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Great Things

February 20, 2012 in Hope with 0 Comments

Lately, I have been feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the truly sad things in the world. Perhaps it’s a sign of maturity to have a greater perspective on how other people are suffering or perhaps it’s a season in life where it seems that more people I know are hurting in real and life-altering ways.  In either case, it’s easy to feel helpless – all the while knowing that I am beseeching the greatest Help on their behalf. The little things that I can do with my own abilities seem inconsequential in light of the deep hurt that they endure.

Yet, I’m reminded that I serve a God who does great things with small offerings. Whether it’s a boy’s lunch miraculously serving thousands, or a widow’s mite that was a testament to true sacrifice, God specializes in using acts of obedience to accomplish far more than they would on their own. Esther’s willingness to approach the king on her uncle’s godly advice brought an evil man to justice and saved a nation. It must have seemed futile to her – yet through it God accomplished much.

So it is with our own acts of obedience. We may not always see how God chooses to use them but we can trust that He is. Not only for the purpose of our growth and pursuit of Him, but for others’ as well. Offering what we have – whether it’s a prayer on someone’s behalf, a home cooked meal, a hospital visit, or an encouraging note – may not seem like much, but God may use it in mighty ways to draw someone to Him. Our concern isn’t the degree to which God will accomplish something through it, but the degree of our obedience. And if we do what He asks we can be assured that He will use it for His purpose.

Our small offerings of faith and obedience may never save a nation like Esther did. Then again, she probably didn’t think hers would either.

Always Courageous

February 10, 2012 in Hope with 0 Comments

Acts of courage seem few and far between. We celebrate bravery perhaps in part because it seems exceptional. People of courage, those who fight even when the battle is not in their favor, those who risk danger in order to do what is right, they are a rarity. As a culture, we are more comfortable with apathy – with being people who don’t make waves, who exude “tolerance” and who stick to their own business. The courageous are those that “interfere” and most often we don’t want to risk exposing our weakness in order to demonstrate courage.

The Christ-follower, however, has no need to let the fears of this world inhibit how we respond – whether in crisis, or in everyday moments. In fact, 2 Corinthians 5:6-9 reminds us that we should always be courageous. Our manner of life should be one that demonstrates strength in the face of adversity, confidence in the midst of uncertainty, and steadiness as we are tossed by life’s waves. In addition, the passage tells us why it is possible for the Christian to do this. It is not because of our own strength or own confidence, but it is because we aren’t looking to this life as the final pronouncement. We know that this world is temporary, but Heaven is eternal. So we can always be courageous here, knowing that whatever the world throws at us, it can not compromise, it can not steal, our eternal destination.

This doesn’t mean that acting courageously is easy. After all, there is still pain and there is still heartache in this life, and those experiences are real. But much like seeing the shore provides those out at sea the confidence of their safe passage, so looking towards Heaven provides us assurance of the better things that lie ahead. And in embracing that, we have the strength to act courageously. Always.

Relief

February 8, 2012 in Hope with 0 Comments

If I’m honest with myself, most days are good days.

That doesn’t mean that all days are good days, or that most days are great days, but God has been gracious to me, and most days I’m reminded of that grace in more ways than I can count, and that makes the day good.

Some days, however, are heavy. Whether it’s a cummulation of minor things that become major in their aggregate, or a heavy loss or burden, some days are hard, difficult, and a challenge to get through. It’s those days that I find myself crying out to my Abba Father for relief – from simple escape from the heaviness that fills my heart.

Most of the time, I’m asking for relief from the situation; I want the circumstances to change so that they will no longer bother me. God, sometimes, but rarely provides that. Instead, He removes the heaviness of my heart. The situation usually does not change, at least in the short term, but as He walks through the trial with me, He provides comfort and peace.

As Psalm 94:19 says:

“When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.”

The heavier my heart is, the more He bears the load. When my cares are multiplied, so are His consolations. When storms rage, He brings peace.

He provides relief. Not by obliterating all my cares, but by overwhelming them with His grace. 

Beautiful & Complete

February 6, 2012 in Hope with 0 Comments

I like completing things. As I’ve written about before, I’m a big fan of a to-do list, but I’m an even bigger fan of crossing things off that list. If I have a disagreement with someone, I always desire it to come to a specific and agreed-upon resolution, even if that resolution is just to agree to disagree. Projects that remain undone, chores that remain unfinished, opportunities that aren’t fully taken advantage of, leave me disappointed.

Yet, what I’ve learned is that this life will never completely satisfy this desire. Because the moment that things are truly completed, will be the moment that I’m in Heaven. At that point, my Savior and my God will bind up all the loose pieces of this life – the frayed fabric and the splintering ends, and reveal the beautiful masterpiece that He is creating with it. He is taking the things that I don’t understand, the moments that leave me saddened, and the “insignificant” ways in which I chose to obey Him (and not my own desires), and using them to create something that is far grander than anything I could ever even attempt. His ways are not my ways, and so in the things I question and in the incompleteness of this life, Hs is completing something beautiful; something that will make all the unanswered questions and disappointed feelings more than worth it.

Because He is worth it.  

Early Graduation

January 30, 2012 in Hope with 2 Comments

On days when I like to shock people, I tell them that I graduated college at 19. It’s a true statement, but it’s not one I usually share because people have all sorts of preconceptions about what that means (Also, it feels a little deceptive as shortly thereafter I turned 20.) Almost immediately after someone hears this, their very first question is, “So are you some sort of genius or something?” I quickly have to explain to them that I’m not. I was just a very disciplined student and that God had a plan for my life that allowed me to graduate a little earlier than most. Although many find this answer unsatisfactory, it happens to be the truth.

I was thinking of this recently as I shared my story with a group of students. Those who know me know that another part of my story is that my dad passed away very unexpectedly two years ago. Never before had I put those two incidents – my early graduation and my father’s heavenly homecoming – so close together. As I did so, I realized that what was true for me, was also true of my dad. He received an early “graduation” because he was so disciplined about living for God while on this Earth. The commencement of his eternal life started a  earlier than expected, but that wasn’t an accident. He had finished the work that God called him to do.

There are at least three ways in which my dad demonstrated his disciplined pursuit of God. They are:

  • He devoted himself to the Scriptures – As I’ve written about my dad before, he was a student of the Bible. However, my dad didn’t just read the Scriptures – he studied and memorized them. Upon his passing, I had the chance to see the commentary that he was working on putting together. We also found his ring of notecards that he was using to commit even more of God’s Word to memory. My dad didn’t just consume Scripture – he loved it. And his life reflected that devotion.

 

  • He prayed expectantly – One of the things that I grew to appreciate about my dad was his penchant for making lists. Like many people, he kept a prayer list, but he also noted when and how those prayer requests were answered. Additionally, he kept this list in his planner so he always had a handy reminder of God’s faithfulness and generosity. My dad prayed expecting an answer and looked forward to when he would write that answer on his list.

 

  • He discipled purposefully – When I was younger, my dad was involved in all sorts of formal discipleship programs at church. When I grew older, his work took him farther from home, and he couldn’t make all of the scheduled programs. However, that didn’t stop him from discipling. He looked for opportunities to help others grow in their faith and intentionally pursued those opportunities that God provided. Whether as part of a formal program or not, he was committed to sharing God’s truth with others and helping them in their walk with God.

Graduation ceremonies are usually occasions of much celebration as we acknowledge the start of the next chapter in a person’s life.  My dad’s commencement into Heaven may have been sooner than we expected, but I’m sure he was met with much Heavenly applause. After all, he lived a life worthy of an early graduation, with honors.

 

Only A Whisper

January 27, 2012 in Hope with 0 Comments

I’ve longed been fascinated by the quietness of God. Perhaps it’s because of the hectic life that I tend to lead, but passages that remind me that God often chooses to speak, not in shouts of proclamation, but in whispers of direction encourage me to to quiet myself, in order that I may hear from Him (See I Kings 19:12, Isaiah 30:21)

However,  Job 26 recently reminded me that God may not be as “quiet” as I tend to think. After all, the Earth is a display of God’s greatness. He places the world in orbit, causes the sun and moon to rise, stirs up waves and cause them to crash. By His hand,  seasons are brought forth. These things and more scream of God’s majesty and splendor. They loudly tell of His greatness and might. They shout of His excellence. They boldly proclaim the goodness of our King.

Yet, they are only a whisper of Him (Job 26:14). They are but a trifle of what He can do. Creating the Earth wasn’t a stretch for God – it was something He accomplished with a word. What we rightly see as a magnificent display of God’s greatness, is only a small reflection of the power that He holds. The Earth isn’t His magnum opus; it was a project that He accomplished in just 6 days.

It’s important to quiet ourselves in order to listen to God. Yet at the same time, we need to recognize that His Creation is constantly telling the story of His greatness. And what we view as a loud proclamation of His majesty, is only a whisper from the perspective of Heaven.

Beating Death

January 24, 2012 in Hope with 2 Comments

When I was younger, I wrote a poem about death. If I remember correctly it was shortly after I had written another poem on the subject and my parents, sensing a theme, started to get worried. After all, why was their 15-year old daughter focused on something that was ostensibly years away? I quickly reassured them that the subject of my poems were chosen by the nature of the assignment, and that alleviated their concerns. However, I learned then, there’s rarely a good time to write about death. It’s not something that people want to hear about, unless of course, they’re dying. In our youth-focused, age-repugnant culture, we want to avoid any mention of when our lives will end.

However, neither my parents’ concern or people’s lack of response has stopped me from writing about the end of this life, primarily because for me, as for fellow believers, it’s more than the end of life on Earth, it’s the start of life in Heaven. This looking-forwardness is appropriate because what this life has to offer is only temporary and transient. Even when things are going well, we know that things can just as quickly turn badly. For those who have repented of their sins and placed their trust in God, death isn’t a the final farewell, it’s a welcomed Homecoming.

I was reminded of this when, several months ago, I read a tweet by Louie Giglio who was remembering the life of a young man who had passed away the previous year. Louie wrote that, on that day, one year ago, John Evans had “triumphantly beat sickness and death to kneel at the feet of Jesus.” We rarely think of death in such terms, but for the believer, that’s exactly what it is. When we die, we don’t succumb to whatever ended our earthly life, we have overcome it, in order to enter the arms of Jesus. Death isn’t defeat but triumph. The disease, or the catastrophe, or old age hasn’t won; instead we have victory – bought for us on a cross at Calvary thousands of years ago, demonstrated by our Savior’s resurrection from the grave, and fully ours when we lay before Him all our crowns in order to worship at His feet. Death may feel like the end, but for the believer, it is the beginning of truly living.

And even if people don’t like to talk about it, that’s something worth sharing.

Heavenly Summons

January 18, 2012 in Hope with 0 Comments

Everyone knows the dreaded moment when you hear your parents call out your name. You can tell by the sound of their voice that whatever reason that they are looking for you, it’s probably not good.  After all, if they want to surprise you with good news, they usually carefully orchestrate the details so that you are there awaiting the pronouncement. If they are hollering for you, however, it probably means that punishment is on its way.

Unfortunately, this is how many people, view death. They see it as God calling out their name, and ruining all the fun they’re having on Earth. Even self-proclaimed Christians view the end of this life in this way. For them, heaven is not a gift, but an acceptable destination for what comes next.

Charles H. Spurgeon, however, demonstrates their should be a marked contrast between how the believer and the nonbeliever view death. As he states:

There is an essential difference between the decease of the godly and the death of the ungodly. Death comes to the ungodly man as a penal infliction, but to the righteous as a summons to his Father’s palace. To the sinner it is an execution, to the saint an undressing from his sins and infirmities. Death to the wicked is the King of terrors. Death to the saint is the end of terrors, the commencement of glory.

It’s a stark difference in perception. We tend to think of death as scary and foreboding, but to the believer, it is an anticipated longing. We make death formidable, but the Christian knows the One who has conquered it. Death is the true beginning of the believer’s life, not the end.

It makes sense why death would be viewed with hesitation; it is something that no one on Earth has experienced. However, Scripture makes it clear that for the Christian “to die is gain” and we should look forward to when God, in His perfect timing, calls our name, and brings us Home.

 

How would our lives change if we viewed death as Spurgeon states a believer should?

 

Finding Joy…and Strength

January 10, 2012 in Hope with 0 Comments

As a college professor, the start of a new semester can sometimes sneak up on you. I imagine it’s the same for the students as well as for anyone who has a “break” and then has to get back to the normal routine of things. As I prepare for the new year, there are times when the amount of things that have to get done seemingly exceeds the amount of time that I have to do them. Staying up later and getting up earlier in order to accomplish those things tends to exacerbate the feelings of exhaustion and being overwhelmed. It’s a hard adjustment to make.

However, as I have been reminded of recently, my source of strength isn’t in the amount of sleep I get (although I do need sleep) or in my ability to cross things off my to-do list. Instead, as Scripture says, “the joy of the Lord is my strength” (Nehemiah 8:10b). Strength comes from rejoicing in what He is accomplishing, not what I’m doing. Strength comes in finding joy in Who He is, not who I am.

The beautiful thing about this is that God is never changing;  He is Who He is – always. Additionally, God is always at work for His purposes. What this means is that there are always reasons to rejoice. There is never a time that I can’t find joy in Him, which means there is never a time that I can’t find strength.

God tells us that He will renew the strength of those who hope in Him -  so much so that it will be as if they are on the wings of eagles. When we find our joy in Him, when He is our source of satisfaction, we may be tired, but He will help us run like young men. He will give us what we need to persevere – joyfully and in His strength.

 

How can you find joy in the Lord today?

No Worries

January 6, 2012 in Growth, Hope with 0 Comments

“It’s o.k – no worries.”

That’s a phrase I find myself saying often. It’s my way of minimizing a potentially contentious situation.

The problem is that when I say it, oftentimes it is an inaccurate descriptor of what I’ve been doing. I’m focusing on how the person didn’t respond according to my timetable, or how they behaved in a way that I didn’t anticipate, or even how they failed to do what they said they would. I’m stressing over my inability to control their behavior, and the cataclysmic outcomes that I envision as a result of that. In short, worrying has been my exact response. I just don’t want them to know this. Because when it does get resolved, worrying seems like such a futile activity. And of course, that’s because it is.

The Bible makes this clear. In His longest recorded sermon, Jesus takes up this topic precisely. He reminds us that worrying doesn’t accomplish anything and that worrying is a sign that we lack trust in God’s sovereignty. Similarly, Paul writes in Philippians 4:6:

[D]o not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. [emphasis mine].

We might try to rationalize what’s “acceptable” to worry about – money, our kids’ future, issues in the church – but God doesn’t leave any room for negotiation. He says we aren’t to worry about anything – and when He states that – He means anything.

This of course is hard. Not because God isn’t trustworthy – because He certainly is. And not because God can’t handle the situation – because He certainly can. But because we fool ourselves into believing that control is in our hands. And the truth is, if it was up to us – we should worry. But it’s not – so we shouldn’t.

I hope that in the future when I say “no worries” that I’ll be able to fully mean it. I hope that I won’t be saying it as a way to make myself or the other person feel better, but I’ll be saying it as an acknowledgment that I trusted in God and not man, and therefore, there really wasn’t any reason to worry.

 

How do you fight the temptation to worry?

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