Wisdom

Things God Never Says #3

“With the goodness of God to desire our highest welfare, the wisdom of God to plan it, and the power of God to achieve it, what do we lack? Surely we are the most favored of all creatures.” – A. W. Tozer

We can’t be good at everything, and sometimes we are put in a situation that demands a skill we don’t have. I remember someone trying to teach me how to sing. He kept giving instructions to get me to have more volume, more voice, more everything. Frustrated, I finally said, “I’m doing the best I can!” And I was, but it was far from acceptable!

There are times when we ask God to do something for us and he doesn’t respond as we’d like him to. He’s too slow or doesn’t do the job as we want it done. And we might go to him with our complaints. When we do, we know he will never say, “I’m doing the best I can.”

What God wants to do, he does. He does it better than we can ask or even dream. It’s impossible for him to do a less-than-perfect job.

So, if we are frustrated with how he is responding, we might be asking him to do something he doesn’t want done – at least not in the way we are demanding. So what do we do? We trust that God is doing something by far better than we are asking, and we change our will to match his. We yield to him. We give up trying to have things our way, and we say “yes” to his way. He never does anything less than the best!

“This God—his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.” – Psalm 18:30

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Getting Ready

“Do what God tells you to do now, and, depend upon it, you will be shown what to do next.” – Elizabeth Elliot

When we invite someone for dinner, we do a lot of work to get ready: plan the menu, buy the groceries, cook the food, set the table. Why? We have guests coming and we want everything to be welcoming when they get there.

When God called the people of Israel to come back to Jerusalem after their time in exile, he told them to prepare for a crowd:

“Enlarge the place of your tent,
    stretch your tent curtains wide,
    do not hold back;
lengthen your cords,
    strengthen your stakes.” (Isaiah 54:2)

God was telling his people he would settle them back in the land, and they were to make their “tent” bigger to prepare for many more people to come to join them. Company is coming!

There are times when God is telling us to make our tents bigger – to prepare for the next thing he will call us to do. Sometimes, it’s clear what he’s planning and sometimes it’s not. But we should always have an attitude that says we are are willing to enlarge our tent to be ready to serve when he calls.

Often, when we look back on our lives, we see why he told us to move to a certain neighborhood or why he put us in a place where we could learn a new skill, or why he challenged us to teach that class. Even now, he may be preparing us for something greater, something new. If so, get ready for growth, for change, for something only God can do!

“In the wilderness prepare
    the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert
    a highway for our God.” – Isaiah 40:3b

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Somebody doesn’t like me.

“You can love without agreeing with someone. You can disagree without hating them.” – Tim Keller

There are many reasons someone might be critical of us: They disagree with our decisions. They feel hurt by something we said or did. They are of a different political persuasion than we are. Or there is just a conflict between two differing personalities.

Getting others to like us is not the primary goal of life. Not everyone liked Jesus. Some hated him enough to hire witnesses to lie about him so he would be sentenced to die. Not everyone liked King David, or Joseph, or Daniel. . .

So what do we do when someone expresses anger toward us or just doesn’t like us?

If we have hurt them, we should seek forgiveness. Sometimes we are the forgiver and sometimes the forgiven, often it’s both: “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32).

If it’s a difference of opinion about lifestyle, leadership, or politics, we should agree to disagree and continue in a respectful relationship: “. . . let’s stop condemning each other. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall” (Romans 14:13).

If these approaches don’t bring peace, we should give it all to God and move on. “Never pay back evil with more evil. . . Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone” (Romans 12:17-18).

We should try to live in harmony with others, especially with our brothers and sisters in Christ. We should address conflicts, pray for one another, and grow in our relationship with God. He is the one we want to please the most.

“Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.” – 1 Peter 3:8

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A Big World. A Big God

“God made man small and the universe big to say something about himself.” – John Piper

Have you been looking at some of the pictures of space and stars and galaxies that are being captured by the James Webb Space Telescope? They are revealing . . .

. . . the vastness of the universe – bigger than we thought it was, endless maybe.

. . . the details of the universe – like icy compounds of complex organic molecules that scientists can identify from millions of miles away.

. . . the beauty of the universe that inspires awe just because it is there in dramatic expanse and color.

Then we think about the God who created it. The creator is greater than the creation. How limitless our God must be in terms of his mind, power, and authority. The more we learn about the universe, the more we stand in awe of him.

And that leads to something else:

When we stop to think about how great God is, we begin to understand that we can’t demand anything of him. We can’t control or manipulate him. And we are wise not to be angry at him or disappointed in him. Who are we compared to God? Who are we to question him? To second guess him? The universe, as it unfolds before us, invites us to do one thing: Worship the one who created it.

We will never completely understand God and his nature, but the more we allow ourselves to ponder his greatness, the more we will learn to depend on him and trust him and, eventually, to love him. We don’t have to understand everything. We just have to receive what he offers of himself and his gifts. And that is enough.

“These are just the beginning of all that he does, merely a whisper of his power.” – Job 26:14

Photo of Saturn from NASA’s website, taken from the James Webb Space Telescope, 2024.

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Adventuring

“. . .if you have not been enchanted by this adventure – your life – what would do for you?” – Mary Oliver

Do you ever just pause and consider the wonder of living? The amazing fact that we are alive, breathing, thinking, seeing, processing, planning, eating, talking, sleeping, and waking? It’s an adventure walking through this life with God. We trust him, we know he has our best interest at heart, and we know that, no matter what, he is with us.

But, someone reading this is saying, “Adventure? But, I have big problems.” Yup. There are problems. As I was taught by a friend many years ago, “Problems are opportunities.” Opportunities to grow, to be courageous, to prove ourselves, to learn, and to know the joy that comes at the end of the struggle.

Attitude plays a big part in living an adventurous life. Every person on this planet has problems, it’s just that some people’s issues are more visible than others. We get to choose how to face life – with joy and anticipation and trust in our all-powerful, all-wise Father or with dissatisfaction and fear, thinking we have to control everything ourselves.

What is it that would make us truly joyful about the life we are living? I believe it is when we walk in lockstep with Jesus, following him and his teaching, believing he is preparing a place for us, and trusting that everything that happens to us has a benefit we cannot see. That’s trust. Faith. Confidence in the One who is in control. As we learn to do this, it becomes easier, and life, even with problems, turns into an adventure!

“Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy,” – 1 Peter 1:8

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True or False?

“Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established, that, unless we love the truth, we cannot know it.” – Blaise Pascal

I read once that when law enforcement officers train business owners to recognize counterfeit bills, they don’t spend any time looking at the counterfeits. Instead, they study a real bill, implanting every detail in their brains. Why? Because if they know what the real thing looks like, feels like, and smells like, they won’t be fooled by something that’s close, but counterfeit.

It’s one thing to be deceived about the validity of paper money; it’s quite another to be misled about matters of eternal consequence. The place we go to for truth we can rely on is God’s Word. The Bible is God’s revelation of ultimate truths about our purpose in this world, his character and standards, how we should relate to other human beings, how and why we should take care of the earth, and life after death. It really matters that we get those things right!

There are many theories out there about these issues, but there’s only one source of truth by which we measure everything else we hear, see, or read. If the message syncs with what God says, it’s truth. If it varies, even a little bit, it’s false. It’s of ultimate importance to know the difference.

The only way not to be misled, is for us to immerse ourselves, first of all, in reading and studying God’s Word. Then we can supplement that by listening to trusted biblical teachers and reading reliable Christian authors. When we have the truth firmly implanted in our minds and hearts, it will be easy to see and discard the counterfeits.

“Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.” – Psalm 25:5

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The True God

“Only if your God can say things that outrage you and make you struggle . . . will you know that you have gotten hold of a real God and not a figment of your imagination.” – Timothy Keller

Sometimes when we’re reading a Bible passage, we just have to stop and say, “What?” I feel that way when I read about God asking Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac, who was supposed to be the one through whom God would fulfill all the promises he had made to Abraham. What could God be thinking?

Then I realize that the fact that we don’t know what God was thinking reinforces his deity. His thoughts are way beyond any we could think. His purposes are often hidden and we don’t understand what he’s up to. He is far beyond our human ability to imagine or understand.

God has revealed a lot about himself in the Bible. But not everything – not even close.

We read about other gods like those in mythology. These are gods that are like exaggerated humans, with human characteristics and idiosyncracies. We can see how a human could imagine a Zeus or a Hercules.

The God we know is different from gods of human imagination. He’s not like a giant or exaggerated human. He is, as the theologians say, totally “other” – different from us in every way. And because mere humans could never have dreamed up a god like our God, that makes his reality more trustworthy. Not being able to understand him completely is part of our assurance that he is the real, the revealed, the only God of the universe.

So, instead of objecting to his decisions or direction, I am learning to trust that he is God. And he is good. That may be enough to know for now.

“. . . great things he does, which we cannot comprehend.” – Job 37:5

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Very Present

“A sense of the divine presence and indwelling bears the soul towards heaven as upon the wings of eagles. At such times we are full to the brim with spiritual joy, and forget the cares and sorrows of earth; the invisible is near, and the visible loses its power over us.” – Charles Spurgeon

I had one of those situations recently: Someone I was working with had frustrated me – again – with an issue I thought had been resolved. I was upset, angry even, to the extent that I couldn’t sleep. So I lay in bed praying a really simple prayer, “I need you, Lord.” Then a few minutes later I got more deeply theological, “Help me!”

Soon this verse came to mind: “God is my refuge and strength; a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). Did you ever think about what it means to be “very present” to someone? I found out that night. It meant that he listened. I sensed he was attentive, he heard what was underneath my complaints, he was empathetic to my frustration.

Then he calmed me. I felt better just knowing he was there, that he cared and understood. And, over time, he directed my steps: After on-and-off praying and sensing his nearness all night, I awoke with a plan for how to address the problem.

My heavenly Father was very present in my time of trouble. The problem didn’t go away, but I got something better: I had God’s attention, his peace, and his direction. His very presence.

If you are in deep distress now, know that he is there for you, too. He’s just waiting for your own version of the “help me” prayer.

“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” – Psalm 16:11

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Doing, being, becoming

“To fail to see the value of simply being with God and ‘doing nothing’ is to miss the heart of Christianity.” – Peter Scazzero

Have you set goals for 2024? Many of us have. We want to set our sights on what we can accomplish before another new year dawns. Many of the self-help books tell us to set goals that will challenge us – “dream big”, they say.  I think it’s good to keep reaching, to want to achieve, but most of us will get to the end of this year with some goals that are unfinished, unreached. What do we do with that?

Maybe we need a little balance: Striving and achieving, yes. But, maybe more importantly, being and becoming.

Here’s why: Some year, we’ll set our goals for the last time and we don’t know when that will be. So wisdom tells me that part of our planning this year should include becoming. Becoming more peaceful and less anxious, more loving and more generous, quieter and wiser, becoming more like Jesus. There will always be goals and plans that are unfinished! If we wait to get them all done before we focus on our personal and spiritual growth, we will never give ourselves permission or opportunity to become.

Let’s  go for it with goals for 2024. We can work hard, achieve, and glorify God in the process. But, at some time each day and for longer times on non-work days, let’s stop doing to spend time with God: talking to him, walking with him, reading his book, singing him songs, listening for his voice. These will open the door to becoming who God created us to be. Then we’ll know that it may be OK if lesser goals remain unfinished.

“For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.” – Psalm 62:5

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Too much to do?

“Fear arises when we imagine that everything depends on us.” – Elizabeth Elliot

It’s that time of year when, in addition to our standard job and family responsibilities, we add Christmas preparations: shopping, sending cards, cooking/baking, concerts, church programs, parties, school celebrations, and on and on. Result: stress!

How do we do it all? Here are a few practical suggestions:

First, pace yourself. Start early to avoid crowds and to spread out the work.

Second, be organized. Put everything on your calendar, including reminders along the way. Make every shopping trip count by planning ahead for what you will need for each event in the month.

Third, solicit help. If you have a family, make sure the kids are included in the work, as well as the joy, of this season. Share the load: It will be lighter for you, and they will learn to be part of the team. Talk to your spouse, too. See what you can do together to streamline the “to do” list this season.

Finally, trust God. I heard a speaker on the radio say this years ago: “You have time to do today everything God wants you to do.” That hit home to me. I knew it meant that, if I was overwhelmed, I must be doing things God had not put on my list. So, a big way to avoid stress this season is to ask God every day what he wants us to do that day. Then we trust him and do with all our might the things he places before us.

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” – Romans 12:2