When God Withholds

Yesterday was Valentine's day. And you know what? It wasn't horrible.

I woke up this morning and was reflecting on what made this year's Valentines day different. I'm still single like I was the years it was so hard, I'm still living at home with my parents like I was, and honestly, not much has changed. What has changed, however, is the focus of my heart.

The Bible says "No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly." (Psalm 84:11b)

For years, the focus of my heart was on the "someday" when God would stop withholding that which I was sure was His plan for me. I was just biding my time until God decided to bring the right one along for me to marry.

But that attitude and that heart-focus both run contrary to the character of God. He does not withhold that which is good. If He does withhold something, it is because it would not be a "good thing" for us.

I had come to understand this in the last few years, and that has helped my contentment enormously, but this morning the Holy Spirit pointed out this verse during my time with God and took me to the next step with this truth.

It's not just that marriage is being withheld because it isn't a good thing, it's that singleness has been given because it is. If God had given me what I wanted, I would have been so busy with husband and kids and housework that I would never have learned all the things being single has taught me. And I also would likely not have become a writer.

The more I thought about this, the more I could see how God had given me this season of singleness on purpose, because it is exactly the "good thing" I needed to propel me into the place of influence and purpose He planned for me to fill.

And since I know that God sees singleness as a good thing, and meant this season exactly for me, I don't need to feel left out or as if something is missing. I have all I need because He has provided. That's why this Valentine's day was not the day of discouragement and discontent it used to be, because I have a sense of purpose that calls me to trust the Lord's plan and be content in His loving care.

Contentment chooses to see what is given, rather than that which is withheld.

Only by Pride

Every once in a while I have a day where it seems the world is out to get me. I know, of course, that this is not true, but it seems that way nevertheless. (Ever notice how one’s feelings can so easily fail to correspond with reality?)

On those days, whether it is friction with family, disappointment with other drivers in traffic, or a classful of students who seem bound and determined to make their day (and mine) as unpleasant as possible, by the end of the day it can feel like there is conflict all around me.

The reality usually is that there are only one or two people actually being difficult, and the rest is all the result of my grumpy attitude’s skewed perception.

Of course, God knows all about us, and has anticipated the contention we so commonly experience in life. Instead of turning outward in selfish anger from a bitter, grudging view of how everyone else is to blame, God directs us toward ourselves:

“Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom” Proverbs 13:10

So there it is: the only source of contention is pride. I therefore have the responsibility to meet contention with humility. It is very rare that I have experienced contention in which my own pride has had no part. There is almost always something I can humble myself and ask forgiveness for in any situation of contention.

Taking a situation from the perspective of humility not only helps us to avoid contention (if we can be humble in the first place, contention won’t have a chance to appear), it also helps with the resolution of contention.

When you’re holding onto a grudge or a grumpy attitude there’s nothing that takes the wind out of your sails faster than having someone come in humility and apologize for something you were partially responsible for. Like I said, it’s usually not hard to find something I could have done better in a given situation. Being the first to ask forgiveness is hard, (what an understatement!) but it goes a long, long way towards mending the rift caused by contention. I Peter 5:5 says we should be “clothed with humility”, which is crucial, for as it goes on to state, “God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble”.

If we hold on to that feeling of the world being against us, we are in reality refusing the grace God offers for every situation in our lives. –Perhaps it feels like the world is against us because we are pridefully holding on to our “rights” and God is –faithful to His Word—resisting us.

When we respond in humility, however, we open up the floodgates, as it were, for God’s grace to work. We are in agreement with God’s perspective of us as we really are in His sight, and we can more readily see others in the light of that reality as well. Instead of focusing on their faults, we see our own, and are reminded that we are sinners in need of a Savior, just like anyone else.

Humility will also prompt obedience, whether restitution or asking forgiveness, or simply praying for the person with whom the contention was happening. Whatever action the Holy Spirit prompts, pride will balk at it, but humility will embrace it.
So, next time you’re tempted to grumble about the people God puts in your life, remember that you are a sinner saved by grace, and accept God’s grace in humility.

Book Review: Let Me Be a Woman by Elisabeth Elliot

When one of my friends recommended Let Me Be a Woman as our next book club read, I was thrilled! I had heard of this book from several people, and I have always found Elisabeth Elliot's writings to be helpful and insightful, so I jumped at the excuse to spend some time with this little volume.

The book itself is not very long, and although there are 49 chapters, each one is only a few pages. it made a good "filler" read for when I had just a few spare minutes here and there. 

That having been said, this book has a great deal of substance. Written as a sort of letter to her daughter on the occasion of her marriage, this book contains some powerful arguments against the modern feminist movement. It was originally written in 1976, but the message is still vibrantly true and needful today. 

The overall premise is that God has designed women to be the most fulfilled when they are fulfilling the purpose for which He has designed them. 

Simple, right? 

But what the Bible clearly teaches about God's design for women is so very different from the feminist perspective, and there have been many arguments put forth against the Biblical model of womanhood. This book combats some of the most common of these arguments. It also gives some excellent perspective on how God intends for marriage to work and some good advice on some points to consider before entering marriage. 

This is my favorite quote from the book:

 "The fact that I am a woman does not make me a different kind of Christian, but the fact that I am a Christian does make me a different kind of woman. For I have accepted God's idea of me, and my whole life is an offering back to Him of all that I am and all that He wants me to be." 

Jehovah Shalom: The Lord is Peace

Judges 6:1-24

Gideon was a man of fear.

He was hiding for fear of the marauding Midianites when the angel appeared to him. He was fearful upon receiving the message from God, and asked for two different signs to confirm it was really God's message. Then, when he realized that it wasn't just an angel, but God Himself (a Theophany: an appearance of the pre-incarnate Christ), Gideon was afraid he would be struck dead.

Yes, Gideon certainly was a man of fear. --Yet God called him a "mighty man of valor". (v.12) Despite Gideon's fears and insecurities, (or maybe even because of them) God did use him to bring victory and at least a measure of revival to Israel. Afraid or not, he led an army against impossible odds and saw God fight for His people in a remarkable way. When it came time to act, he showed great boldness in performing that which God had told him to do.

So what changed?

When he realized that he had seen God, Gideon was afraid, and rightly so. He had doubted God to His face, and had even accused Him of forsaking His people. -A glimpse of the Holy God always brings us to the inescapable knowledge of our own sinfulness. Yet God's reply to this culmination of Gideon's fears was not rebuke, but peace.

"And the Lord said unto him, Peace, be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die." (v.23)

And there, having met with God, Gideon found peace with God that gave him the courage to take action for God and to obey, whatever the cost. Gideon named the altar he built that day in memorial of his meeting with God Jehovah-Shalom, or, the Lord is Peace.

He was headed --at God's command-- to a battle, yet God had patiently assured him every step of the way that He would bring victory over the enemy.

Gideon's people were not yet at peace, but Gideon nevertheless could rest in God's promise of victory and truly declare that "the Lord is peace".

In this wicked world, we are not at peace. We are not to be at peace with the world, for "the friendship of the world is enmity with God"  (James 4:4), but we serve the God of peace, who has promised us the victory, which He has already won. (Romans 16:20, I Cor. 15:57)

Externally, there may not be peace in this world, but we can have peace internally, however wildly the enemies may rage without. All we have to do is run to "the God of peace" and rest in His victory.

Thirsty for God

It had been a long day, and I was looking forward to sleep. I lay still for a while and just as I got warm and comfortable and began to feel I might drift off any moment... it hit me. 

I was thirsty.

the thirst didn't bother me until I actually recognized the thought. Then it became persistent. Annoyed, I tried to ignore it and go to sleep, but to no avail. My mouth and throat began to get dry and I knew if I fell asleep then, my sleep would be fitful at best, filled with dreams of deserts, climaxing when I finally found water, only to wake up at the crucial moment to the memory of my real-life thirst. 

Maybe this story is familiar to you. It's funny how all-consuming thirst can be. It's our bodies' way of alerting us to the fact that water is indeed necessary for life. 

My problem is, that I don't particularly like drinking water. I would much rather have coffee or tea or something that at least tastes good, but water is what my body needs, and those things I would rather fill my thirst with are often the things that will leave me the most thirsty for more. But the more I discipline myself to drink water, the more I actually begin to desire it. I get thirsty and crave water, because that is what my body is used to receiving. And the more I satisfy that craving with water, the more the water actually begins to taste good to me.

The more water I drink, the easier it is to make healthy choices about what I use to satisfy my thirst. 

Did you know that is the same way it's meant to be with God? Listen to how the Bible relates thirst to our relationship with God:

"As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God.

My soul panteth for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?" (Psalm 42:1-2

"O God, Thou art my God; early will I seek Thee: my soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is" (Psalm 63:1)

"I stretch forth my hands unto Thee: my soul thirsteth after Thee, as a thirsty land. Selah" (Psalm 143:6)

And Jesus Himself says:

"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled" (Matthew 5:6)

Not only is this thirst for righteousness to be filled, its life-giving flow is to abound. As Jesus told the woman at the well:

"But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." (John 4:14)

And later He proclaims in the midst of a crowd, "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth in Me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." (John 7:38)

We are not just containers to be filled with the fullness of God (Eph.3:19), we are to be rivers, pouring abundantly into the lives of others around us. As we satisfy our thirst for God, we will not only turn to Him more readily to satisfy our thirst, but our satisfaction will be so abundant that it will affect everyone around us. And that is what makes the world look at us and see the fullness of God. It is what brings to their hearts the question of how we can be so fulfilled while their lives feel so empty. 

The Symbolism of the Saturday Bath and the Sunday Best

When I was growing up, Saturday night was "bath night". Each of us kids would take turns getting washed and scrubbed and cleaner than seemed possible to a small child who liked mud puddles and digging in the dirt looking for bits of "archaeology".

Then we would all sit together in the living room with towels draped around our pajama-clad shoulders with wet hair squeaky clean and dripping, watching television till bedtime. --It's funny, but even now when I hear the theme song from a certain show which had a very long running on Saturday night tv, I can almost smell wet hair and cheap apple-scented shampoo.

At the time, my parents would tell us that we were getting all cleaned up for Sunday, because we should always try to look our best for God when we go to church. For this reason, we also had special clothes only for Sunday (or for very special occasions). This hearkened back to the idea of the "Sunday Best".

In the days of the pioneers, it would be very common only to have two sets of clothes: one for everyday wear and one for "best". A woman would very likely only have one nice dress which was her Sunday dress, but also her wedding dress, party dress, and often would be the dress she was buried in when she died.

The point was, church was an occasion worthy of one's "best". And if you were wearing that treasured "best" article of clothing, you sure wanted to be clean when you put it on! (Especially if you happened to be the one in charge of doing the washing each week.) --Hence the Saturday night bath tradition.

Actually, these two traditions go back much further than the pioneer days, and may quite possibly have their roots in the book of Exodus.

When God brought the Israelites out of Egypt, He led them to a mountain called Mt. Sinai, and had Moses give the people special instructions for when He would appear and speak publicly to Moses:

"And the Lord said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes, and be ready against the third day: for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai." (Exodus 10-11)

Did you catch that? God wanted them to wash their clothes in preparation to stand before the presence of God.  Additionally, a quick survey of the passages on worship in the tabernacle and temple will show that washing played a major part. In fact, the priests could not go into the tabernacle (and later, the temple) until they had first washed. And when the high priest put on his priestly garments, he was required first to wash. --Did you notice? Washing and special clothing had a part in God's ordained mode of worship.

Now, we no longer worship at either temple or tabernacle, but we ourselves are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and are instructed to treat our bodies as such (2 Cor. 6:16-19). And what Christ said about ritual washing of the outward brings a helpful explanation of the symbolism behind the practice, as well as some insight to what it means for us today:

"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also." (Matthew 23:25-26)

The point is not the cleansing of the outside, but the cleansing of the inside. It is important that we prepare to meet God by getting right with Him, confessing sin and resetting our focus on Him. Without this, our worship is just like setting a clean cup with muddy water in it before a guest. God desires us to be clean on the inside when we worship Him.

Notice also the command Jesus gave the Pharisees: clean up the inside so that the outside will be clean. When we are right on the inside, our outsides should show it. That's the whole point of washing up and looking our best on Sundays --to show that we are dedicated to worshiping God with clean, holy hearts, dressed first in Christ's righteousness, but showing with our attire that He is worthy of our very best in every area of life --even down to what we wear.

So next time you wash up and don your Sunday best, remember what it represents! Getting ready for church should not be merely an external exercise, but a preparation of the whole being: spiritual, mental, and physical, to meet with the God who is worthy of our best! 

Hypocrisy vs. Humility

A lot is said about hypocrisy these days. My generation especially seems to love to point it out in others, particularly in the lives of those in authority. And I'll admit, it is true that there is hypocrisy in leaders sometimes, and that it is not right for leaders to be hypocrites. Consider, though, that authority tends to magnify whatever faults a person has, and since all of us have a sin nature, it should not surprise us or shock us out of our beliefs when a well-known authority falls into hypocrisy -or any other sin for that matter.

 We should of course pray for them, for those affected by their sin, and for our own heart attitudes. But we should always remember: hypocrisy in others does not excuse bitterness in ourselves. Both sins are equally sinful. Nor should we throw out sound Biblical doctrine simply because the one who taught us that doctrine failed to live it out. Our responsibility is to sift through any teaching we receive and see what matches Scripture, and obey it -regardless of whether anyone else does.

I was reading through Matthew 3 in my time with God earlier this month and a contrast stood out to me which I had never noticed before. The account begins with John preaching in the wilderness. His whole message centered around repentance from sin.

Enter the Pharisees.

The Pharisees went about looking very spiritual. In fact, they went out of their way to make people notice just how spiritual they were. Yet, at their hearts, they were just playing a part. Thy were hypocrites. They stretched and pushed the boundaries of God's law to suit their desires, (Matt.7:11) but were unwilling to acknowledge the heart attitude of humble obedience that was to fuel the observance of that law. It was all about them, not about God. He seems to have been merely an afterthought, if not only a means to recognition or status.

John took them to task, declaring before the whole crowd that they were hypocrites, that they had not truly repented, and were not entitled to skip the necessary step of heart repentance because of their heritage. It didn't matter if Abraham was their father: it was their faith and repentance that was required for entry into the kingdom of heaven. --How well do you think that sat with the prideful Pharisees?

Then Jesus showed up. What a contrast it was! On the one hand were the Pharisees, too "spiritual" and prideful to repent, and on the other there was Jesus, God Himself, wanting to be baptized.

John was understandably confused about Jesus' request, because, as he stated, he had need to be baptized by Jesus, not the other way around! But then Jesus gave an answer that shows a heart of complete and utter humility.

Although He was the only one ever to live a human life without sin and therefore without need of repentance, He was willing to be identified with the message of repentance through baptism. He was stooping to a level of righteousness He truly did not need to fulfill so that others could see His example and be helped towards righteousness and faith.

"for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness"

In that one sentence, Christ showed godly humility in all its glory.

Both Christ and the Pharisees did (or desired to do) the outward, but the Pharisees did it to appear to others to be righteous, and Christ did the outward --even when He had  no benefit of it for himself-- to fulfill or demonstrate the righteousness He already possessed for the sake of others.