Doing "hard" for the glory of God

Paul, in writing to the Philippians, comforts their hearts in a number of ways...he lets them know he thanks God for them, that he is confident that God will complete what he began in them all, that he sees them as partakers of grace alongside him, and that he longs for them all with the affection of Jesus Christ...he prays for them that their love may abound and that they may approve the things that are excellent and be filled with the fruits of righteousness for the glory of God.  Then, after all that and more, he assures them: But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. ~ Phil 1:12-14

What do we do when we long for one thing and God gives us another? For Paul it was being thrown into jail for his faith, but there are all kinds of hard and unexpected things we experience in the wisdom and goodness of God, aren't there?  Do we whine, chafe, gripe and complain OR do we submit ourselves to God's sovereign directing of our lives, look for the praiseworthy, and bear the fruits of righteousness for the glory of God?   Do we trust that in the big picture, God knows EXACTLY what He is doing in the midst of hard? 

This isn't a terribly uncommon thing...Proverbs 16:9 makes it plain that "A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps."  If our response is to chafe and whine, it isn't very likely that we'd be able to assure anyone afterward that "the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel."  As God's representatives, His ambassadors, we shout out anything but gospel when we fail to trust the One who directs our steps.  We need to rest in Christ and praise Him in all He brings, like Paul did.

That doesn't mean there are not times when we are disappointed, but what we do with it matters.  Edith Lillian Young wrote a poem on this that I really like.  The first verse goes like this:

Disappointment - His appointment, change one letter, then I see

that the thwarting of my purpose is God's better choice for me.

His appointment must be blessing, though it may come in disguise,

for the end from the beginning, open to His wisdom lies.

(You can read the rest of it HERE) 

Paul encouraged many in how he responded to the multitude of "hard" he faced throughout his Christian walk to put their hope in God.  Haven't we all be encouraged by people who "do hard" in a God-glorifying fashion?  I want to be THAT kind of person...someone who can count it all joy when facing various trials.  How about you?  Oh may God give us the grace for the glory of His name and for our joy to trust Him always, to bend to His ways, and to desire His gospel to be proclaimed and His kingdom manifested more and more.

At the very heart and foundation of all God's dealings with us,...we must dare to believe in and assert the infinite, unmerited, and unchanging love of God. ~ L.B. Cowman

Helpful?

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, 

but only what is helpful for building others up 

according to their needs, 

that it may benefit those who listen. 

~ Ephesians 4:29 (NIV)

Verse 25 of the same chapter instructs us to "speak truthfully."  How often do we get frustrated or upset and speak our minds "truthfully", but not helpfully?  Are we "speaking our mind" and justifying ourselves with the sentiment, "well, it's true."?  It seems like lately a number of the conversations I've had with people about relational problems they're having relate to this sort of thing.  It's got me asking myself if I too am only concerned about speaking the truth or if I'm committed to speaking the truth in love?  How am I doing at choosing my words in a way that is "helpful for building others up according to their needs that it may benefit those who listen"?

Here's an example of what I mean.  Let's say your kids get sick on a family vacation three years in a row, and in a moment of frustration you say "I sure hope ya'll don't make a habit of this."  The sentiment may be "true", but it is NOT helpful.  Helpful would be to point yourself and your kids to the love of a sovereign God who is working even this out for good somehow, and to encourage all concerned to trust Him and to practice contentment with what He gives.

I love the book of Ephesians...God has rescued us and continues to work in us.  He's made us one body, Christ's body.  People do need to hear the truth, but not a "truth" couched in anger or ill will.  We're not brought into the body of Christ to stomp on each other, but to help build each other up, to encourage each other to put off the old man and put on the new for the glory of the One who redeems. 

Sprocket is home.

My family brought a puppy home yesterday, a little male fluff of energy we named Sprocket.  He's half Westhighland Terrier, half Toy Poodle, otherwise known as a WestiePoo.  My hubby grew up with a dog, but this is a first for me and the kiddos.

All three kids are playing with Sprocket and getting smothered with kisses.  Laughter has been filling the air for hours.  We're all amazed to see the difference between yesterday and today....moving from somewhat reserved to downright playfully aggressive.  The kids have been setting up obstacle courses for him and throwing a ball to see him figure out how to get to it...he seems to be a smart little guy. [Note: these pics were taken yesterday so the obstacles are not shown here.]

The Lord gave us some stretches of sunshine between rain showers yesterday that allowed us to take him outside for playtime...

 

For the inquiring minds, he is doing good in the potty department, learning where we want him to go outside.  He went to bed in his crate without a peep for a few hours, then whined for a 10 minute stretch after being taken out for a potty break, then zonked back out for 6 more hours, waking up happy and playful.  Not bad at all for a first night in our estimation.

My guess is that school (in terms of reading, writing, arithmetic) for us in the next few days is going to largely happen during puppy naps, but learning is always happening and I think this puppy is going to teach us some important lessons that can't be learned in the books. 

With thankfulness to God for this good gift, we're off to the next lesson...

Desire and Treasure and Life

"I believe that prayer is the measure of the man, spiritually, in a way that nothing else is, so that how we pray is as important a question as we can ever face." - J.I. Packer

"How we pray reveals the desires of our hearts.  And the desires of our hearts reveal what our treasure is.  And if our treasure is not Christ, we will perish." - John Piper

To desiring and treasuring Christ in 2012!

In umbra, igitur, pugnabimus.

Yesterday, my girls and I were sitting in our Latin class when our teacher introduced us to this week's Latin phrase: "In umbra, igitur, pugnabimus."  When I saw the translation, I laughed out loud.  It means "Then we will fight in the shade."  I think the teacher, who is one of my dearest friends, must have understood the question behind my laughter (the question of "why in the world would we learn THAT phrase?"), because she simply looked at me and assured me there was a great story behind it.

In August of 480 BC, the Spartan king Leonidas was holding the pass of Thermopylae with a Greek force of 7000 against a much larger army led by the invading Persian king, Xerxes I.  Herodotus (a Greek historian) recorded that there was a Spartan soldier who was told that the Persian arrows would blot out the sun, but instead of being fearful at such a thought, he simply responded with courage and optimism, "So much the better, we will fight in the shade."

All of a sudden, the phrase seemed like a good one to learn. The story reminded me of a quote I like by Winston Churchill...

 

But optimism by itself isn't what I'm after.  I need optimism's foundation.  After we got home, Mike read to us out of 2 Kings about the threat of Assyria's king against Hezekiah...talk about bigger armies!  But Hezekiah rightly went straight to the Lord with the news.  Assyria had overpowered the surrounding nations, but Hezekiah prayed like this:

"O Lord God of Israel, the One who dwells between the cherubim, You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.  Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God.  Truly, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were not gods, but the work of men's hands — wood and stone. Therefore they destroyed them. Now therefore, O Lord our God, I pray, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the Lord God, You alone." ~ 2 Kings 19:15-19

God delivered...God did things they would have never imagined.  The only reason I can be an optimist in a world filled with the brokenness brought about by sin is because I serve a God who loves the world He created for His glory...the Living God who redeems, resurrects, and rules...He steps in!  He does unimaginable things for His glory.

Because our God is who He is & He reigns, no matter what circumstance we face we know we are in it by His decree with a good purpose behind it...let us be those who look for the opportunities to trust God and to make much of Him. 

Power Thought #10

I Live in the Present and Enjoy Each Moment

[Unlabeled quotes are taken from the book Power Thoughts, by Joyce Meyer.]

The aim of this chapter seems to be to get us to live in the now and to do so with joy.  John 10:10, John 15:11, John 16:24, and John 17:13 are listed out to emphasize that Christ desires us to be filled with His joy.  The author wrote about a lesson learned by Brother Lawrence.  "He found kitchen work to be very distasteful, but learned that if he did it for the love of God, he was able to practice the presence of God in the midst of it. this same principle was applied to every facet of his life and practicing it enabled him to enjoy life in a superior manner.  He turned what could have been a boring, mundane, miserable existence into one that was admired and coveted by many.  People wanted his simplicity, joy, peace, and profound ability to converse with God while doing everything he did."

We live in a driven society.  We're a multitasking generation.  And our lives are a messy blur much of the time.  We need to carefully set our minds to live in the present and enjoy each moment.  Her challenge is to "give yourself to what you are doing" and "to appreciate each moment that you are given as a rare and precious gift from God." If you're listening to your children, listen - don't be planning your grocery list.  If you're kissing your husband, do I even need to say it?  Be all there!  Not all multitasking is evil by any stretch, but it can be.

"The ability to e-mail and text is certainly convenient and has enabled us to communicate much faster, but if we let every little beep of the phone or message that announces 'You've go mail,' be the controlling factor in our lives, we will end up frustrated and often appear to be rude.  Listening requires your attention and pretending to listen when in reality your mind is on ten other things is not only rude, but it does nothing to build good relationships."  

The author also stresses that many of us have to let go of the past, that we need to choose our battles, and should recognize that we cannot meet everyone's expectations.  If you do a study on "joy" in the Bible, you'll find that it is linked in large degree to fellowship with God and His people.  There is joy in knowing that God's grace and Christ's blood is sufficient to wipe out our debt...I love what Paul says in Philippians 3:13-14 "...one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."  So if your past haunts you, forget it in the sense Paul means here and press forward in Christ.  If you're a people pleaser and you're frustrated all the time because you can't meet everyone's expectations, take a breath and remember it is Christ who purchased you with His own blood and it is to Him that you'll give account...get your marching orders from Him and then give yourself to whatever He puts into your hand.  He is big enough to handle the expectations of others.

Her last exhortation in this chapter is "Don't wait to enjoy yourself."  Some people break their life up into segments thinking things like "this is my work, and when my work is over, I will enjoy myself."  Our TGIF society lends itself to that kind of thinking...living for the weekend.  If that is you, remember the lesson of Brother Lawrence and learn from him...seek the presence of God in each present moment He gives, and enjoy Him in it.  

Cora

In my post titled Preconceived Ideas, I said: "After weeks, I finally walked over to the nursing home to introduce myself and that began a most incredible journey...the truth of the matter is that God knew I needed these older ladies in my life as much if not more than they needed me.  But that's a story for another time."

Another time has come...

About 16 years ago, I met Cora.  She was in her 80’s and had lived in nursing homes for 30 years.  She was blind, diabetic and had numerous health difficulties that contributed to her mostly bedridden state of life.  It pains me to admit that my heart was not in this meeting.  I had felt compelled by the Spirit to go to this nursing home to spend time with the elderly and read the Bible to anyone interested, but I had come up with every excuse possible to avoid obeying my gracious King.  And if you really want to know the blackness of my heart at the time, I was more than mildly unsettled by the reality that the first person I got introduced to was Cora.

     

Within minutes, I had judged by her impeded speech that she was no longer intelligible. The years and ailments had taken their toll on her outward body.  She was hard to look at and even harder to understand, and the odor in the room turned my stomach.  Foolishly, I whined at God. “Why am I here?  How am I supposed to even communicate with her?” It was not a good first day!

Looking back now, I know that it was really ME that was blind…blind to God’s good purposes and blind to beauty that a foolish eye can't see.  I’m horribly ashamed now to even admit that all I saw that day was a disfigured, lonely old woman, whose body was falling apart, taking up bed space at a nursing home.  I dared to question God as to why He even had her still breathing.  My evaluation of the situation called into question God’s goodness and His purposes…how could He let someone remain like that for SO LONG?  “Just take her home, Lord.” Her lot in life seemed cruel to me.

I had fears at that point in my life of growing old and being abandoned and the day I met Cora I felt like those fears were confirmed & nearly consumed me.  So much exploded in my mind in the hours and days after our first meeting.  BUT God had pulled out His scalpel and had begun to do surgery on me...all I knew then was the pain of the first cut.  I had no idea what God was going to do.  I had no idea that He intended to give me a very special gift of friendship with this woman, and open my blind eyes, and cast away my fears, and grow me in compassion. 

God encouraged me with Zech. 4:10 to not despise the day of small beginnings.  Small beginnings?  “You mean you want me to go back there, God?” 

Compelled by His Spirit, I went back, week after week.  God began to peel back the scales from my eyes and over time I came to see just how beautiful Cora was.  It’s true that her speech was impaired, but she had a patience about her that was remarkable and she would try and try again until I could understand what she was trying to say.  And God grew my patience in the listening.

God tells us that His people still bring forth fruit in their old age (Psalm 92:14).  I am convinced that I am one of Cora’s many fruits by God’s grace. 

 

The Apostle Paul wrote from prison and told us to “rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice”...Cora, imprisoned in her own dilapidated body, did that.  She was one of the most joy-filled people I’ve ever known though her circumstances were FAR from desirable.  I could tell many stories about Cora and the scripture truths she illustrated for me through her very real trust in God, her prayer-warriorishness, her contented spirit in accepting from God whatever His hand brought her, and her hope of being with God through all eternity.  She understood that “this momentary affliction is not worthy to be compared with the glory that awaits us in Christ Jesus.” 

I was SO WRONG in my thinking and evaluations that first day.  And God was and is SO GRACIOUS.  God is the Giver of life and as long as He gives it, He has designs for His glory and our good in the course of every breath and every heartbeat.  Cora’s life, to her dying breath, was filled with meaning and purpose and fruitfulness.  Yours will be too.  Mine will be too.  Because God is who He is, and because His word to us is sure.  We can rest there, in His arms, ALL the time (young or old, weak or strong, clothed or naked, hungry or full, chained or free, prosperous or poor, vibrant or in pain). 

I look forward to being able to see as clearly as Cora now sees.  What a precious gift her friendship was for the two years God gave it.  Truth be told, it is a gift that keeps giving.  A gift I didn’t even want.  How many gifts of God do we foolishly resist?  I’m so glad that His grace overcomes my foolishness!

The other day I saw someone sign a comment they had made on a blog with “Still on the Potter’s wheel,” followed by their name.  STILL ON THE POTTER’S WHEEL…yep, that’s me!  Then and now.  Lord, please keep molding me into Your image.