The Value of Encouragement

Two summers ago, I was hard at work on a research paper about Fort Stevens. It was my second research paper for that particular professor, so I knew I had to work hard for the A+ I so desired.  He was a stickler for good quality sources and proper punctuation in citations. He was probably one of my strictest professors, and I had him for two terms in a row. Although he was strict on the academic details, he was also kind when I reached out for help or had a question. And, most importantly for me, he chose to be an encourager.

When I received my grade from the first paper, I noticed that he said it was well-written. That was a complement, indeed, and I was thrilled, but didn’t really think about it much after that. I was just happy my professor was pleased with my work.

The next class I took from him was even harder and required me to write quite a lot. The paper was the final project, and I worked even harder, digging up sources, and taking notes, even taking a couple "field trips" to gather information. When it came time to write the paper, I spent the whole day in my room writing the draft. I usually could type up a pretty good paper in a couple hours, but this one had to be longer and the punctuation in the citations had to be perfect. I wanted an A+.

When I got my grade back, I was again delighted that my professor mentioned something about the paper being well-written. He was a historian, and I knew he could tell good writing when he saw it, so to be told by him a second time that something was written well made me think.

I’ve always enjoyed writing, and in college I would often breeze through my written assignments, enjoying the quest for just the right word or phrase.

My very first college professor (English class) had encouraged each of us to start a blog for the purpose of practicing our writing, and I had, but no thought of “being a writer” had ever occurred to me until that last round of college classes and that one professor who said my paper was well-written.

I don’t know why it sparked ambition in me –I’ve never been ambitious. But it did. I began to think seriously about being a history writer. I asked my professor if he thought my paper would be helpful to the historical society of the place I had written about, and he said he did. Then I began to think about other topics I could write about.  I didn’t have a degree in history, nor did I have anything else to recommend me except my research skills, but I knew I wanted to write, and history had always been a favorite topic of study.

Then the school year started, and I was too busy to think of doing any in-depth research projects. The months flew by in a flurry of schoolwork and ministry work. The next summer I researched the Tillamook Burn, but when it came to writing about it, I just didn’t seem to be able to begin.  Again, the school year intervened, and brought with it a busy schedule and the need to focus on what was before me. 

But as spring arrived, God shifted my plans about writing, and guided me to renew my efforts on this blog. He showed me that He wanted me to write about the things He was teaching me, and to focus my writing on truths from His Word. And here we are.

This summer, I am a writer. Now, that doesn’t mean that writing is my “job” for which I get paid, (yet) but rather, that I have finally admitted that writing has been a part of me all along, and now I’m seeking to use that part of me for God’s glory as He directs. Lord willing, I will have two short works in print by the end of the fall, the first of which is that same research paper from the history class, and the other is a short devotional. There are several more books in the works, and it has been so exciting to see just how far God has taken my writing in the last year.

And as I finish up this summer of "taking writing seriously", I have never been more grateful to that professor for his ministry of encouragement and the words God used to redirect me!

"And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works" (Hebrews 10:24)

--Dear reader, who is it that God wants you to encourage today? 

To Belong

We all have an innate desire to belong. Whether directed towards a family, community or just one person, the desire for belonging can be a powerful force. This is because we were made for fellowship. God designed us to need one another, but if we seek to satisfy our desire to belong apart from a relationship with God, we will never be satisfied.

To feel the bond of belonging to someone or even to a group of someones is the among the most wonderful experiences of the heart, and yet, this side of heaven that feeling is fleeting at best. We are sinful creatures clinging to other sinful creatures, expecting them to supply us with stability, acceptance, approval, and love.

But no one on earth can supply those things perfectly or completely, and we are left feeling empty again. To try to fill up the empty places in our hearts with human affection is like pouring water into a strainer and expecting it to stay full.

The only way to truly satisfy our hearts is to fill them with the love of God. To the aching of our hearts, God replies "I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." (John 14:2-3)

Jesus came, died, rose, and ascended for one purpose: to make it possible for us to be with Him. He loves us more than anyone else could begin to love us, and He desires fellowship with us. That place He is preparing will be glorious, and it will be a place of fellowship.

When God allowed John to record what that place would be like, He began by announcing, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God" (Revelation 21:3)

The whole point of heaven is that we will be with the God to whom we belong. Our hearts ache here on earth because this is not our final destination. We are strangers and pilgrims in this world. (I Peter 2:11)

"For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, and house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven" (2 Corinthians 5:1-2)

Our hearts ache to belong, not just to our earthly homes and families, but to our final, perfect, heavenly home, where we will be forever with the Heavenly Father to whom we most wonderfully belong. That ache in our hearts is meant to draw us into closer fellowship with God now, looking forward to an eternity of "in-person" fellowship with Him.

What Do You Expect?

I think it's safe to say that this year hasn't gone the way any of us had expected. So many plans have been cancelled, events have been postponed or called off altogether, and our daily lives have been upended. Even as things begin to open up again, things change so suddenly and so frequently, it's hard to make any plans at all. Never before has my generation of Christians (at least in the United States) been forced into such a literal practice of James 4:13-15.

"Go to now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that"

I don't know about you, but it's hard to hold loosely to my plans and expectations about the future, let alone my plans and expectations of what today will look like. Yet, the Bible clearly teaches that we cannot expect things to go as we planned. Honestly, we can't even expect them not to go as we planned.

So, what can we expect?

I ran across Psalm 62:5 this morning. "My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from Him"

We wait upon God when we keep our eyes focused on Him, waiting humbly for Him to unfold His will for our lives. It is a moment-by-moment seeking of God, looking for His hand at work, holding our plans on open palms instead of tightly-clenched fists. To wait upon God is to expect only that whatever He does will be done for our good. It is to rest in the knowledge of God's goodness.

The rest of Psalm 62:5 mentions some things we can always expect of God:

• He will be our source of salvation and deliverance v.7
• He will be the only object worthy of our glorying in v.7
  
• He will be our source of strength v.7
• He will be our refuge v.7
• He will be trustworthy v.8
• He will be attentive to our prayers v.8
• He will be omnipotent v.11
• He will be merciful v.12
• He will be just v.12
  

In a world where we don't know what will happen next, we can confidently expect that God will still be God; unchanging, good, and sovereign over all creation!

A Sinless Response to Suffering

This week I began reading through the book of Job in my time with God, as I do at least once every year. It's amazing to me just how rich a book this is, and how often it gets overlooked by Christians who label it as one of the "hard" books, right up there with Leviticus and Ecclesiastes. I won't say it's necessarily easy to read 37 chapters of anguish of soul, but there is so much for us to learn about God and our own trials through this account of Job's experiences. 

This time, as I read through the first two chapters, I was struck by what God said about Job's response to suffering. 

God allowed Satan to test Job's faithfulness by taking away all he had: livestock, servants, wealth, and, worst of all, his children. He was left with just his wife and the three servants who had escaped to bring Job word of what had happened.

Think about the enormity of his loss.

Now look at his response:

"Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." (1:20-21)

First, he acknowledged his grief. He rent his clothes and shaved his head, as was customary in the culture of the day. But then, in his grief, he fell down upon the ground and worshipped. 

He acknowledged God's right to take what He had given Job in the first place. He did not blame God, he did not even ask why. He just surrendered to God's will. 

And then he praised God. 

What a remarkable thing to do. I don't know if I would think to praise God in light of such grief and loss, but that is what Job did. And lest we think he was somehow harmfully repressing his emotions, look at God's view of Job's response:

"In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly." (1:22)

Job sinned not.

Right there, in the midst of a magnitude of loss most people will never even come close to experiencing, Job responded sinlessly. He did not blame God, he did not argue with God. He simply accepted what God had allowed and chose to praise Him in the midst of his grief. Though Job was a sinner, just like you and I, this was one thing God said he did right.

But Job's testing was not over: Satan again accused Job before God, this time citing Job's health as the source of his faithfulness to God. So God in His wisdom --and yes, in His goodness, too-- allowed Satan to bring upon Job an ailment that would cause constant and intense suffering. Then, in the midst of his physical and emotional agony, his own wife tells him to "curse God, and die." Supportive, huh?

This was Job's response to her:

"What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?" (2:10)

This response shows Job's unshakable commitment to the truth that God has the right to do whatever He deems best. How ungrateful we are to eagerly take His blessings, only to complain when He allows them to be removed, as if they were ours all along!

I'm reminded of a quote from Anne of Green Gables, where Marilla tells Anne, "God does not want you for a fair-weather friend". 

When suffering comes, it is easy to focus on the trial, seeing nothing but darkness around us, but Job's response shows us that when darkness surrounds us, when pain engulfs us from every direction, we can look up and find peace of heart in knowing that God is in control. 

God approves of this response as well: "In all this did not Job sin with his lips." (10)

The sinless response to suffering is to look up, acknowledge God's sovereignty, and trust His unchanging goodness. It is to surrender to God's will, and to praise Him, not just in spite of, but because of what He has given and taken away. In short, it is to trust Him.

 Fully. Completely. Stubbornly. 

Trust Him. 

"Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy."

James 5:11

Psalm 37: Truth for Tumultuous Times Part 3

In the last two posts, we've walked through the first 26 verses of Psalm 37, noting how God wants us to respond to times of tumult by resting and trusting, being content with what God has allowed us, and standing firm on the certainty that God will not forsake His own.

Today, we're picking up our passage in verse 27, with the continued theme of responding to the apparent prospering of the wicked by simply doing right. 

"Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore"

It's amazing in this passage just how many times God tells us why He wants us to respond the way He does. 

"For the Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not His saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off. The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever."  (28-29)

Those are encouraging truths, to be sure! Our departing from evil and doing good should be motivated by the fact that we are God's --we belong to Him, and He will preserve us "for ever". The wicked may seem to be prospering, whether with fame, fortune, or success in driving situations or laws to further their own wicked goals, yet the wicked are ultimately acting in vain. God sees, God knows, God will judge. That should motivate us to be living in such a way that the wicked will see that we are different, because we belong to God.  

Next, God paints a picture of what this should look like:

"The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgement. The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide." (30-31)

This is a good place for us to stop and check our own lives. How is your speech? Is it characterized by wisdom and judgement, rooted in the Word of God? You see, amidst the clamor and chaos of the world, our words should not just echo the din of opinions out there. We should be able to speak with authority from the certainty of the truths of God's Word. 

It is convicting to think how many words I say (or write) each day, and yet how few of those relate directly back to Scripture. I wonder what an impact it would make on our society if we as Christians began to commit to speaking God's truth instead of our opinion.  

God also gives us a portrait of the wicked. 

"The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him." (32)

If it feels like the wicked have it out for you, it's because it really is true. The current crises in our country have made it even more clear to me that this world really does watch Christians to try to catch them tripping up in some way. 

I'm reminded of several men in Scripture who were watched with evil intent: Daniel and Mordecai come to mind right away, and of course, Jesus, whom the Pharisees were always watching, trying to find an excuse to put Him to death. 

Jesus explained this phenomenon when speaking to the Pharisees,

"Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh it of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it." (John 8:44)

Before salvation, sins such as lying and hatred and even murder were natural to us all, for we were sinful human beings, serving Satan. Once saved, the Holy Spirit indwells our hearts and does battle with our sin nature. With God's empowering, we can have victory over the sin which once was just a way of life. The wicked seek to destroy us because Satan seeks to destroy us. Darkness cannot coexist with light, truth cannot coexist with lies. That is why the battle rages. 

But lest we be discouraged by this reminder that the world (and our greatest enemy, Satan) watches us with the intent to destroy, God followed this truth up with another promise:

"The Lord will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged." (33)

God has already won the victory over Satan, and the wicked of this world will likewise perish, but even if it seems that God leaves us in their hand in this life, we will be free from their persecution for eternity to come. In the final judgment, all their efforts to destroy God's children will come back upon their own heads, and we who have accepted Christ's gift of salvation will be pardoned and welcomed home. 

The following verse gives another admonition:

"Wait on the Lord, and keep His way, and He shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it." (34)

I think this encapsulates everything God says in this psalm about responding to the wicked. Waiting on God covers delighting, resting, committing our ways to Him, and being content with what God has allowed. It includes keeping our eyes on God, letting Him order our steps and lift us up when we fall. If I had to choose one thought to give you from this passage it would be this: wait on the Lord. 

But God is not done. There's even more to encourage us!

"I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found." (35-36)

Here, as in verse 25, David gives us his Divinely-inspired words of testimony. This time, he illustrates the truth of just how fragile the rule of the wicked really is. 

I am reminded of the time (long after David's reign) when Jerusalem was besieged, and the hosts of Sennacharib had surrounded the city in all their pomp and might. Yet, when Hezekiah humbly prayed for deliverance, God took care of them in one night, without the Israelites having to do a thing! (2 Kings 19) 

 No matter how mighty the wicked may seem, no matter how strong the forces of spiritual warfare may appear to be, we must always remember that God is infinitely mightier and stronger, and it is He who will triumph --who has already triumphed-- on our behalf. 

"Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace. But the transgressors shall be destroyed together; the end of the wicked shall be cut off." (37-38)

Here is one last contrast: The end of the righteous is peace, but the end of the wicked is destruction. This should encourage, but also burden us. As easy as it is to talk about "the wicked" and "the world" (and it is Biblical to do so), it can be just as easy to forget that both those categories we speak of are collections of individuals. The wicked are headed for destruction, and while that is obviously meant in this passage to encourage us to do right no matter what they do, it also means that each one of those individuals in the world who have rejected Christ are headed to Hell for eternal punishment. More than anything, they need us to be Christlike testimonies and bold witnesses to the saving work of Christ. 

It is appropriate to pray for God's justice to be done, for that is God's heart: "to fulfill all righteousness", as Jesus said. (Matthew 3:15)  but it is just as much a part of God's heart and nature to pardon. We should never pray for the wicked to be judged without also praying that the wicked might be saved. 

After all, that's what we're here for, right? 

This psalm of encouragement ends by bringing us back to the root of the matter: 

"But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord: He is their strength in the time of trouble. And the Lord shall help them, and deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in Him." (39-40)

Whatever happens in this crazy, turbulent, chaotic world of ours, we can rest assured that God is at work, and that our salvation from sin as well as our victory over the wicked are not of ourselves, but of God. It is He who gives us the power to "Depart from evil, and do good".

Psalm 37: Truth for Tumultuous Times Part 2

In my last post, we saw from Psalm 37:1-15 that God wants Christians to respond to the chaos and clamor of the wicked world around us by delighting in Him, resting, ceasing from anger, and doing good.

Of course the reason we can rest in the midst of the wicked world is because we know that God is the Judge of all, and because we trust that He will make it all right in due time. If you haven't read the post, click here to read it.

The next two verses of Psalm 37 continue the theme of how to respond when the wicked are prospering. 

"A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked. For the arms of the wicked shall be broken: but the Lord upholdeth the righteous." (16-17)

It can be so easy to look around and wonder why the wicked seem to "get away with" their wickedness, and even seem better off for it, but we who try to do right just barely scrape by financially. Or perhaps it is that the wicked seem to get far more attention than the righteous. The world shouts their message, but tries to silence ours.

Whatever it is that strikes you as most unfair about our current situation, God again calls us to respond oppositely to the world. The world shouts "that's unfair!" and stamps its feet like a tantrumy child, demanding to be noticed and placated, but God calls us to be content. After all, the little we have is better than their riches, because, unlike them, we have God on our side, and He owns it all!

We can meet unfairness with contentment, because we know God, and because He knows us. Look at the next verses in our passage:

"The Lord knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied. But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away." (18-20)

God knows, and will provide for us. However the wicked seem to prosper, they prosper only for this time. They have their riches for now, but we will have ours for eternity! Again, we are reminded that God sees the wickedness of the wicked, and will judge in due time.

Next, God contrasts the behavior of the wicked and the righteous in another area:

"The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous showeth mercy, and giveth. For such as be blessed of Him shall inherit the earth; and they that be cursed of Him shall be cut off.

Not only are we to delight where the world would worry, rest when the world would rage, and be content when the world would demand recompense, we are also to meet the world's dishonesty and greed with mercy and generosity. Again, we are to respond to the wicked by doing exactly the opposite of what they are doing.

I admit, it is hard to be generous to a greedy or stingy person. But isn't that what God does for us every day? Notice also that our generosity is fueled by His own. We can give because we are blessed by God, and are destined to "inherit the earth". I could go down a theological and eschatological rabbit trail here, but I'll save that for another day. The point is, we can afford to be generous, because everything we have has been provided by the One whose provision is limitless! He is more than capable of refilling anything we pour out to others. As my pastor likes to remind us, you just can't out-give God!

This generosity is not just financial, though. We are to be just as generous with our mercy. The knowledge of the eventual judgement toward which the wicked are heading should provoke pity in our hearts. After all, they are hurtling headlong into the hands of the Just and Righteous Judge, whose laws they have broken. It ought to burden our hearts, to motivate us to do all we can do to seek their salvation. After all, the greatest mercy we can ever show is to point a hell-bound sinner to Christ!

I'll end this post with some of the most encouraging verses in this passage. Against the backdrop of the darkness of this wicked world, God holds up a bright gem of hope:

"The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and He delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with His hand. I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. he is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed." (23-26)

Here is a real life testimony of God's hand of blessing on the one who walks in His ways. When the world tries to trip him up, the Lord is there to catch him. When he gives generously, the Lord provides his needs. Despite the hopelessness of the world, God is there, and has promised to take care of His own.

Psalm 37: Truth for Tumultuous Times Part 1

We live in a day when society at large is clamoring for many things. I'm not here to get into politics, but I do have to acknowledge that many of the things being pushed for right now are contrary to the word of God. The outright, unashamed wickedness being applauded by the world and even some Christians is appalling to say the least. Our streets are filled with protests that end with looting and violence, hatred and bigotry are hurled by both sides of the protests, and let's not forget that a pandemic is still raging. It can seem at times like the world, or at least our part of it, is spinning out of control.

But then, there's God.

Psalm 37 is a striking call to God's people to trust Him during tumultuous times. In the very first two verses, we are encouraged to see past our fear of the wicked, and our envy of their apparent success, to the truth of God's ultimate control over the situation.

"Fret not thyself  because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass and wither as the green herb."

We are also told how we should respond to times when the wicked seem to prosper:

"Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the Lord; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

We are to trust in the Lord, to continue to do good, just as He has commanded. We are to delight in Him. --Have you ever noticed how worry and delight cannot coexist? When we are delighting in the Lord, we will not be worrying about the wicked. 

Those things we worry over, those concerns and burdens, the desire for the wicked not to prosper any more; those are the hearts' desires we can trust God with. He may not do exactly what we would desire the way we think it should be done, but we do know that we can take our desires to Him, knowing that He will do what is right and best. Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth often says that God's will is what we would choose if we knew all that He knows. We can trust God with our heart's desires.

Not only are we called to delight in the Lord, we are to commit our way unto Him,

"Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass."

Again we are told to trust Him. But again, we are told the result --and it is glorious!

"He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgement as the noonday."

No matter what the wicked do or say, God will never be fooled. He will one day recognize the faithfulness of those who meet the onslaught of wickedness with a consistent, Spirit-filled righteousness. I don't know about you, but to me, a "well done" from God is well worth having to bear the censure of the world.

The next verse calls us to something surprising: rest. With the wicked seeming to prosper, society applauding them and pressuring us to applaud along with them, we're supposed to rest?

But that's exactly what God says to do:

"Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass."

Notice that the way we are to rest is by waiting patiently for the Lord. I don't know about you, but I often have a hard time waiting, and an even harder time waiting patiently. Interestingly enough, when we look around at the world and see the individuals swept up in the chaos of riots, what characterizes them?

Impatience.

They want justice. That's not wrong. But they want it now. That's where the riots come from. These rioters are too impatient to wait for the due process of the law.  Our country is built upon principles and laws that make provision for the lawful pursuit of justice. Rioting is not one of them.

These concerned citizens have the right to protest, to publish their pleas for justice, their opinions about what the problem is, and their plans for a solution. In our age of technology, they can do this via poster, newspaper, magazine, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, television, documentary, not to dismiss the venerable tradition of the old-fashioned mailer. But any effort at change requires a measure of patience.

The same holds true to us as we watch changes taking place in our country and our society that serve to pull people farther away from God. We watch, we worry, we fume at times over the blatant wickedness being held up for approbation, but God calls us to rest.

Why? For the simple reason that He is the Judge of all, and will surely make everything right in the end. In fact, it's not just rest and patience that are required.

"Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil"

When we are resting in the knowledge of God's perfect justice, we not only will be able to rest in Him, we will "cease from anger, and forsake wrath". Did you know that impatience with God's justice system results in anger? And anger unchecked will result in evildoing.

Take the recent protests, for example. The people were protesting because they wanted justice. Yet their protests began long before our justice system even had time to hold a hearing concerning the three officers involved. They wanted "instant" justice. Sounds like impatience, right? Then, as they protested, they became more and more angry, and their anger, once unleashed, led to certain of the protesters committing injustices of their own: looting, destroying others' property, injuring, and even killing others.

This is what God is commanding us not to do in the face of injustice. We are to patiently wait for God's justice, to allow our trust in His timing to remove all anger from our hearts. We are to do good instead of evil, refusing to allow anger to make us act in a way that reflects the wicked actions that made us angry in the first place.

There is good reason for us to trust. God Himself says it:

"For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.

For yet for a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.

But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth.

The Lord shall laugh at him: for He seeth that his day is coming.

The wicked have drawn out the sword and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation.

Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken."

(Psalm 37:9-15)

Take heart, weary Christian, God will act in due time!

Fully Persuaded

Abraham was old. His wife Sarah was old. God had promised a son, but they had waited year after year, until both were long past the age of childbearing. But then God told them that within the next year, Sarah would give birth to their long awaited son, just as God had promised.

Romans 4 says about Abraham,

"Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations; according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.

And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb:

He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;

And being fully persuaded that, what He had promised, He was able also to perform." (4:18-21)

God had promised something that was literally and physically impossible, but Abraham chose to believe it, to hope "against hope", trusting that God would be both able and faithful to keep His promises.

He was "fully persuaded".

He didn't just hope, he believed in hope. It was a definite choice to trust the faithfulness of the One who had promised. Neither did he allow the impossibility of the thing promised to shake his trust. He "staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief". In fact, he didn't even let himself dwell upon the impossibility, "considering not" the fact that neither he nor his wife were even capable of conceiving a child. God had waited until all human hope was gone, until even the possibility of hope had disappeared. --And aren't you glad He did?

We can look back at Abraham and be encouraged by God's faithfulness and power, or we can be tempted to dismiss it. We might think, well, that was so long ago, and it was for Abraham, that was different. But it's really not. Thousands of years later, we still have things God has promised to us in His Word. We still have things that seem --or perhaps are-- humanly impossible, that God asks us to believe He will do.

 A modern day example of faith in the face of impossibilities is Adoniram Judson. He knew God was calling him to take the gospel to foreign lands, but at that time, there were no American missionaries, nor were there any churches or societies prepared to send any. He tried to convince the missionary society in England to send some American missionaries out, but they declined. Then, after much effort, many disappointments and roadblocks, he and his wife Anne set off, with another missionary couple, for India. Through a lengthy series of circumstances, God redirected the Judsons to Burma, where Adoniram served as a missionary the rest of his life.

Much of that time, however, was filled with hardships and sorrows. During a war between Burma and England, he was incarcerated in a prison camp, where prisoners were deprived of food, chained together, with no shelter from the sun, rain, or insects. His wife brought him food for a time, but she became ill and he had to give their baby into the care of a stranger. After the war was over, Judson traveled back to their missionary station in Rangoon, only to find it deserted. Their few converts had been dispersed or discouraged by the war and its aftermath, and it seemed they would have to start all over. Through all this, the Judsons trusted God. They were known for saying, "The future is as bright as all the promises of God."

And it was. Though Adoniram Judson's life was filled with hardships and sorrows, God used him to bring the gospel to the previously unreached Karen people, and to translate the Bible into the Burmese language.  Judson's efforts are still bearing fruit to this day. Though he had times when he struggled to see God's purpose in the things which God had allowed in his life, Judson clung to the truth that God would keep His promises. He, like Abraham, was "fully persuaded", and God was fully faithful.

Which of God's promises seem impossible to you? Will you choose to trust, to be fully persuaded that God can perform that which He has promised?

"Faithful is He that calleth you, Who also will do it."

1 Thessalonians 5:24

The Magnitude of Small Things

I recently finished my tenth year of classroom teaching. It seems like just yesterday I was sitting in my first staff meeting, trying to comprehend all the ins and outs of how a school worked. In thinking back over the last ten years, I would have to say that one of the most significant things I have learned is the importance of small things. Small victories build upon one another, as do small defeats. Small kindnesses make big inroads into hearts. Small adjustments make big differences. Small weaknesses lead to big failures.

We naturally want to accomplish big things. We want our work to be meaningful, to make a difference. And it can be easy to get discouraged when your biggest efforts seem to yield only small results.

The prophet Zechariah ministered in a time of just such discouragement. The people of Israel had returned to the land after their exile in Babylon, and had begun to rebuild Jerusalem. You can read in Ezra and Nehemiah about all the opposition they faced from within and without as they attempted to build.

When the foundations of the temple were laid, those who remembered the glory of Solomon's temple wept because the second temple was so much smaller. Their work of rebuilding of the temple stirred up heavy opposition, and I think they must have wondered at times if it was really worth the effort. We know that God sent the prophet Zechariah to encourage them, and after assuring the people that the temple would be finished, the remarkable statement is made:

"For who hath despised the day of small things?"

Zechariah 4:10a

There is more to the verse than that, but basically, God assures them that His might is behind their efforts. Though their strength, their materials, their abilities may have been small, His are limitless!

That would have been encouraging to the post-exilic Israelites, for sure, but what about us? We are just as prone as the Israelites of old to "despise" small things, counting them as of little importance, perhaps even worthless.

But God doesn't see it that way. Everything has importance to Him, because He made it. From the great expanse of the universe to the very smallest electron, He made it all, and has a purpose for each and every part of His creation. He has a purpose for every millisecond of your life, and for the very smallest of your joys and sorrows. It all matters to Him.

I recently entered a writing contest for the first time. Although my entries did not make it into the finals, I did get the judging sheets back for each one. To my perfectionist sensibilities, my scores seemed like a "small thing" --I had hoped to do much better. But as I read through and analyzed the scores and comments, I began to realize that they weren't as low or as negative as I had initially thought, and that there was much to be encouraged about, as well as some things I needed to work on. Because I swallowed my pride and examined the "small things", I was encouraged in my writing instead of being discouraged by my need to grow in my writing skills.

It takes humility to look at the small, the inadequate, or the seemingly unimportant things in life and trust that God can indeed use them. At the same time, it takes faith to look at the large, overwhelming problems looming overhead and trust that God is bigger, and that He can use even your small strength to overcome them.

I am reminded of one of my favorite hymns by William Cowper:

"God moves in a mysterious way

His wonders to perform;

He plants His footsteps in the sea

And rides upon the storm.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;

The clouds ye so much dread

Are big with mercy, and shall break

In blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,

But trust Him for His grace;

Behind a frowning providence

He hides a smiling face.

Blind unbelief is sure to err,

And scan his work in vain;

God is His own interpreter,

And He will make it plain.

This is the day: Dealing with Disappointment Part 2

My last post dealt with the reality of the feelings of disappointment and loss so many of us are experiencing right now. It also acknowledged that those feelings are natural, but that they should not be allowed to define our existence. No matter what is happening, we can still live in hope, knowing that God has good things still to come for us. There will always be something to praise Him for.

If you haven't read the post yet, click here.

Now, dealing Biblically with disappointment isn't a one-time-fix-all event. Satan loves to remind us of the things we have lost or missed out on, and if he can get our eyes fixed back on our disappointment, he can destroy the peace and joy God wants us to have.

Case in point: my planner. When looked at those squares full of all the things that were supposed to be going on this week, I couldn't help but be reminded of the enjoyable parts of the week I would be missing out on.

But then, I stopped pouting, took a breath, and realized that instead of bracing myself for another long day of teaching followed by a long night of  ministry and responsibilities, only to repeat the cycle the next day with even less sleep, I was in my kitchen, peacefully making myself a cup of coffee before sitting down to read a book. Yes, much has been cancelled, but I had to thank the Lord for changing my week from exhausting to restful.

Psalm 118:24 says:

"This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." 

This week, those first four words stood out to me like never before. This is the day. This one. This day, with all its changes from what I had expected it to be, this is the day God planned for me to live. Not that other day I had written out in my planner, but this one. I shouldn't be moping over the day that God allowed not to happen; I should instead be rejoicing in the day He has allowed. And do you know why?


Because He is good.

You might be getting tired of hearing me say that, but everywhere I look, whatever topic I write about, it always seems to boil down to this: we can trust Him, for He is good. It doesn't matter if we think He is being good, or whether we can see His hand working good things in our situation, He is still good. And if we can just get our eyes fixed on that truth, all fear, disappointment, loss, anger, grief, --all of it melts away when we choose to agree with the truth that God is good.

So, I choose to rejoice in today, thanking God for His goodness and trusting His plan. --After all,

"This is the day which the Lord hath made"

I Shall Yet Praise Him: Dealing with Disappointment

I got out my planner this week. --You know, those books we used to use to write down all the things we were going to do? I haven't looked at mine since March.

Filling the squares of the calendar for this next week were event after event, responsibility after responsibility. It would have been the busiest week of the school year for me, with something going on every night as well as a writing conference all day Saturday. I remember feeling overwhelmed as I wrote in all the things I needed to remember to do that week, taking a deep breath at the recollection of how exhausted I usually am by the end of that week each year.

Yet at the same time, I looked forward to the excitement of the school year drawing to a close, to the bustle of preparation for the graduations and for the festivities of the last week of school to follow. I looked forward to all the new things I would be teaching my students during each of those school days, even if I would be tired from the long string of late nights. All those happy and exciting things almost made up for the stress and exhaustion of the week.

But now, as I look at the busy days that were to signal the final push towards end of the school year and the beginning of a new focus on writing for the summer, There's a lot to be disappointed about. Added to all that was the news I received this week of the cancellation of the four-day writer's contest I was going to attend in August. That and the one-day spring conference which would have been this week were like the two bookends of my summer, and with both of them cancelled, the disappointment seems complete.

However...

Looking at that planner, I was reminded of the verses in James which say: "Go to, now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that." (James 4:13-15)

It is natural to be disappointed when things we had so looked forward to are cancelled, opportunities are lost, or vacation time seemingly squandered by the necessity to stay home. I think everyone has at least one major thing they are mourning over right now, and it isn't wrong to feel disappointed.

It is wrong to stay there, though.

You have probably heard this example many times, but don't let familiarity rob you of its truth: While David was running from Saul (who was trying to kill him, even though he hadn't done anything wrong), he and his band of men had been living in the city of Ziklag with their wives and children. I won't belabor the background, but David's little army returned home to find that the city had been burned and all their wives and children had been taken captive.

Disappointing, right? Here they were, probably looking forward to some rest and time with their families, only to find that everything important had been taken away. This was even more devastating to David, because the men began to blame him, even to the point of wanting to kill him in revenge for what had happened!

So how did David deal with this mixture of disappointment, loss, and fear? he"encouraged himself in the Lord his God." (1 Sam. 30:6)

I don't know when Psalm 42 was written, or even if David was the one who penned it, but it expresses exactly how we should respond to disappointment, grief, and loss:

"Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance." (Psalm 42:11)

Throughout this psalm, the psalmist is honest with God about what he is feeling, even to the point of asking why God has forgotten him, but then he reminds himself of the wonderful truth "I shall yet praise Him". In the midst of sorrow, loss, and disappointment, the psalmist didn't lose track of the truth that now is not all there is. Even without Romans 8:28, he knew that God could be trusted, and that there would again be reason to praise Him, no matter how bleak he felt at that moment. That was the hope he clung to.


Whatever is happening, whatever you are missing, God knows. Invite Him into your disappointment, and see how He reminds you of the truth that it's not over, that He has good things planned for you that cannot be cancelled.   

The Illusion of Safety

We live in a day where safety has become a daily concern. Slogans such as "Stay safe, stay home." are flashed across all forms of media, and debates rage over what measures we should be taking to ensure our own safety and that of those around us. Masks or no masks? Quarantine inside or getting out in the sunshine? Open up or stay closed? Arguments abound, but no one seems to be able to come to a sound consensus.

A news article about a White House staff member's recent Coronavirus diagnosis posed the question,

"If Coronavirus is in the White House, is anyone really safe?"

The truth is, the idea of safety is an illusion. At least, from a human point of view. There is no sure-fire way of keeping ourselves protected from Coronavirus, cancer, car accidents, airplane crashes, or simply tripping over our own feet and sustaining significant injury.

Sounds pretty hopeless, huh?

On a human level, it is. We can never ensure 100% that we will be safe or healthy, or that our friends and loved ones will be so. There will always be the possibility of illness or accident, always the possibility that the next breath we take will be our last.

So where is the hope in all this? Proverbs 21:31 reminds us that

"The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the Lord."

So yes, we should eat our veggies and wash our hands. We should follow the guidelines set out by medical professionals that are working so hard to find new ways to combat disease, but we should also remember that all this is vain if we are not looking to the Lord to keep us safe.

We must also bear in mind that God's idea of safety may not match our own. We like to be left alone in our own little world, with things exactly the way we want them, but God's desire is not to make us comfortable; it is to make us more like Him. So, "safety" might mean taking away something that is hindering your relationship with Him. It may look like plunging you into the midst of sorrow, so you can find that He is your true source of comfort. It may even look like allowing illness or injury to get your eyes off the distractions in life and back onto Him.

Whatever God allows, we can be sure that if we have accepted Christ's payment for our sins, we are God's children, and as such, whatever happens to us must first pass through the filter of God's loving care.

A Biblical Response to Feeling Overlooked or Marginalized

This week, I revisited some study notes on the book of Esther, and I got to thinking about Mordecai. (If you need a refresher on who Mordecai was, go read the book of Esther)

 The kings of Persia were known for their liberal generosity to those who showed their loyalty. Mordecai did just that by exposing the plot to assassinate the king, but he was inexplicably not rewarded. He was forgotten, and his great service to the king treated as if it were nothing at all.

Mordecai probably couldn’t help but be stunned at this turn of events. Of course, there is no indication that he had acted merely for reward, but in a situation when one has done something worthy of reward and is overlooked, it can be more than a little bit disappointing.

Perhaps you have felt like that before. I know I have. When something we have done or a skill we possess is worthy of recognition, but is overlooked, it hurts. It doesn’t matter whether it was purposeful or accidental, or whether there were extenuating circumstances or not; it still feels like being personally rejected. In Mordecai’s day, the king’s accidental slight would have been like a slap in the face to a faithful servant. So what did Mordecai do?

He kept on faithfully serving.

He stayed humble and just did what he knew was right, whether or not he was rewarded. There are several other Biblical characters that come to mind when I think of people who would seem like they had a right to feel marginalized or overlooked.

Joseph- He was literally thrown away by his brothers, sold into slavery just because they wanted to get rid of him. Then, after faithfully serving and repeatedly displaying great skill in his work, he was lied about, unjustly imprisoned, and then forgotten.

David- The prophet Samuel, the most important man in Israel at the time, came to visit his family and asked specifically to meet the sons, and David was left out with the sheep.

Jonathan- His father was Israel’s first king. As firstborn son, Jonathan was considered the rightful heir to the throne –until his father disobeyed and God chose a new king.

John the Baptist- Was famous, all sorts of people traveled into the wilderness to hear him preach. Then Jesus came and the crowds began to fade away.

Bartimaeus- Was blind and had to beg for his daily bread. Jesus was well known to be able to heal people, but when Bartimaeus tried to get Jesus’ attention, the crowd told him to be quiet.

Jesus- Came to earth to save mankind from our sins. When he presented himself in His hometown, He was met with anger and rejected.  The people even tried to throw Him off a cliff!

So, what did these people do when faced with being looked down upon, despised, marginalized, forgotten, or rejected? They just kept doing right. Joseph, like Mordecai, kept on serving faithfully. David kept carefully tending the sheep. Jonathan threw all his efforts into promoting David’s eventual reign. John the Baptist said “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30) Bartimaeus kept calling out for healing, and Jesus quietly, humbly went on to the next city:

“But he passing through the midst of them went his way, And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days.” (Luke 4:30-31)

Each of these, and of course the Lord Jesus most of all, serves as an example of how we should face those times when we are overlooked, when our efforts, abilities, or ideas are dismissed, or when we are blatantly rejected. We should keep on, committing ourselves and our “right” to recognition, acceptance, and approval to God. As I Peter 4:19 says:

“Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.”

We can trust God. And He is faithful. Mordecai was honored, Joseph was promoted and his abilities recognized, David was made king, Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father and now sits enthroned in glory. --Not all of the situations were turned around. Jonathan and John the Baptist had to wait for heaven to receive their reward, but notice that they were fully content just to serve God and others while they lived. Their eyes were on God's approval, not man's.

God is faithful whether or not we are recognized and accepted by others. No matter how many people reject or overlook us, serving God should be about God. When our focus is right, His approval and recognition not only becomes enough for us; we begin to see that it is all that really matters.

Shining in the Darkness

Our world is in chaos. Some are sick, even dying, others are facing another month of unemployment, wondering how they will pay their bills. Many are isolated from those dearest to them. As summer nears, the sun shines bright and warm and the days grow longer, but the world still feels immersed in darkness.

I am reminded of the passage in Exodus 10, where God brought the plague of darkness upon the Egyptians. It was a supernatural darkness, a darkness unlike any they had experienced before. The Bible says it was "darkness which may be felt". The land was covered with "thick darkness", but notice the difference between the Israelites' homes and the homes of the Egyptians:

"They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings"

Exodus 10:23 

The world around them was dark, the people isolated and afraid, yet the darkness couldn't touch God's people. 

This may seem like a dark time to those around us, but in reality, the light of God's goodness, sovereignty, love, mercy, and every other attribute of God is still shining, for God does not change. He is not hindered by any part of our current crisis. He is still at work, still powerful, still loving.

"If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from Thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to Thee."

Psalm 139:11-12

Nothing --not even the darkness of a world thrown into crisis-- can come between us and the love of God. As Romans 8:38-39 states,

"For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

When the world looks dark to you, look to Christ, for He is the Light of the world. In fact, I John 1:5 says,

"This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all."

It is only in our relationship with God that we can keep the darkness at bay. While others wallow in hopelessness and depression, we can confidently live in hope, joy, and the certainty that God will use all this for good. After all, in God there is "no darkness at all".

But we aren't just supposed to keep this light to ourselves. Unlike the Israelites so long ago, we are not just to enjoy the light, but to shine it into the lives of others. In Matthew 5:16 Jesus commands us:

"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

The darker the world seems to those around us, the more they realize their need of the light, and the more opportunity there is for radiating the light of Christ into the darkness of those around us.

So how does God want you to shine your light into someone's darkness today?