“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval.” Hebrews 11:1-2
Over the course of my life, I’ve encountered a wide variety of individuals. Most of these events are buried in the recesses of my mind as they had little noticeable impact. The encounters that I do remember are the ones that were: repetitive, damaging, unexpected, uplifting, or loving as they left a significant mark on my life. At the top of the list of memorable encounters are my encounters with God. Encounters with the Lord come in a wide variety and are perfectly tailored to the people involved as well as the need. They may be direct encounters as Noah, Abraham or Moses experienced; through His messengers as was the case with Mary and Joseph; through a grand event as Paul’s conversion or the more subtle work of the Holy Spirit. No matter what form our encounter takes, we can be certain of one thing: we will never be the same afterward for we will either trust the character of God and draw closer to Him or we will reject Him in disbelief and pull away.
I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from where shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. Psalm 121:1-2
This month has me taking three driving trips which, for me, is a bit aggressive. However, God has provided the grace to endure thus far. As I was driving alone last week, I spent a bit of time considering some similarities between taking a trip and living our lives. “A trip” is one of the many metaphors for life…and we only get one life to live. Consequently, we should do our best to live it well. The following are somewhat random musings linking the trips we take and the lives we live.
Beauty
For the Lord is a great God and a great King above all gods, in whose hand are the depths of the earth, the peaks of the mountains are His also. The sea is His, for it was He who made it, and His hands formed the dry land. Psalm 95:3-5
At the halfway point in my travels, the most recent excursion included the drive across upstate New York. I love this drive as the scenery is beautiful. As with all of creation, it is pleasing to the eye and the work of our Lord. We do well to appreciate and relish the beautiful things that this life has to offer. Dwell on them when times are hard as they are lovely and lighten the soul. Consider also that our Lord’s hand not only created the beauty of this world, but also directs the events of our lives.
Worship
And beware not to lift up your eyes to heaven and see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, and be drawn away and worship them and serve them, those which the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven. Deuteronomy 4:19
Since much of our world is populated, there are few places left that are devoid of man-made structures. No matter how lovely or complex they may be, I find them to be a distraction from the natural beauty created by God. They are, as it were, lesser things that pale in light of God’s creation. Similarly, God’s creation is the lesser thing when compared to Jehovah. So many religions worship idols, ancestors or nature. We must remain ever vigilant to worship God alone. In short, we are to worship the creator not the creation.
Focus
Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Colossians 3:1
To arrive safely, one needs to stay focused on both the destination and the route. Wrong turns, or worse leaving the road at a high rate of speed, likely leads to delay or a serious accident. To live life well, we must stay focused on eternity and Christ, our only path to heaven.
Delays
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4
There are various reasons that our trip may be delayed. A few of those are: roadwork, accidents, or rush hour traffic. By slowing down, we protect road workers, victims, emergency technicians, policemen, and other travelers as well as ourselves. Be patient…the delay is justified. In life, God may put people or events in our lives that appear to slow us down. Our Lord always has a purpose; among them are instruction, correction and encouragement. All of these are to edify us and make us complete.
Correction
Poverty and shame will come to him who neglects discipline, but he who regards reproof will be honored. Proverbs 13:18
Driving too fast may lead to being stopped by the police. Their role is to maintain safety on the highways. The delay may be costly, but increased awareness of safety for yourself and others is valuable. The godly who lovingly rein us in spiritually are a blessing not a harm. Appreciate both their love and the hand of God directing them to us.
Arrival
When we arrive safely at our destination, we readily acknowledge God’s hand of protection. Even if we are delayed or have an accident, we may still acknowledge His protective hand at work. It is hard for us to say that God has protected one who does not survive a trip physically. However, He has brought them safely home to abide with Him; the place of utmost safety and their reward. Personally it has taken many years for me to recognize and accept that truth.
Almighty God is so creative. The beauty of the earth, the sky, the heavens and all that they contain are proof of that. Similarly, He has created each of us as unique individuals with unique gifts. The people that He directs into our lives and the events that He uses to mold and refine us are just as unique. For those who love Him, He has one goal: safe arrival in Heaven.
In our culture, it is common to separate our spiritual lives from our physical ones. However, as Christians, we should, as our Lord does, see them as one in the same with God directing us both physically and spiritually. Our physical circumstances help us to grow spiritually. Likewise, our spiritual growth teaches us to respond appropriately to our circumstances recognizing God’s hand in both. Praise God that He lovingly directs our lives at all times. His watchful care brings peace to turmoil of our lives.
The Lord will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul.
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.
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows.” Psalm 23:4-5
The past couple of weeks I spent some time with my mother-in-law helping take care of some things around her home. On the long drive there and back I listened to two sermons from Ligonier Ministries…in fact, I listened to them twice. The second, “All Scripture is Profitable” (https://www.ligonier.org/blog/believing-god-new-teaching-series-rc-sproul-jr/) was by R. C. Sproul, Jr. which brought up the concept of whether our cup is half full or half empty. As this is a subject close to my heart, I spent a fair amount of time on the trip considering this topic. Like the phrase “cup half empty or half full”, the word cup in scripture has a figurative meaning that refers to one’s lot in life whether sorrowful (half empty) or joyous (half full). Like many, if I ponder my life without God, I would have to conclude that it is half empty for I have accumulated 60 plus years of losses, trials and ordeals. However, when I consider my life’s experiences in light of God’s involvement, I see a different outcome. What was half empty becomes half full by God’s grace. Let me walk through a few “for instances”.
“Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Philippians 2:5-8
Two years ago we put down what we thought would be our last pet. We had decided that we couldn’t take having to say goodbye to another beloved dog; further, the freedom the lack of pets would afford seemed beneficial. That plan began to erode when our younger daughter’s family rescued a shih tzu last fall. I liked the dog so much that our grandsons regularly reminded me that Leo was their dog and he had to go home with them. As a result we adopted Tiffany in December. She is mostly a sweet and somewhat timid dog, but as she is part terrier, she has an aggressive side as well. In fact, her outbursts of aggression are the primary reason that she ended up back at the humane society after roughly seven months with another couple. While she has historically been fine with all others, she has a tendency to snarl at her owners when she doesn’t want to be disturbed. This is her greatest weakness and the ultimate manifestation of her animal instincts. The difference in her owners is that the first family quickly gave up, but we have enrolled her in obedience school and are working with her to make her a good companion. The goal is to teach her to submit to us in all ways for her safety and well-being as well as to provide more peaceful lifestyle for us all. While none of us likes to be compared to an animal, the fact remains that as Christians we are all like Tiffany in varying degrees. We have this sinful nature that urges us to follow our “animal instincts” rather than to humbly submit to God. Left unchecked, it separates us from God. Consequently, the process of sanctification is in reality obedience school in which we learn to give up control and submit to our Savior, our Master, our Lord and our God.
“And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury. And He saw a poor widow putting in two small copper coins. And He said, ‘Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all of them; for they all out of their surplus put into the offering; but she out of her poverty put in all that she had to live on.’”Luke 21:1-4
In the wake of Billy Graham’s departure from this world, the atmosphere seems a tad darker. He was truly a mighty man of God who was used to reach all levels of society around the globe. Not only did he touch the lives of many great and influential people not the least of which were several US presidents, but he also touched the lives of the humble such as my grandmother who accepted Christ sitting in her apartment watching one of his crusades on her television. In that light, take a look at the picture described in Luke 21. A poor woman who has next to nothing is noticed by the Lord of all that exists. He doesn’t look down on her as someone who is insignificant. Quite the opposite, He recognizes that her small offering or her “mite” is a mighty act of faith as she is giving all that she has; He acknowledges that she has contributed more than those who have given much larger offerings out of their surplus. When I consider the opportunities, wealth, talents or spiritual gifts of the mighty and those with no more than a mite, three points come to mind: jealousy, attitude and value.
And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.Philippians 4:19
I was recently included in an invitation to participate in an activity. For various reasons I declined; any one of them had sufficient merit to opt out, but together, the choice was self-directing. A few days after the initial invitation, a second was received. It came on a rather busy day and not wanting to forget to respond, I sent a brief message indicating my choice. Rather quickly, I received a reply questioning my decision which was followed by a volley of emails that indicated offense for both my choice and my means of communicating it. The end result was yet another hurt and a broken relationship that increased my desire to withdraw from most people and especially pull away from the Christian community.
One of the difficulties for those dealing with life’s trials and/or the ongoing challenges of chronic illness is the focus. We all face various circumstances that disappoint and frustrate us giving rise to the need of confidantes to whom we share our thoughts and occasionally vent. However, when our thoughts become self-absorbed, we lose our perspective and cause damage in our vital relationships.
“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.
“The mind of man plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.”Proverbs 16:9
You may have noticed that I usually post scripture during the week that coincides with the theme of the post. That is not the case this week as this isn’t the post that I planned to publish. My body is just too exhausted and my brain is just too foggy to pull that one together. Ironically it is about strength and I currently have none. Consequently, this will be more brief than usual and may be a bit of a repeat from this summer’s posts, but it is what God has put on my heart today in various ways.
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.
