But Dad, You Promised!

 

“But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God. ‘O Lord,’ he said, ‘why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?’… ‘Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky.’”

—Exodus 32:11, 13

Looking at the photo above, can you just hear the child’s voice, “But Dad, you prommmmised!” Maybe she had waited for that puppy for what seemed like an inordinate amount of time, and heard Dad say, “Not until we move into our new house in the country.” Or, “When you are eight years old and can take care of a puppy.” Chances are, while Dad may have completely forgotten the promise, the child hasn’t, and she stands in very good stead pleading the promise.

God hears prayer from His children too, especially when they remind Him of His promises. For example, during the escape from Egypt, God’s people had so angered Him by forming and worshipping a golden calf, that He could not even refer to them any longer as “My” people. Moses had to remind God in prayer, as recorded in Exodus 33:13:

“Remember that this nation is your people.”

We can plead our relationship with God.

If we act on the promise we’ve read or heard and believe that promise, God also takes note. Remember Noah? In Genesis 6 and 7, we read how God promised Noah to spare his family even though He intended to destroy the world. In order to do that, God asked Noah to build an ark in which his family could survive.

With no sign of rain whatsoever—in fact, at this point in the history of the earth, it had never rained—Noah built this huge ark on dry land according to all the instructions God gave him. God did destroy the world, but spared Noah and his family, just as He promised. However, if by faith Noah had not obeyed and built the ark, he and his family would not have had a chance of survival.

While reading the Scriptures, listen for God’s voice in the promises you find there. If He makes a promise and you know it resonates with you, plead your relationship with Him as His child, and act on that promise in faith.

Like the little girl who took her umbrella to the prayer meeting because she had been told that the adults intended to pray for rain, expect God’s answer to His promises and to your prayers—in His time and in His way.

 

 

Godly Ophthalmology

 

“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.”

—2 Corinthians 4:4

I have cataracts. The cataract clouds the vision of the lens of the eye and can be blamed for the majority of blindness across the world. I am grateful that here in the United States, we have routine cataract surgery, easily done and usually without serious consequences.

What a contrast between blindness and the brilliant glory of Christ. Eugene Peterson defines glory as:

…the open display of God’s good will, his loving salvation, his redeeming purpose. ¹

The brilliance of God’s glory as referred to in Exodus 34:29-35 caused Moses’ face to shine so intensely that he had to wear a veil when he spoke to the Israelite people. God’s glory, brilliant and dazzling, lies in contrast to the blindness of the human race, struck sightless by the sin we bear.

Just as a cataract fogs the lens completely if not removed, so sin takes away the sight of all of us until God gives us the ability to see again. All of us know the phrase, “I once…was blind, but now I see” from the hymn Amazing Grace. ²

A graphic picture of this comes to us in the story of St. Paul on the road to Damascus in Acts 9:1-18. He, religious and obedient to his faith in every way, thought persecuting this new sect of “Christians” fell on him, and he went about the country making “murderous threats” and imprisoning them. That day, the glory of Christ Himself shone on Paul, knocking him from his donkey and blinding him. He heard God speak to him from this “glory” and turned to Him in repentance and new faith.

Acts 9:18 tells us that after Paul met Ananias who put his hands on him:

…immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again.

Like the removal of cataracts to restore our physical sight, God miraculously removes the blindness of our hearts caused by the clouding of sin. He comes to us with that kind of life changing encounter with Him. We then begin to see in a new spiritual way things we never could before.

We can see the brilliant colors of God’s truth that once was a drab absurdity. We understand in a new way God’s wonderful love and provision for us. Christ Jesus, who once dwelt so far away that we could not see Him, now is seen up close, with clarity and definition.

Rejoice today, if God has removed your spiritual cataracts so that you see Him and know Him. Pray for those you know who still stumble in the darkness, and ask God for opportunities to share with them the transforming vision you have received from Him. He has made this operation available to them as well through His death and resurrection. The Great Physician waits to heal spiritual eyes and restore sight!

______________________

1 Peterson, Eugene. A Year with Jesus. San Francisco: Harper Collins Publisher, 1989. p. 321.

2 Newton, John. Amazing Grace. Public Domain.

 

 

Eating an Elephant

 

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

—Matthew 6:34

You’ve no doubt heard the question: “How do you eat an elephant?” And the answer: “One bite at a time.”

I confess that I am a veteran “planner.” I plan everything in order to stave off unwanted surprises or risky situations. God gave me this innate ability to systematically prepare for every contingency.

Yet, I don’t imagine He had in mind giving me this capability of planning in order that I should use it so in lieu of trusting Him. Much of the time He chooses to keep me in the dark about what comes next just for that very reason.

I’m sure that the Israelites would have liked to have known when God was going to lead them on in the wilderness so that they could have prepared meals “on the go.” Instead, He provided only enough manna for one day at a time. It appeared as dew in the morning and quickly evaporated. The people of Israel had to gather it without dawdling and trust God that He would supply the same food every day.

Corrie ten Boom, a Dutch woman whose family hid Jews from the Nazis in their home and who was subsequently imprisoned at Ravensbruck concentration camp, tells the story about a conversation with her father. Corrie had asked her father why God only seems to give them a clear answer to their prayers at the very last minute.

Her father sat down on the edge of the narrow bed and gently began to ask Corrie a question: “When you and I go to Amsterdam—when do I give you your ticket?”

She sniffed a few times before responding with “Why, just before we get on the train.”

Her father then went on, “Exactly. And our wise Father in Heaven knows when we’re going to need things, too. Don’t run out ahead of Him, Corrie. When the time comes that some of us will have to die, you will look into your heart and find the strength you need—just in time.” ¹

Whether the situation seems as dire as Corrie’s, or has to do with how you will get everything done for the upcoming wedding, or household move, or the months of chemotherapy ahead, God gives us the same answer: “Trust me and take one thing at a time.”

Certainly the patriarchs listed in Hebrews 11 give us plenty of examples of men and women who trusted in God during impossible situations. As Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths.

God comforts us as we begin “eating our elephant” in 1 Peter 5:7:

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

______________________

1 Ten Boom, Corrie, The Hiding Place. Old Tappan, NJ: Spire Books, 1971.

 

 

Bread and Water

 

“Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’”

—Isaiah 30:20-21

A diet of bread and water conjures up images of life in prison, of poverty without funds for anything but the essential elements, and of loss and sadness. Although most of us in twenty-first century America do not directly relate to such a diet like, as the verse at the beginning of the blog post suggests, we sometimes do experience times when God may seem to place us in a spiritual or emotional confinement.

At such times, we not only pray for release from the prison of problems, but we pray for understanding and guidance. We wisely go to God for the meaning of it all because the meaning seems hidden to us. We ask Him where we should go and what we should do. We need His divine guidance.

Some verses of Scripture offer comfort. In Isaiah 30: 19, we read:

Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!

Our God wishes to show compassion and justice to us in our adversity and affliction.

As godly Job learned, harder still than the prison of problems God allows, are the deep, nagging questions: the “whys” and “what nows” that accompany them.

As Mary, the sister of Lazarus learned, in John 11, when Jesus finally came to her in her grief and baffled thoughts and called her name, everything changed.

As Peter learned after betraying his Lord and finding himself in a “prison” of shame and fear, in John 21, we see that a few minutes with Jesus changed everything. He heard the voice of God, responded, and nothing was ever the same again.

Being able to see our Teacher, to hear the Voice clear and strong, through His Word and through the indwelling Holy Spirit, becomes our comfort in the prison of problems we face. The God who spoke to Isaiah, Job, Mary, and Peter can speak to us.

Praise Him for His gracious promise to come to us and direct our way. When we lose all else, His voice of loving guidance changes everything!

 

 

Trickle Down Blessings

 

“Through the blessing of the upright a city is exalted.”

—Proverbs 11:11

Has God blessed you? Consider this. If God has blessed you, He has also blessed those around you.

How many close calls have you experienced on the road? Did you ever stop to think that when God spared you, He spared others as well?

Speaking to His followers in Matthew 5:13, Jesus tells us that:

“You are the salt of the earth.”

As “Christ’s-ones,” we not only help to give flavor and delight to the world, our very presence helps preserve it!

We need go no further than the scriptures to see illustrations of this blessed phenomenon.

In Genesis 37 and chapters following, we read the story of Joseph, the favorite son of the patriarch Jacob. We read about his jealous brothers who sold him to a band of Ishmaelites who took him to Egypt where he became a slave under the Pharaoh’s rule. He assigned Joseph to Potiphar, the captain of the guard, putting him in charge of all he had.

Genesis 39:5 tells us:

From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field.

If we look at the New Testament, we read the story of Paul’s voyage to Rome, and the storm in which they lost the ship on which they sailed. In Acts 27:23-24 we read from Paul’s testimony:

Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’

Like salt prudently used, our presence, and God’s blessing on us, may not call attention to itself. People around us may not even perceive that, because of us, God has included them in His goodness. Yet, when God removes His blessing, the world wonders what went wrong. We as a culture, too often presume things will go well for us, and believe they should. God has favored us. He has ambassadors of His grace all around, including you and me.

We must thank God today that He has called us to operate in our culture as a preserving influence, as a blessing, and as a flavoring agent to scatter His good grace to others around us. When we ask for His blessing, we must also remember to include all of those whom we will influence today.

 

 

Gas in Your Tank

 

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

—Romans 15:13

We all need a “fill-up” with hope from time to time. The “Enemy of Despair and Hopelessness” can bring us down and ruin any day, relationship, job, church, or project. Hope keeps us going. Hope fuels our way, even through difficult times.

Joni Eareckson Tada says:

It’s amazing how far we can go on a little bit of hope. Hope means “I know I can make it!” ¹

We have a God of hope according to the verse at the beginning of this blog post. We must trust Him to keep us going, to assure us of His presence and His good plan. In the book of Lamentations, chapter three, Jeremiah confesses:

My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from the Lord.

Notice the past-tense of this sentence. Just three verses later, he says:

Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness…The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him.

When we hope for things from God, He doesn’t always come through as we would desire. But, when we hope in God, He shows up to lift us up.

When Jeremiah looked at his circumstances, he saw nothing promising. Yet, when he looked at his God, he could rejoice.

Take a long look at our God. He has the answers we need and has promised to never leave us or forsake us. Let’s ask Him to refuel our drooping spirits. Then rejoice with the hymn writer:

My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

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.

On Christ the solid rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.” ²

______________________

1 Tada, Joni Eareckson. Pearls of Great Price. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, ©2006, Devotional for September 30th. 2 Mote, Edward, My Hope is Built on Nothing Less. Public Domain.

 

 

Music in a Hammer

 

“Because you are my help I sing in the shadow of your wings.”

—Psalm 63:7

Maybe you remember the childhood rhyme:

There’s music in a hammer;
There’s music in a nail.
There’s music in a kitty-cat
When you step upon her tail!

How often do we feel struck by a hammer in our lives? What kind of music do we make at such times? Over and over in Scripture we are reminded that, like our Savior suffered, we will suffer for His sake and for His purposes in our lives.

In Acts 14:22 we read what the early Apostles told their followers:

We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.

To be clear, that does not mean that our salvation comes to us because of our own patient endurance. No, our salvation comes to us as a precious gift from God, as we acknowledge our belief in God’s atoning sacrifice of His Son, Jesus, on the cross.

When we enter Heaven at last, all serious Christ-followers will be survivors of many trials, tests, and struggles. It’s all part of the sanctification process God guides us through on our way toward spiritual maturity. The product of our surrender to the “hammer” of God’s work comes alive in the song we sing while we suffer.

The story of Paul and Silas, recorded in Acts 16, tells of their beating, flogging, and imprisonment. We read these words in Acts 16:25:

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God.

They rejoiced in God’s will, not knowing whether they would live or die.

From the pen of a Puritan writer we read:

The greatest temptation out of hell is to live without trials. A pool of standing water will turn stagnant…Grace withers without adversity. You can’t sneak quietly into heaven without a cross. Crosses form us into his image. They cut away the pieces of our corruption. Lord cut, carve, wound; Lord do anything to perfect your image in us and make us fit for glory.” ¹

But, what of the hammer? Isaiah 44:12 tells us:

The blacksmith takes a tool and works with it in the coals; he shapes an idol with hammers, he forges it with the might of his arm.

Our God plays the blacksmith to forge us into His shape. Jeremiah 23:9 tells us:

“Is not my word like fire,” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?

Sometimes God’s hammer comes to us through the striking truth of His Word.

Has God ever convicted you of sin so sharply and painfully that you could not rest in your spirit until you confessed and made that right? God still uses the hammer on His people with the hopeful result that, when we arrive to meet Him, we can say with the Puritan:

O what I owe to the file, hammer, and furnace! ²

And not only does He desire us to suffer for His sake, but to sing under the weight of the trials that He might be glorified in us!

______________________

1 From “The Loveliness of Christ” by Samuel Rutherford, as quoted in Rushing, Richard, editor. Voices from the Past. Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2009. p. 261. 2 Ibid.