Wisdom

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The God Who Sleeps

A question we have all asked: Does God care? This is a guest post written by a friend and fellow blogger, Tom Aldrich.

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A few days ago those of us who reside in Michigan had one of those classic, late fall, cold, cloudy, rainy days. In other words, it was a perfect day for a nap. Fortunately it was also the weekend so I took advantage and executed a flawless, monster nap. napping1If you have never experienced an impassioned snooze on a rainy, cold, Michigan, mid-November, Sunday afternoon, I highly recommend it. Naps…one of the few, free, simple pleasures of life.

I had a providential moment as I was sipping on my coffee, praying and reading my Bible in the early hours of the morning today. I love encountering scriptures that challenge our thinking about who God is…or shall I say, how He reveals Himself to us. I came upon a verse that momentarily had me scratching my head in confusion regarding God and naps…

Arouse Yourself, why do You sleep, O Lord? Awake, do not reject…

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Throw it to Me

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“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.” – 1 Corinthians 9:24

This fall we were playing a homespun version of Frisbee in our backyard with our son and daughter-in-law and their three young children. Everybody wanted the Frisbee thrown to them. “I’m open. Throw it to me, Daddy!” shouted the Luuk and Silvia. And even 2 1/2 year-old Helen chimed in, “I’m open. I’m open!” We knew she didn’t have much of a chance of catching it, but she was eager to be part of the game. All of us had fun because every player was fully engaged, wanting to get their hands on that Frisbee and do what they could to move the game forward.

Their childlike enthusiasm made me think about my relationship with God. How often do I say to Him, “I’m open. Throw it to me.” Sometimes I am afraid He will throw it to me, and I will fumble. At other times I just hope He chooses someone else to visit the person in the nursing home, make a meal for the new mom, or lead the Bible study.

Don’t you think it would warm His fatherly heart if we made ourselves available to His will, to respond with eagerness as He directs His assignment to us? That’s the best way to know His favor and the absolute joy of making the catch and then passing it along to others who will benefit, too. And, don’t worry about fumbling – He always seems to give us another chance.

“I’m open, Father. Throw it to me!”

The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet. -Frederick Buechner

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10 Surprising Truths About Jesus: A Response

This is not a standard post for me, but there is something I want to share with those of you who may be interested.

"Send forth Your light and truth, let them guide me." - Psalm 43:3a

“Send forth Your light and truth, let them guide me.” – Psalm 43:3a

Every now and then I read something that I can’t quite let go of. It gnaws at me until I respond in some way. That happened last week with a blog I read titled “Ten Surprising Truths About Jesus”. Much of what was labeled as truth was misleading and incomplete. I did respond to the post yesterday and am sharing the link with you just in case you’d like to read the blog and also my fairly lengthy comment.

You may want to add a response of your own. Sometimes it is important to speak up lovingly and convincingly so sincere questioners are not led away from our faith, but, instead, can become aware of the validity of its message. May God’s name be glorified as we live out the faith we have been given.

10 surprising truths about Jesus.

 

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Why Not Tell Him?

"Come close to God and He will come close to you." - James 4:

“The Lord is my rock, my fortress, my deliverer.” – Psalm 18:2a

Who is the first person you call or text when you face a crisis? I hope we all have someone we can turn to when we need a listening ear or a helping hand.

I recently read about John the Baptist who was unfairly imprisoned because his theology clashed with King Herod’s lifestyle. Then, at a party when Herod had had too much alcohol and was enamored with his stepdaughter’s dancing, he suddenly ordered John’s execution. John’s disciples were notified of the beheading, so they sadly came and buried his body.

What to do now? Their leader was gone and they had taken care of handling the immediate crisis. They could have gone home in despair, but instead, Matthew tells us “Then they went and told Jesus.” (Mt. 14:12).

Why Jesus? Maybe because they knew . . .

  • He would want to know.
  • He would comfort them.
  • He would have a plan for what to do next.

I can’t think of a better way to handle any crisis, big or small, that might come into our lives. Jesus wants us to express our anxiety, grief, or loss to Him – in detail. He doesn’t start yawning halfway through our stories. More than than that, He will meet us at the point of our deepest need, the need we may not even know we have. Then He will guide us into the next right steps.

Now is a really good time to talk to Him.

“If we draw near to Him, then He will make His presence tangible in our lives.” – Henry Blackaby

 

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Stormy Weather

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“In the end I chose to let Him love me and then chose to trust that love.”  – Peter *

Sometimes life is stormy. And when the storm comes, we usually struggle for awhile, then we pray, asking God to stop the wind and relieve our pain.

Instead, maybe the scenario should be more like this:

Think of yourself in a big wooden boat with Jesus – just the two of you. He looks at the sky and tells you a storm is coming, it’s time to go down into the hold. You remember that He did that when He was with the disciples, so you follow Him gladly.

Once there, a ferocious storm breaks out. You are afraid and are being thrown from one side of the boat to the other. Panicking, you ask Him to calm the storm like He did before. He doesn’t seem to respond. But He reaches out, pulls you gently toward Him and holds you so you are no longer being tossed about.

Then He speaks quietly, “The storm will pass, but I am not going to stop it from running its course. Instead, we’re going to stay here together. With Me you will be safe. And when it’s all over, you will trust Me more. The kind of trust I want you to have can grow only in the storm.”

Can we trust Him to take us through the storm? To hold us close when it’s darkest? To love us enough to do the right thing for us at the right time? We can. We learn that in the storm.

“We wait in hope for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in His holy name.” – Psalm 33:20-21

 *From The Fisherman by Larry Huntsperger

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Ideas for Your Spiritual Journey

Last week ChristianMedia Magazine published a short article I wrote about using technology in our spiritual walk. Here’s the link if you are interested:

http://christianmediamagazine.com/looking-help-spiritual-journey-theres-app/

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Keeping it Simple

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“The most important thing in life is knowing the most important things in life.” ― David F. Jakielo

One of Thoreau’s most-quoted sayings is “Simplify, simplify, simplify.” That message goes right to the core of what following Jesus is all about. For us, the simple life means serving God and God alone.

As we think about putting this into practice, most of us need to live more simply in several areas:

Speech: Sometimes our words tumble over one another in their hurry to get out of our mouths. For me, at least, I know I should speak less and listen more.

Clothes: My closet overfloweth. How about yours? Think how much simpler life would be if we spent less time thinking about, buying, cleaning, and storing clothes!

Possessions: Most of us own things we don’t use. Let’s pack up a carload and take it to our local charitable resale shop. It’s a great way to streamline our lives and to share with those who will treasure what we don’t need.

Activity: Maybe we need to clean up our calendars. What can we stop doing that no longer is helpful to us? Where can we create spaces in our week that provide room for making life less hectic and more meaningful?

Why simplify? One reason stands out: Making room for God to be the one and only intention in our lives. We cannot do that when we are surrounded by physical, emotional, or relational clutter. Maybe it would be a good idea this week to ask God to show us where we need to begin to live more simply – like Jesus did.

“Godliness with contentment is great gain.” – 1 Timothy 6:16

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“Go to” Prayers

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“How blessed all those in whom You live, whose lives become roads You travel . . . God-traveled, these roads curve up the mountain, and at the last turn—Zion! God in full view!”–  from Psalm 84:5-7 (MSG)

We fall far short of God’s command to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We want to love Him more, but don’t know how. The truth is only God can grow that kind of love in our hearts. We just have to invite Him in.

Christians through the ages have given God that invitation by adopting a “go to” prayer to open their hearts to Him. For example, when I find my mind wrapped up in something distracting or disturbing, I mentally or quietly pray what is known as the Jesus Prayer: “Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”  Others use the first sentence of The Lord’s Prayer, a short verse or phrase, or sometimes just Jesus’ name.

Over time, we will find ourselves saying our chosen words many times each day. These “go to” prayers become sincere invitations to God to walk with us along life’s path even if our minds are not fully engaged at the time.

It is a simple practice, but profound in its power to change us. How?

  • God is thrilled to hear from His children, so whenever we turn to Him, He responds.
  • We begin to realize that His response is always loving.
  • His love feels so good, we can’t help loving Him in return.

Being loved and loving. It’s ours when we turn toward Him – always.

“Give me only a love for You, and the gift of Your grace; then I am rich enough, and ask for nothing more.” – St. Ignatius of Loyola

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Broken

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“When there is nothing left that we can do, God can do anything.” – Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein

Have you ever made a bad mistake? Or followed a sinful desire? Or been deeply wounded by someone? If so, you will be able to relate to this story told by a professor from California:

“In my office sits a pot. A student made it as an extra credit assignment in a class for me last Spring. She wanted to do something other than a typical research assignment, so we decided she could do a piece of art.

She went to Home Depot, bought the ceramic pot, broke it into pieces, painted each piece, wrote a New Testament passage on each piece that speaks about God restoring and redeeming us, then made a valiant effort to glue it all together again.

When she delivered her finished assignment to me, I asked her what spiritual lessons she had learned from the exercise. She did not hesitate. ‘Two things,’ she said.

‘First, I discovered that the pieces would never fit perfectly back as they once were. Then I realized that no matter what God did in my life, I would never be exactly as I once was.’

‘Second, it took me far longer to reconstruct the pot than I imagined. And I realized that the work of God in my life might take a lot longer than I expect. I should be patient.'”

Broken? It’s OK. God can work with pieces if we consciously, intentionally give them to Him. Then we need to be patient while He works, knowing He has a beautiful result in mind!

“I learned God-worship when my pride was shattered. Heart-shattered lives ready for love don’t for a moment escape God’s notice.” – Psalm 51:17 (MSG)

(Story used by permission from Dr. David Timms, Professor of New Testament at William Jessup University. Go to http://www.davidtimms.wordpress.com if you want to read more from him.)