Old and Flourishing

 

The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in their old age, they will stay fresh and green.

—Psalm 92:12-14

Our culture has numerous ways of casting a different view of old age than the Psalmist did in the Scripture verse at the beginning of this blog post. Today, when choosing people for important work in the marketplace or church, more likely than not, the younger person gets the nod.

When even the older people view retirement, instead of hoping for a useful and productive time in their lives, they far too often gravitate toward filling their lives full-to-overflowing with “the good life”—the country club, the golf course, the garden, visits with family and friends, or a pleasureful season of constant cruises and perpetual vacations.

When we look into what the Bible has to say about this matter, we see that God used very old people to accomplish some of His most important work. For example:

• Abraham and Sarah, nearing 100 years of age, became parents of a son who would become a key individual in the birth line of the Messiah.
  
  
• King David wrote Psalms from the perspective of old age.
  
  
• Moses carried out his most impressive assignment after the age of 80.
  
  

After Moses had endured the Israelites’ wandering in the desert for forty years, he penned Psalm 90, which in verse 17, he asked God to “establish the work of our hands.” Even then, Moses didn’t “go into retirement” and quit. He asked God for something new to accomplish. He had seen what appeared as futile drifting by his people, and he wanted to warn them that life is short, and God had work for them to do.

When we study the young mind of Moses in the Book of Exodus, we quickly learn that, although God prepared him to some degree for the work ahead of him, God wanted a mature, seasoned man, who had experienced the sad disappointments of life. Eventually, these disappointments would prepare Moses for the task of leading an entire nation to a new home.

By that time, inspite of all the opportuities that God had given Moses to learn and become mature, he still felt very inadequate! Over the many years, Moses had gone from self-assured at forty (see Exodus 2:11-14) to a humble, cautious man, whom God could use at the age of eighty (see Exodus 3). Then, close to 40 years later, Moses penned Psalm 90, in which he was asking God to establish his, and the Israelites’ work for them!

When we feel as though God can no longer use us at 65, or 75, or 95, we need to take a look at His servants in Scripture. Read Psalm 71, a Psalm, probably by David, about old age. In verses 17 and 18, David prays:

Since my youth, God, you have taught me, and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds. Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your mighty acts to all who are to come.

Certainly, we can say that God used Moses in the very manner that Moses’ prayer had requested. In like manner—whether we are young, or middle aged, or old—God wants to use us, as well. Moses, the great intercessor for his people, shows us that even when physical limitations may persist and may hamper our efforts, God can do great things through our prayers.

 

 

Believe It!

 

When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”

—Judges 6:12

How many times in Scripture has God proven that He makes the most out of the weakest people? Think of the virgin teen, Mary of Nazareth. Consider Sarah, Abraham’s wife at 90 years old. Remember Moses at age 80. Think about Ruth, a foreign barren widow. Ponder the life of David, a shepherd boy. In the lives of each one, God has elevated these individuals to places of significance in His Kingdom.

As yet another example, I would like to zoom in on the Bible character, Gideon. In those long ago days when Gideon lived, the Israelites had once again cried out to God because of the oppression of the Midianites.

One day, Gideon, the son of a farmer, was threshing wheat in a winepress for his father. He did this in order to hide the wheat from the enemy. As he worked, Gideon was visited by the angel of the Lord, who addressed Gideon as a mighty warrior! Gideon’s response definitely spoke of his lack of faith because, as recorded in Judges 6:13-15, Gideon replied:

“If the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us?” … The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel.” Gideon responded, “How can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

Has anyone ever called you a “trooper,” or a “prayer warrior,” or some other name you know couldn’t possibly define you? Your first thought might be:

“Prove it! Show me in what way you can say that about me!”

Gideon just would not believe that God could do through him what God had asked. Gideon asked for signs, which God graciously gave him. But, as we read in Judges 6:27, even when Gideon obeyed God:

Because he was afraid of his family and the men of the town, he did it at night rather than in the daytime.

The story takes even more twists and turns. But, once Gideon had called all his men together, God whittled the army down even more. God did this so that His power might be seen in the outcome of this attack.

We read in Judges 7:12, that even against the Midianites with the Amalekites, who came:

… thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore …

Using Gideon’s small army of 300, God proved His power and defeated the enemy.

In dramatic terms, this narrative from Scripture teaches us that God loves to use the weak to do His greatest work. If we come to God with fear, with very little to offer, in weakness and need, but with a willing spirit, He can use us for mighty things.

In 1 Corinthians 1:26-31, the Apostle Paul expounds on the lesson:

Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”

If we desire for God to use us, let us please take heart. When we feel weak, God can use His strength in us. When we feel inadequate, God will make us adequate to do anything to which He calls us. Believe it! We can’t, but He can.

 

 

Overwhelmed

 

“My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

—Matthew 26:38

Looking in several dictionaries, I discovered that, traditionally, writers have used the words “whelmed” and “overwhelmed” interchangeably. It doesn’t surprise me that these words began as nautical terms. They describe a boat caught in the precarious position of filling with water, even capsizing. In the Bible, references to seafaring-related activities are nearly as popular as references to agricultural illustrations.

Many of you will recall the words found in the hymn, “The Solid Rock,” written by Edward Mote. ¹

His oath, His covenant, His blood
support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.

Refrain: On Christ the solid rock, I stand;
             all other ground is sinking sand;
             all other ground is sinking sand.

The idea for those words in that hymn come from this verse found in Psalm 61:2:

When my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

As I read Psalm 65:3, I was struck by the use of the same word—overwhelmed—when David described the sense of overpowering sadness he felt whenever he considered sin:

When we were overwhelmed by sins, you forgave our transgressions.

In both cases, the one involving extreme emotional need and the one involving deep sin, we need that Rock that is higher than the extremity of our sinking position. Only the Rock—Jesus—can restore our equilibrium.

In his expositional commentary on the Psalms, the late Dr. James Montgomery Boice shares the following story from the life of the great preacher from the 10th century, Charles Haddon Spurgeon: ²

Ships often ran upon the rocks off the coast of England, and mariners were cast in the water and drowned. At times, the mariners would find themselves struggling at the base of high cliffs, knowing they would be safe if they could only get up the steep slippery face of the rocks. But they could not. At one place, according to Spurgeon, a man who lived at the top of one of these cliffs carved stone steps into the rock face so wrecked mariners could climb up. And when the steps became badly worn and impassable over time, someone else added stanchions and a chain railing to help the struggling survivors.

In like manner, God has provided us with the way to overcome our own weaknesses through the Rock of Christ. In our times of need, the Holy Spirit will lead us to Christ, so we can call out to Him for help.

Again, as I read the verse in Mark 9:15, I came upon this word “overwhelmed.” Here the word is used to describe the throngs of people who met Jesus when He and His disciples came down the mountain from the Transfiguration:

As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him.

What an amazing way to be overwhelmed! Perhaps we need to exchange our sense of overwhelming need with the sense of His overwhelming wonder. When we meditate on God’s “wonder-full” provision for us in Christ, we realize that, in the drowning circumstances of our lives, Jesus can truly supply everything we need.

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1 Mote, Edward. “The Solid Rock.” A hymn in the Public Domain. Though this citation is noted to be in the Public Domain, in the case of someone claiming Copyright protection of this material, please note that, in each case, whenever a citation of any Copyrighted material is made within a post on this blog, such a citation is made strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. All Rights Reserved by the original Copyright Holder.

2 Boice, James Montgomery. Psalms: An Expositional Commentary – Volume 2. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1998. p. 504. Please note that, in each case, whenever a citation of any Copyrighted material is made within a post on this blog, such a citation is made strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. All Rights Reserved by the original Copyright Holder.

 

 

The Exchange

 

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to … provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.

—Isaiah 61:1, 3

We all remember the story of “Jack and the Beanstalk,” ¹ which began with Jack going to market for his mother to sell their old cow that no longer gave milk. On the way, Jack met a man who sweet-talked him into trading the cow for five “magic beans.” And, you likely remember how that opened Jack up to a whole lot of trouble, including being chased by a giant.

Now, not all of the exchanges we make in our lives end up quite the way that one did. But, as Christians, we have actually entered into an agreement with God that will forever result in an unequal exchange. Ephesians 2:4 explains:

Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions.

So, the very first unequal exchange God has made with us involves Him giving us life for death. If we look truthfully at ourselves, we must say that God has given us everything in exchange for our nothingness. Scripture tells us that we have nothing to offer Him in payment for our sins and in exchange for our new life, except the gift of ourselves.

As we grow in God’s grace, we realize that God wants to give us:

• His strength in exchange for our weakness
  
  
• His infinite knowledge in exchange for our confusion
  
  
• His clear vision in exchange for our blindness
  
  
• His health in exchange for our hurts
  
  
• His answers in exchange for our questions
  
  
• His power in exchange for our powerlessness
  
  

In the verse quoted at the beginning of this blog post, we see that God wants to give us joy for our mourning and a garment of praise for a heaviness we can’t take off ourselves. Christ has taken our rags of sinfulness from us, in exchange for His robe of righteousness. He has exchanged our life of futility for a new life of usefulness and for an eternal future with Him. What a terribly lopsided exchange!

When we pray, we should allow ourselves to picture two columns: the first with all our needs, and the second with everything that God can provide us in exchange. May this exercise cause us to thank Him for all He has to give us and exclaim, with the Psalmist, the words in Psalm 103:2:

Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.

 

______________________

1 The story—“Jack and the Beanstalk,” originating from the 19th century—with versions by Benjamin Tabart in 1807 and by Joseph Jacobs in 1890—is in the Public Domain. Though this citation is noted to be in the Public Domain, in the case of someone claiming Copyright protection of this material, please note that, in each case, whenever a citation of any Copyrighted material is made within a post on this blog, such a citation is made strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. All Rights Reserved by the original Copyright Holder.

 

 

Frail

 

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

—2 Corinthians 4:7

She knocked at my classroom door and stood waiting with her mom and older sister. I was overjoyed to see Joanna. Her loving nature had once made her one of my favorite students in the two years that I had known her. But then, her family had suddenly decided to go back to Puerto Rico, and I thought I’d never see her again.

Now she had traveled back for a visit, and wanted to thank me for teaching her. She gave me a tiny pitcher, hand made out of clay, and decorated with a pretty floral design and the words “Puerto Rico.”

How thoughtful of her to remember me and bring me this tiny reminder of her. Every time I look at it, it reminds me of more than Joanna. It reminds me that when I seem as frail as that little pitcher, Christ can show His power within me. Many times I have felt hard pressed, perplexed, persecuted, struck down. This little clay pitcher reminds me that even in my frailty, I have the treasure of the glory of God in my life.

Let me remind and encourage each one of us. Whenever our backs and legs ache, our nerves fray, we’ve had sleepless nights, and we have more to do than we can possible handle, let us remember the testimony that the Apostle Paul gives us in this Scripture verse from 2 Corinthians 12:10:

For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Yes! Through our times of weakness, God wants to pour out a great blessing on us, and in so doing, reveal His all-surpassing power.

 

 

Sufficent

 

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

—2 Corinthians 12:9a

Have you ever felt so weak in the face of trouble—physically, emotionally, intellectually, or spiritually—that you knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that you couldn’t handle the situation in front of you? I have. And, I think God brings us through such times, maybe frequently. Yes, all of us, whom He intends to sanctify for His purposes, He brings through such times.

Young and inexperienced believers often think of themselves as capable of doing, in their own power, anything the Lord asks of them. Confident in their own physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual strength and capabilities, they sometimes look trouble in the eye with confident presumption, and think they are exercising faith.

“I presume my parents will get me out of any financial jam I can’t deal with.” Or: “I presume the medicine will take care of the problem.” Or: “I presume my talents and gifts will get me through tight spots at work.”

It usually only takes a few times, when these presumptions are proven wrong, that we begin to realize how insufficient we are to handle the things that assail our lives. And, what does God hope to accomplish by allowing us to “swim without a life preserver,” or to get sick with a deadly disease? The Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:9b, after He made the statement in the Scripture that appears at the beginning of this blog post:

Therefore, [because God’s grace is sufficient] I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

He’s saying with a chuckle:

“Bring it on! I can’t handle this, but God, You can!”

Here’s what beloved preacher, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, said about this verse: ¹

Our weakness should be prized as making room for divine strength. We might never have known the power of grace if we had not felt the weakness of nature … God’s grace is enough for me! I should think it is. Is not the sky enough for the bird, and the ocean enough for the fish? The All-Sufficient is sufficient for my largest want.

Similarly, Joni Eareckson Tada points out that God becomes what we need: 

In Isaiah 54 he becomes the Husband to the divorced woman. In Psalm 10 he becomes the Father of the orphaned. In Zechariah 2 he becomes the Wall of Fire to those who need protection. In Isaiah 62 he becomes the Bridegroom to the woman who grieves that she’ll never marry. In Exodus 15 he becomes the Healer to the sick. In Isaiah 9 he is the Wonderful Counselor to the confused and depressed. In John 4 he becomes the Living Water to the thirsty. In John 6 he’s the Bread of Life to those who are hungry for more than this world can give.

I suspect most of us will have the experience of weakness and insufficiency when facing trials of all sorts. God wants to show in us His strength and His sufficiency. Do we willingly face our troubles with a trust that allows Him to work His power through us?

Though we often learn slowly and painfully, He will patiently bring us to a place where He can trust us with such pain. Let us rejoice in His over-abiding presence, His over-abiding love, and His ability to prove His sufficiency in and through us.

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1 Spurgeon, Charles Haddon, Faith’s Checkbook. Chicago: Moody Press, 1980. Entry for November 8th.

2 Tada, Joni Eareckson, More Precious Than Silver. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998. Entry for August 30th.

Please note that, in each case, whenever the citation of any Copyrighted material is made within a post on this blog, such citation is made strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. All Rights Reserved by the original Copyright Holder.

 

 

Spare No Expense

 

If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

—Romans 8:31-32

Some men will stop at nothing to buy their bride-to-be the most expensive engagement ring that they can afford, either using cash-on-hand or borrowing a significant amount of money. Likewise, those with plenty of financial means will stop at nothing to provide their children with the best education in the world.

In contrast, not long ago, we watched thousands of children marching across the U.S. southern border. Their parents have given all their meager funds to “buy” a chance for freedom and a better life for these young ones. They have paid unscrupulous gangsters to transport their children, not knowing for certain whether or not their loved ones would actually arrive safe and unharmed.

Perhaps you know parents who have sold everything, in order to allow their child to receive the very best medical treatment possible to cure cancer. You may know parents who have sacrificed for years, in order to send their children to top-rated colleges or universities. Or, perhaps you know ordinary hard-working people who have taken out a second mortgage on their houses. in order to save their businesses during a stressful economic time. Certainly, we can find plenty of examples of desperate people spending all they have to achieve some goal, or to acquire almost impossible things.

In 1 Kings 17:7-24 we read of the widow of Zarephath who had only a handful of flour and a little oil for herself and her son. But, on Elijah’s request, this poor woman baked a small cake for Elijah to eat. In her obedience of faith, she gave everything.

Likewise, in Mark 12:41-44, we read the account where Jesus watched a widow place her meager offering of two small coins into the temple treasury. She gave all the money that she had on which to live, in order to be faithful to the God whom she knew loved her.

Of course, the greatest example of sparing no expense comes from the sacrifice of our God in giving the best He has, His one and only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. In giving this Sacrifice to die a cruel death on the Roman cross of torture, the Father gave the only person who could achieve the blameless and sinless standard of righteousness that He requires. God did this amazingly sacrificial act, in order that He might bring “many sons to glory.” He gave all! And, He did this for us—for those whom He loved. And, what does this Greatest Sacrifice require of us? Read here the words of Jesus from Matthew 10:37-39:

Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

God expects His children to spare no expense in following Him, in using our means and our money, in giving our time and our obedience. I remember a little ditty from childhood that captures these thoughts: ¹

After all He’s done for me,
after all He’s done for me,
How can I do less than give Him my best,
and live for Him completely,
After all He’s done for me.

______________________

1 Daasvand, Betsy and Loveless, Wendell. “After All He’s Done for Me.” Carol Stream, Illinois: Hope Publishing, 1940. Please note that, in each case, whenever the citation of any Copyrighted material is made within a post on this blog, such citation is made strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. All Rights Reserved by the original Copyright Holder.

 

 

Clenched Fist or Open Hand?

 

“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?”

—the words of Jesus found in Luke 9:23-25

With a cleanched fist, perhaps the toddler held a penny tightly in his palm, or a piece to a puzzle, or a tiny animal from his barnyard play area. Any adult trying to get the toddler to release the dangerous-when-swallowed item knows the war of wills this entails.

We like to hold on to things, opinions, and plans that we have made, too. Although we don’t shout “MINE!” when confronted with the loss of such items, we feel it deep down. We want our own way. And, we clench our fists all the more when we get challenged to surrender what we hold tightly.

Jesus knew the struggle we have when He asks us to surrender control, and comfort, and those things that we think will make us happy. Yet, He wants us to look beyond what we can see—what we experience in the moment—so that we can get a look at the eternal things He has planned for us. God wants to give us so much. He wants to see us come to Him and humbly present our open hand, in order to receive what He wishes to give us. And, He wants us to extend that same open hand of love to others, so we may give them what we possess.

God knows the dangerous things we shouldn’t have in our possession. He knows that these dangerous things will take us down the wrong paths. He know that these dangerous things will try to take over the mastery of our time and energies. He sees what would happen if we were to “swallow” such things and own them. He knows they will bring us to our ruin.

During this Season of Lent, when others urge us to “give up” something, in order to deny ourselves some pleasure, we ought to focus our attention, not so much on the things that would fulfill the obligations we feel, but rather on those things God wants to take from us: the sins that so easily beset us, our unsurrendered wills, and the things that crowd Him out of our hearts.

Jim Elliot, the missionary to the Ecuadorian Huaorani people, who suffered martyrdom in 1956, famously said:

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”

Let us so live that we will not make God pry our fingers open, so we will release the dangerous things we hold onto so tightly. Instead, let’s freely open our hands and allow Him to take from us what He wishes to take, in order that He can give us all that He chooses to give us. If we do so, we will surely find the way to blessing!

 

 

Tools of the Trade

 

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.

—Philippians 3:10

Dr. Helen Roseveare, a missionary physician and itinerant speaker of the mid-20th century, has written in her book, Digging Ditches, ¹ about the three tools that she believes serious followers of Christ need to use. She suggests Jesus used a yoke, a towel, and a cup to symbolize the work of Christ’s ministry, and our own.

In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus invites us with these words:

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 shall find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

To most of us—a yoke—this heavy, clumsy object looks more like a mechanism of torture than something that will give us rest. In reading about yokes, I have learned that cattle wearing yokes spend a long time getting used to the idea of working alongside another cow, or even a farmhand.

From the Scripture verse above, it appears as though Jesus, too, wants us to spend time with Him, in order that we may learn how to conform more easily to the pressure of “wearing” this way of life. Quietly giving ourselves to Him enables us to submit fully to Christ and allows Him to share more than half the load, as He directs us in His pathway.

We read about Dr. Roseveare’s second tool of the trade—a towel— in John 13, during the Last Supper. Jesus took a towel to use in washing His disciples’ feet. He used this opportunity to teach His disciples about serving. In John 13:14, Jesus said:

Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.

This second tool serves a most practical need. Dirty, smelly feet needed cleaning before a person reclines to begin eating a meal. Jesus saw the need and got to it. He never thought about this as below His dignity as the Son of God. Nor, did Jesus see this task as demeaning in any way. He put the towel around His waist, got down on His knees, and served the men in attendance by carefully, lovingly, and thoroughly washing their feet. Jesus wants us also to serve without counting the cost. He looks for servants who see a job that needs doing and who will get to work doing it.

The third tool—a cup—suggests true suffering as Christ did. During the last meal, He “took a cup.” After He gave thanks, Jesus explained to His friends that the cup represented the blood of the covenant given for them. They must have assumed this cup indicated fellowship with Him. “How wonderful!” they must have thought to themselves. Yet, as recorded in Mark 14:36, a few hours later in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed:

Father, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.

This cup Jesus took did not represent fellowship. Instead, it represented the terrifying cup of suffering, as He bore our sins in our place on the cross. Yet, Dr. Roseveare explains in her book, these “cups” are one and the same.

The Apostle Paul obviously understood this truth when he wrote of desiring the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings (see Philippians 3:10), as quoted at the beginning of this blog post. In this statement, we find the true heart of the gospel: for others to feel, as Christ feels, for the lost in our world and to suffer with them and for their sake.

How do we respond to the use of these three tools? Have we taken them up? Or, have we set them aside and allowed them to rust, or rot, while we go about our selfish way? We should all take a look at our hearts and compare them to Jesus’ examples for us. May He teach us to use the tools He grants us, that we may become united in fellowship with Him.

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1 Roseveare, Helen. Digging Ditches. Ross-shire, Scotland UK: Christian Focus Publications, 2005. Amazon Kindle eBook location 1870-1901. Please note that, in each case, whenever citation of any Copyrighted material is made within a post on this blog, such citation is made strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. All Rights Reserved by the original Copyright Holder.

 

 

Watching or Sleeping?

 

“Are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”

—Mark 14:37-38

As the time of His crucifixion drew near, Jesus knew the terror that lay ahead for Himself. He needed His closest friends to stand with Him. He needed them to watch over Him and pray with Him for the strength that only God could give.

Yet the disciples, while they had heard Jesus speak of the danger coming, never really took it to heart. They never comprehended the suffering that Jesus would have to endure, as He gave His life on the cruel Roman cross of torture to pay the penalty for our sins. Yes, Peter made bold promises about his loyalty to Jesus. But, when it really came time to show up and stand firmly at Jesus’ side, Peter failed.

Over and over in the verses of Scripture, Jesus has warned us, too, of the days to come. These days will not be days of ease, but of deep trouble. He has said that bad times will come upon the world before He returns to earth for the second time.

Sadly as Christians, we largely follow the direction of the culture in which we live. We watch awhile for Christ’s return and feign interest in and devotion to Him. But then, like the rest of the society in which we live, we fall asleep. Rather than standing guard over our lives, warning others, and preparing for Christ’s appearance, we go about our daily lives seemingly blind to what is happening around us.

In a Lenten Devotional, Biola University Emeritus Professor of Art, Barry Krammes, likens the Western Church to a cruise ship, where professionals entertain those on board and meet their every desire, rather than to a battleship engaged in prayer and spiritual warfare. He writes: ¹

These days I often feel like a drowsy disciple, or a virgin without any oil, sleepwalking through thick fog—trying to make sense of what’s happening around me. Yet, in moments of clarity I realize that now is the time to wake up and put my house in order. Hebrews 12:1-2 admonishes us:

“Stripping off every unnecessary weight and the sin which so easily and cleverly entangles us, let us run with endurance and active persistence the race that is set before us, [looking away from all that will distract us and] focusing our eyes on Jesus, who is the Author and Perfecter of faith.”

At the beginning of His ministry, when Jesus fasted in the desert for 40 days, He engaged in spiritual warfare. Near the end of His life, when He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, He also engaged in spiritual warfare. In like manner, Jesus has given us the task of preparing ourselves for the days ahead by engaging our minds and hearts and churches in the warfare battle against evil in our world. He has made it clear that He does not want us falling asleep.

If Jesus returned to earth today, would He find us watching, praying, and then moving out onto the field of spiritual battle? Or, would Jesus find us asleep and unaware of the dangers, behaving more like His twelve disciples behaved in the Garden of Gethsemane?

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1 Krammes, Barry. The Lent Project—Online Devotional: “The Spirit is Willing, but the Flesh is Weak.” La Mirada, California: Biola University, Center for Christianity, Culture and the Arts, February 27, 2021. Please note that, in each case, whenever citation of any Copyrighted material is made within a post on this blog, such citation is made strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. All Rights Reserved by the original Copyright Holder.

 

 

Potholes

 

Prepare the way for the Lord …

—from Mark 1:3

“Wow!! Ouch!! I didn’t see that coming!”

That’s how most of us respond when we hit a pothole. Drive most any route these days, with your mind in reverie, and you will find that the announcement of the pending change of seasons from winter to spring often comes with the harbinger of potholes. The harder the winter, the more potholes scatter themselves along the surface of the roadways. The potholes lie in wait to catch unsuspecting drivers and shake them up, or even damage the suspension of their vehicles.

During this same period, the “Church Year” announces the upcoming Easter season with the harbinger known as the Season of Lent, beginning on Ash Wednesday. Both potholes and Lent bring a time for preparation and repair. And, both should cause us to slow down, watch with care, and check what we are doing.

In Scripture we read of John the Baptist, the messenger, calling out in Mark 1:3:

“Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him.”

And, we read of the woman at Bethany anointing Jesus’ head with perfume and Jesus explaining in Mark 14:8:

“She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.”

Reading these two verses should prompt us to ask:

“What kind of spiritual preparations and repairs do we need to consider for our own spiritual lives during this Season of Lent?”

First of all, we need to pay attention. Just as a driver needs to watch carefully and do everything possible to avoid the cavernous pothole pits, so we need to slow down, spend time before the Lord looking for the spiritual “potholes” that may have formed in the pathway of our lives over the long period of winter sleep. The Season of Lent gives us a logical time period to achieve these daily inspections and to plan appropriate repairs.

Please allow me to suggest that we learn to write our prayers of inspection in a journal or notebook during these 40 days. This will allow us to take the time to more carefully examine our lives, to recount what that examination has disclosed, and to repent of those things that have made “potholes” in our walk with God.

In preparing for this time of self-examination, let me also suggest that we read Psalm 32 and Psalm 51. These two Psalms provide fruitful places to begin the process of our Lenten self-examination.

Once we find the spiritual potholes that have scarred the pathway of our lives, we want to repair those holes in a way that will last. A spiritual pothole filled in with a temporary spiritual cold-patch may last only a day or two. The traffic of our lives will loosen the patch. Before long, the pothole will open up again and maybe become even deepen.

In repairing our sin-damaged lives, let’s learn to fill in the spiritual potholes with new ways of thinking, speaking, and acting. These new ways will prepare us to travel with the Lord in whatever direction He leads along a smoother, more stable pathway for our lives. These new ways will fill up our spiritual potholes in a way that will last for the long run.

New habits that not only patch old craters, but also strengthen us against the formation new spiritual potholes, will take time. When we slow down and listen to what God says to us through His written Word, He may instruct us to set aside time daily to meet with Him. Or, He may encourage us to continue writing our thoughts and prayers in a journal or notebook. Or, He may ask us to take on a new project that will benefit others in the name of Christ.

Sin creates the spiritual potholes in the first place. When we repent of those sins, we move forward on a new pathway and repair the scars along the old ways that we’ve traveled. Some deeper chasms may require confession, repentance, and restitution—not only to God, but to others as well. This kind of more intentional repair will bring lasting benefits to our relationships. God wants to restore us to new pathways, and strengthen us to walk more closely with Him.

During this Season of Lent, let’s determine to slow down, examine our lives, choose to fix the spiritual potholes in our lives, and mend them so strongly that we will prepare the road ahead for travel with Christ, day by day.

 

 

Fix Our Eyes

 

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.”

—Hebrews 12:2

“… God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.’”

—Hebrews 13:6

The word “fear” occurs more than 300 times in the Bible. That tells me that this human emotion presents itself to us, even Christians, with some frequency. But how do we live with such a domineering character as “fear,” who seemingly vies to crush our joy and shipwreck our daily walk with God?

Some of us quite naturally have more trouble with fear than others. The Enemy of our souls will constantly throw us into terror, and even rule us, through his use of this terrible emotion.

In Hannah Hurnard’s classic allegory Hinds’ Feet on High Places, ¹ the main character has the name, “Much-Afraid,” and comes from a family of “Fearing” relatives, including a cousin who constantly dogged her steps: “Craven Fear.”

This theme also appears in another allegory, the journey of Christian in John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress. ²

Christian sets out on his pilgrimage from the “City of Destruction” to the “Celestial City.” Soon it becomes dark and he is led to the “Hill of Difficulty” on which sits a “Porter’s Lodge” for the purpose of refreshing pilgrims on their way.

However, as Christian trudges upward, he sees two lions in the way. Struck with fear, he stops. As the Porter from the Lodge watches him, it appears Christian will turn and retreat.

The Porter calls out to him:

“Is thy strength so small? Fear not the Lions, for they are chained, and are placed there for trial of faith where it is, and for discovery of those that have none. Keep in the midst of the Path, and no hurt shall come unto thee.”

The comfort of hearing the Porter’s voice, and the assurance of safety, gives Christian the focus he needs to keep on the path and to overcome his fear.

In like manner, when we find ourselves in the midst of trouble—when we see nothing but danger all around—we need the comfort of hearing our Savior’s voice, telling us to put aside fear and not be afraid.

God, our God, remains Sovereign over all things. And, He has vowed to care for us and watch us all our journey through. How can we stay on the path without fainting? By remembering His words to us from the Scriptures, including those verses at the beginning of this blog post.

Whenever we go through a terrifying time in our lives, or if we just have constantly recurring fears, we must learn to keep the written Word of God close by. We should memorize Scripture verses that give us courage and confidence. And, we must keep our eyes focused on Jesus. He watches us, just as the friendly Porter watched Christian. God will guide us to a place of safety and security with Him. Let us keep on the path, for the lions are already chained!

______________________

1 Hurnard, Hannah B. Hinds’ Feet on High Places: A Daily Devotional for Women. Shippensburgh, PA: Destiny Image Publishers, 2013. Please note: in each case, whenever citation of any Copyrighted material is made within a post on this blog, such citation is made strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. All Rights are Reserved by the original Copyright Holder.

2  Bunyan, John. The Pilgrim’s Progress. As found in The Harvard Classics, Vol. 15 pg.49. Please note that The Harvard Classics, edited by Charles W. Eliot and originally published by P. F. Collier & Son between 1909 and 1910, is currently in the Public Domain in the United States. In each case, whenever citation of any previously Copyrighted material—but that is now considered in the Public Domain—is made within a post on this blog, such citation is made strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. Even though this material is considered to be in the Public Domain, if any claim is made against the use of this material, we state that: All Rights are Reserved by the original Copyright Holder.

 

 

Hope for the "Upside-Down"

 

I say, “My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from the Lord.”

—Lamentations 3:18

Suppose you thought that the answer to your happiness came from standing on your head. You had watched other people who could accomplish this feat and saw how happy they seemed, so you tried it and—WOW!—it stuck. You now felt you had truly found the way to look at life, and standing on your head became the key to your happiness.

Now this sounds absurd to us. But, I believe we all have dreams of wonderful things. We even even pray and expect the Lord to fulfill our wishes. We feel the real key to our happiness comes from hoping that He will bring whatever we seek into our lives in the exact manner we think He should.

Perhaps a career path we saw as the ultimate goal for our life looked possible. We had prepared for it, we had prayed for it, we had worked hard to achieve it. Yet, just when we hoped that God would fulfill our dream, it was taken from us.

Or perhaps, we had looked forward to purchasing that beautiful house on the corner of our street. We had prayed and hoped that the Lord would provide that house for us. But, when it came time to buy it, someone else actually offered more money, bought it before we could add to our own offer, and moved into what would have been our ideal residence. Our dreams were shattered.

When we lose hope, we often end up in despair. In our Scripture passage at the beginning of this devotional blog post from Lamentations 3, we see that Jeremiah had great hope for himself and for God’s people. He had hope that God would work to bring the kind of splendor and blessing to the Holy City of Jerusalem that he felt was within reach. However, that hope had been shattered.

In Lamentations 3:18-26, we find Jeremiah remembering the affliction, the wandering, and the bitterness he had experienced while praying and preaching to God’s people. In his remembering and despair, he meditated on his dreams. But, and most importantly, Jeremiah also meditated on his God. Once his attention shifted and he was able to look at things “right-side-up,” everything changed. Note in verse 25 what the Prophet Jeremiah wrote:

The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him.

Do you see the one word that has changed from the verse that appears at the beginning of this devotional blog post? Jeremiah goes from “upside-down”—hoping from God, to “right-side-up”—hoping in God.

This one shift in Jeremiah’s focus changes everything. Instead of hoping for something Jeremiah thought would please him and answer the troubles he had, he decided to hope in God and trust that God would bring to pass the best results for both himself and for God’s people. It was all a matter of trusting God and submitting to God’s will, taking place over Jeremiah’s selfish will.

Sometimes this kind of change in thinking for us takes time, struggle, faith, and waiting, as this passage also relates. But then again, sometimes this kind of change in thinking just takes a change in our attitude, a change to a new perspective—a change to “right-side-up thinking!”

 

 

Stone Soup

 

The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.”

—Exodus 4:2

During one year of my public-school teaching, I had my third graders put on a musical play based on the legend of Stone Soup. For hundreds of years, this old story has been told in various cultures and in various renditions:

In our particular play, three soldiers returning from war stumbled into a village they had visited before the war, where they had found the villagers happy, generous, and welcoming. But now, the people of this village suffered from poverty and heartless selfishness brought on by the war, and these people had no food or lodging to share with the soldiers.

Through a stroke of creative thinking, one of the soldiers asked the villagers for a stone. The soldier told the people that with the stone he would make them a very special soup. Following the soldier’s instruction, the puzzled villagers filled a caldron with water, placed the stone in the caldron, and set the caldron on a fire. Once the “soup” was hot, the soldiers asked the villagers to taste it.

One of the villagers tasted the stone soup and decided it needed an onion. That villager went quickly home, brought back an onion, and quickly put it into the soup. Another villager tasted the soup and decided it would taste much better if it had a carrot. That villager went quickly home and brought back a carrot, which he put into the soup. Still another villager tasted the soup and declared that the soup needed some herbs. So, that villager went quickly home, brought back some herbs, and she quickly put the herbs into the soup.

One by one, the villagers tasted the soup, then rushed home only to return and then add various ingredients that they felt the soup needed. Their individual efforts all merged and produced a succulent broth that became a meal for everyone present. They ate, shared this tasty soup with the soldiers, sang, and spent the day rejoicing, which brought back to their small town the happiness it had once known.

This ancient Stone Soup story teaches a valuable moral. When people each give a portion of what they have, all of them can then enjoy a magnificent supply of wonderful things.

In Scripture, we read of several places where God asked people to give what they had, even from the depth of their poverty. As a result, God used what they willingly gave with miraculous results.

1 Kings 17:7-17 provides an account of a widow in Zarephath, whom God sent Elijah to visit when he, too, needed food. The widow, obedient to Elijah’s request for bread, had only a handful of flour and a little oil, but she took those items, made bread, and gave it to feed Elijah because she believed he spoke to her about the true God. This Bible account goes on to tell how, after she obeyed, that no matter how much flour or oil she needed, the jar of flour was not used up, nor the jug of oil diminished. She had every bit of flour and oil that she needed to feed herself and her household for many days.

Similarly in the New Testament story of the Marriage at Cana from John 2:1-11, Jesus showed His power to spare the bridegroom great embarrassment by turning six stone jars of water into delicious wine. In this story, we see the point of Jesus performing this miracle when, in John 2:11, the Scripture states:

He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.

Remember the boy who came to listen to Jesus with the five thousand others? Jesus saw that these people, too, needed food with no supply. This story, recorded in John 6:1-14, shows us again how His miracle of taking the boy’s five small loaves and two small fish, blessing this paltry bit of food, and then feeding the multitude with many baskets of food left over gave witness to His power among the people.

In these three Bible stories, we find the same happy ingredients:

• A known and expressed need.
  
  
• A willing and obedient servant.
  
  
• God wanting to reveal Himself to His people.
  
  

The bottom line result for all these accounts, as in the ancient story of Stone Soup, was gladness and rejoicing.

Most of us have experienced a poverty of some kind, whether spiritual, financial, emotional, or physical. Sometimes, God asks of us the last bit of strength we have, so that He can make it into a glowing example of His power and grace. At other times, He may ask us to provide a service for which we do not naturally feel suited. Still other times, He may ask us to give to Him from our nearly exhausted resources, in order to accomplish His purposes.

God wants us all to render praise to Him and experience the joy that comes from obediently giving Him all that we have. Oftentimes, such an action on our part allows others to rejoice in God’s goodness to us, and we’re as happy as though we discovered the secret recipe to Stone Soup.

 

 

God's Omniscient Journal

 

All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

—Psalm 139:16

Both of my grandmothers kept diaries. My mom also kept a diary. I keep one, as well, but I call mine a journal. I find quite interesting the styles and the myriad of ways that people write down what has happened in their lives.

My one grandmother used a pencil to write in tiny bank books. Usually, she merely wrote just one line a day:

“M and G came from Cleveland today.”

She included no details. Just the facts. It was as if she had taken lessons from the character Jack Webb, who appeared on the long-ago TV show “Dragnet.”

My mom’s diaries had similar entries. But with each entry, like any good farm wife of her day, she always recorded the weather.

Each day, my other grandmother wrote many paragraphs of newsy information about the family and the neighbors. She wrote using the most beautiful penmanship, with a lovely script handwriting.

None of these women forerunners of mine ever wrote about their feelings. They also never wrote about the spiritual lessons they’d learned, or anything deeply personal.

My own journal writing has changed over the years. At first, my journals carried only Scripture passages and spiritual lessons that I had learned. Now, my journal entries are a combination of those spiritual meditations, my feelings about them, a running day-to-day recording of activities, and once in a while, even comments about the weather.

All this, by way of introduction, to say that God keeps a journal on us, too. God’s journal about us is an “omniscient journal.”

Studying the nature of God, at least to the extent that He has revealed His nature to us in the pages of His written Word, we learn that God has written odd and magnificent things in His journal about our days before they have taken place. No human that I know has such an ability. Yes, we do make plans. But, as the Scripture tells us in Proverbs 19:21:

Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.

Even more than having written the activities of each day ahead of time, God has written our feelings about Him, our feelings about life, and our feelings about those things He has brought about to draw us closer to Him. He records our trials, our joys, our thoughts, our dreams, and our physical ailments. He knows more about us before our actual days happen than we know about ourselves after those days happen.

Can you record, in advance, how God brought about that meeting with someone who needed your word of encouragement? Can you record, in advance, the blessing you gave to someone whom you never saw again? Of course not. I repeat: God knows more about us before our actual days happen than we know about ourselves after those days happen.

What does this fact cause us to do? First of all, I believe that it should cause us to joyfully worship Him, acknowledging His power, love, and omniscience. Like the Samaritan woman at the well, who exclaimed in John 4:29:

“Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”

Then, knowing what we now understand about God’s foreknowledge of us, we should find this fact comforting, as we look at days before they occur and wonder what will ever happen to us in this situation, or in that one. God already knows what will happen. He knows how He will help get us through that situation. And, He knows the reasons He has for allowing everything to occur in our lives the way that they do.

As we continue to move through each day in our lives, may the wonderful knowledge of God’s omniscience cause us to trust His awesome love and power. Knowing that God sees what will happen to us before it even occurs should give us a sense of “peace that passes all understanding.”

 

 

Contract or Covenant?

 

This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

—Hebrews 8:10

God doesn’t do contracts. A contract, according to Webster’s Dictionary, is created by both parties and signed as a legally binding agreement. Most often, love has nothing to do with a contract document. In fact generally speaking, people enter such contracts in order to prevent the other party from taking advantage of them.

God made a divine covenant with His dearly loved children in the Garden of Eden. He made Adam, and Adam’s race, care-givers of God’s new creation. Later, as a result of sin, God made another covenant with humankind. Throughout the Old Testament, God often visited His chosen and dearly loved people with covenants of one kind or another.

Humans have made covenants with each other, too. In her study of King David in 1 Samuel 18, Beth Moore shows how the relationship between Jonathan and David gives us a perfect picture of God’s new covenant with us. She points out that a Godly covenant has three parts: ¹

1. A sign.
   
   
2. A sacrifice.
   
   
3. A spoken commitment.
   
   

In the case of Jonathan making a covenant with David, Jonathan signaled his covenant by giving David his robe, his tunic, his sword, his bow, and his belt. Jonathan sacrificed to David the very throne to which Jonathan would normally have been entitled, as the son of then King Saul. And, Jonathan spoke his commitment in 1 Samuel 20:13:

If my father is inclined to harm you, may the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if I do not let you know and send you away safely. May the Lord be with you as he has been with my father.

Like God’s new covenant with us—through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, based on God’s love for us—the foundation for Jonathan’s covenant with David was based on his deep brotherly love for David. What a perfect picture of God’s covenant with us.

Beth Moore also points out that the covenant between Jonathan and David was not based on David’s love for Jonathan, but the other way around. The evidence of love always flows from the one who initiated the covenant. ²

So it is with the covenant God has made with us through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The evidence of God’s love for us flows to us through His covenant with us. This divine covenant cannot hold together by relying on our poor and imperfect love for God. The glue in this covenant comes to us because of God’s unfailing, undying, and eternal love for us.

God’s love for us, His covenantal love, should inspire us and move us ever closer to Him. We should faithfully and gratefully serve and love our God in response to His faithfulness shown to us through His covenant with us.

______________________

1 Moore, Beth. Portraits of Devotion. Nashville, Tennessee: B&H Publishing Company, 2014. Pp. 29-30. Please note that, in each case, whenever the citation of any Copyrighted material is made within a post on this blog, such citation is made strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. All Rights Reserved by the original Copyright Holder.

2 Ibid.

 

 

Progression

 

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.

—Psalm 1:1

Sin works subtly to trap us. In the verse from Psalm 1:1 at the beginning of this blog post, we can already see that walking in the wrong counsel will lead to standing with those who lead us there, and then to sitting among those who mock and despise God’s truth. We need vigilance to overcome the enticements that come from our fallen nature and from the enemy of our souls.

At the end of Judge Samuel’s life, King Saul became the ill-advised leader of Israel. His coronation came against the counsel of God’s prophet, and led to years of bad leadership. However, Saul himself fell into the deadly progression of sin that, according to Romans 6:23, in the end leads to death.

Saul’s story begins in 1 Samuel 9, with the documentation of his confirmation as king. His reign began innocently enough. Saul’s sin started to overtake him when he became impatient. He tried to please his men when they expected him to present a burnt offering. This kind of self-motivation led Saul to oppressive and foolish leadership, in which he required his men to fast during battle! (1 Samuel 24).

When Saul’s army defeated the Amalekites, as God had commanded in 1 Samuel 15, he clearly disobeyed God by not destroying everything. He then progressed downward to the sins of pride and arrogance by building a monument to himself. He stepped even further down into sin by lying to Samuel and blaming his soldiers.

As Saul’s story moves through the next 40 years, one bad decision after another marked his reign. Once David entered the picture, Saul’s sin went from jealousy of David to attempts at murder, unholy schemes, and to assigning his murderous plans to others. King Saul became obsessed with the narcissistic murder of David, finally delving into the counsel of witchcraft. Where does all this end? It ends with death, of course. King Saul committed suicide on the battlefield when war with the Philistines went badly. 1 Samuel 31:6 describes this horrible end:

So Saul and his three sons and his armor-bearers and all his men died together that same day.

I like the way author Beth Moore sums up King Saul’s story: ¹

How does a man who is the people’s choice lose a kingdom? Saul provides a sad object lesson. All his life he focused on himself instead of his God. Therefore, he feared public opinion; he would not trust God but rather had to feel he was in control. He disobeyed, because obedience requires the trust and humility he did not possess.

Saul. The first king of Israel. The people’s choice. Not an accident waiting for a place to happen but a train wreck mangling the lives of others. Sad but true. A head taller but a heart shorter.

We find it easy to read a story like this one and not to realize that we could fall into the same pattern as King Saul: from a revered leader to a murderous crazy person. We must ask God to make us aware of any downward steps we take. Perhaps God will warn us when we, like Saul, begin to fall into sin by trying to please ourselves and others, rather than pleasing God.

Whatever our weaknesses, we can rest assured that our enemy, Satan, will tempt us to sin. Satan will strive to lead us into a downward progression that, in the end, will lead to destruction. May the Lord, deliver us!

______________________

1 Moore, Beth. Portraits of Devotion. Nashville, Tennessee: B&H Publishing, 2014. p. 21. Please note that, in each case, whenever the citation of any Copyrighted material is made within a post on this blog, such citation is made strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. All Rights Reserved by the original Copyright Holder.

 

 

Divine Interruptions

 

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

—Isaiah 55:8-9

^{___________________}

SAUL

Interrupting the Acts of the Apostles!

Knocked
from his horse by an unseen Force.

Blinded,
hearing a thundering voice—
truth, like a spear in his side.

Stunned, Stumbling
waiting further instruction.

Anointed
and driven to the Arabian desert.

Three clarifying years.

PAUL

Commissioned.

Ready.

^{___________________}

Have you ever been “knocked from your horse,” so to speak? Stunned in such a way that everything changed? Perhaps the sudden death of a companion, or the pink slip that you had no idea was coming? Certainly the Apostle Paul’s story of conversion demonstrates such an event.

He was traveling on behalf of the temple leaders in Jerusalem on his way to Damascus. He had been given the duty to imprison anyone he found belonging to the cult of “The Way”—the group that started over the influence of their crucified leader several years before. Paul was of the temple establishment that believed this new group meant nothing but trouble for those traditional Jews in Palestine. Known for his zeal, he enjoyed the respect and responsibilities given him by this auspicious group of Jewish spiritual leaders in Jerusalem.

Even the Book of Acts itself, telling the story of the work done by Jesus’ Apostles in establishing the new Church, is interrupted by this story. No one saw it coming! This sudden call, transformational, an obviously divine moment.

No doubt shocked above all others, Paul needed time to process all that happened to him that day, including a God-directed name change. After such a forceful occurrence, he needed to get away, to think, to pray, and to study. He spent three years on such an endeavor away from all distractions in the Arabian wilderness.

God alone knew what this world-interrupting event meant to His new work in the world. He gave this commissioning to the leader He had chosen to take the Gospel to the Gentile nations. Paul’s life-focus had to change. He could never go back to his old life and his old ways.

Perhaps you have had a “spear” thrust into your side that struck with such force that you knew God wanted your attention. The best response you could give was to say, “Lord, what do you have for me to do?” You were not alone:

• Remember Moses’ experience at the burning bush, as recorded in Exodus 3.
  
  
• Remember Isaiah’s vision and God’s call to him, as found in Isaiah 6.
  
  
• And, remember Mary’s breathtaking news of a virgin pregnancy, as detailed in Luke 1.
  
  

Each of these events acted as a prelude to something new that God was doing. Whenever we face similar trials, we must examine how God may be using what we are experiencing to advance His Kingdom.

At the beginning of this new year, let’s watch for God’s work in this world. Let’s particularly be aware of events He will bring about through us. If those events seem to turn in a backwards directions, we should ask what God is doing. In this time in history, we should anxiously await His call to action—even and especially if that call comes in a new and startling moment. We must recognize that He has plans far above our selfish puny insights and timetables.

 

 

Carrying the Load

 

Carry each other’s burdens …

—from Galatians 6:2

I can still see the image from my teaching days of teacher Mary Ann Peters’ third graders coming down the hall with her. She always assigned the line leader the task of carrying her purse. This was a daily assignment for one of her boys or girls.

Now, Mary Ann didn’t travel “light” as they say. She always had a hefty bag, often with a long shoulder strap. I can still see a small boy, shifting the weight from one arm to the other, as he proudly led the class through the hallways.

I didn’t detect that her students complained about the discomfort of this job. Instead, they seemed to love doing this for Mary Ann. They enjoyed the trust she had in them, even though her bag contained her most necessary and personal items.

Galatians 6:2 tells us:

“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

The word “law” conveys a pretty strong principle that Christ desires for His people. A “law” in His Kingdom is a way of life, the manner in which He lived on earth, and the way He expects His subjects to live.

Another image fresh in my mind from the TV mini-series, The Bible, is that of Simon from Cyrene carrying Jesus’ cross to Golgotha. This scene, in my opinion, was well portrayed. As Jesus struggled to carry the heavy wooden cross, this man, Simon, was pulled from the crowd and given the task of helping.

In Jesus’ physical pain, what a comfort this stranger must have been to Jesus, helping to reduce His fear and His humiliation. Even though Simon struggled clumsily—just like the little boy with the teacher’s purse—Simon helped Jesus, and that was enough.

If the Lord Jesus Christ asks us today, are we ready to help carry someone’s burden? We may not feel up to the task, may not do it well, may struggle and feel awkward, but we may be a very real lifeline to someone in need of a traveling companion, who provides help along the road of life. If we choose to respond to Christ’s call, may God bless us on the journey!