Frustrating Jesus

“And many times it has thrown him into fire or water to destroy him. But if you can do anything…help us. Jesus said to him, ‘If you can? Everything is possible for the one who believes.’ Immediately the father of the boy cried out, ‘I do believe; help my unbelief!’” Mark 9:22-24.

Like many of you, I certainly understand the heartbreaking dilemma of being fearful for the life of a child. This poor father had watched horrific evil overtake his child, and bore the responsibility and burden of rescuing his son multiple times. No doubt he had tried everything and was terrified to take his eyes off his boy. I know for myself during a tough season with one of my children, every instance the phone rang I felt a sense of dread in my heart. Upon returning home, a flashing red light on my phone felt like a winking call from death itself. I had tried everything, and yet I felt I hadn’t tried enough. My faith was more about my strength, my ideas, and my intervention instead of God’s saving power. I believed God for my eternal salvation, but I lacked belief in His saving abilities. I am confident I exhausted Jesus…I was ‘an unbelieving generation.’ (Mark 9:19). I believed that He could, but I must have doubted that He would. I think my last statement is the echo of this dad’s proclamation, ‘I do believe, but help my unbelief!’

When we approach our challenging and scary circumstances with a ‘me-faith’ instead of a ‘He-faith’ we infuse weakness and futility into our situation. We call upon our own power instead of His, and call foul ball when our prayers go unanswered. ‘Spiritual power comes only when a person turns from self to God in faith…Jesus meant that anything is possible if we believe because nothing is too difficult for God, even when our experience seems to indicate otherwise.’ Life Application New Testament Commentary, p.186. If we don’t call on God’s power our words are simply empty mutterings. But when we are in tune with God’s power resurrections are realized…marriages are healed…prodigals return home…jobs are found…new beginnings bring hope. We cannot live our lives as an unbelieving generation questioning His power, His authority or His goodness. We only need to remember past times when He saved…when He intervened…when He comforted...to walk in the confidence that He will save again. When we pray let us pray in His name instead of our own.

‘Our Father, you are in heaven and you are holy. We ask for you to bring your kingdom and your will into our circumstances on earth. We ask that you give us your daily strength instead of trying to find ours. We humbly thank you for forgiving us and help us forgive the people who hurt us. Put a protective barrier between us and the evil that surrounds us. We recognize in all tough and heartbreaking circumstances that you have the power to change them, and the glory in which to reveal your awesome works both now and forever. Amen.’ (Based on the Lord’s Prayer)

Lost in the Forest

“They filled a large basket with food and set off into the forest to search for the way home. This time, luck was with them, and on the second day, they saw their father come out of the house towards them, weeping.” Hansel and Gretel.

This is the story of two children born to a woodcutter who loved them very much. He was a weak man, and their wicked stepmother hated them and was determined to rid herself of them. She was jealous of the children and forced her husband to lose them in the forest. The first time they left behind small pebbles which led them home, only to be taken back to the forest and left homeless. The second time they peppered the path with crumbs of bread, forgetting that the birds were also hungry. In their fear, hunger and loneliness they accepted the offer of an old lady who gave them enticing chocolates and delicious sweets. They enjoyed it for a bit, and then realized that the nice lady was indeed evil, and their landing place was really a trap. They tricked her into her demise, gathered her treasures and found their way back home. Their dad saw them coming and tearfully ran towards them, joyful that his wicked wife had died, his children were finally home, and they could share in the treasures forever.

I feel like we all experience seasons like the children in the story. We find ourselves in unfamiliar circumstances…lonely and tired…lost and hungry ... scared and homesick for kinder times. We make our plans to get back to those ‘normal’ times, but the pebbles get lost and the crumbs fail to lead back. We turn to desires that entice us…things that seem to make us feel better at the time. We enjoy them for a while, as they take our minds off our real dilemma…we miss the way things use to be… trying desperately to find our normal again.

No matter how far we separate ourselves from God, He is always going to run towards us with His arms wide open. He understands the forest because He created it. Even though we might feel lost, He always knows exactly where we are in heart and soul. He wants to show us the new normal when we are ready to put down our basket of futile attempts to find home. There are great treasures in our new normal, if we are willing to open our hearts to receive. Blessings don’t stop when seasons do, they just turn into different blessings. The key is to have an open heart and mind to receive the new circumstances, and embrace our Father as He gestures us in to our new seasons. His gifts are always good, and His faithfulness is as sure as the colorful sunrises and peaceful sunsets. So, fill your baskets with faith that what is up ahead is precious, and gratitude that we have a God who is still in the business of making all things new!

"And the One seated on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” Then He said, “Write this down, for these words are faithful and true.”…" Rev 21:4

When The Waters Are Stirred

“He is before all things, and by Him all things hold together.” Col 1:17

I am a huge proponent of Christian counseling. I have recommended it to many individuals, couples, and families, but the main reason I am a fan is because during tough times it always delivered. During times where everything seemed to be falling apart it was the experience that gave me hope. Those visits were times of exhale in a season where I could barely breathe. It was the unpacking of burdens that I didn’t even remembering packing. My counselor usually made me feel like I was successful for choosing to ‘visit’, instead of judging me for my failures. With any good counselor, you should feel neither judged nor pacified…you should just feel heard. When our allotted time would expire, I would thank her and return to my car. The funny thing was that nothing about my circumstances had changed, but my prospective had shifted, my emotions had settled, and my belief in future resolution had once again been restored. Hope really does float when the waters are stirred.

The beautiful thing about Jesus is that He holds everything together for us. He doesn’t expect us to hold it all together, or to be everything for everyone. He fully understands us much better than we understand ourselves. He already knows what is packed in our hearts, and what burdens need to be released for Him to hold. His Spirit is the ultimate exhale for the world in which we exist. He is always ready to listen, no matter how difficult it is for us to express. He listens through the ears of love, instead of the ears of condemnation. He is the ‘holder-together’ of our entire existence so why don’t we allow Him to do just that? ‘It’s the main ingredient of the Fall (Genesis 3) as well as its primary effect – our need to control, our desire to create our own truth, to find our own way, to manipulate our circumstances to match our desires. Somewhere in the Garden, the serpent must have whispered slowly and deliberately into Eve’s ear, ‘It’s all up to you, my dear.’ And we pass the lie down from one generation to another.’ She Reads Truth, p. 108.

Sometimes we are our worst enemy, and the most critical of ourselves. When we spend time holding on to the One who holds us we will live above our circumstances. We will not only accept but we will embrace that we were meant to be weak to activate His strength. We were meant to lack to receive His awesome provision. We were meant to end where His power picks up. He has always been and always will be – let’s let Him!

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” Phil 3:12.

When You Wish Upon a Star

“When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a [wo]man, I gave up childish ways…Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have fully known.” 1 Co 13:11-12

I have always been the perfect audience for fairy tales. I think I’ve always believed that wonderful and exciting things are just around the corner. With every Disney princess I tried on the crown. With every fairy tale’s calamity, I knew the rescue was imminent. For every twinkling star I saw in the sky I knew it had the power for my dreams to be realized. But then as I grew into a young woman, the crown tarnished, the rescues looked different, and the star I wished upon certainly failed to deliver.

I think God placed fairy tales in our world to put a snapshot of hope in our hearts. They symbolize purity with darkness that lurks around. They invoke feelings of triumph and tragedy, sorrow and joy, hopelessness and hopefulness…the things that are similar to the world in which we live. But God is writing a beautiful tale for you and for me that is not fantasy. He is penning the circumstances right before our very eyes, but we are so focused on one chapter that we are missing the very scenes that could change our lives. We busy our hearts and minds in the previous chapter where the villain seemed to steal from us. We skip ahead to a future chapter that makes no sense to us. We sit around and try to guess the ending of the book when God just wants us to join Him on today’s page. I read this line in my book this morning and it really opened my heart. ‘I have been earnestly focused on a single star, while God patiently gestures me to the galaxy.’ She Reads Truth, p. 166.

When we can lift our eyes and really engage in the story God is writing for our lives we will walk out our story as God intended. We only have partial understanding, partial wisdom, partial information but God has the fullness of all things. When we keep our eyes on the last sentence He has written we will keep up with the story. He knows us fully and loves us completely so everything we are…everything we need…everything we will be He holds in His hand. ‘He is the God who is not bound by my efforts nor held back by my doubt.’ She Reads Truth, p 166. God is the guiding Star…the only Star and when we wish upon that Star it matters not who we are… dreams will come true.

“Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4

Let It Be Well...

“When peace like a river, attendeth my way, when sorrow like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say, It is well, it is well, with my soul.” Horatio Spafford, ‘It Is Well with My Soul”

This is no doubt one of the most powerful songs to be sung because it was penned from a brokenhearted father who overlooked the 4 watery graves of his daughters.  Horatio Spafford stayed behind for business reasons back in 1873, while his wife and 4 daughters made a voyage to England.  He would join them after his business obligations had been fulfilled.  Their ship collided with another in the Atlantic where his daughters lost their lives.  He received a telegram from his wife that simply said, ‘Survived alone.’ “When Horatio Spafford sailed past the very spot on the Atlantic where his four baby girls sank into the depths, he grieved the passing away of things he knew were temporary.  Then he offered up these words of worship to the God who never moved, who presides over the sorrows and the seas.”  She Reads Truth, p. 160.  I can’t even imagine how he could sing these words, and I can’t even imagine how powerfully precious they were to the ears of God. 

Because we live in a broken world, we all experience deep suffering from losses that are forced upon us.  There will times when our lives are as peaceful as rivers, and then there are those times when mounting billows roll.  These are times when we have to force ourselves to let go and accept the circumstances that have crashed over our lives.  We are forced to wave goodbye to the temporary.  Horatio learned that through sorrows God taught him how to embrace the sorrowful times along with the joyful ones, and the difficult times with the peaceful times.  He taught this man that life will be an ebb and flow journey, and that God will always provide what is needed.  God wants our lives to be lived in complete trust during our temporary time on earth.  He desires that whatever comes our way in this broken world be well in our soul because we choose to hang on to the Permanent. The key word in this song is ‘taught’.  The only way I can say my challenging seasons are well with my soul is to have a teachable heart.  I must offer my suffering up to Him if I wish for things to ever be well in my soul again.  When we close our hearts to God’s grace and comfort, we close our hearts to healing.  Without a teachable heart, nothing life sends our way will be ‘well with our soul.’ 

With Thanksgiving upon us, I want to rejoice that it is well with my soul because this is not my home.  I want to sing with celebration that it is well with my soul because I will see all my loved ones again one day.  I thank God for my soul being well because of all the blessings in which I walk.  I want my heart to be confident that whatever future is up ahead, it will be well with my soul because God holds my entire future. 

Happy Thanksgiving and may it all be well with your soul because of the permanent love of God.

The Teddy Bear Exchange

“You, Lord, give perfect peace to those who keep their purpose firm and put their trust in you.” Isaiah 26:3

A while back I saw this picture of Jesus asking the little girl to give up something priceless before showing her the exchange. She had to trust in His offer before she could see the reward. I am sure that the little girl didn’t even think she needed another teddy bear. She was content with the one she had…small in size…deep in comfort…longevity in possession.

In so many ways I am like this little girl. I hold tightly onto the comforts of this world, when God desires to give me so much more. I determine the measure of worth to precious things like my family, friends and possessions...grasping with white knuckles. This morning I visualized these bears representing my faith journey. God desires to expand and enlarge our faith, but it will always involve giving up something of this world to gain something larger from His hands. Many times, we fail to receive, because we are scared to believe. There have been many times when the exchange has happened…I reached out my little bear named Faith and God exchanged it for something grander. Other times, I have offered up my little Faith and my arms are still empty. But I fully understand that if the exchange hasn’t yet happened, it’s only because He knows that my arms are not yet big enough to receive the reward. Until that time, He gives peace…and I mean real peace. He gives His abundance …and I mean more of Him than I can ever imagine.

If God is asking you to give Him something, you can trust that what He is withholding will make your heart soar. You can trust that in the meantime He will be your peace and your abundance. Your faith will continue to grow as you lay things down at His feet.

“The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith.’ And the Lord said, ‘If you have faith in God even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree which has very strong roots, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.” Luke 17:5-6

The Permanence of Permanent

“‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’” says the Lord God, “‘who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.’” Revelation 1:8.

It seems every time I turn around sin and death are lurking. Like many of you in your circle of influence, prayers are requested for so many things that it is difficult to keep up. The original fall from grace ushered in so much devastation that we can barely catch our breath from one heartbreak to another. As God wants to speak eternity in our hearts, Satan tempts us to believe that the temporary is the ultimate goal. The author of She Reads Truth cuts through the lies and reminds us there are only 4 things that are truly permanent…God…His word…our souls…His church. In a culture that wishes to confuse us about truth, Raechel Myers writes truth in her book saying that ‘everything other than these 4 things are all ashes and dust…it will all pass away…Breath is temporary, but life is valuable. Years are limited, but each life has an eternal weight to it. We can hope for people, but we cannot hope in people.” P. 149.

With Thanksgiving this week, it is easy to focus on the good things and people we have in our lives… these are our temporary pleasures given by God. Unfortunately, sometimes we forget that the good things are still temporary things. Money will go away, jobs will end, relationships get fractured, and bodies wear out. Traumas and tragedies strike the very core of our hearts, and they should. God created us to feel deeply and to love relentlessly like He loves us. There is nothing wrong with loving and grieving our temporary things, but when we make it our ultimate thing is when it becomes an idol. Sometimes something very important like our job, spouse, children or grandchildren becomes more valuable to us than the One who is permanent. It’s why we can’t draw boundaries …it’s the reason we strain to have control over things that end up having control over us. We are trying to hold on tight to ashes and dust instead of the Creator who used it to create us.  While God intends us to love the life He designed for us, we are to hold our lives loosely as we seek God tightly. He was there in the beginning of our lives, He is with us in the present, and He will be there in the end with His arms opened wide.

We must remember that true contentment and joy can only come through keeping our eyes on the Permanent, and enjoying the temporary with a surrendered heart. Our temporary things…our ashes and dust…are incredible blessings from God. Let’s keep them where they belong…held loosely with deep gratitude for the time we have to enjoy them.

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” Eccl 3:11.