Acknowledgement

In Genesis 12:7, 8; 13:18 (Here at Bible Gateway), note the repetition:

• 7…he built an altar there to the Lord…
• 8…there he built an altar to the Lord…
• 3:18…there he built an altar to the Lord…

All of these were after the Lord had promised the land to Abram.  The last one was after he and Lot had gone their separate ways and the Lord reiterated His promise to Abram that He would give Abram the land.

It is striking to me that after the Lord promised him the land, on the journey toward what the Lord had promised, at each step, Abram built an altar.

It was an acknowledgement of the Lord’s promise, the Lord’s guidance, and Abram’s trust and dependence on the Lord.

There are projects that the Lord has given me that I may start well.  However, this passage reminds me that although the Lord may have assigned me that project, it is incumbent on me to walk in acknowledgement of both the source of the assignment and my dependence on Him to complete it.

We Do It Our Way

We tend to be independent.  We tend to want to do things our way.  It seems that we are born that way.  I have 10 grandchildren divided equally between the binary genders.  In each case they are all independent.  They all go through the stage where “no” is the most common word out of their mouth followed closely by “mine.”  They are not alone.  I would wager that if you have children or grandchildren you have experienced the same phenomenon.

It is genetic.  Not – well yes, it is from me.  But it is really a function of being human.  There is an example of how this plays out negatively in 1 Kings 12:25 – 33 (here @ BibleGateway).  Jeroboam, wanted to reunite the kingdom, so he did it his way.  He built a couple of golden calves (where have we seen that before?) and set them up in a couple of places so Israel could worship “god” without going to Jerusalem.

There were several problems with this approach.  Not the least of which was the fact that God had centered worship at the temple in Jerusalem.  But Jeroboam had a problem that he needed to solve so he figured that it would be more efficient if there were a couple of places that the people could go to worship, it was a much better setup than having everyone trek to Jerusalem to worship.  Great idea, other than the fact it was a direct violation of the second commandment and the directions God gave about where to worship.

It is a good thing that we do not do this anymore.  We don’t come up with better alternatives for obedience to God.  

When Jesus says that if we are to be His disciples in John 8:31 – 32 (here @ BibleGateway), that we are to abide in His Word.  It would be just as good, actually, more efficient if we would read books about His Word.  That way we don’t have to do the work of study ourselves.  We can just read about the work others did.  Nothing wrong with that.  Much easier.  I can even listen to those books in my car on the way to work.  

Also, there are great teachers in my church and the pastor has a seminary degree.  I can learn from them.  That way I don’t have to think I can just soak up their knowledge.

Right.

Staying on the Path

As I have said earlier, I do not accept what I read about the Bible in books by Christian authors or scholars uncritically.  That said, again, I am helped and inspired by some of the things I read.  As I have mentioned before, sometimes during my quiet time, I read through parts of the Valley of Vision.  Some months back I read:

When faith sleeps, my heart becomes an unclean thing, the fount of every loathsome desire, the cage of unclean lust all fluttering to escape, the noxious tree of deadly fruit, the open wayside of earthly tares. Lord, awake faith to put forth its strength until all heaven fills my soul and all impurity is cast out. (VOV, Faith, 288 – 289) 

This prayer recalls Proverbs 4:26 – 27 (here @ BibleGateway), Psalm 119:105 (here @ BibleGateway), and John 15:5 (here @ BibleGateway). 

For me to continue to walk with Him I am both dependent on Him and His Word. Without consistent time with Him in His Word there is no chance that I will be able to stay on the path. It may be obvious, but listening to what others have found in the Word, or reading books about the Word or some aspect of the Christian life, while possibly helpful, does not, is not the same as spending time directly engaged with the text.  It is not what Jesus tells us to do in John 8:31 - 32 (here @ BibleGateway).

Worshipping the Blessing – Part 2

Yesterday we looked at how Gideon and Israel focused on what they gained from God’s help, blessing, in dealing with the Midianites.  However, following the Lord for the wrong reason, or focusing on what He gives rather than Him, is not limited to the Old Testament.  Spend some time reading through John 6 (here @ BibleGateway).

Note that in John 6:26 – 27 (here @ BibleGateway), Jesus rebukes those following Him because they were following for what they could get from Him, namely bread, rather than following Him to know Him.

All of us face this challenge.  The 12 did as well.  Look at John 6:59 – 71 (here @ BibleGateway).  On the one hand all of us want to serve and obey Christ, to labor with and for Him in the harvest.  On the other hand, the main thing is to seek Him and to know Him.  We should not measure our walk with God by the effectiveness of our ministry, but on the quality of our relationship with Him.

Going back, full circle, to Gideon, look at Judges 8:33 – 35 (here @ BibleGateway).  Before Gideon’s body was cool, Israel switched worship from the Ephod to Baal.  It seems that focusing on the blessing that following and depending on God brings, can lead not only to following Him for the wrong reason, but it seemingly sets us up for even further idolatry.  Perhaps it is a slippery slope.

Worshiping the Blessing

You know the story of Gideon.  You know that the Lord called him to judge his people.  You know that Gideon was reluctant and asked for a sign, twice.  You know that Gideon led Israel to a great victory with a limited number of warriors.

At the end of his victories, Israel asked him to rule over the nation.  He refused.  That was good, Judges 8:23 (here @ BibleGateway).  Then Gideon, as an alternative asked them to give him one earring from each of the warriors’ spoil, 8:24 (here @ BibleGateway).  They did and that was 1,700 shekels of gold, which is approximately 42.73 pounds of gold.  At today’s gold price, $1,820.74/oz, that is $1,244,674.95 worth of gold.  So, a nice sum.  

Gideon made an ephod out of the gold.  Essentially a breastplate of gold.  Note what happened next, Judges 8:27 (here @ BibleGateway), “all Israel played the harlot with it…”  The nation worshiped the Ephod.  Further, “it became a snare to Gideon and his household.”  Gideon was caught up in the “harlotry”.

It was God who enabled Gideon to be successful in judging, freeing Israel from the oppression of Midian.  However, rather than giving thanks and worship to Him, the nation and Gideon worshiped the spoil of the victory, the blessing that God had provided.

How often do we do that today?  How often do we seek what God can do, or the result of His grace in our lives rather than seeking Him for Him?  In Psalm 27:8 (here @ BibleGateway), David declares that when the Lord says, “Seek My face,” David’s response is “Your face, O Lord, I shall seek.”

We get excited and share answered prayer, whether it is for healing, or for financial issues, or whatever.  Should not that focus be on He who answered, healed, or granted resources?  We memorialize what He has done.  Shouldn’t we simply come to Him in grateful worship?  A question I have to ask myself, am I grateful that He has called me to Himself, or am I overwhelmed by the reality that He has opened up the way for me to be in His presence, to know Him, and to worship Him.

Help for Struggling Prayer

(Normally I write these in an hour or so.  This one I have been working on for 3 or 4 days.  It is long.  I considered breaking it into two or three posts but decided against it.  I think that would have diminished the message.)

Full Disclosure
I struggle with prayer.  I can study the Bible for hours, but I will fall asleep, like the disciples, when I try to pray for thirty minutes.  I share that as a preface to what I have been challenged with in the Word over the past few days.  I share it because I do not want you to think that what I am about to write about prayer, is in any way a declaration that I have this figured out or am doing well with this spiritual discipline.

Source of This Post
For some context, I am working through Revelation (here @ Bible Gateway) in three Bible studies: one on Monday morning, and two on Tuesday morning.  So, I am working through the book verse by verse three different times.  Most of what follows is a result of those studies.  

The Importance of Prayer to God
In Revelation 8:3 – 5 (here @ Bible Gateway) there is a picture of the importance and effectiveness of prayer that overwhelms me.  What John sees is an altar, a golden alter, before the throne of God.  We see in verse 5 (here @ Bible Gateway) that the altar has fire.  In verse 3 (here @ Bible Gateway) we find that the prayers of all of the saints are on that altar.  Think of that.  Your prayer, my prayer, are on the altar before God.  

If your experience is like mine, sometimes it feels as if my feeble prayer does not get past the ceiling of my office.  Yet here we find that these prayers, feeble as they may be, are on the altar, seemingly as a burnt offering to our God.  

But that is not all.  In Revelation 8 (here @ Bible Gateway), the angel comes to the altar and adds much incense to the prayer on the altar.  I understand that this is after the seventh seal, so, we cannot assume that this happens now.  However, the altar seems to be there now.  Regardless, the actions of the angel with the incense, the fire from the altar, and the censer, seem to underline and emphasize the effect of our prayer.

Hope In My Feeble Prayer
It has been of help to me to consider what John saw and recorded in Revelation 8 (here @ Bible Gateway) as I begin to pray.  To understand that my prayer will be on the altar before God, gives me hope.  Hope even though I am so weak in my prayer.

But there is more hope.

In Romans 8:26 – 27 (here @ Bible Gateway) I am greatly comforted about my feeble prayer life.  There we read that – but wait, the first words we read are, “In the same way”, that makes us look at the previous context to see what that “same way” could be, we see, among other things, the ministry of the Spirit in our lives assures us of our adoption and gives us hope.  That hope is a direct reflection of Paul’s point in Romans 5:1 – 11 (here @ Bible Gateway) where, as we exult in our tribulation, the Spirit produces love in our hearts, as we persevere, we develop proven character in and through that perseverance, and that results in hope.  

So as the ministry of the Spirit helps us to walk in Christ, assures us of our adoption, and gives us hope, “in the same way” He helps our weakness.  He helps in one of the areas in which I need great help, prayer.  The text says that we do not know how to pray.  This “we” includes the author, Paul.  Paul, like me, like us, struggled with prayer.  But here the Spirit inspires him to encourage “we”.  We are helped because the Spirit takes our weak, feeble prayer, and intercedes for us.  

The Full Engagement of the Trinity in Our Prayer
However, it gets even better.  Look at the last clause of Romans 8:27 (here @ Bible Gateway):

“because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God,” (NASB95).  

Note that the words “the will of” are in italics which indicates those words were added by the committee to make the translation “make more sense”.  Regardless of which version or translation you consider those words are added.  The Greek literally says:

“because according to God He intercedes on behalf of the saints”.  

While I understand the addition of “the will of”, from my perspective the addition significantly diminishes the point Paul is making.  The Holy Spirit intercedes for us according to God.  While the will of God is certainly in mind, I believe that “according to God” indicates all of God’s nature and character, all His glory and excellence.  Paul’s Holy Spirit inspired choice of vocabulary, highlights and underscores the fullness of the Holy Spirit’s participation with the Father and the Son as God, bringing that participation fully into His intercession for us.

This is not a minor point.  You will note that Romans 8:2 – 39 (here @ Bible Gateway) is the explanation of and support for Romans 8:1 (here @ Bible Gateway) (notice all of the verses in your Bible that begin with “for,” “for” is a structural marker (click here for more on structure in the Bible or search this blog for the word "structure") that indicates support for or result of something that has been stated.  Throughout this chapter Paul is substantiating what he has declared in 8:1 (here @ Bible Gateway)).  For those of us who are in Christ, there is no condemnation.  

Part of the reality that we are under no condemnation is what we are considering here.  We are still weak.  We are still needy.  Even though it is declared that we are in Christ in 8:1 (here @ Bible Gateway) and that the Spirit (8:9 (here @ Bible Gateway)) and Christ (8:10 (here @ Bible Gateway)) dwell in us.  In 8:26 – 27 (here @ Bible Gateway) we are told that “He who searches the hearts” knows the mind of the Spirit.  It is the Father that searches the hearts (consider: 1 Samuel 16:7 (here @ Bible Gateway); 1 Chronicles 28:9 (here @ Bible Gateway); Proverbs 17:3 (here @ Bible Gateway); Jeremiah 11:20 (here @ Bible Gateway); 17:10 (here @ Bible Gateway); 20:12 (here @ Bible Gateway); Revelation 2:23 (here @ Bible Gateway)).  The Father searches the heart of the believer, the Spirit prays for the believer and the Father and the Spirit are completely in sync, which brings the full force of the nature of God into that prayer.  To cap all of that off, we read in 8:34 (here @ Bible Gateway) that the Son is also interceding for us at the right hand of God.

Summary
So as we struggle with prayer, it helps me to remember, that my feeble attempts of coming to my Lord in prayer, are absorbed by the Holy Spirit, compared with the actual needs that I have, the Spirits understanding is completely understood by the Father, who has searched my heart and understands my needs, then the Spirit prays for me to the Father with groanings too deep for words – He is pouring His soul out for us – while at the same time the Son is at the right hand of the Father also praying for us, and all of this time, our feeble prayer is on the golden altar that stands before the throne of the Father.

Conclusion
That is help.  That truth has helped me rest as I pray.  It has taken away some of the struggle.  It has caused me to rejoice and praise Him who has engaged so completely in my efforts to come to Him.  It is an overwhelming picture of God’s love and effective working of His grace in our lives.

Abundant, Overwhelming Grace

On May 12th last year I started chemo for the cancer I have, Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia.  I had no idea how it was going to impact me.  The first infusion was two days, 3 hours on the 12th and 5 hours on the 13th.  

On the evening of the 13th my diaphragm began to spasm.  It was like having hiccups on steroids, which I had both days.  They calmed down by 10 PM but started back up again at 12:30 the morning of the 14th.  They kept me awake until 5 AM.

In my journal the evening of the 14th I recorded a passage that had really encouraged me, 2 Corinthians 12:7 – 10 (here @ Bible Gateway).  I was struck yet again by Paul’s attitude.  He was well content with weakness, with insults, with distress, with persecutions, with difficulties, for it made him dependent on Christ.

As mentioned in my last post part of my Quiet time for the past year or so has been to read and reflect on one of the entries in The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions (VOV).  This is what I read the morning of the 15th.

The voyage is long, the waves high, the storms pitiless, but my helm is held steady, thy word secures safe passage, thy grace wafts me on ward, my haven is guaranteed. (VOV, Voyage, page 202 - 203) 

Those words reminded me of what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:7 – 10 (here @ Bible Gateway).  However, that is not what was the greatest comfort.  I started reading VOV because of a conversation I had with one of the small group leaders in our church.  He mentioned that the men in his group spent some time looking at it and discussing some of the entries.

Out of curiosity, I got a copy and a few weeks later incorporated it into my time with God.  That was months before May 15, 2020.  Yet the timing of this sentence was perfect.  What stunned me, and I should know better by now, was the Lord using an off hand comment by a Christian brother months before, to supply encouragement to me when I was in need.

Psalm 139 (here @ Bible Gateway) tells us that He knows our path in detail, He encloses us behind and before and lays His hand on us.  He knows what I need before I need it and supplies it just in time.

Further, this morning before I started my time with Him, I prayed that He would meet me and in our time together, He would through His Spirit increase my love for Him.  But this morning nothing really stood out in what I read.  As I am writing this, I am overwhelmed with His love and care for me.  He answered the prayer in His own time.

His grace and kindness are overwhelmingly abundant.

Subtle Snares

Gideon was a judge of Israel, the fifth mentioned in the book of Judges (here @ Bible Gateway).  The Lord led him to save Israel against Midian with 300 men.  We looked at that a couple of days ago.

Read through Judges 8:22 – 27 (here @ Bible Gateway).  There is an interesting lesson here.  Gideon was asked to lead Israel.  He was a hero.  He had earned the people’s allegiance.  But when asked he refused.  Instead he asked for one gold earring from each.  That resulted in Gideon having about 70 pounds of gold.  In todays dollars that works out to be about 1.7 million.

Gideon brings the gold back and makes a 70-pound ephod which is the part of the priestly garment that is over the robe.  He places it in his home town and it becomes an idol that Israel and Gideon worship.

There is a lesson here.

Success and devotion to the Lord does not insure finishing well.  Things we do to honor Him may become, like it did for Gideon, a snare for us.  We can become focused on those things rather than the Lord.  For instance:

• Worship – Our worship, or how we do it, becomes the focus, not the Lord.
• Bible – The knowledge of or about the Scriptures becomes the end not the means of knowing Him.
• Religion – We work hard as pleasing what we think is God rather than living in His grace.
• Service – Our service to Him, be it missions, teaching, serving, whatever our gift or what He has equipped us to do becomes the end, our focus and not Him.

There are probably other ways we can get off track, those are just a few.  Gideon’s means of remembering his defeat of Midian became his god.  We have to guard daily against making what we do well for Him a similar thing for us.

On the Death of Jesus

This morning a friend of mine spoke to a men’s group about the crucifixion of Christ.  He spoke in some detail.  He told me at a meeting last week he was going to do so.  It so happens that I heard a similar talk by a Young Life leader sometime around April of 1966.  The Young Life leader’s talk was graphic.  It got my attention and that evening at home I asked Christ to be my savior.

In March of 1986 an article was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), entitled "On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ”.  The article closely paralleled my Young Life leader’s talk.

A few years ago I tracked down a copy of that article.  After listening to my friend’s presentation this morning, it seems appropriate that we should review what actually happened in AD 33 to Jesus.

So, I have uploaded the article and you can read it here.  It is not an easy read.  Which is appropriate.  What Jesus experienced was completely voluntary for the purpose of paying the penalty of my and your rebellion, sin against His Father.  The pain, as I alluded to last week, is indescribable, so much so that a new word, excruciating (literally “out of crucifixion”), was coined to inadequately describe it.  However, the real pain, was the separation from His Father.  As my friend pointed out this morning, of all the possibly million people that were crucified, only one could have stopped it, only one had a choice, and He chose to be crucified.

So, read this.  As I experienced in high school, realize that this was done intentionally, voluntarily, for both you and me.

Hors Catégorie

Pain.  For the past few days I have experienced the most physical pain in the span of years the Lord has allowed me to be here.  Had a cortisone shot between L4 and L5.  The end result is supposed to be good, but the day after the shot was not much fun.

Laying down – which was all that I could do – the pain level was 4 or 5.  If I moved, tried to turn over or, stand up, the pain in my left leg immediately spiked to a hard 10.  Things have settled down.  My left leg is really weak, but that is supposed to clear up in week or so.

This experience got me thinking.  We are looking at Easter.  Good Friday is in six days.  One of the things that Jesus says on the cross in Matthew 27:46 (here @ Bible Gateway), was “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”

When we consider what the Bible says about Christ, the pain evident in these nine words emerges.  Christ was unified, one with the Father and the Spirit.  That reality permeates the Gospels especially the Gospel of John (here @ Bible Gateway).  During His time on the cross Christ was separated, ripped away from that relationship.

I am a fan of the Tour de France.  The climbs are rated 1 – 4 with the largest rated HC or Hors Catégorie, “beyond categorization.”  We are asked to measure pain on a scale of 1 – 10, ten being described as “unspeakable.”  It occurs to me that what Christ suffered was Hors Catégorie, beyond categorization.  He did that so that we could be restored to a relationship with His Father from whom He was separated, which caused that Hors Catégorie pain.  He did that voluntarily.  He did that for you and me.

We should probably respond.

Mercy

If you have ever wondered about a good definition of mercy, may I suggest Psalm 103:10 (here @ Bible Gateway)?

Personally, I rejoice in that verse.

Why Engage with the Bible

In the midst of a difficult time I read Psalm 31:7 (here @ Bible Gateway).  The last clause, “…You have known the troubles of my soul…” comforted me.  It led me to review Hebrews 4:15 – 16 (here @ Bible Gateway).  The message is clear, regardless of what we are going through, the Lord not only knows but in fact has gone through much more than we are or ever will.

This is a comfort.  But more than that, it is instructive on how we should be approaching our time in the Bible.  As we engage with His Word, we are not doing so in order to increase our knowledge.  While it is good to know which prophets ministered to either Israel or Judah and it helps to know some Greek or Hebrew, being expert on the prophets or the languages is not really the point.

In John 5:39 – 47 (here @ Bible Gateway), Jesus is confronting those who know the Bible, as it existed then, very well.  In fact they had the first five books memorized.  He informed them in no uncertain terms that they had completely missed the point.

It is not about knowing the content.  It is about knowing Him.  When we come to the Scripture, we are being exposed to God’s nature and character, 2 Peter 1:2 – 11 (here @ Bible Gateway).  As we read we should be looking for what the passage tells us about Him.

That was my experience in the passages I mentioned above.  Those passages reminded me of the reality not only of His engagement with me personally, but also His empathy, care, and support in all with which we have to deal as we navigate our journey through this broken world.

If from time to time you are not moved to tears as you face this reality in the Scripture, you may want to spend some time praying through why you are engaged in the Word.  You may want to ask Him to reveal Himself to you through the Scripture.

Psalm 119:18 (here @ Bible Gateway) would be a good thing to pray.

The Escape from Troubling Times

Unless you are living in denial, you will have come to the realization that this life is difficult.  The difficulty varies based on multiple factors.  I have learned over the years that I would not trade the difficulty that I face for another’s.  It doesn’t matter what their socio economic status, what culture, whatever…  I would not trade.

It seems as if no matter what I do, however well I navigate trouble, there is still more on the way.

I was reviewing John 14:1 – 2 (here @ Bible Gateway) just now.  It seems to me that here in the Lord’s words we find some solace.  The respite from trouble is not some action I take.  It is not some strategy of coping.  Not an application of positive thinking.  Rather, it is in trust.

Trust in Him.

Further, the solution to the trouble, the end of it, is not going to be here.  Rather, it is with Him.  He is preparing a place for us.  Revelation 21:4 (here @ Bible Gateway) indicates that there will be no more mourning, crying, or pain.  No trouble.

We have to trust Him that trouble here is not only temporary, but in our lives for a reason, 2 Corinthians 4:17 (here @ Bible Gateway).  Further, we are to hold on to the truth that what we will have there, as Christ promises in John 14:1 – 2 (here @ Bible Gateway), so far outweighs what we experience here as to make it practically meaningless, Romans 8:18 (here @ Bible Gateway).

Just so you understand the context in our life, I am reviewing journal entries in the midst of a time when our family experienced 5 deaths in 18 months.  Each of those are still painful and have lasting impact on our family in different ways.

These passages, this realization, is one of the things that helps us navigate seasons like this.

Fruitful Old Friends

Are there passages that continually bear fruit for you?  Verses that seem to stop you each time you read them?  Words that challenge you at a different level each time that you encounter them in His Book?  There are several that do that for me.  Psalm 119 (here @ Bible Gateway) continues to draw me back to its 22 octets.  2 Peter (here @ Bible Gateway), 2 Timothy (here @ Bible Gateway), Colossians (here @ Bible Gateway)… probably should stop.  My kids say that I will be drawn to all of it…

Exodus 33:13 (here @ Bible Gateway) is a passage that stops me just about every time I read it.  Consider it for a minute.

What strikes you about that passage?  For me, it reminds me that if I am interested in knowing the Lord better, I am completely dependent on His graciously granting that knowledge to me.  I cannot in any way, shape, or form attain more knowledge of Him unless He reveals it to me.

That reality, that notion, is not just in Exodus 33:13 (here @ Bible Gateway), no, it permeates one of the passages I listed above, Psalm 119 (here @ Bible Gateway).  Read through Psalm 119 (here @ Bible Gateway), note the number of times that David asks the Lord to teach him, or declares his dependence on the Lord to know Him and, or to learn of or obey Him.

As I have mentioned before, it has changed my perspective and the way that I pray.

By the way the other places I have written about Exodus 33:13 (here @ Bible Gateway) are here and here.

Worship of the Giver

Have you ever admired someone’s skill?  Looked at something that they have created and was amazed at their work?  There are a number of artists for which I have great regard.  Some of them work in the medium of drawing or painting.  Many in music.  Some in the written word both in fiction and non-fiction.  Some as actors.  Some as carpenters.  Some as designers of buildings, bridges, or other structures.

There are others though who many would not consider artists, plumbers, electricians, welders, etc.  Artists, however, they are.

Exodus 31:6 (here @ Bible Gateway), the last part especially, tells us that any skill that we have was put there by God.  So when you admire someone’s work, you are in reality giving thanks to the One who gifted their skill.

Perhaps a new source of worship.

No is an Answer

Typically I mine my journals to spark what I write here.  For the past several months I have been reviewing the last journal which covers from November of 2016 through February of this year.

This evening I hit entries that surrounded a significant event for our family.  In the journal I recorded my prayer concerning what was going on.

Garth Brooks has a song, “Unanswered Prayers.”  I like Garth, but he got that one wrong.  There are no unanswered prayers.  We just may not get the answer we hope for.  “No,” is as much of an answer as, “Yes”.  Further, sometimes the answer is, “Wait”.

In the case of the prayer I recorded during the first part of last year, the answer was, “No”.

Reading the prayer, I had a visceral reaction.  My gut tightened up, I bent over, and began to weep.  The pain and confusion is still very real.  From where I sit, “No,” made no sense, no sense at all.  It does not matter how I parse the situation, from whatever angle it is contemplated, the continuing confusion, pain, and constant reminders of the answer, do not compute.

There are two things that sustain faith for me when these forceful reminders hit.  First, I know without any shadow of doubt that God loves us, loves me, loves all who were and are continually impacted by the “No”.

Second, my experience with other, “Nos,” helps me to know that I can trust Him.  Some of those have resolved into understanding over the years.  Some have not.  But I know based on both experience and the testimony of His Word than I can trust Him.

For this one, in this life, I may never understand.

But I know that He loves me, and I trust Him.  But, it still hurts.

Waiting

I am not patient.  As a pilot I was trained to think quickly, precisely, and then to act immediately.  That does not translate well into life outside of the cockpit.  Further, it does not translate well into following the Lord.

Psalm 27:4 (here @ Bible Gateway) was the first passage I ever memorized.  Later I memorized all of Psalm 27 (here @ Bible Gateway).  Psalm 27:13 (here @ Bible Gateway) is one of my wife’s favorite verses.  Psalm 27:14 (here @ Bible Gateway) is one of those verses that I love but are a consistent challenge to walk out in my life.

Waiting and impatience are not compatible bedfellows.

Yet, throughout the Word we are called to wait.  Consider this list (click here).

Look at the advantages of waiting:

• Salvation
• Strength and Courage
• Rest
• Inheritance
• Honor
• Hope
• Favor
• New Strength
• No Shame
• The Goodness of the Lord
• Being Heard by the Lord
• His Return

So even for one like me who is not patient and has been trained to act quickly, the lesson is clear.  I am to wait on Him.

Abiding Pain

Yesterday was mother’s day.  Jenny lost her mother last year to a stroke, mine passed away about 10 years ago, the result of a fall.  Yesterday was painful.  But it wasn’t because of our mothers.

Yesterday our one-year-old granddaughter was dedicated at my son’s church.

Her mother died last November after a 14 month battle with cancer.  Her daughter was born five months into that battle.

Both of the extended families live here.  All but 5 were at the dedication, so 29 adults and children.  The pastor charged the parents of the children and then the assembled congregation.  He then invited those who wanted to pray for a family to come forward.

The first person at my son’s side was the senior pastor of the church.  All 27 of the rest of us were next as well as a number of those who have been walking with my son through this past year and a half.  I was in tears.  Frankly, I had been most of the morning.  So was most if not all of the 29.

After we went back to our seats.  The pastor departed from what he was going to say to speak to my son’s situation.  The church and many around the world prayed for the baby as her mother was getting chemotherapy.  We prayed that the Lord would protect her from the effects of the chemo.  So far, it looks as if that prayer was answered in the affirmative.

The pastor said she was a miracle.  She is.  But, in fact, all children are…

The pastor commented on the support my son is getting from both sides of the family.  He is… He is also being supported by those in the med school and the practice where he is completing his fellowship.

All of us, the 34 in the family and those in the church body, know the truth.  We know that my son’s wife is in the presence of the Lord.  We know also that our current lives are a vapor.  We know that soon, very soon, we will be with her.  But more importantly, we know that we will be with the Lord.

We grieve, we deal with the abiding pain, but as Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 4:13 (here @ Bible Gateway), we grieve, we walk through the abiding pain, in hope.  For, as Paul reminds us in 1 Thessalonians 4:14 (here @ Bible Gateway), this life is not the end.

It still hurts.  We still weep.  At times the ache is deep.  But, the hope is real, the hope sustains.

Invalidating the Word of God – Again

I have written about this before.  There is an ever-increasing list of passages that I find personally challenging and troubling.  The list is long and they are passages that seem to penetrate my attitudes and actions showing them to be lacking in some major way.

Mark 7:8 – 9, 13 (here @ Bible Gateway), is hovering around that list.  The indictment Christ serves to His listeners is stark in its clarity and implications.  They have placed and consider their tradition as more important than the Word of God.

I have seen this with groups of people going through our workshops.  They share practices that are common, traditional, in their congregations for which, as we begin to observe the text of the Bible, they can find no support.

Seeing that in those people, alerts and warns me to the reality that I may be doing the same thing.  I am becoming more and more aware of things believers say; practices we hold dear, teach, and recommend that frankly cannot be supported by scripture. 

It scares me.  I do not want to hear from the Lord that I have invalidated His Word.

Deep Waters

Reviewing my journal just now.  I was reading an entry three days after we buried my dad.  My son’s wife was in the middle of a battle with lymphoma she would ultimately lose almost 10 months to the day.  At the time I wrote the entry she was 25 weeks pregnant.  Another one of our children had recently experienced a miscarriage. 

I was praying through all that was going on.  One of the notes was “God is sovereign over…conception, growth, death, life, birth, and vitality.”

There were times in that 18 month period that all I could come up with in prayer was “I love You; I trust You…”  That was usually through some deep emotion and accompanied by tears.

As I review the requests I made of the Lord, all were answered.  The family with the miscarriage now has another healthy child.  My son’s critically ill wife gave birth to a healthy baby about six weeks later.  The Lord took the baby’s mom home 8 months after she gave birth.

I do not pretend to understand why He answers prayer in the way that He does.  I do know…

I love Him; I trust Him.