Not Seeing is Believing

“But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.  That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does” James 1:6-8.

The year was 2001 and our daughter was in prison.  The rest of the family had a scheduled vacation, compliments of Mother and Daddy.  Grandmother approached me and Bruce on vacation, asking if we could have a family prayer for Kristen.  Of course Bruce and I were both encouraged and welcoming of this prayer stand.  I opened my grandmother’s journal this morning to relive her impressions of that day.   I am honored to share her precious ink with you this morning to encourage everyone to pray with confidence when approaching our God for anything.

“July 23, 2001:  ‘Blessed be God!  I could never put on paper what happened in the family prayer for Kristen this morning.  I left the time when we would pray up to Brenda.  She decided on 9:00 o’clock.  Donald and Benita and all four of the girls and Bruce were there around the table.  Prayers for Kristen:  (1) That the works of the devil shall be destroyed in her life; (2) That Kristen shall feel old-time conviction for sin; (3) That Kristen shall be born again; (4) That Kristen’s life shall be redeemed; (5) That Kristen will be protected from the influence of the inmates ‘under the shadow of the Almighty, covered with His feathers and under His wings.’   The Holy Spirit so settled down that each person prayed in a broken spirit.  It was in every sense a defining moment for our family.” 

“July 27, 2001:  ‘Thank you, Holy Spirit, for answered prayers for Kristen exactly as we prayed.  Heavenly Father, I look up to you in faith for Kristen because this was the Spirit’s defining moment.’”

Grandmother followed up with a letter to Kristen outlining the prayer stance we took informing her that God had answered every one of them.  Prayer item by prayer item was answered in God’s timing.  I’m unsure when any of these prayer items were answered but I sit here this morning with a daughter who was redeemed and rescued from Satan by the power of God.  I am a mother whose daughter returned to her position in Christ.  I am the granddaughter of a woman who wouldn’t take no for an answer when claiming her prayer stand against evil.  I am a woman striving for this same faith of not just asking God for something but expecting Him to answer through His will and in His timing.  I don’t want to live my life double-minded…double-hearted…tossing between doubt and confidence.  I want to claim God’s best for me and my family, and leave all of the circumstances to Him regardless of what the horizon seems to display. 

It would be another 4 years before I saw the completion of answered prayers from that day around the table with 8 broken spirits.  But faithfully at that table was a woman of James 1:6 who sat down with prayer requests and arose with the confidence in God’s deliverance.  Praise be to God that we all can approach Him with this same spirit of expectancy! 

Expect Joy!

“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously without finding fault, and it will be given to him” James 1:5.

Yesterday I wrote about true joy and the pursuit of a life walking it out.  I was amazed this morning when my commentary joined the hands of wisdom and joy.  The reason I was struck by this is because at the beginning of my friend’s journey I had asked her how I might pray for her needs.  Throughout the last year she just kept asking for prayers of wisdom.  In my loosely translation of wisdom I naturally considered that she was asking for the knowledge to make good and important decisions regarding their life.  God was faithful in answering that prayer daily but what is mind blowing is the benefit of wisdom according to my commentary.  Simply written it states, ‘Wisdom enables one to face trials with pure joy.’ Joy is the by-product of asking and receiving the wisdom of God!  Her respond to whatever was thrown at her permeated joy over the past year and a half.

By asking for wisdom we are guaranteed the settle assurance that God is in the details of our dilemmas, the quiet confidence that what we are struggling with is already worked out by God, and the determined choice to lay down our problems and praise God ahead of time for His solution.  Through these exercises we enable the peace, love and knowledge of the mind of the Creator of the universe!  Now if that doesn’t make our problems seem less daunting nothing will.  We must practice patience in waiting for God’s wisdom.  God doesn’t delay the answer because He doesn’t know it.  God could drop the solution into our mind the second we ask but what would this accomplish?  Instant solutions do not foster fellowship and intimacy.  If we received the answer as quickly as it left our lips we would miss out on God working things out in our hearts and showing us things about ourselves.  He relishes most being our Father, not the resolver of our problems.  ‘He wants us to connect with Him and communicate with Him as the dearest relationship in human existence.  He delights to be our sole and holy source for all things in life.’ James - Mercy Triumphs, Beth Moore, p. 49.  The outflow of that wisdom that He disperses in His timing is the peace and joy that is promised in the Bible.

Human nature is to take short cuts to experience the path of least resistance, but when we do we forfeit fellowship with our Father.  So ask God for wisdom in your pressing problem today, and be assured, confident and patient thanking Him for His desire to share intimacy with you, and…

…expect joy!

Walking Out Joy

“Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance” James 1:2-3.

I was spending time with one of my dear friends whose husband was nearing the end of his journey with brain cancer.  I had spent the night with her considering her husband would be passing over to Heaven any day.  The following morning we read her morning devotional and she told me how beautiful their journey had been, and the joy she had in her heart in spite of all of the heart-breaking circumstances.  These were not just words…these were attitudes lived out every day of her journey.  You can tell when someone walks with James 1:2-3 in their heart. 

I read Kay Warren’s book a while back, Choose Joy which expanded my definition into a spiritual concept that gave me freedom.  Her definition for joy is as follows:  ‘Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life; the quiet confidence that ultimately everything will be alright, and the determined choice to praise God in all circumstances.’ This is now the definition my mind always goes to, and my friend’s face is the person I will always think of when I consider joy.  At a certain point, she graciously displayed the settled assurance that God was in their plan and working out His will.  Her gentle spirit showed her quiet confidence that God would be faithful in carrying her through grief.  Her constant praise of God’s blessings through this journey amazed me daily. 

When I think of the small details that we obsess over…the annoyances of life…the things that didn’t go our way…our entitlements…it is a wonder we ever feel joy.  That is why we must be determined people to live out this definition.  Otherwise, we will be people who are tossed by the waves of adversity never dropping anchor, constantly drenched by a new set of unsettling circumstances. 

My friend’s husband passed over into the arms of God Sunday night, and because of her joy and confidence in God it makes me more confident in Him.  She will suffer but she will praise…she will be lonely but she will never be alone in Him...she will reflect but she will be blessed.  She is a woman of James 1:2-3.

Spiritual Door Frames

“God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as He did to us. He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear?” Acts 15:8-9

When my children were young we would take height measurements with little marks on the door frame like most of you I am sure. It always made me laugh inside how the tallest child looked at the others as if they were second class citizens…as if they had accomplished something within themselves. Whoever the tallest was at the moment would look to me as if they had won and I surely must love them the most. Truth is my love and approval had absolutely nothing to do with their height accomplishment because they had nothing to do with it themselves.

The same is true with the manner in which God views His children. It seems odd to me that as we are building our faith we tend to measure the faith of others. As we expand our relationship with God we determine the lack of relationship in Christian acquaintances and even friends. In our hearts we mark our spiritual door frames where we stand taller than the others. We have a sense of pride that our faith is greater…our relationship with God is more solid…our walk is deeper. This is an easy trap in which to fall and all of us should be cautious. We place unrealistic expectations on friends and family when we can’t even live up to them ourselves. We judge the faith of this woman…that man…what she failed to do…what appalling thing he did.

The truth of the matter is that everyone who has the Holy Spirit inside stands on equal ground before God. Our passage states that when we measure our faith against the faith of another we are not testing ourselves against man, but rather against God. The Bible is clear…God does not have favorites. ‘I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him…’ Acts 10:34-35. The Bible goes on to explain that if we show favoritism, a display of partiality toward a favored person or group, we sin against the law of God. ‘Love your neighbor as yourself…But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.’ James 2:8-9.

Our spiritual door frames should be marked with one line besides our own mark…the measurement of Christ. We should measure all of our actions and spiritual growth as it relates to whom we are striving to be instead of whom we think we have become as it relates to others.

Hide and Seek

"And the Lord said, 'Yes, he is hidden among the baggage.'" 1 Samuel 10:22b

The other day our grandchildren were playing hide and go seek. Whenever it was Kherington's turn she would hide but never truly stayed concealed. She would make some noise everytime revealing where she was hiding. Intellectually she wanted to hide but in her spirit she wanted to be found so she could return to fellowship and fun with her brother.

We are no different than Kherington. We want to hide behind self constructed masks and dress up in custom tailored illusions. We are wounded...we are disillusioned...we are downright broken. We refuse to reveal the emotional messes that we work so hard to conceal. But our hiding places are lonely because we were created for fellowship. We were formed to love fully and be fully loved. There is only enough room for one in most hiding places. Like Kherington, we really don't want to stay concealed so we make some noise in the confines of our hidden places.

We really do desire to be found by God and return to the joy of intimacy with Him. We all have a Father who will never abandon His pursuit of us. He might count to 100 instead of 10 before He comes looking for us, but like Kherington's older brother, Carson, God already knows where we are hiding.

Enough Is Enough!

“Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God.  Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.  He has made us competent.” 2 Co. 3:4-6

The word competent in the original Greek language in this passage is the word hikanos.  Translations of this word are sufficient, able and enough.  What Paul is saying is that we are not enough within ourselves…but God is enough.  He makes us enough in every circumstance apart from ourselves.  For a girl who has always been driven by being enough for everyone, doing enough for all and performing enough to gain approval…THIS IS FREEDOM!  The real truth is that God never intended on us being enough for anything.  His plan was that our lack filled with His abundance was enough to face anything.

‘I can do all things through Christ who gives me…’ Phil 4:13.  We can fill in the blank.  Because Christ is enough…I can face life without my loved ones.  Because Christ is enough…I choose hope for the future instead of the despair of the moment.  Because Christ is enough…He will fill the lonely places…the broken dreams…the fearful future.  Because I am not enough…He is!

‘So, in striving to be enough, we are striving against the will and plan of God.  Lord help us!  We have been duped!   We have come far from God’s original plan.  We have learned how to become depressed, discontent and insecure trying to be polished, perfect and poised.  We have become ashamed if we are not perfect.  We have learned to both believe and live by these lies.  Perfection is the lie, performance is the lifestyle, and depression, insecurity, discontent and fear are the outcome…We can learn to press through our old feelings.   Getting a spiritual perspective can set us free and enable us to walk through the dysfunction in our thinking to the other side, even stronger than we were before.’ Deeper, Debbie Alsdorf.  We must not return to our former thinking and believe in our own enough, but live in the present enough of God.  ‘Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?’ Gal 4:9.

‘Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.’ Col 3:2.  ‘Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’ John 8:32.

...And Darkness Came...

“It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land…for the sun stopped shining.  And the curtain…was torn in two” Luke 23:44-45.

Throughout the Bible we have a set of train tracks that run alongside of our own journey.  They are a set of tracks that show how God has been faithful leading His children home.  One of the most identifiable seasons is our season of suffering…our darkest days…our own personal ‘Good Fridays’ which are filled with despair like the original Good Friday.  It was named ‘good’ only in hindsight as it measured against Resurrection Sunday.

Our personal good Fridays are seasons filled with darkness where we cannot see our way.  It is a time in our life when we must take everything our faith has taught us and apply it to our future.  It is when our days feel dark and our nights seem to extend forever.   We have been torn in two by our circumstances and the sands of the hourglass seem to be dropping so slow.  When will our Sunday come?  When will life be resurrected and joy realized once again?  When will the dark clouds recede revealing the brightness and fullness of God’s healing rays?  Hold on dear friend and take heart – Sunday is coming!  The despair of our ‘good Fridays’ will be replaced with the joy and hope of the resurrection of our beautiful Sunday. 

For that spouse who was rejected…Sunday’s coming!

For that parent whose child has chosen a life separated from God…Sunday’s coming!

For that woman who must whisper goodbye to her loved one…Sunday’s coming!

For that child of God who sits in the darkness of her circumstances…Sunday’s coming!

Our Fridays hold no power in relation to the confidence of the plans that God has laid out before us.  If you are in your ‘good Friday’ hold on because your Great Sunday is coming!