As it is Thanksgiving in the United States, please join me in refection upon Psalm 136 which is a beautiful model for being truly thankful. As this Psalm states, no matter what God is doing, His love for us is everlasting. It starts with who God is, moves through various things that He has done and finishes with how He is ever mindful of us.
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Trust is a fairly basic concept as it rests solely on confidence. That confidence relies on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of some entity or object. In contrast, what we consider valuable in our lives and how much we fear losing those things varies from person to person due to maturity, faith, relationships, life experiences, etc. Another contrast between the two is the impact on our well-being. Trust provides calm, healing and peace while fear brings distraction, stress and destruction. Fear comes in varying degrees and for various reasons but consider the following factors of fear: the object, the measurement, the security and the trustee.
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My wife and I went to a dinner theater last week with my aunt, uncle and a few of their friends. Shortly before the intermission, one of the ladies in our group collapsed into the lap of the woman sitting next to her. Admittedly, given her symptoms, most of us thought that she was dying. Thankfully, by the time the ambulance arrived, she had recovered enough to walk to the gurney. After spending the night in the hospital, she was released with a heart monitor. Aside from the obvious concerns for those involved, it raised a deeply rooted fear of my own. As much as I accept God’s will in my life, the thought of a public medical emergency still haunts me…and I’ve had a few. For many of us, it raises concerns about embarrassment, image, and acceptance. Ultimately, we cannot control the events of our lives, but we can control our response to them with a bit of truth.
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I’ve watched several people die…it’s not a particularly pleasant experience. The closer you are to them, the harder it is. The longer it takes, the more time you have to think. That time and that pondering offer an opportunity for personal reflection in a way that no other experience does. As someone you love is on the brink of entering eternity, what is important in life seems to be much clearer than when we are in the daily race meeting deadlines and running errands, etc. Knowing that a loved one will shortly meet their Lord and God allows the Holy Spirit to speak to us and apply God’s word to our lives in ways that drive home His message with more depth and understanding. In short, it is a wake-up call to pursue a life well lived…that is, to live intentionally rather than passively.
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Trouble…it seems like a simple enough word to understand. However, when looking at definitions from secular sources, those provided were vague and had more to do with how trouble affects our comfort level or convenience rather than anything significant. In contrast, “Vine’s Bible Dictionary” states it clearly as: tribulation or affliction. Trouble comes in many forms. At times it is the result of a personal attack while at other times it is and “random”/general attack that we’re caught in. It may be an external threat or an internal one such as mental or physical illness. The point is that, as those living in a fallen world, we are going to experience trouble throughout our lives from the trivial to the monumental. We will enjoy a more peaceful existence if we learn to view it as God does and trust that He is ever faithful to care for us. One of the mental hurdles for us is that from our perspective, God’s care for us appears to be inconsistent.
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Healthy relationships are built on knowledge, understanding and grace. Sharing a conversation with a person will, in most cases, allow one to get to know them. However, that does not necessarily mean that they have any kind of significant relationship…at this point they are, for the most part, acquaintances. Solid relationships are built when people share their lives. They celebrate the high points together, comfort at low points and offer aid, wisdom and guidance in the midst of struggles. Grace covers the gap between knowledge and understanding as well as when there is a need for forgiveness. Developing a strong relationship takes time and effort but yields a great reward.
Last week I was looking for scripture verses to post on social media and came across Psalm 119:43-44. Despite having read and sung it many times, this time it struck a nerve. The natural tendency of any human when faced with trouble that causes anguish is to seek understanding. The important question is: what kind of understanding?
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As I was finishing a run recently, I was overcome with the urge to glorify God. As I pondered His glory, I had to check my soul to make sure it wasn’t merely an emotional high. After all, it was a beautiful day and I had just completed my first good run in a long time. Thankfully, while the weather and my mood may have been contributing factors, upon reflection, they were minor ones as I truly just needed to praise God. However, my contemplation led me to consider how easy it is to glorify God when the sun is shining and things to seem to be going well, but what about the dark and cloudy days or when times are tough?
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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”.
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This was not the topic that I originally intended for this week’s post, but given a few divinely inspired events, my plan was changed. As is my habit, I started the day with the “verse of the day” emails from Bible Gateway and KLove. The one from Bible Gateway was a portion of Psalm 139. It is a favorite of mine for many reasons; one of those is that it was the last passage my parents read together on the eve of my mother’s death. That circumstance coupled with the quote that I posted this week beckoned me to consider love and grief.
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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.
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