Tag Archives: Acceptance

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Small Things

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Picture of Ore Lake and Brennan Manning Prayer

For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of your name as followers of Christ, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward.   Mark 9:41

Our family spent the weekend with my aunt and uncle at their lake house.  Saturday morning our older daughter asked if I would go running with her so I agreed.  I can usually run a short distance without much problem, however, this time it seemed as if everything was against me.  In the end it was a couple of miles of pure frustration.  It left me unsettled with a few questions: is this an anomaly, will I no longer be able to enjoy a good run, or is this something that I will recover from?  Further is it may be yet another loss that I must accept and another limitation to undermine how I feel about myself?  In any event, I kept moving one small step at a time…sometimes running, but mostly walking.  In the end it became an object lesson about living well and led to a conversation with God about life and faith.

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Good vs Bad

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“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.”  Genesis 50:20

When starting a new support group, I ask participants to define a few words.  Two of those words are good and bad.  A quick google search provided me with the following:  good – “to be desired or approved of”; bad – “of poor quality; inferior or defective” and “not such as to be hoped for or desired; unpleasant or unwelcome”.  The synonyms are more direct with words like healthy, fine, sound, fit, robust, sturdy, strong, and vigorous versus substandard, poor, inferior, unsatisfactory, inadequate, unacceptable, imperfect, defective, faulty, and miserable.  These are consistent with most participants’ responses.  Admittedly, for a significant portion of my life, I would have agreed with these definitions.   However, God has brought me to the place where I understand that, in our haste to categorize, we are often missing two key components: complete information and perspective.  Specifically we often lack all of the finer details and regularly forget the eternal perspective which can significantly change our overall view of any given condition, situation or trial.  In that light, my health may be substandard, poor and inferior, but I would not classify my situation bad.

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Thanksgiving Part 3

Thankful for Our Circumstances

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Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Most people are fairly comfortable being thankful for God’s provisions and for the people in their lives.  While we may not feel that our circumstances are quite as perfect as those depicted in Norm Rockwell’s “Freedom from Want”, we can generally muster a fairly strong attitude of thankfulness.  Certainly when we feel that things are going relatively well, we are filled with thankfulness, but what about when the times are tough.  Thanksgiving of 1992 I woke up in the hospital after having an ERCP the previous day.  I was in pain and groggy; I barely remember celebrating the holiday, let alone being thankful. 

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Altered Plans

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The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.  Proverbs 16:9

This week, my family and I are visiting my mother-in-law and other family members in New England.  With seven people the dates and travel plans had to be carefully coordinated around work, new jobs, the school calendar, etc.  The activities are more loosely planned, but planned to some extent prior to arrival.  My older grandson and I drove up first and spent a day at the beach as planned.  That evening, we met my wife at the airport.  The plan for the following day was for the three of us to return to the beach for a day of sun and fun.  We got up early and left for the beach, found a spot, and proceded to the water.  After a short time our grandson got cold and decided that he wanted to climb on the rocks.  My wife went with him while I went back to our blanket and chairs.  A few minutes later my grandson came to me with a somber look and said “Grammy needs you.  She’s hurt.” 

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Image Control

Becoming Transparent

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“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”  John 13:34-35

I grew up in a household that was greatly concerned about what people thought.  I don’t know whether it was driven by my parents’ upbringing, the culture of the era, the fact that my father was a minister or some combination of these factors.  In any event, I was keenly aware of three things at an early age:  as a pastor’s family, we were being watched, scrutinized and held to a different standard; people will quickly judge others without necessarily having all of the facts; and information is power.  As a result, I quickly learned how to be open and welcoming without providing any information about myself that was not “a matter of public record”.  In short, I quickly learned how to manage how I was perceived.  Whether or not we are willing to admit it, we all do a fair amount of image control to be accepted by others.  And there’s the problem: the fear of not being accepted or understood because of some real or perceived flaw in our body, personality, or soul.  Other concerns arise due to our history or circumstances.

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Green With Envy

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“But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic.  For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.”  James 3:14-16

For the first few years of our marriage, my wife and I lived on Lookout Mountain.  I loved the view that the mountain provided and the drive off of it was always beautiful.  When storms rolled in, they might be above you, below you or surrounding you.  The occasional snow storm added winter beauty, but ice storms made the mountain sparkle.  My absolute favorite was the fog.  I have never figured out the attraction, but I always loved it when the fog rolled in.  Since we “lived in the clouds” it was rather frequent.  However, one of the down sides of living there was the way it hampered contentment. 

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The Father’s Love

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When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained; what is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him?  Psalm 8:3-4

Chronic illness can be lonely.  When severe enough, it often leads to isolation either because we are not able to get out or because we just don’t feel up to the task mentally.   However, isolation is not limited to illness.  Personal tragedy, loss or grief can also lead to isolation whether it is circumstantial or self-imposed.  When we do not sustain a close relationship with God to guard our souls and do not maintain connections with godly people who challenge us and draw us out of our isolation, it’s easy to let feelings of insecurity and doubt take center stage in our thoughts and erode our faith in God and man.  It causes our world to darken and makes our future seem bleak.  We often feel small, insignificant and of little value…we may even feel abandoned.  In those moments, we need to consider the answer to the question posed in Psalm 8:3-4.

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Acceptance – Part Four

On Earth as it is in Heaven

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“Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name.  Your kingdom come.  Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”  Matthew 6:9-10

Like this one, the previous three posts have been on acceptance…specifically on acceptance of God’s plan for us as individuals.  When we study the concept of acceptance, our concerned is usually a particular circumstance.  We tend to lean in that direction because it is easier to deal with things separately and the more monumental issues tend to come one at a time.  However, the truth is that we rarely deal with one any trial in a vacuum.

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Acceptance – Part Three

Not My Will, But Thy Will Be Done

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“He knelt down and began to pray, saying, ‘Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.’ Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him.  And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.”  (Luke 22:41-44)

Imagine Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane.  He has trained the disciples.  He has concluded His ministry.  I was time to return to the Father, but there was one last task…His death and resurrection.  In preparation, He is coming before His father in prayer.  However, it is a prayer like no other that He has offered…He is asking “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me”. 

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Acceptance – Part 2

May It Be Done To Me

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Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.”  Luke 1:38

A key factor in accepting God’s plan for us is trust.  Do you trust God?  If so, how far does that trust go?  Too often our trust in God is colored more by our human relationships and our desires for information and comfort rather than the truth about who He is and His promises to us.

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