Any Requests?

1 Kings 8:54-61--When Solomon had finished all these prayers and supplications to the LORD, he rose from before the altar of the LORD, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven.  55)  He stood and blessed the whole assembly of Israel in a loud voice, saying:  56)  “Praise be to the LORD, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses.  57)  May the LORD our God be with us as He was with our fathers; may He never leave us nor forsake us.  58)  May He turn our hearts to Him, to walk in all His ways and to keep the commands, decrees and regulations which He gave our fathers.  59)  And may these words of mine, which I have prayed before the LORD, be near to the LORD our God day and night, that He may uphold the cause of His servant and the cause of His people Israel according to each day’s need, 60) so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God and that there is no other.  61)  But your hearts must be fully committed to the LORD our God, to live by His decrees and obey His commands, as at this time.” 

It rapidly approached…2014!  Lots of people made their New Year’s resolutions. They resolve to change their lives in the New Year—to start doing this, to stop doing that. Did you write yours?  New Year’s resolutions are fine, but a better way for us Christians might be not to make resolutions, but to make New Year’s requests. Requests put the emphasis where it belongs—not on us and on our power, but on God and His power.  Asking is an act of humility, an indicator of our need for a power greater than ourselves.  So join me today as we listen to our God, who tells us:

MAKE SOME NEW YEAR’S REQUESTS!

There are three requests we ought to make, as we see in Solomon’s words this evening:

1. Ask God to never leave us

2. Ask God to help us keep His commands

3. Ask God to bless our daily efforts 

Solomon says, “May the Lord our God be with us as He was with our fathers; May He never leave us nor forsake us.”  God will never leave us in 2014, but we are able to leave Him.  We all have a sinful heart that attacks God’s rule inside us and wants to do our own thing.  Every sin we did in 2013 is proof of that.  This past year wasn’t always moments of pride for me.  I look back and see broken promises, unfinished work, undisciplined days, and feeble attempts to serve Jesus.  If you’re honest with yourself, I’m sure you see the same thing.  We left our Lord and tried to run away from Him too much this last year...even if it was only once. 

That’s why we need to pray tonight, “Jesus, never leave us or forsake us in 2014.”

As Solomon says in verse 58, “May He turn our hearts to Him.”  When we ask God to never leave us, we’re asking God to turn our hearts to Him.  We’re the ones who need to change. We’re the ones who need to be different.  We’re asking God to lead us to repentance, for that’s what the word “repent” means: “to turn,” or “to change.”  When we ask God to never leave us, we’re asking Him to make us sorry for our sin the instant we do, say, or think it.  We’re pleading with God to assure us of Jesus’ forgiveness for that sin.  We’re asking God to cause us to joyfully remember we’re redeemed through His blood.  Our God has done that for us daily in 2013.  And He will continue to fulfill His truth!

Solomon continues speaking, “Not one word has failed of all the good promises God gave through His servant Moses.”  Our God won’t leave us in 2014.  He’ll be there every day for us.  He’ll speak to us daily through the words of the Bible we read; those very words we meditate on, those words we have memorized...we have written on the tablet of our hearts.  He’ll faithfully be there every week as we gather for worship or Bible Study or Wednesday Night Fellowship.  He’ll be there constantly/consistently through our fellow Christians, who bring us words of encouragement, comfort, strength and correction throughout this New Year.  When we ask God to never leave us, that’s a prayer of faith in which we declare we believe He NEVER WILL.

And that leads to a second New Year’s request: Ask God to help us keep His commands.

Solomon says, “May He turn our hearts to walk in all His ways and to keep the commands, decrees, and regulations which He gave our fathers.” This wise king continues, “Your hearts must be fully committed to the Lord our God, to live by His decrees and obey His commands.”

It is part of our Christian faith that we now turn from sin and desire to do God’s will.  The Bible says, “The fear of the Lord is to depart from evil.”  Jesus once said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:15)

Part of believing in Jesus is that we are now devoted to doing what God wants us to do, because of Jesus’ love for us.  It’s true; we won’t always get that done.  There’s still a part of us that wrestles with the flesh and doesn’t want to do what He has for us.  To the degree that we see that in our daily lives, that’s proof we still have an old Adam of sin who’s alive and well.  But that part of us is NOT in charge of our lives.  The new man of faith is!  The real us, the real people of God that we are, is our believing nature & His redeeming grace.  And He’s the one in control of our lives.  The instant we see sin rooting in us, we fight it tooth and nail because His blood & salvation have made us a new creation!  His Holy Spirit inside convicting us for His glory.  Because we believe in and have accepted Jesus, now we are determined not to sin, but to fight it and do God’s commands instead.

HOWEVER, we need God’s power to do that, so that’s why we ask God to help us keep His commands. We ask the Father to remind us of what Jesus did for us to cleanse us from our sins.  We request that God daily to show us His love in Jesus and to assure us that because of Him we’re forgiven.  We petition Him daily to guard our lives, tongues, and thoughts with His controlling gospel power.  Paul says, “The love of Christ compels us, for we are convinced that if one died for all, then all died. And He died for all…so that those who live no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again.”  Ask God to help us keep His commands in the year 2014.

This is especially needed in our relationships.  How about in our homes?—husbands and wives, parents and children, brothers and sisters.  Ask God to help you treat each other with kindness, respect, gentleness, and love.  In the workplace—ask God to help you do your job well (to work as unto Him), to follow Matthew 18, and avoid petty gossip.  In your social lives and neighborhoods—ask God to help you live lives that glorify Jesus. Make this New Year’s request—We need His help.

Finally, let us ask God to bless our daily efforts.  Solomon says, “May the Lord our God uphold the cause of His servant and the cause of His people Israel according to each day’s need, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God and that there is no other.”  Solomon here is asking the Lord to bless his daily efforts as king and to uphold the efforts of Israel as the Lord’s people.

We do the same.  If we claim to be heirs with Christ then every day we do what we do because of Jesus’ love for us.  God has laid out for us what to do in 2014.  He’s planned it all and has set up opportunities for us to serve Him.  We just need to ask God to bless us as we do them.

Are you a husband and a father?  Ask God to bless you in that role.

Are you a wife and a mother?  Ask God to bless you in that role.

Are you a student or a worker?  Ask God to bless you in that role.

We all have individual tasks that are given to us daily.  They may look rather mundane, common, monotonous—preparing meals, punching timecards, cleaning homes, doing schoolwork.  They may seem to be not very glorious to the world, but they are glorious to our God, because they are an assignment from Him...And He’s promised to bless them.

The Bible says in 1 Thes 4:11-12, “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.”  Don’t ever put down what you’re called to do in 2014.  Because when it’s done in the name of Jesus, God views it as a wonderful act of thanksgiving, love, and sacrifice to Him.

Solomon tells us everything we do has missionary value.  Let me write that again!  EVERYTHING WE DO HAS MISSIONARY VALUE.  He states in 1 Kings, “so that all the peoples on earth may know that the Lord is God and that there is no other.”  People will be watching us in 2014.  Will they see our little acts of kindness?  Will they hear our tactful and encouraging words?  Will they observe our faithfulness to duty and our commitment to people?  Will they notice our submissiveness to God’s will and to one another?  Will they be aware of our quiet and confident joy in living as children of God?  Will they be amazed at our forgiving attitude and daily contentment?  You can’t hide the fruits of the Spirit.  Let’s ask God to bless our daily efforts at letting our lights shine in 2014, so many other people will be led to give up their ‘rat race’ approach to life and revel in God’s grace instead.

Go ahead.  Make your New Year’s resolutions.  But make them in the form of a prayer. If we make resolutions to do anything by our own power, they will fail.  But if we make resolutions to do everything in life in the power of our God, then He will bless them. Turn to God this New Year and make some New Year’s requests!

I pray:  Loving God, inspire us with courage and hope as we continue to embark on this New Year.  May our lives throughout the coming months be an example of Your love in our relationships with family, friends, and those we meet in our work.  Bless us with fruitful opportunities in 2014; grant us the wisdom to grasp them, and Your resources to complete them.  In the powerful name of Jesus, I pray AMEN!

Whose Idea Was It?!!

Mark 4:35-41:  On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?”

Whose Idea Was It?

The key to understanding this story lies in one important question. If you know the answer to this question, then you know what this story is about. If you don’t know the answer, or if you skip over it, the meaning of this story will be lost to you.

Whose idea was it to get in the boat in the first place?

Go back and read the text. The answer is very plain. When evening came, at the end of a long day of ministry, after Jesus and his disciples had spent hours ministering to the needs of people, after giving and giving and giving of themselves for the needs of others, it was Jesus himself who said, “Let us go across to the other side.” No doubt his disciples were glad to hear that word because they were very tired. Mark 4:1-2 says that such a large crowd gathered to hear Jesus teach that he had to get in a boat and teach them while they pressed to the edge of the water. It had been like that everywhere they went. Crowds came to hear the Master. Sick people came to be healed. The confused came to find hope. On and on they came, day after day, wanting to hear Jesus, desperately wanting to be near him. Helping hurting people, if you really care about them at all, will cost you everything you have. Serving others takes a toll on the spirit. Who among us has not gone to bed at night so weary from phone calls and meetings and a day spent solving difficult problems and trying to untangle the problems of others that we wanted nothing more than a good night’s rest? When you have given all that you have, rest is what you need. And I do not doubt that the disciples were glad to hear that they were going to go to the other side of the lake. Several of them were fishermen who knew the Sea of Galilee intimately. And that night the skies promised smooth sailing from the west to the east. They had made that journey themselves many times in their fishing boats and they looked forward to a few hours of rest.

It all started very well. As the boat left the western shore, the lake was so calm that Jesus decided to go to sleep in the stern, resting on a cushion. Suddenly a great storm arose, the wind rushing down across the mountains and through the Arbel, whipping up the waves and causing them to come crashing into the boat. As the water entered, the disciples furiously tried to bail it out but the water rushed in faster than they could bail it out. The little fishing boat bobbed like a cork as wave after wave crashed into it. Nothing could be more terrifying than to be on a boat in the blackness of night as it takes on water and slowly begins to sink.

“Lord, Don’t You Care?”

Finally, the disciples woke Jesus up, asking him a question that to us may seem impertinent, but it is one we have all asked in moments of desperation:  “Do you not care that we are perishing?”

Lord Jesus, don’t you care that my child is sick?

Lord Jesus, don’t you care that my marriage is falling apart?

Lord Jesus, don’t you care that my friends have deserted me?

Lord Jesus, don’t you care that I have no money?

Lord Jesus, don’t you care that I feel so alone?

Lord Jesus, don’t you care that I want to give up?

Lord Jesus, don’t you care that my husband has died?

Lord Jesus, don’t you care that I lost my job?

We have all asked that question in a million ways a million times. We never question the Lord’s compassion when things are going well. But God’s compassion is not measured by our circumstances nor is his kindness limited to our understanding. God cares just as much when the tempest is raging as when the seas are calm and the sun is shining. His mercy is not limited to the sunlight nor this mercy to the stillness of the waves.

When he awoke, Jesus spoke three words: “Peace, be still!” Eugene Peterson offers this colorful paraphrase: “Awake now, he told the wind to pipe down and said to the sea, ‘Quiet! Settle down!’ The wind ran out of breath; the sea became smooth as glass.” And just like that the storm ended. I find it encouraging that the text says Jesus rebuked the storm—not the terrified disciples. To them he simply said, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” Implicit in those words is a lesson we all need to learn. The disciples were afraid because they were men who were used to being in control of life. They knew how to handle hard situations. There wasn’t a weakling among them. And yet, when put in a life-threatening situation beyond their control, their faith turned to fear. Instead of putting them down, Jesus simply says, “Have you still no faith?” The answer is yes and no. They had faith in Jesus. They truly believed in Him. But their faith, though real, was not yet full-grown. And how do you get the faith that enables you to survive the storms of life? The only answer I know is to get in the boat with Jesus and ride with him wherever he wants to go.

Where there are no storms, there is no danger.

Where there is no danger, there is no fear.

Where there is no fear, there is no testing.

Where there is no testing, there is no learning.

Where there is no learning, there is no growing.

Where there is no growing, there is no faith.

Here is the shorthand version:

Where there are no storms, there is no faith.

No storms, no faith.

Few storms, a little faith.

Many storms, much faith.

No Shortcuts

So it is for all of us who follow Jesus. There are no shortcuts along the pathway of spiritual growth.

The storms of life are not a detour.

They are not a mistake.

They are not a trick or a trap.

They are not sent to cause to destroy you.

Your storms are sent by God to cause you to reach the end of yourself so that you will cry out to the Lord in utter desperation, “Don’t you care that I am perishing?” And in that moment—not before it, but in it, when the water seems about to engulf you and all that is dear to you is lost—in that moment, the Lord rises and says, “Peace, be still!”

So that you will not miss the point, let me repeat it one more time. Who told them to get in the boat in the first place? The answer is Jesus. It was his idea all along. Did he know about the storm in advance? Of course he did. And he told them to get in the boat anyway. Did he warn them in advance? No, because that would have ruined the lesson they needed to learn.

All of us have moments—most of us have many of them—when we feel utterly alone and forgotten by God. When life tumbles in around us, even after we have tried to serve God to be the best of our ability, there are moments when we feel that God has left us completely.

There is no avoiding those moments of utter despair.

Sometimes we bring them on ourselves by the choices we make.

Sometimes they come because we have done what the Lord told us to do.

Sometimes the storms of life seem to come out of nowhere.

The Choice We Must Make

In those moments we have a choice to make.

Either we choose to believe that the Lord sent the storm to us for his own purposes or we choose to believe that the Lord has abandoned us and left us to our own devices.

I do not believe we can manipulate God into avoiding the storms or somehow making them suddenly disappear. If anything, this story is meant to teach us exactly the opposite. Sometimes our path takes us into the storm. Sometimes we see the clouds gathering and know it is coming. More often the winds suddenly rise up and our life, which had been so well-planned, suddenly turns upside down and we begin to sink beneath the waves.

Jesus is the Lord of the wind and the waves.

When we calls us, we get into the boat.

When he sleeps, we toil on.

When the storm comes, we cry out to him.

When he awakes, he calms the storm.

When the storm is over, our faith is stronger.

Are you in a storm at this very moment? You are not there by accident but by your Father’s design. He does not intend to hurt you even though you feel like screaming because your pain is so great. You are not alone though it feels that way now. You may have lost everything, but you have not lost the Lord. He is still with you though you cannot see him or sense his presence.

Fear not.

Keep believing.

The Master of the sea is by your side. When the time has come, he will say, “Peace, be still,” and the storm will run out of breath and the sea will become like glass. Eventually the day will break and the sun will shine again. And when you look back, you will see that you faith has grown stronger by the storm you passed through.

What a Christ we serve!

Even the winds and waves obey him!

 

Tractors and Talents

Every day on my commute to and from church, I pass this John Deere tractor just outside Viola, IL.  As you can tell from the picture, it is pretty rough; its whole body is covered with rust, faded & chipped paint, ensnarled with branches & debris, unmovable, and dead.  It sits like a hollow memorial to what could have been.  It’s almost sad to look upon...a well made instrument wasted.     

In His parable of the talents, Jesus says in Matthew 25:18, “But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.”  This verse got me thinking about the abandoned tractor; surely at one time, that green and yellow machine had to have been running and successfully assisting its creator in fulfilling his work.  Now it is unproductive and broken..literally and figuratively frozen to the ground.

In this world, I’m afraid to say that many people fall into this category; hiding away their gifts and stalling out in their productivity.  Regardless of our reasons why, God has still bestowed upon all of us a unique array of talents!  And this bundle of talents is the thing God has given you to make you who you are and sets you apart from other people.  We are challenged and called in 1 Peter 4:10 “…Use whatever gift He has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace.”  Since we are the body of Christ, and each part matters…meaning NO ONE who is insignificant.  We are shaped to serve others through our talents.      

1 Corinthians 4:2 states, “You are a manager of the gifts God has given to you. They may be great or small in your eyes, but they matter to God.  "Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful."  See, when God made you, He placed an investment in you.  He expects a return on that investment…more importantly, He DESERVES one!

My questions for you:  Are you using what God has given you to creatively fulfill the work of the Father (connecting them to Jesus Christ) or are you burying those talents to benefit yourself?

Those who know me know how much I love movies; in A Bronx Tale, Robert De Niro’s character states, “The saddest thing in life is wasted talent.”  How very true this statement is.  When God gives you a talent, He expects you to use it.  If you don’t, you’ll lose it.  Like the parable of the ten talents (Luke 19), if you don’t use what God has given you, He will take it away and give it to someone else who will.  WASTED TALENT.  But if you use those gifts, He will strengthen them and GIVE YOU MORE...Well done, good and FAITHFUL servant.

So what kind of tractor are you? 

My Trial

Sirens sound outside my house.  I rise from my chair to look, but before I reach the window, a bullhorn squeals.  I stop in my tracks.  “This is the Davenport Police,” says a gruff voice, “Come out of the house with your hands in the air and throw down any weapons.”

I frown, but turn to the front door and do as the man says.  After all, I raised by and need to listen to a DPD Officer, especially if I haven’t done anything wrong, right? !

When I open the door, my heart flutters in my chest as I see about twenty guns pointing in my direction.  “What’s this all about?”  I step out onto the porch with my hands up, trying to figure out what was happening.  Maybe they just have the wrong address.

Two officers grab me and lock my wrists in handcuffs.  “Hey, Ouch!  Will someone please tell me what’s going on?”  I ask again.  The officer looks at me funny, like I should know what this is about, and then recites my rights.  My mind swirls like alphabet soup, and I can’t put the letters together to make any sense.

After he finishes and asks if I understand my rights, I say, “There must have been a mistake.  I didn’t do anything illegal.”

“Tell it to the Judge,” he says as he hauls me into the squad.  “We’re taking you straight to court.”  He slams the door violently and gets in the driver's seat in front of me.

Straight to court?  I never heard of such a thing!  “Who’s my attorney?  Can’t I make some calls?,” I shout through the metal netting that separates the criminal from the officer. 

 “You don’t even know if I’m guilty!” I retort. 

The officer concentrates on the street ahead, blatantly ignoring me.  I must be dreaming seriously. This could NEVER happen in real life.  Too bad I’m handcuffed and can’t pinch myself...that always works in cartoons.

Once at the courthouse, the officer shoves me though the door and walks me down a long hall, leading to a massive door.  He heaves open the door and pushes me into a spacious room with tall ceilings.  A Judge sits high at her oak desk, and many other people fill up the seats in the room.  

 

Then I see him.  Seated beside the Judge is familiar face...the one I wronged.  But I can’t seem to remember his name, and I definitely can’t place what I’ve done to him.

The Judge slams her mallet on her table, “Here begins the trial for the murder of Jesus Christ, son of God.”

My throat burns as it all floods back to me.  His bloody death on the cross, and I just stood there.  He was dying because of me.  All of my lies and behavior nailed Him to that piece of wood.  A groan courses wildly inside me.  I did kill him.

“We hereby suspect you –” I startle as she juts her short, red-manicured finger at me. “– as the killer.”

The room echoes with horrified gasps.  I know my actions will mean a life sentence, but I also realize I am guilty.  My tattered emotions bubble from the depths of my stomach as I struggle to push the words out, “I’m guilty!  It was my lies and life that put Him on the cross!”  I turn to the Man seated beside the Judge, who I now identify as the Father of Jesus, tears overflowing from my eyes.

“I’m so sorry.  I didn’t realize sinning would make Your Son die.”

Whispers begin slithering across the tall ceilings.  The Judge slams her mallet on the table in front of her again. “Order in the court!”  The crowd quiets as the Judge continues, “I hereby sentence you to death by fire.”

A hush more silent than an empty library falls over the room.  My heart slams in my chest, reverberating off my spine.  Not that...anything but that!  I glance up at the Judge’s massive desk, and she sits with her arms folded over her chest, firm in her decision.
 

But I plead anyway, “Please! I’ll do anything if you’ll just –”

“Take her away!” the Judge shouts as two guards yank me by each arm.  “No, please,” I cry.

“Wait,” a deep voice booms across the room.  I turn my head to see Jesus’ Father standing up through my blurry, tear-filled eyes.  He pauses with His eyes on me before He speaks into the silence of the courtroom.  “I want to drop ALL charges.”

My jaw falls to the marble floor.  “What? Why? I killed Your Son.  You must want me punished in some way,”

God steps down from his seat beside the Judge and comes toward me.  I draw a jagged breath, anticipating what He plans to do with me.  I curl my fingers into my palm to keep them from trembling as He faces me.

 

“You need to understand something.  I LOVE you so much that I sent My ONLY Child to die for you, so you don’t have to be punished.”

My hands unclench, and though relief sets in, my brows knit together in a frown, “But you don’t even know me,” I say to Him. “How can you…love me?”

He reaches up tenderly and gently touches my hair.  “I knew you before you were born. I breathed life into you.  My Son's dying for you was all part of My Divine Plan, because no human is perfect or will ever be.  But through my Son’s death, you are FORGIVEN.  All your sins have been cast into the depths of the sea.”
 

The guard's heavy hands lift off my shoulders, and my handcuffs are undone. “Are you serious?”  I humbly ask, “The charges are dropped?”

God smiles, sending warm rays of sun over my weary body and piercing my heart with His joy.  “Go and sin no more.”

Krispy Kreme Famine

The other night my Dad and I spent some time reminiscing over coffee. His eyes sparkled then he let out one of those very contagious laughs and asked, “Do you remember the Krispy Kreme Famine?” Let me explain…it doesn’t circle around some long boycott of donuts or needed therapy when Krispy Kreme closed in Davenport. The story is quite simple.

In 1997, my Dad decided to join me as I participated in the 30 Hour Famine. Now, if you have ever participated in a fast, you very quickly learn that every commercial on TV or ad on the radio will be circled around your favorite food or dessert, and half way through the event, you can smell the McDonalds located 3 miles away. However, in those moments the Lord speaks directly to your heart, which is what my father and I experienced.

With mere moments until the 30 hours were complete; my Dad looked at me and whimsically asked, “Hungry?” He then remarked that he was quite sure his “stomach was eating his backbone.” So we began to discuss what our victory food was going to be…twenty minutes later, we sat in a middle booth with a fresh, warm box of Krispy Kreme Glazed Donuts…TWENTY SECONDS LATER, the box was wiped clean. LOL. 

 

In John 4, we see Christ offering the Living Water to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well, but have you ever noticed the continued powerful text found in the following verses? Verses 31-34 state, “ In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, ‘Rabbi, eat.’ But He said to them, ‘I have food to eat of which you do not know.’ Therefore the disciples said to one another, ‘Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?’ Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.’ ”

Fulfilling His Father’s will was more important to Jesus than even food. Completing His work was the meat…the substance…at the table of Christ’s heart. It was His ultimate focus and important purpose. We all know that Jesus did eat, but His example in verse 34 shows us where His TRUE HUNGER rested.

I distinctly remember that afternoon being so hungry I INHALED those donuts, and it makes me think am I just as hungry for Jesus?! What about you? Are we driven to finish the assignment God has given us? Do we understand that nothing can satisfy us like the will of God?

LET’S BE HUNGRY ENOUGH TO FINISH!!

Oh Henry!!

ONLY one week into 2014 I find myself encountering my first New Year’s challenge. It begins as I warm up my car to pick Mark up from work. Sitting with my feet dangling out the door, I can tell something is off about the Montego. In the four years, I’ve had Henry (yes, I named the car…LOL) he’s never sounded like that. I proclaim to be no mechanic, but I was unsteady with his struggling purr.

I set to drive less than two miles for my pick up when Henry (my car) struggles to keep speed. I called my Mom to let her know that I think a belt snapped and asked if I could park him there since they were closer from my destination. In my mind, I could see either the serpentine or alternator belt flipping like a bad cartoon shade. Then suddenly BAM…Henry dies. I get him going…two feet later, he gives up the ghost again. This song and dance lasted three more times before pushing him out of the intersection and onto Welcome Way. I coast to Mom and Dad’s house then he lets out his final sigh.

On Wednesday, the Montego is towed to the shop; I patiently wait for the pending diagnosis and “medical” bill to follow. “A belt shouldn’t be that expensive?! I got this,” I think to myself. Then comes the call…“Belts are fine.” Whew, I breathe a sigh of relief…. “Engine’s blown.” WHAT?! Between ungodly cold and something malfunctioning in the oil transfer, Henry lacked proper blood flow, causing major damage to his mechanical heart.

So seven days into the New Year, I find myself needing a car; not exactly how I planned on starting 2014. I also found myself acting like the 8th minor prophet Habakkuk, asking God “but why?” I’ve also been throwing out the rest of the five W’s (who, when, what, & where) as well as how when it comes to recent talks with the Father. So it is no surprise that God drew me to this “unworked” book of the Bible.

Habakkuk (whose name means embrace or wrestle) comes to God with some pretty tough questions. Here’s a short list: If God is good, then why is there evil in the world? And if there has to be evil, then why do the evil prosper? What is God doing in the world? Wow, right?! And God in His infinite wisdom not only compassionately hears him but also answers. He charges Habakkuk to “live by faith.” Habakkuk 2:2-3 states, “Then the Lord answered me and said: ‘Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry’.” The answer is coming (appointed time); confidently (surely) wait for it (live by faith).

Throughout this journey, we may not understand what God is or is not doing in our lives, so questions begin to arise in us, and our faith dwindles. Then other times we receive the answer but not necessarily the response of our choosing. If your path seems a little jarring right now, know that God is stretching you…He’s calling you to LIVE BY FAITH.

Habakkuk’s poetic response shows that regardless of the “what if’s” and the “even though’s,” he knew God had a plan of deliverance. God would faithfully see him through, because of His sovereignty and His loving care. What he had to do was live by faith, for “ it (the answer/plan/vision) will surely come, it will not tarry.”

Where do you find yourself today? Are you questioning? Looking for an answer? I dare you to make your vision plain and write it down, for the God of all things makes the impossibe possible! Then choose to wait on Him and live by faith! He has brought us a mightily long way, and He loves us too much to leave us where we are…Your plan of deliverance is coming, just be still and know (Psalm 46:10).

Vulnerability

A crisp chill in the air will soon give way to dancing flakes of white, but long before we venture into December the convenient stores will be peddling Christmas. I’ve already started to see commercials, and we’ve not even made the threshold of November!

However, I am grateful for the extra time to reflect on our Savior, and with Rev. Mark’s new sermon series on Daring Greatly (emphasizing the importance of vulnerability) God’s vulnerability through the Christmas story is being shown to me.

Have you ever thought about our Almighty being vulnerable? The fact that God came taking our flesh and being born as we are…a helpless, fragile infant. In the John account of His birth, the Scripture states that He "revealed" Himself to us.

Why would the Creator and Sustainer of all take our simple, mortal frame only to endure the same joys and sorrows, fears and disappointments, hope and dreams from the stable to the cross?

I believe it is because God wanted more than anything to be in relationship with us. God allowed Himself to become vulnerable, because the only way to be deeply connected with someone is through sincere vulnerability.

When we aggressively hold back, we don’t experience real acceptance, because the person trying to connect with us never knows who we truly are….only what we are pretending to be. To be known and cherished for who you are is to be vulnerable. Being seen and accepted means putting you at risk of being rejected. Nobody likes rejection; we’ve all experienced that crippling blow. But the equation is pretty straight forward: Heartfelt, real relationships need connections. Making connections means being vulnerable. Being vulnerable means risk. Eeewww.

Yet STILL God becomes one with us, fully sharing in our lives, so we may know and deeply connect in His. WOW! God loved us so much that He risked EVERYTHING to be connected with us. He became vulnerable for us to know Him and in return allowing ourselves to be known! His mortality teaches us that He values and accepts us UNCONDITIONALLY!

Vulnerability does NOT equal weakness but an UNCOMMON STRENGTH leading to authenticity and availability…Two powerful tools that God can use for His glory.

So in this moment, I charge us as followers of the King to embrace vulnerability rather than using our faith to fight against it! Will you join me?

It's Okay To Cry.

I find the Father of Lights often drops topics for devotion through random everyday encounters in my life. God caught my attention again this week by an unexpected blessing.

While out and about, I ran into an angelic faced, kind, but troubled young man I worked with a few years back. He looked so grown up (now 21), and after squeezing the life out of me (LOL), he had to tell me how he got “his act together” and more importantly how Christ got “ahold” of him. It is amazing to witness the power of our God, and I was just so proud to see how his emotions bubbled to the surface as he excitedly talked.

I met him when he was 17 years old, wild unkempt red hair and dull green eyes. The night of our introduction was the worst time of his precious yet tortured existence. He sat in the most isolated corner of this huge activity center; his arms wrapped around his knees. The Director of the youth campus had called and asked for me to come down. He hoped a new face would bring answers as the boy’s friends said he wouldn’t talk.

As this innocent boy shook my hand, I noticed fresh rope burns around his wrists. He had hoped to conceal them by wearing a denim jacket not needed for that particular season. The Director asked if we could visit with him. I asked if I could sit beside him on the floor.

With his soul so broken, our conversation progressed rapidly from small talk to matters of the heart. He timidly shared about his abusive father, who made a game out of beating him on a weekly basis. Older bruises around his face confirmed those stories for me. When the conversation became still, I looked him straight in the eyes, placed my hand on his shoulder, and gently asked, “Who tied you down?” He didn’t realize that I saw his hidden secret.

Like in a movie, he threw his arms around me and began sobbing. I rocked him back and forth and asked him what happened. Now being in the social work world, I was pretty confident I knew the disturbing answer. However, through gulps of air he confirmed to the Director and I that he had been raped. The constraints were to keep him from fleeing. The boy cried in my arms for an hour. When he was able to talk in full sentences, the first words out of his mouth were “I’m sorry.” He was sorry that he cried as though he had caused me some inconvenience.

Jesus wept (John 11:35) – the shortest verse in the Bible, yet so powerful! Almighty God displaying weakness? I think not, but rather compassion for His friends.

Yet some view tears as a sign of weakness. Did God give us tears to display our frailty? No, tears are given to express emotion. Tears provide a healthy outlet for how we feel inside. The Bible says God keeps our tears in a bottle (Psalms 56:8) as if they are precious to Him. Tears disgust some people, though not Jesus. Jesus could have kicked Mary and told her to stop the foolishness, washing his feet with her tears, but He didn’t. Simon criticized her, but Jesus commended her. The daughters of Jerusalem were weeping as Jesus was being led away to the Cross. Jesus told them not to weep for Him, but to weep for themselves and others (Luke 23:28).

Crying is a way to release tension, a way to cleanse the emotion that is otherwise stuck inside without expression.

A baby who cannot talk yet communicates by crying. As I was reading Scripture and looking online, I found a counselor’s fantastic definition for crying. “Tears can be a sign of a breakthrough, conviction of sin, or an expression of hurt, anger or sorrow. Tears open up an opportunity to discuss what is going on in the person’s heart.”

God says there is a time to cry as well as to laugh (Ecclesiastes 3:4). We are actually commanded to cry. Rejoice with them that do rejoice and weep with them that weep (Romans 12:15). We are blessed when we weep because soon we will laugh (Luke 16:21). Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning (Psalms 30:5). They that sow in tears will reap in joy (Psalms 126:5).

Seeing that 21 year old reminded me it IS okay to cry….and for record, you NEVER have to apologize for it in front of me or anyone.