. When all I needed to do was throw the door open on my disorder. He can’t ‘Marie Kondo’ me unless I get out of the way. I didn’t understand that I was to relax in the satisfaction that I am forgiven and I should rest in the Lord because he is in control IF I only will sit down and let him drive. The Holy Spirit, which has been in me since I was born into Christianity, is the rocket inside. Yet I have been grabbing the wheel from Him and driving 35 mph for all these years. 

And so I must learn to let go of my annoying compulsion to fix me because Christ already did that when he sacrificed himself on the cross. My sinful self of yesterday, today and tomorrow was nailed to that cross and covered by his precious sacrifice.  As another line in the song says, “I will be dancing when circumstances drown the music out.”

What is the Test of Truth?

 Yesterday, I got to re-watch one of my favorite movies, Secondhand Lions. If you have never seen it, stop reading this blog and go watch it right now! In the movie, the boy has a difficult choice to make. He must choose to believe the fantastic, outrageous stories of his great uncles, or a plausible story of his mother. Spoiler alert: he wisely chose to believe his uncles. But not because their story was the most credible, but because of the actions of the uncles. His uncles were always there for him and protected him in their own strange ways. His mom, however, deserted him and repeatedly disappointed him. So this boy chose to believe the uncles based actions and not words. 

Today we hear so much talk. It is on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, news channels, email, texts, commercials, memes, music, movies and TV shows. We are constantly being bombarded with an input of words. Did you know that we have ‘smart’ billboards that change messages depending on the demographic passing by? And everyone has an opinion. It never seems to stop from the time we wake until the time we lay our weary heads on our pillows. So who do we believe? Among others, politicians, pharmaceutical companies and fast food chains are working to gain your confidence and they have done their homework. They know how to gain your trust. So do we pick those who align with our own “truth”? If so, how do we know they don’t have an agenda of influence and are telling us what we want to hear to seduce us into investing with them? And what about our children? Who are they listening to? 

We can, and should take control over what we read and watch. However, we do not have control over all information sources unless we lock ourselves in a closet. Eventually, seductive lies will reach our ears. The biggest lie may be the one we tell ourselves when we think that we can control all input for ourselves and our children. We can, however, teach ourselves and our children what to do with all this input. These lies must travel through our brains to change our thoughts and behavior. This is where we have control.

Two thousand years ago in a sermon, Jesus taught us how to discern truth. 

Matthew 7:15-20 NLT  "Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves.  You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit.  A good tree can't produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can't produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.

Jesus knew then. He told us to identify the messenger and judge the message by way the messenger acts. This takes intent and purpose. Today, identifying the messenger can be difficult. In many nefarious messages we receive, the source is hidden under an alias. It takes thought to stop and analyze the source of a meme or article before we believe or repost it. 

And the second part Jesus said was to judge by the way they act. Notice that He did not say to judge by agreement with your political affiliation, your personal beliefs or how well the message was relayed. He told us to judge by the way the source acts. He shifted our truth from words to actions. He intended for us to shift our beliefs from flowery words that are music to our ears to actions that we admire. Look for integrity, consistency, hard work, kind actions(not kind words). Remember, anyone can say “I love you”, but only actions prove that love. 

Then we must teach our children to do the same. I can remember how my mom would analyze what people said with me. She taught me, at a very young age, to consider the source and motivations behind the words. We can’t always control the words we hear but we can control our thinking and learn to listen to actions and tune out the noise of words. And we have an obligation to teach our children to do so also.

Actions>Words

Friends in High Places

 Have you ever been in a low place and had friends who lifted you up? Following is a story about a guy in a low place who has friends who were willing to do what it takes to lift him up. But this was more than just giving a friend a lift, this was bringing an incapacitated companion to Jesus, the Son of God, the Great Physician.

Luke 5:17-26 NIV
One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.” The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”

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Jesus response is shocking. My paraphrase is, “You are forgiven, oh yeah, and you can walk now too.” Jesus immediately hones in on the paralyzed man’s heart instead of his paralysis. As we can see demonstrated here, Jesus’ first priority was this man’s heart and not healing his body. I think we often forget that. Jesus often uses our ailing bodies as well as any other unfortunate circumstance in our life to align our hearts to Him. 

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When a friend has a need that is beyond your power, what do you do? Sometimes groups of friends go into action organizing daily meals or offering physical aid of some sort. But how much better it would be if we could bring our friend directly to Jesus to be healed! Like in the story above, we would have to know where to find Jesus. And we might need a group to lift our friend; a group who believed in our crazy plan.  How can we do that now, 2000 years after Jesus feet have left this earth? We know we still have access to the Father through prayer. We are able to bring issues before Him anytime, anywhere, with no crowds, ladder or tools. We have constant 24-7 access.

I have often heard folks defeatedly say, “All we can do is pray.” I am sure they have come out of my mouth at some point. I believe the Enemy himself knows how powerful prayer is, and his efforts go into minimizing it in our minds, making us deny the power of prayer. Jesus taught us to pray and He prayed. If the all-powerful Son of God chose prayer, is that not our sign? 

Sometimes I am overwhelmed and need help. This happens to all of us. This is where we need to know friends who regularly come to God(friends in high places). As you read this, someone is probably popping into your head. This would be a compassionate friend, a Christ follower who has seen their own prayers answered time and time again. That is the person for the job.  When you are snowed under by circumstances beyond your control, let them know you need their prayer. They will help you lift your burden and bring it to God for as long as it takes. They know prayer is a powerful action. These are the people who will follow through. They are prayer warriors who have seen this plan work in their own life. I have friends in high places and I have a church prayer team that is ready in a moment’s notice. Here is a link to my church prayer team if you are in need. They have prayed with me and I am forever grateful for all of them.  I have seen the miracle of prayer and may I always be willing to cut a hole the the roof to lower my friends-in-need to Jesus

One more word of advice; don’t just drop it in a friend’s lap and never mention it again. This isn’t a lucky rabbit’s foot. This is grounded in faith. They are partnering with you so please keep that friend updated on progress. If they cared enough to pray, they want to know how that prayer was answered. It will bless them. 

Changing Hearts and Minds--a Prayer

 Luke 15 is an outstanding chapter of the Bible. It contains three stories told by Jesus to an audience of tax collectors, sinners and Pharisees; definitely not innocent children. The first story is about the lost sheep, the second is the lost coin and the third is the very famous story of the prodigal son. My pastor has often told us that this chapter speaks of the character of God. In each story we see God as a loving Father who desperately seeks to restore us. And when we are restored, He rejoices! Here is the passage from the second story of the lost coin.

Luke 15:8-10 NIV “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn't she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.'  In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

According to Wikipedia, repentance is reviewing one’s actions and feeling contrition or regret for past wrongs, which is accompanied by commitment to and actual actions that show and prove a change for the better. So repentance could be described as the process of changing one’s mindset. Following, is a discussion with God, my prayer.

Image by Pexels from Pixabay 

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Dear Lord,

Changing mindsets--this is your business. The Bible calls this process repentance and restoration. Often in the Bible, people who refuse to repent are described as stiff-necked. As adults, we are all stiff-necked people. Some synonyms for stiff-necked are stubborn, uncompromising, obstinate, unreceptive, unbending, inflexible, unforgiving and opinionated. All these terms seem to be the theme in our culture today. No one seems to change their mind, and when they meet resistance, they dig in deeper. It is made quite clear in Luke 15 that changing hearts and minds is what You do.  How do you do this, Lord? Experiencing the struggle of this process, I can understand the rejoicing that goes on when even one lost person is found!

Lord, you seek relentlessly for those who are lost. You don’t give up. You don’t want to lose anyone, and thankfully, you are all-powerful. I have seen firsthand how hard it is to admit I was wrong and change how I think and it brings me to tears to see people die because they refuse to change. But on a recent occasion, I have been privileged to see the anomaly of someone changing their mindset. Lord, I don’t know how you entice headstrong adults to change their way of thinking, but I am so excited that You do. This gives me hope. 

Lord, keep being who you are. I trust You to do the heavy lifting. 

Amen.

Reliance is the Key

 

Let me introduce you to my new favorite show, Alone. The contestants are experts in wilderness survival who are left alone in their own area of Northern Canada with ten items of their choice and high-dollar camera equipment to film their day-to-day trials. If they survive for 100 days without quitting, they win a million dollars. Each contestant goes in with abundant confidence in his or her own abilities, bragging to their camera about their preparation and grit. But what I have noticed is that no matter their abilities(and they are great), it only takes one accident or mistake to bring them to their knees, in tears, calling it quits. They do not have the control that they think they have. These highly trained survivalists succumb to things as simple as an injury or loss of a one of their ten items. 

I saw this same concept at my class reunion. Classmates with so much ability and promise were stopped in their tracks by disease, accident or even death. A classmate who was an amazing athlete spent his entire adult life in a wheel chair. A top notch heart doctor suddenly died of unexpected heart issues. The bottom line is we don’t have as much control as we think we have. No matter our abilities, we are all vulnerable in a moment’s notice and often we never see it coming. 

But I don’t say this believing we should live in fear. Quite the opposite. I believe we should be wise and learn to live in confidence in God; living reliantly on God yet doing everything in our power to be prepared. I guess my advice to those contestants on that survival show would be to go in prepared to do everything they can to survive yet admit to themselves, God, and their camera that they could be vulnerable in a moment. They should know deep within themselves that it is God who controls their outcome. Then maybe they would not leave broken and in tears when they must admit they cannot succeed. 

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So how would I apply this to my life of comfort? Well, I should continue to do everything I can do to be successful in my life, however, I should daily realize that it only takes one tiny circumstance that could take my life in a different direction in a moment. This is called humility. I should live in the habit of thanking God for what he does to sustain me and those I love. I should continually keep this attitude of humility in my own abilities and preparation. And if the unexpected turn happens, I will already be in the habit of relying on God for the next step. Then my spirit will not be broken by circumstance because I have given each day to God in total trust and reliance knowing He is in control and not me. 

Psalm 73:23-26 NIV [23] Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.  My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

12 Steps for People Pleasers and Workaholics

 I am a People Pleaser. This is not bragging. Far from it! This is a confession. Everyday I think about what more I could have done or how I could fix something. The problem is that I cannot shake loose of this destructive game. People who love me tell me to blow it off, let it go. They know. I work like a slave to please those around me and it is truly slavery of my soul.

I know now that my slavery began when I started my current job and is closely attached to my deep desire to help those I support. That, in itself, is not a bad thing until helping them consumes me and I cannot turn it off. The instant gratification of fixing someone’s problem has become my addiction. And if I can’t help them, I know someone who can, so I dog that poor soul to help solve the issue.(My apologies to my coworkers.) 

The root of the problem is my values. I am placing more importance on what others think of me than what my Heavenly Father thinks. This is not a new problem and is nothing more than a form of idolatry, holding other’s opinions over God’s. God forgive me. 

Being a people pleaser harms me and those closest to me. First, it destroys my relationship with God because I am listening to the people around me rather than the voice of my Father. There is not enough room in my head for both! Secondly, it can place a huge burden on those who are close to me to be responsible for my peace of mind. Just like family and friends know their loved ones are alcoholics, they also know when they are a people pleasing addicts. There are only so many hours in the day, or days in a life and when I am working extra hours to please, I am denying time with those I love. When I am ruminating over a problem at work, I could be fully present and enjoying my time with my loved ones. And last, it teaches those in my care to be the same way, perpetuating this slavery mindset to others.

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Breaking the Chains

Image by StarGladeVintage from Pixabay

I realize there needs to be a 12-step program for people pleasers. So here are my AA adapted steps:

PPA 12 Steps

1. I admit I am powerless over people pleasing—and that I am a slave to it. 

2. Come to believe that a Power greater than myself could restore me to sanity.

3. Make a decision to turn my will and my life over to the care of God as I understand Him.

4. Make a searching and fearless moral inventory of myself noting triggers for this behavior.

5. Admit to God, to myself, and to another human being the exact nature of my wrongs.

6. Be entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

7. Humbly asked Him to remove my shortcomings.

8. Be willing to admit that this harms myself and those closest to me, and became willing to make amends to them all. 

9. Make direct amends to such people.

10. Continue to take personal inventory and when I am relapsing and promptly admit it.

11. Seek through prayer and meditation to improve my conscious contact with God as I understand Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for me and the power to carry that out.

12. Having spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, I try to carry this message to other People Pleasers, and to practice these principles in all my affairs. 

Guns and Roses

 

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“Once you become a Christian you will always be kind and no longer be selfish and petty”.

what we thought…

Like this statement, so often the Christian life is portrayed as all butterflies and rainbows. While life with Christ is sweet, it is not easy. Non-Christians hold Christians to a higher standard and Christians themselves often believe they should no longer be tempted by desires that are unhealthy. So often we feel defeated by the temptation to make that nasty post even if we don’t do it. You may be surprised to know that even the Apostle Paul struggled with sin. To me, one of the most comforting passages of scripture is Paul’s letter to the Romans expressing his frustration with sin even after his conversion. 

Romans 7:15-25 NIV  I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.  And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.  As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do---this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law;  but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

And this was written by a guy that sacrificed his life to spread the truth of Christ! I have found my Christian walk to be more like guns and roses rather than butterflies and rainbows. All weapons and beauty with thorns. It seems like the closer I walk with God, the more I see my penchant for selfishness and pride. So what are these weapons? Is there no relief from my broken, rebellious nature? Where are those roses when all I see are the thorns? Well, the Apostle Paul not only sinned but he seems to be an expert in thorns too.

The truth that we must remember is that Jesus loves us while we are broken. He gave his life for us while we were in this condition. What makes me think that he no longer expects me to sin now that I am a follower? This is not said as an excuse, but as a difficult struggle. The difference belief makes is that the desire of my heart has changed. This is what creates the tension I feel. And if I did not have this tension, I would have to question my faith. I believe God knows my heart and knows my struggle. While He does not remove the thorns, he considers me His own child and loves and forgives me.

Do I have any help living to this higher standard while struggling in this twisted world? Did God give me any weapons against my sinful nature, or am I left to fend for myself? Paul included this answer in his writings. 

Ephesians 6:10-18 NIV  Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people.

And so it goes to reason that God wouldn’t give us these weapons from the Spirit if the Christian life was supposed to be easy. We are still haunted by our sinful nature but what we have been given from God is desire and weapons. Yes, weapons! And with the gifts of the belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, shield of faith, helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit we are more than conquerers through Him who loves us. Bring on the guns and roses!

Is It Stupidity or Courage?

Image by Sasin Tipchai from Pixabay 

Discerning a courageous move from a stupid move can be challenging. For most of us, courage isn’t rushing into burning buildings to rescue kittens. For me, that would be stupid rather than courageous. I used to think being bold for Christ was going to work in Africa as a missionary. And it is. I was right. But that may not be MY bold. Courage is about doing something that you know you should when it is easier not to. I believe that God-given boldness comes with a spark of desire. He does not expect us to do what he hasn’t given us the motivation to do. At least that is what I think. Being bold is not my forte. I am a comfort-loving, go-with-the-flow girl so this is my exploration of courage and boldness.

The Bible is full of examples of boldness. Zacchaeus climbing a tree to see Jesus, the disciples dropping everything to follow Jesus, Joseph marrying the pregnant Mary, Esther approaching a volatile king on behalf of her people, or Elijah creating a duel between the fire-making skills of God verses Baal and being rather sassy about it. This is only scratching the surface of the examples of courage in the Bible. But what I must remember is that Zacchaeus, Joseph, Esther and Elijah were not superheroes. They were all human just like me. They were imperfect and afraid. Yet they followed God and took the first step.

Today your courage may be going to the doctor. For others it may be going to church again. For some, it may take boldness to trust someone else to do the job. Boldness could mean cleaning out the junk(literally and figuratively). It could be forgiving someone, letting a child go, asking for help, ignoring opinions of others, moving on without a spouse, visiting an old friend, speaking to a group or even going on vacation. 

So here are three questions I need to ask myself before I take that bold step. 

1. Have my loved ones been hinting at(nagging about) this step for me? Many times the next bold step is obvious to your loved ones but you are hesitant. Listen to them. God often uses our loved ones to guide us.
2. Do I have hope for improvement resulting from this or do I have a passion or desire to do this but I am held back by fear?
3. Have I prayed about it?

If my answer to all of these questions is no then I could be staring into the face of an act of stupidity. But if the answer to the first or second question is yes, then it is time to make the answer to the third question yes. Maybe it is time to take this first bold ste

Do Your Ears Hang Low?

 

geralt / 22899 images

When you read that title, I'll bet you were singing the song in your head. 

It is not the sagging skin, growing earlobes or arthritic joints; it is the slowing of my mind that worries me about aging. It seems that a job that should take one hour, takes two. Not because my body is slow but because it takes one hour to do the job and one to correct my mistakes. And what I learned yesterday, I have forgotten today. It is so distressing for me to plainly see the progressive demise of my faculties. No, I don’t have Alzheimers(at least not yet). It is just that my highest value was always in how my mind worked so that is what takes my attention. But I guess we all have one thing that worries us about aging. And I must remember, aging is a privilege granted to survivors.

Here is a scripture that comforted me today about this time of life.

Psalm 103: 1-5 NIV

Praise the Lord, my soul;
    all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
 Praise the Lord, my soul,
    and forget not all his benefits—
who forgives all your sins
    and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit
    and crowns you with love and compassion,
 who satisfies your desires with good things
    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

God does forgive my sins every single day. He has healed my diseases. He did redeem my life from the pit. He does crown me with love and compassion. He does satisfy my desires with so many good things. So it follows that I should rejoice and enjoy these good things and let them renew my youth. Yes, just as the scripture says, it is through a grateful and thankful heart over God’s goodness that He will renew my youth like the eagle’s.

Are You Experiencing the Human Condition?

 

When those we love are torn from us. When we suffer without relief in sight. When we are attacked from every side. When we are unfairly accused. When you doubt if God cares or exists. When God seems only to be a lofty thought or an uncaring provider. This. This is the human condition. And at some point we all experience this.

Even Jesus cried out on the cross, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me”? And these very words were written by King David, known as a man after God’s own heart. The commonality of pain is living in a human body. Our birth on this earth brought us the skin and bones that makes this condition inevitable. No one goes through life without dealing with the feeling of being forgotten by our own Creator. But the key to surviving all this angst is the word temporary. It is not here to stay. All this pain, all this doubt and all this suffering is a momentary condition compared to what is ahead. 

But how do we survive these feelings of neglect? God has given us two gifts that help pull us through the dark: remembrance and hope. First, we must dig deep and force ourselves to remember the moments that we felt God’s presence, protection and guidance; those times in our life where we felt his love and Divine direction. So we must shake off that spiritual amnesia and make a practice of remembering everyday.

The second gift is hope. It is ranked with love and faith yet we don’t address it often enough. Without hope we can’t go on.

Romans 8:24-25 NIV For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?  But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

Yep, it said wait PATIENTLY. Oh my, patiently! Now that is one tough word. It requires time when we want instant relief. It reminds me of the word ‘grit’ or ‘persevere’ which also require time.

So how do we spark hope when we feel hopeless? It may help to visualize what it means to have hope and persevere with grit and determination. For me it helps to read books or watch movies with the theme of perseverance. Whether they are labeled “Christian” or not, we can find hope in surprising places. There are so many movies with a theme of hope and perseverance out there. I googled it. I found everything from Rocky to Lord of the Rings. Fill your empty heart with some stories of hope while you are waiting.

Slowly but surely you will hear God’s voice again. From David, the one who penned, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish”? He also wrote these words:

Psalm 30:5-12 NIV  … weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. When I felt secure, I said, “I will never be shaken.” Lord, when you favored me, you made my royal mountain stand firm; but when you hid your face, I was dismayed. To you, Lord, I called; to the Lord I cried for mercy: “What is gained if I am silenced, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it proclaim your faithfulness? Hear, Lord, and be merciful to me; Lord, be my help. ” You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent. LORD my God, I will praise you forever.

Great Ideas

 

Have you ever had a great idea? One that you are passionate about and will solve a problem, help people and even glorify God? One thing I am trying to learn is to stop and talk to God about everything before I take action. I always thought that good ideas that help people and magnify God are always from God.  And while this may be true, I am learning that a great idea isn’t an automatic stamp of approval and a green flag. I must not forget about God’s timing and God’s choice for leadership. God may have a different idea for how this great idea should be carried out. He can see the past, present and future all at once. What seems like a great idea to me here and now, may be a better idea at another time for another person to carry out.  He may want me to bring this idea to someone else to complete.

Here is an example that brought this blog to mind.  In 2 Samuel 7 and 1 Chronicles 17 it is recorded that King David had a great idea. He wanted to build a beautiful cedar palace for the Ark of God and get it out of a tent. I’m sure it must have been David’s love for God that inspired this thought. And it was a great idea! It would glorify God! However, God put a stop to it. It was an act of love for God from David and God nixed it! He told David that He didn’t need a palace to perform great works. And David’s response was not pouting or griping. It was obedience and praise.  I’m sure David did not understand why, but he clearly understood God’s instructions. And he obeyed. We, the readers of this story, have the advantage of seeing why. We know it was Solomon, David’s son who carried out the building of the temple. We see that God had this task in mind for someone else at another point in time. In fact, God may have planted this idea in David to pass on to Solomon, his son.  

But here is the bottom line. Just because it is a great, loving, kind idea that would glorify God, does not mean I don’t need to ask God if I should go ahead with the plans. I must always, always remember to lay it before God. 

So how will I know if it is right to go ahead? If I took it to God first, it is on God, and He will let me know. All I have to do is pause and bring it to Him first and trust Him with the rest.