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Idle Threats

October 7, 2011 in Hope with 0 Comments

Christians are told throughout Scripture that we are to expect trials. Yet, we aren’t supposed to fret about these trials because we know the One who has overcome all this world can dish out, and His power is at work within us (John 16:33). However, that doesn’t stop the world from trying to intimidate us. And it doesn’t mean things will always be easy.

Take the story of Lazarus, for instance. What is most well-known about Lazarus is that he was the man that Jesus raised from the dead. This is no easy feat but considering he had been deceased for four days it becomes even more remarkable. John 11 shares with us the entire drama of the event. Jesus’ delayed arrival, the sadness He experienced, and His desire to glorify His Father are all recorded. However, it’s in John 12 that we see what might be the second most surprising part of this story. After Lazarus was raised, the Jewish leaders plotted to kill him. Because his resurrected life was such a testament to the power of our Savior – they wanted to snuff him out. They wanted to quench the light that burned brightly through his transformed life.

Think of the irony with that. Here was a man that died , was raised,  and then they threaten to kill him.  The threats couldn’t have had much effect on Lazarus. After all, he had already experienced the sting of death, and the victory that is in Christ.

And while a physical overcoming of death is rare in Scripture, Jesus provides everyone who repents and puts their faith in Him the opportunity of a spiritual victory (I Cor. 15:56-57). As the Jewish leaders recognized, His power over physical death was indicative of His power over spiritual death as well. As He told the crowd at the healing of the paralytic, it’s easy to say you’re sins are forgiven, must harder to tell a man who can’t walk to do so. Yet Jesus does both (Luke 5:17-26). He forgives and He heals. Because there is nothing this world can concoct, that is greater than His power. All threats against us the are idle ones, as we know the One who can thwart them all. And just like Lazarus’ life was a testament to the power of our King, so our transformed lives should be.

It must have been odd for Lazarus to hear that people were trying to kill him after Christ had raised him from the dead. He must have had confidence that nothing would happen to him that wasn’t a part of God’s plan. It’s the same confidence that we share. And it’s the reason that although the world may threaten we never need to fear. After all, we know the One who has overcome the grave. The very worst that they can throw at us is the very best for those that are in Him (Phil. 1:21).

 

Now it’s your turn…how does trusting in the power of God change the way in which you live?


Recycled Pain

October 4, 2011 in Hope with 2 Comments

In California, recycling is just part of our culture. We have separate trash cans that the sanitation department provides for us to divide our recyclables from our other refuse. Sometimes, even when we don’t have the separate bins, the trash department separates our garbage for us. In elementary school, children learn the importance of “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.” We are well educated about the importance of taking something that had one purpose, and using it again to accomplish something else.

Scripture, however, is filled with a different type of recycling. Throughout God’s Word we see how our Lord uses what was intended for evil, in order to bring about His good. Joseph’s brothers thought they were punishing him; God used it to save nations. Moses’ mother thought she was losing her son; God used him to lead His people out of slavery. Job had everything taken from him, only to be given more. God doesn’t just use pain to teach us things, He recycles it for a greater purpose.

This doesn’t mean that the pain doesn’t hurt, that the trials aren’t hard, or that the sadness isn’t real. It does mean that we can trust that in His time, God is using those things to bring us to the experience of His goodness. He doesn’t waste anything that happens to us. He’s transforming it in His time for His purpose. It’s the ultimate example of reduce, reuse, recycle – He’s reducing our pain by protecting us and comforting us, He’s reusing our pain to teach us something about Himself, and He’s recycling it to bring about something good.

Just like we aren’t the only ones who benefit when we recycle our waste, our recycled trials often have a multiplied effect – bringing good not only in our lives but also in the lives of others. And if we are willing to let God use our trials in this way, we can rest in the confidence that from His eternal perspective, whatever temporary loss we experience, is worth it so that our trials can be redeemed by His plan.

Share your story…how has God recycled pain in your life?

 

The title of this post was inspired by the beautiful song “He’s Always Been Faithful“ by Sara Groves [affiliate link].


Hidden

September 21, 2011 in Hope with 2 Comments

Growing up, a favorite game of our family was hide-and-seek. There’s a good chance that my dad actually liked the game better than any of the kids because he took great joy in finding new and innovative places to help the hide-ers evade capture. He would lift kids up on top of the refrigerator, and place the cookie jar into their hands, so that they would just seem like part of the decor. He would take off the top of the papasan chair, place a child into the solid base that was underneath, and then place the chair back on top (always making sure the young one could breathe.) I even think once or twice he put us inside the clothes dryer, although I’m sure many people may be aghast at that suggestion.  His creativity seemed to  know no bounds as he looked for places that we could hide.

As illustrated from the above examples, some of my dad’s most effective strategies for hiding us involved placing us into something else. In order to keep the seek-ers from finding the hide-ers, it was helpful if what they saw was the object rather than our faces. They would look right past us, because they presumed that we couldn’t be there. After all – that was a chair, or a dryer – it wasn’t a hiding kid.

This happens to also be a great illustration of what happens when we become believers. As my pastor often reminds us, the word for baptism, literally means “placed into.”  When we have been “baptized into Christ” – we were placed into Him.  He’s covering us; He’s hiding us. Therefore when people see us, they shouldn’t see the cowering child that’s afraid of the future, they should see Christ. They shouldn’t be looking at our insecurities, our fears, and our hang-ups, they should be seeing the beauty and the majesty of our risen Lord.  We are hidden in Him – so that people look right past “us” – because all they see is Christ. This of course isn’t to imply that we have to feign perfection. After all, that’s an act that we can only keep up for so long. Instead, we need to remember that because we are in Him, we have already been granted all we need to live a godly life (2 Peter 1:3), and we need to get busy letting Him use us to make Himself look good.

In the same vein, it’s important for us to remember that when we are hidden in Christ, we are protected. The old hymn, Rock of Ages starts with these seemingly strange words, “Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee.”  It’s a reminder that not only should other people see Christ when they look at us, but we can take confidence that when we are hidden in Him, we are protected. It is as if we are surrounded by the greatest and strongest mountain; no weapon can penetrate it, no foes can surmount it. Nothing can happen to us apart from His plan.

He protects us.

He cover us.

He is our shield.

And just as we want people to look at us and see Christ, we can have confidence in this – because we are hidden in Him, when God looks at us, all He sees is His Son as well.

 

 What do you think? How does being hidden in Christ change how you live?


Do a Little Dance

September 16, 2011 in Hope with 12 Comments

The book of James has long been a favorite of mine. I credit that to my dad who, when I was in 6th grade and had finished all the AWANA books that our church offered, encouraged me to memorize it – from start to finish.  And I did. I remember that day when I started with Chapter 1, verse 1, and recited all the verse through Chapter 5, verse 20. It took a lot longer than the typical “memory verse” time.

Another reason I love the book is because it’s so encouraging for those that are suffering. Although my life has been very blessed, we all suffer in big or small ways. Last year when my heart broke in ways that I never anticipated, the call to persevere was very dear to me.  Knowing that the trials we were going through did not catch God by surprise and that He was using them to bring about His purposes was sometimes the motivation we needed to, as my mom would say “keep on plugging.” Sometimes the reason you keep putting one foot in front of the other is because you know that God is leading.

Yet, sometimes I focused so much on getting through the trials, that I neglected to remember how James begins his discourse  on them. He writes “Count it all joy…” According to J.P Louw and E.A. Nida’s “Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament“, the word joy used here is often expressed idiomatically. So rather than saying the word “joy” the author uses a phrase to describe what joy is.  What we read as “joy” here could be read as “my heart is dancing.” Which seems incongruous when you consider the subject matter. When we are going through pain and suffering, it’s often our hearts that are the heaviest.  Even physical pain can seem inconsequential in comparison to discouraged hearts.  How can we expect our heart to dance when the cries of pain are overwhelming? 

However, when I thought of my nieces I began to understand a little bit of how this might be. Like most young children, there are a  lot of things that they don’t know how to do, but one thing that they do know how to do is to dance. It’s not overly rhythmic and they don’t know any moves, but if there’s dancing to be done, they are willing participants. They mimic those that are already dancing, or they make up their own routine. They don’t even need music. They dance simply because they can, and they do so without consideration for all the reasons they should not.

In similar ways, our hearts can be dancing even when trials surround us. We can dance because while the noise of our pain may be loud, the music of our Father’s love is louder still. We dance because we know that the last song will be one of triumph as our King comes to claim His bride. And we dance because we know that this trial that we are experiencing will not last forever, but it will be used for His purpose.

So we teach our hearts to dance, without music and without knowing the moves. We do so without consideration for all they reasons we shouldn’t, because we know that  as believers the Reason we should is greater than any temporary condition of pain.

Now it’s your turn – How do you teach your heart to dance in the midst of painful circumstances?


Short-Handed

August 23, 2011 in Hope with 2 Comments

To keep track of all her children and their stuff, a busy mom will often exclaim that she needs an extra hand.

A hectic waiter may wish for the same thing.

When people are in need we are inclined to ask them if we can lend them a hand.

It appears that there are a shortages of hands in the universe!

Or at least it can seem that way.

 

When you’re up late writing a paper because all your team members have bailed.

When you’re the one picking up after everyone else has gone home…. again.

When you’re left with the dirty work, the neglected tasks, and the menial assignments that no one else bothered doing, it can seem that there are not enough hands to get it all done. The feeling is even stronger when it comes to the stuff that our hands could never “take care of” in the first place.

The sick child.

The dying parent.

The hurting friend.
We may want to help, but we aren’t powerful enough, our hands aren’t strong enough to take away the hurt and the pain.

 

Yet we serve a God who is never short-handed. As Numbers 11:23 demonstrates when He rhetorically asks, Moses “Is the Lord’s hand shortened?” Then He follows up with these words, “Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not.”

What a powerful image. When it feels like we’ve run out of help, God has only just begun. When we can’t do it in our own strength, we can trust in the One whose strength has no bounds. And He is so confident that what He promises He will bring to pass that He stakes His reputation on it.

If only we would believe Him more.

Perhaps we wouldn’t feel so short-handed.

After all, we serve a God who’s not.


To The Cross

August 17, 2011 in Being Content, Hope with 4 Comments

We all have times where things just seem “off.” Perhaps there’s no great tragedy to explain our malaise, but whether it be the weariness of a situation that just doesn’t seem to change, cares and concerns for our loved ones, or just a general feeling of discontent, we have moments, days, maybe weeks, where there doesn’t seem to be much to look forward to on the horizon. Our vision is obscured by the heaviness of our hearts.

Recently, I’ve found myself feeling a bit like this. Perhaps it’s the realization that yet another summer is going to an end, and I still didn’t get accomplished all that I wanted to. Perhaps it’s the weight of year and a half that has been marked by loss, sadness, and uncertainty. Perhaps, it’s a combination of factors that I’m not fully aware of, yet whatever the reason, as I look forward, although I know there is hope in my ultimate future, my immediate one didn’t fill me with eager excitement and anticipation. It’s probably best explained by the fact that for a planner like me, when you can’t even see the path from where you are to what you want to be, you’re bound to feel a bit discombobulated.

However, what I realized is that my eyes were focused on the wrong thing. Sure, in my mind I knew that ultimately my hope was in heaven, and so whatever happened on this Earth I did not need to fear, but sometimes Heaven can seem far away. What I didn’t realize, is that as much as I need to look forward to that hope, I also need to look back. I need to position myself at the foot of the cross as a witness to the great sacrifice that my Savior made on my behalf. I need to see how He laid down His right to do what He wanted with His life, and do the same with mine. I need to be encouraged by His total commitment, willing to withstand a cruel and gruesome death instead of rightly enjoying the treasures of Heaven. I need to marvel at His love demonstrated by His blood. I need to see what He saw – the joys of this Earth are rightly sacrificed, and the pain of this Earth are rightly endured, because the resurrection is coming, and there is hope in Him.

At the cross, my future hope meets my present reality – not only in my salvation but in my daily walk with God. It’s the reason why a friend always states that we need to constantly preach the Gospel to ourselves. Not only because we need to daily recognize that we are a sinner saved only by God’s grace, but because we need to daily recognize that focusing on Jesus’ death and resurrection are the proper response to all we face in life. When life is good, we need to look past the fleeting joys of this life, to the permanent joy provided only by Him. When life is difficult, we need to realize that like Christ, our life is not our own, and offer our difficulties and our troubles to be used by God.

At the cross that we realize the futility of dwelling on the cares of this world – the good and the bad – and we,  like Jesus did, eagerly look forward to what His death and resurrection accomplished – an eternity with our risen Lord.

 

 

For a great song which partly inspired this post, check out Hillsong’s Lead Me To the Cross [affiliate link].


Burdened

August 16, 2011 in Being Content, Hope with 4 Comments

It seems that every year as children head back to school that there is at least one news story about the weight of their backpacks. Blame it on the scarcity of lockers, the thickness of textbooks, the amount of homework teachers assign, or students’ unwillingness to complete their work within class time, but there is some reason children are carrying more weight on their backs then medical professionals deem healthy. The concern, of course, is not only for the problems this will engender now, but for the lifelong implications of burdening their growing bodies with weight that they can’t yet handle.

Sometimes it can feel like we are carrying our own backpack full of burdens around. And yet, listening to some, it seems as if Christians should be exempt from such inconveniences. “Come to Jesus and you’re life will get better” they say. And while they are right, in a sense, it doesn’t mean that our problems will go away. In fact, Jesus has promised just the opposite. He tells His followers that they will have problems. Just as He was persecuted, so those who bear His name will be as well.

The difference, then,  isn’t that Christians don’t have burdens; it’s that the burdens they carry are different. After all, Jesus didn’t say, “Come to me and I will take all the burdens away.” Instead, He said, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:29-30; emphasis mine). The burden that Christians carry is the one that Jesus gives to us. Instead of carrying the weight of the world on our shoulders, we know the One who holds the world is His hands. Because He is bearing that weight, the yoke He places on us is light.

Think of it this way – we know the One who controls the stars and the seasons, as well as the One who has cares about every sparrow that falls. Therefore, we don’t need to worry about trying to control and manipulate our lives to get what we want – a heavy burden that is impossible to bear. When a loved one is sick, we know that One that can heal, and even if He chooses not to do so, we can trust His loving provision. When we grieve, we do not do so as those who are without hope, because we know the One through Who there is eternal life. We still grieve, we still get sick, and we still have situations we can’t control, but the burden is lighter, because the heaviest part of the burden – the finality of death, the inability to heal, and the lack of control – all find their answer in Christ. He bears the heavy load that that we were not created to own.

For the near future, it seems that school children will still have heavy books that they need to carry. And until Jesus calls us Home, we will have some burdens that we need to bear as well. However, the Christian can trust that the burden they are called to carry is the one Jesus gives us, and that even under it, He has already promised that He will provide “rest for [our] souls.”


Reason to Rejoice

August 15, 2011 in Hope with 4 Comments

We find all sorts of reasons to celebrate. There are the common ones like birthdays, graduations, and holidays. We also celebrate first days of school, sports victories (even when we aren’t the ones playing), and science fair wins. In America, we even get festive about something called “Groundshog’s Day” – where a furry underground creature is supposed to predict the arrival of Spring! We are a celebratory people.

However, we only tend to celebrate when we think something has happened that’s worthy of celebration - when there’s an event that demands a response. Most days, people are complaining about their lives, not celebrating what’s happening in it. As much as we like festive occasions, we don’t carry that same spirit into our every day lives.

Christians, however, know that there is also a reason to celebrate. Even when there are bad things happening in our lives, we can rejoice that the Lord is on His throne. We can celebrate that God -  the perfect, holy, loving and just God that we serve – is the One who holds the Earth in His hands, and is organizing and arranging things according to His good purpose.  Our lives aren’t happening by chance, nor is there someone less worthy (like ourselves) in charge, but instead, the fact that He is reigning over all gives us cause to celebrate, even when there is not much else in our lives that seems worthy of joy.

Psalm 97:1 states, “The LORD reigns,let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad!” The Psalmist realizes that there is cause for celebration. If the waves and seas can find gladness in the fact that God is on His throne, than shouldn’t we? After all, we know that God is not only in control, but is also lovingly concerned with our lives. Shouldn’t we consider this a reason to rejoice?


Stored Up

August 9, 2011 in Hope with 2 Comments

Years ago when I took the StrengthsFinder® test, I discovered that one of my “signature strengths” was “input.” Basically this meant that I was a collector – of facts, trinkets and whatever else I set my fancy on. My parents no doubt already knew this as, at different times in my life, they had to contend with my shell collection, my rock collection, and my collection of key chains. As I grew older, my “collections” turned into file folders of quotations  & articles, boxes of pictures, a penchant for saving small artifacts from significant times in my life, and mounds and mounds of books. Collections were my way of setting things aside, in case I might need them at some other point in my life.

The challenge with collections, however, is that they must be stored, and storage is limited. Additionally while the articles are filed away, or the key chains are in their container, it may seem as if they serve no useful purpose. They are simply waiting to be accessed, waiting for when they are needed.

Similarly, God is a collector of sorts. However, what He’s storing far exceeds anything that we can put away. God is storing up blessings for His people (Ps. 31:19). He is gathering up good things, setting them aside for the day that they are needed. Unlike me, God has no limits to how much He can collect. He gathers them, and He apportions them for just the right moment. He knows that in a year we will need some encouragement. He knows that tomorrow we will need a comforting word from a friend. And He waits; storing up those blessings, eager to pour them out on His children.

This can provide such comfort to us. If we are going through a tough time, we know that God has blessings that He is waiting to give us, when He knows that they will have their greatest effect. If we are the recipient of His gifts, we can thank Him for His generosity in preparing those blessings in advance. And regardless of our circumstances, all His children can eagerly look forward to the blessings He has in store for us in His Kingdom.

I can tell you from personal experience that storing things only makes sense if one day they will serve some useful purpose. With God, we can be confident that whatever He has in store, He will use – for His glory and our good.


Past, Present, Future

August 2, 2011 in Growth, Hope with 1 Comment

I was recently talking with a friend about how hard it is for kids to appreciate the sacrifices of their parents. The kids, after all, don’t comprehend what it’s like to get up from a deep sleep in order to grab a bottle, the hours of thought and planning that go into making the right educational choices, or the hard work that is required to put a roof over their heads. Especially when they are young, it is difficult for them to realize how the reality of the past effects their present condition, let alone how it will shape their future.

Kids, however, aren’t the only ones that struggle with this understanding. Just like a child only sees what’s right in from of them, sometimes all we can see is the trial that we are dealing with right now. We want to be rescued from the pain of today, often neglecting to dwell on the fact that not only has our rescue already been accomplished, but our rescue will be completed one day as well. It can be difficult for the Christian to see how the reality of the past affects them in the present, let alone their future.

But as one pastor has stated, salvation is past, present and future. We were saved on the cross, we are saved when we turn from our sins and put our faith in Christ, and we will be saved from just punishment at the coming judgment. The reality of what was accomplished two thousand years ago when Jesus died and rose from the grave not only paid the penalty of our sins, but it provides us with assurance that we need to persevere in picking up our cross and following Him daily, looking forward to the future salvation that will come.

Yet, it can be hard to appreciate this fact, just as it is hard for the child to appreciate the good that has already been done on their behalf. We may be tempted to act as if it is expected, just as many children assume the benevolence of their parents, not realizing that the past good is accomplishing our present good as well. Just as maturing means a greater appreciation for the time, energy and effort that parents spend in raising us, so a maturity in faith means a greater appreciation for how the work of the Cross must not be left in the past, but must continue to effect our present as we look towards its work in the future.

It’s a hard truth to grasp. Yet considering how much time is spent wondering about the past, dealing with the present, and worrying about the future, it would be good for us to increase our appreciation of how Christ’s death and resurrection changes all three.

 

For a great message on the doctrine of the resurrection, check out this sermon.


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