Faith Reflections

Out and about Doing Good

In the Family Circus cartoon Billy was often featured in a map-type drawing of his little world in which a dotted line plotted his meandering course from point A to point B. What if someone were to plot out our path for the day? Billy would have nothing on us! In a given day most of us cover a fair amount of ground, and do it in a meandering way.

I like a phrase the gospel writer Matthew uses two times in reference to Jesus. And Jesus went about…” (4:23 & 9:35) Jesus did a lot of walking about. He seems to have had a destination in mind on many occasions but, then again, He allowed Himself to be interrupted by a person in need nearby or diverted by a request to meet a need that was at a distance. In fact, almost all of His miracles were not planned by Him or His disciples the very morning of the day they happened. They just, well, they just happened!

Over the years I have had a growing awareness that God is scheduling me to be at a certain place at a certain time with a certain person without first consulting me! I’ve decided my best approach to each day is to be open to His agenda and to allow it to preempt my agenda whenever the two conflict.

Actually, it’s rather exciting to live each day with the expectation that God is going to put us with people and in situations where He wants us to bring His influence. Each of us lives in a specific set of circumstances that no one else on earth shares. No one else has exactly the same network of friends and acquaintances or the same set of circumstances. Each of us is strategic to God!

It prompts me to want to pray something to the effect, “Lord, where would you have me go today? Who would you have me see? What would you have me do or say?”

“And Jesus went about…” Matthew tells us. The upshot is that Jesus went about doing good, doing what God the Father wanted Him to do. We all have places to go, people to see, things to do. We can be a help or a hindrance, a delight or a drag, encouraging or exasperating, and, generally speaking, a blessing or a burden. I for one want to be like Jesus and go about doing good. You too?

The Enlightening Word

Sleep evaded me last night, probably didn’t find it until abut midnight.  Then I awoke at 4:15 and sleep had already left me for the night.  At 11:00 last night I got up and searched for a psalm to read.  I found one that really reflected my concerns and worries, and offered great insight.  Then this morning (5 am) I picked up my devotional reading in 2 Corinthians where I had left off yesterday morning.  The apostle Paul’s words seemed to be written just for me.  What timing!

I was reminded by both incidents that I need to keep reading what God has written, that it was written for me as well as countless other millions.  I need to remember, as a preacher, that His Word is not simply the tool of my trade, but light for my own soul that I desperately need!

When the lights go out I never want to be without a flashlight close at hand.  The same goes for God’s Word!

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” (Psalm 119:105)

Security

Within a short drive of Refuge Ranch in Mexico, where our daughter Julie and her family live, lie the ruins of an old hacienda.  It was probably at its full glory in the 1700s or there about.  It must have been magnificent!  It’s still easy to see how it offered protection from enemies.  The thick, high walls have holes undoubtedly designed to shoot through from the inside while offering the marksman almost complete protection.  The picture shows a portion of the wall.

“I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, in him I will trust.’” (Psalm 91:2)  We all have a yearning to feel secure.  One of the fruits of a strong faith in God is that we begin to feel, more and more, the security that we so deeply desire.  People, jobs, money, health, and whatever else we can think of that we might find ourselves trusting in can fall short.  God lacks nothing, and that means I can put my complete trust in Him.  It’s amazing how much better the day can go when I am not driven or haunted by fears but rather see God as my refuge and fortress.  You too?

Poster Message I Created

Auschwitz concentration camp survivor Viktor Frankl wrote, “Just as the small fire is extinguished by the storm whereas a large fire is enhanced by it, likewise a weak faith is weakened by predicaments and catastrophes whereas a strong faith is strenghtened by them.” (If God is Good, Randy Alcorn, p.12)

Hearing vs. Listening

Humor me on this. Try taking just ten seconds for this experiment.

What do you hear? Give it your full attention. What are you hearing right now? Remember, ten seconds. Shhhh! Just listen. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10. OK, experiment’s over.

There’s undoubtedly more than one sound you heard, probably even more than two. I suspect you heard a sound you didn’t know you had been hearing. Why didn’t you hear it before? It wasn’t because you had a hearing problem but because you had a listening problem. You weren’t really listening.

I’ve sometimes prayed, “Lord, speak to me.” I now think that’s the wrong prayer. I can’t believe God is hesitant to speak, it has to be that I’m not listening. If God chose to speak in a big, deep, booming voice, or even if He whispered, I could depend on my hearing. It seems, however, that God has chosen to speak in a way other than what we can pick up by our hearing. He wants us to be listening. A better prayer to pray is, “Lord, help me to listen for you.”

He may be speaking through what someone else is saying, and the person may not even realize they’re a spokesperson for God. Sometimes God’s intention is to communicate to me the opposite of what the person is saying! He also communicates through my experiences, events around me, and even my feelings. Am I listening?

To decipher accurately such communication from God requires I have a working knowledge of His character and His ways. This is where an understanding of His Word and a connection to His people comes in. Yes, it’s an inexact science, listening to God. I’d prefer a big, booming voice or even a soft whisper from Him, but that would only require hearing and not necessarily listening. Obviously He will have none of that! The Biblical proverbial writer reminds us that “The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge; the ears of the wise seek it out.” (Proverbs 18:15)

As I’m sitting here at a Starbucks typing this up I’m hearing a great many sounds, but I’m trying to listen to what God’s telling me. My prayer is that in the midst of the noise you’re hearing, or even if you’re hearing the sounds of silence at this moment, that you’ll have been reminded, as I have by writing this, that we are to listen for God. We can be confident He will speak!

Good News!

“Do you want the good news or the bad news first?” What a question!  Just give me the good news, of course I’ll be miserably curious (and worried) if I don’t let you give me the bad news too!

It’s interesting that the four books about Jesus in the Bible are called gospels, which literally means “good news.” Just wanted to remind all of us that God’s intentions for us today are all good, even through the bad stuff His intentions are all good!

“Good news makes you feel better.  Your happiness will show in your eyes.”(Provervbs 15:30)  Have a great day following close behind His sandaled feet.

Good from the Broken

The shattered bowl you see pictured here is one of 380 images I have for sale on iStockphoto.  I was drying dishes and dropped the bowl, breaking it into the two pieces.  I decided to photograph it.  The image was accepted by iStockphoto and has sold 20 times earning me $12, more than the bowl was worth whole!

It’s a reminder to me that if I can redeem a broken bowl, using it for some good, then certainly God can redeem, use for good, what is “broken” in my life.  I just have to put myself into His hands, accepting His call to carry out His purposes.  I’m so glad God’s into recycling!  You too?

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purposes.” Romans 8:28

Healthy Fear Born of Respect

My father when he was a young man in the Army

My father was a six foot four inches tall Iowa farmer.  He was of thin build but he was strong!  I don’t think I feared him, but I had a healthy respect for him and don’t ever recall talking back to him or disobeying him.  Yes, it was a type of fear that was more a respect, with maybe the fear of never wanting to find out how angry he could get!

I’m glad God wants me to call Him my Heavenly Father.  I’m glad He wants that kind of close, family-type relationship with me.  But six foot four inches tall doesn’t begin to describe His greatness, His holiness!  I want to respect Him, I want to have this kind of “fear” of Him.  After all, His way is always the best way.  I should fear following my own way of thinking and acting!  “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” (Proverbs 9:10)

The “Scarcity Assumption”

The man shuffled into Starbucks, his hand grasping the left hip pocket-area of his trousers, pulling up the left leg of his worn slacks, making it a full three inches shorter than the other. His coat collar was hunched up around his neck. The man seemed a foreigner among the latte drinking, laptop using customers that populated the shop. Moments later he made his way back out the door, having acquired a free glass of water. He took a seat at one of the small tables outside.

These are times of scarcity, and this man was wearing a wardrobe of scarcity. His is a place we don’t want to be. Scarcity is scary and in one way or another it scares us all. Jobs are scarce, money is scarce, solutions to our varied problems are scarce, time is scarce, and almost everything we could want seems to be scarce.

I feel the gnawing anxiety of scarcity at the beginning of each week when I stare at a blank legal pad of paper knowing that by Friday I need to have several such pages filled with notes from which to write the weekend message. I am wondering, more than anyone, what I will end up saying! I don’t like scarcity.

Parker Palmer writes about the “scarcity assumption” we often entertain. We begin to assume there’s going to be a scarcity of whatever we need for life to be good. Palmer states, “The irony, often tragic, is that by embracing the scarcity assumption, we create the very scarcities we fear.” (Let Your Life Speak, p. 107) The fear of scarcity can be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Here’s the thing – if we believe in God, seek to be His person, and accept the fact that His intentions are good for us, then should we be living with a pervasive sense of scarcity? I don’t think so. God has unlimited resources and that should color our world. Let me rapid fire three Biblical texts.

“And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19) “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Luke 6:38) “They will celebrate your abundant goodness…” (Psalm 145:7a)

I saw a well-dressed young businessman step out the door and give a cup of coffee to the man sipping his glass of water. The young man then came back in and took his seat in front of his laptop. “Did you just buy that guy a cup of coffee?” I asked. “I tried to, but they gave it to me,” he said, nodding to the guy behind the coffee bar. Apparently relieving scarcity is catching!

I’ve decided to believe that there’s not as much scarcity as I often allow myself to believe there is. I’m going to give up my “scarcity assumption” and assume I can count on a God of abundant provision! You too?

Waiting On God

I don’t like to wait and I can’t think of anyone else who does either.  The “waiting room” at the doctor’s office definitely has a negative connotation.  What I’m reminded of is how God also has us wait for Him.  Why?  Why does it seem that I’m waiting for God to catch up with my plans?  I should know better, after all, He’s perfect and that means He has perfect timing.  God’s never tardy!

That means His causing me to wait for Him has more to do with me than with Him. Maybe circumstances have to line up, maybe I need to change in some way before He will act.  When we wait in a doctor’s office we read old magazines or listen to someone else cough.  God certainly wants me to do something more productive with my time while I wait for Him!

Lord, what do you want to teach me, to show me or in what way do you want me to change while I wait?  “Our soul waits for the Lord, he is our help and our shield.” Psalm 33:20