Priorities

My Bible studies this week overlapped. We can see some messed up priorities in David’s life. While my other study was about determining and implementing Biblical priorities.

Basically as David’s army in exile began their march into battle against Absalom and his forces, David made a firm plea to his military leaders and to each group of soldiers leaving through the gates of the city he is currently taking refuge in. “The king gave orders to Joab, Abishai and Ittai, ‘For my sake, deal gently with young Absalom’ (2 Samuel 18:5, CJB). While it seems like this was a compassionate and loving thing to do, David was actually putting his family above sound military procedures that would protect David’s followers. Keeping Absalom alive was increasing the chances of a continued struggle, and more death and destruction for Israel. “David had been putting his family above his duties to Yehoveh for a very long time, and the outcome was disastrous” (Bradford, Torah Class, Lesson 27).

In Christian circles we often hear the saying “God comes first and family second.” However, many Christians make decisions based solely on what is best for their family. In the NavPress study on how to live as a mature Christian (Bearing Fruit in God’s Family), there’s two sessions on priorities. In the second part there’s a chart that places God first, followed by Family, Work, and Other. All these are realistic priorities. However, another illustration shows how our relationships with others, including our family, improve as we focus on becoming more Christ-like. The goal is to have everybody pursuing God’s interests. On each side of the base of a triangle are people, and God is at the top point. As the people get closer to God, they move up the sides of the triangle and actually get closer to each other as they do. (I wish I could draw a picture for you but I’m not that skilled on a computer.) Try diagraming this for yourself.

David’s example shows that he was not drawing closer to God but trying desperately to improve his relationship with Absalom setting aside the God guidelines he was supposed to be focusing on. It’s not wrong to want closer relationships with our family members and others. It just doesn’t truly happen until everyone is pursuing God.

Abner's Folly

Today I’m looking at 2 Samuel, chapter 2. This chapter starts out with David consulting the Lord about his next steps. There’s a principle in this section about going to God in prayer and then moving out to let God do His work through us, but I’m going to look at another portion of the passage, with a different (but overlapping) principle.

We find out that Abner (Saul’s military leader) tries to establish Israel under the authority of Saul’s remaining son, Ishbosheth. There is quite a bit of speculation as to why Ishbosheth wasn’t on the battlefield with Saul and Saul’s other sons, but for reasons not given in Scripture Ishbosheth did not go to war. So, Abner sets Ishbosheth up as the new king of Israel. This is the beginning to an Israelite civil war between Abner’s (Ishbosheth’s) territories and men, and David’s territories and men.

In the course of time, a faction of Abner’s military rest by a pool, the pool at Gibeon. At the same time, Joab (David’s military leader) had a faction of David’s army also camp on the other side of the same pool. What were they to do? No one is said to have gone to God in prayer. Scripture does not say they consulted priests. So, out of Abner’s own mind, without input from God, he proposes a plan to Joab. “Abner said to Joab, ‘If it’s all right with you, let’s have the young men get up and fight it out between themselves while we watch’ . . .” (2 Samuel 2:14, CJB). The NASB says that they would “hold a contest.” This is the same type of contest there was between the Philistine representative, Goliath, and the Israelite representative, David. We know how that turned out . . . David won but the Philistines did not surrender as agreed upon. The end of this contest does not resolve the conflict either. Each side put up twelve men. As Abner and Joab and the rest of their armies watched, “Each one grabbed his partner by the head and drove his sword into his side, so that they fell down together . . .” (verse 16). The contest was inconclusive as all the champions on both sides died and a general battle broke out between the armies. Abner’s army was routed and chased across the countryside.

The principle that struck me was that we should be careful about picking fights. Being the aggressor, as Abner was, may have disastrous results. Abner obviously thought he had the upper hand, but he failed to recognize God’s role in the battle. As David with his army were the anointed of God, they would have a distinct advantage even if their army looked smaller or less experienced. Bible commentator Matthew Henry gave the following cross-reference to the events in this passage: Proverbs 25:8. “Do not go out hastily to argue your case; Otherwise, what will you do in the end, When your neighbor puts you to shame” (NASB).

I took this as a warning to me. I simply thought, “Don’t ‘create’ strife with the people in my life; it could come back to bite me.” I know that David eventually wins the civil war, but this battle may have been avoided if Abner had not been so quick to start something. What battles in my life could have been avoided if I didn’t start the argument? I’m sure there are some, which I conveniently don’t remember. But now I’ve been warned. I do not have to start things in the future.

The Hope Within

It’s different this time. I have hope. Where does this hope come from? Why am I not pessimistic like during times past? There are two simple reasons.

First, I know I do not want to die. Two years ago I discovered this truth. I was diagnosed with cancer and suddenly realized that I had a lot of good stuff (and some bad stuff) yet to live for. During most of my childhood, teenage years, young adult, and middle age I’ve thought that dying (i.e. suicide) was always a way to end my pain. But in that one moment in February of 2017, I knew I wanted to live and suicide became a non-issue. It was completely off the table and no longer an option. Since I no longer had a “way-out,” I needed to find new ways to think and feel about the suffering in my life. This includes the ups and downs of my bipolar.

Which brings me to the second reason things are different. I have hope. In the past I viewed my illnesses as enemies to be beaten into submission. And I felt it as a losing cause. There would always be problems with no solutions and everything could only get worse. Yet, my life had proven over and over again that my mood will change and will even stabilize at some point. But I thought it was only temporary and I waited for the other shoe to drop, living in dread every day of my life. There was always something hanging over me.

As I said, my life story should’ve proven to me that there was always hope. I just couldn’t see it, but with no other options available to me, I decided to believe. Believe in a God who saved me through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe in the principles of the AA program. Believe in my professional caregivers. And, last but not least, believe in myself. All those beliefs together give me an incredible amount of hope.

Let’s live in hope today.

Rash Decisions

In the second part of 1 Samuel 14 we see Saul making more impulsive decisions which affect Israel’s success in battle, their relationship with God, and created long-term consequences. Before we criticize Saul too much, we need to reflect on our own decisions because we are much like Saul.

The first impetuous oath we see from Saul happens in verse 24. This was after Jonathan had success, with only his armor bearer with him, in attacking the Philistines and before Saul decided to join in the battle. The oath or vow was this: “Cursed be the man who eats food before evening, and until I have avenged myself on my enemies.” First, Saul was concerned about his success and reputation; he focused on himself avenging his enemies. Not God’s enemies, or Israel’s enemies, but he claimed the battle was his to win or lose. The long-term effect was that the warriors did not eat honey flowing from the ground when they came upon it and they were weary from the battle. This left them weakened and tired. What the army gained in time by not stopping to eat, they lost in strength and the victory was still not complete.

The second oath resulted from Jonathan, who had not made the oath because he was not present when Saul forced it upon his soldiers, eating the honey. When Saul thought to consult God, the priests were unable to get any answers, so Saul assumed someone had sinned or violated the oath to not eat. His oath this time, in verse 39, says, “For as the Lord lives, who delivers Israel, though it is in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die.” Was Saul really ready to forfeit his son over this? We find later that he was, whether out of maintaining his own pride or for some other reason, because Providence caused the lot to indicate the “sin” had fallen on Jonathan.

When Saul found out the “guilty” party was Jonathan (but not really since Jonathan had not been present for the oath and did not know he was not supposed to eat), he made another oath: “May God do this to me and more also, for you shall surely die, Jonathan” (verse 44). Basically, what Saul asked is that God punish himself with the same consequence as Jonathan’s if he didn’t follow through on the second oath. Well the people spoke up and said they refused to let Jonathan die because Jonathan obviously was doing God’s work and brought great deliverance to Israel during this battle with the Philistines. As a result, Saul did eventually lose his throne and his life; and Jonathan also never gained the throne, dying at the same time Saul did (Chapter 31).

Aren’t we also fragile, insecure and ego-driven as Saul was? Saul failed to glorify God and to put God first, trusting in Him for everything. Saul made his own decisions, acted rashly, and there were severe consequences for doing that. I know if I’m not careful I make impulsive and not well thought out decisions that affect my relationship with God and with other people. Sometimes those decisions lead to long-term consequences that I have to deal with for the rest of my life. So, I should not look too harshly upon Saul or other people who seem to be acting impulsively. I am just like them.

God is Trustworthy

I’ve known this concept for a long time: God is trustworthy. However, I have still struggled with not feeling like I can trust Him. This lesson has helped me see the many reasons and ways that David trusted God in the midst of all kinds of attacks and struggles. Psalms 31, 40, 55, and 56 address David’s trust issues and shows why he trusts God in every area of his life.

After noting many situations and David’s thoughts about those situations in Psalm 31, I noticed a pattern in the circumstances that prompt David to trust God. The circumstances (which were mostly the same in the other Psalms from this week’s study) encompassed physical, mental, emotional, and social situations in which David felt besieged. In some of the other Psalms I noticed that David was convinced he could trust God in situations where he was under military attack. David relied on God’s protection to see him through. Psalm 55 specifically addresses a situation where a very close friend of David’s betrayed him. David calls him a traitor (vs. 12-13). David is clearly heartbroken by the friend’s turning against him. David realizes that there is no one but God who is completely trustworthy to look out for his interests.

I’m not saying we should hold every friend in doubt and fear of betrayal. This passage just brings home the fact that mere men cannot always keep their words or their promises – whether out of treachery or just because they are human and make mistakes. People will, in general, fail us at one point or another just because they are human and fallible. However, God is not human and He will keep His promises He’s made to us. We can and should trust Him with every aspect of our lives.

I chose to memorize Psalm 56:3-4 this week because one of my go to emotions is fear.

When I am afraid,

I will put my trust in Thee.

In God, whose word I praise,

In God I have put my trust;

I shall not be afraid.

What can mere man do to me?

I also like what C.H. Spurgeon had to say about Psalm 56:3-4:

It is a blessed fear which drives us to trust. Unregenerate fear drives from God, gracious fear drives to Him. If I fear man I have only to trust God, and I have the best antidote. To trust when there is no cause for fear, is but the name of faith, but to be reliant upon God when occasions for alarm are abundant and pressing, is the conquering faith of God’s elect. Though the verse is in the form of a resolve, it became a fact in David’s life; let us make it so in ours. Whether the fear arise from without or within, from past, present, or future, from temporals or spirituals, from men or devils, let us maintain faith, and we shall soon recover courage. [Emphasis added]

One of the questions in the study asked, “What other aspects of the psalmist’s life were touched because of his trust in God?” I answered simply, “All areas. Relationships, health, emotions, physical protection and well-being, soul condition, spiritual condition, mental health, and vengeance upon enemies.” David’s faith and relationship with God blossomed because God has proven Himself worthy and shown His care and love for man. My trust in Him has also been growing as a result of new recognition that I can trust God for every aspect of my life – especially when I am afraid.

Change and Anxiety

As I was wondering what to write about for this week, I talked to my sister and she suggested I explore the relationship between the coming changes in my life and the anxiety I’ve been feeling. All I came up with, at first, was that I’m not supposed to have anxiety because I believe in and trust God. There are several familiar passages of Scripture that address worrying and what we should do about the things we worry about. So, this article won’t, probably, cover new ground, but maybe it can be a good reminder to all of us – especially me.

Matthew 6:27 [NASB] says, “And which of you by being anxious can add a single cubit to his life’s span?” The implied answer is “No one.” Ultimately, God is in control of the length of our lives. Worrying about the future, or the past, cannot add any time to the number of days we have on this earth. In Matthew 6:32, Jesus answers the question for us: “. . . for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.” What should our response be? Matthew 6:33: “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.” There’s another admonishment in Matthew 6:34: “Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself . . .” God knows what we need and no amount of worry will cause our needs to be met, or met any faster/sooner.

Another familiar passage is found in Philippians 4:6, 7: “Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” The challenge: Be anxious for nothing. How do we do that? By prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. I sometimes think I’m bugging God with my petty concerns; however, this passage tells me to tell God what I think I need or want and then rest knowing that God will take care of whatever situation I’m worried about. I think I’ve done that once or twice in my life and I have, as a result, experienced peace from God – even in situations where other people thought I should still be anxious. It’s a peace that surpasses man’s understanding.

A final passage that comes to mind when I think about being anxious (not necessarily while I’m being anxious, though) is 1 Peter 5:7. “casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you.” I liked the note in my Ryrie study Bible for the phrase, “He cares for you.” It says, “it matters to Him concerning you.” I matter to God! And because I matter to God, I can put all my anxious thoughts and worries on His shoulders, knowing that He will meet my needs and give me peace. It takes resolve on my part. I have to do the casting of the anxieties. But He will handle them, because my concerns matter to God.

Reviewing those passages has brought me some peace today. Not only is His peace hard (impossible) for me to comprehend, but His concern and care for me is also beyond my imagination. But both are true. As I try to believe today, I will let God’s peace fall on me and let the anxieties go.

Some Review in Isaiah

I’m reading through my old journals as I work on my second book. Back in late 2005 through early 2006, I was reading in Isaiah from the Amplified Bible for my Quiet Times. I’m amazed at how much I got out of Isaiah. There were many encouragements.

One encouragement was found in Isaiah 50:10. As I read that verse again, I recognized that sometimes my perspective on my struggles doesn’t match God’s perspective. I think when I’m struggling and everything seems like doom and gloom, I’m not seeing life the way God wants me to see life. Verse 10 says,

“Who is among you who [reverently] fears the Lord, who obeys the voice of His Servant, yet who walks in darkness and deep trouble and has no shining splendor [in his heart]? Let him rely on, trust in, and be confident in the name of the Lord, and let him lean upon and be supported by his God.”

First, this verse says we may (probably will) have times of darkness and deep trouble and be without the shining splendor (joy) in our hearts. God recognizes that. He says that there are people (like myself) who may walk in darkness even while they fear the Lord. That may seem depressing to you and maybe you feel it lacks the hope you are looking for in your life. That’s how I often see things. I think if I’m not always joyful and uplifted then maybe I don’t really reverently fear God. If you have had your doubts in that area, be assured that you can be one of God’s chosen people and still suffer from trouble and suffer through darkness in your lives. This verse says so.

Second, let’s not miss the second part of this verse. It tells us that there’s a way to persevere through the suffering and hardships. We can rely on, trust in, and be confident in the name of the Lord. We can lean upon and be supported by our God. That tells me where to go when everything else seems to have failed me (and maybe I should go here first). I can go to God. And when I do go to God, my perspective on my suffering changes. My situation may still be dark and full of trouble, but there’s ultimate hope that God will see me through. That support is not available anywhere else. Only God is truly reliable and knows how to support us.

Again, ultimately, He’s already given us everything we need for eternal life: Jesus Christ. That’s where our hope can come from. Even if my depression seems to be ruling in my life right now, I can look at things from that eternal perspective and know that this life is not the end. Better days are ahead.

Sleep

I have trouble with my sleep patterns. This is partially due to a variety of medical issues ranging from my bipolar disorder to low blood sugars in the middle of the night. The problem is that when I have interrupted sleep or can’t fall asleep, the quality of my sleep is greatly lessened. Unfortunately for me that means that my bipolar disorder will probably cause a swing in my mood to a more manic stage. This often happens during the late fall, early winter parts of the year.

It’s been happening this year, again. So, with the advice of my psychiatrist’s office, I’ve been adjusting some of my medicines to try and counteract the trend and return me to getting good, quality sleep instead of interrupted or shortened sleep each night. However, there is a side effect of increasing the sleeping med. I feel groggy in the mornings and don’t get moving toward accomplishing my goals for each day.

In this struggle, I was reminded of Proverbs 3:24 which says, “When you lie down, you will not be afraid; When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.” Quite frankly, as bedtime approaches each day, I am afraid. I’m afraid I won’t sleep. I’m afraid I won’t feel awake and rested in the morning. I’m afraid I will have nightmares. I’m afraid I won’t wake up in the middle of the night if I need to in order to eat something to raise low blood sugars. I’m afraid I won’t hear the smoke detector if there was a fire.

How do I get past those fears? I pray. It’s the only possible solution to this problem which seems so out of my control. And it’s the only thing I can do to get my mind off all the things that make me afraid about going to sleep. When I pray, I recognize who God is and how He’s looking over me to protect me from all the things I fear. I don’t think my fears are unfounded or fantastical. But they are things I do not worry about once I place them in God’s hands. And as a result, my sleep is sweeter than it would be without the prayer.

Now if there was such an easy solution to feeling awake when the morning comes, many of my daytime problems would also go away.

Emotions, Logic and the Wise Mind

Lately, I feel like I lack purpose in my life. I used to have purpose or a sense that there was something to get out of the bed for in the morning. I’m not feeling it today. I’m feeling like the things that used to matter to me just don’t matter anymore.

However, feelings aren’t always accurate. I don’t get to that conclusion on my own. It takes someone else pointing it out to me. Feelings seem accurate, but they can be misleading. I feel a lot of things that are not necessarily true when the whole picture is looked at. Of course, feelings are indicators of a thought that might be going through my head at any given moment. So they are valid in the sense that they give me information, but I have to take them in context.

For instance, I can feel angry but not know what I’m angry about until I attach some thoughts to the feeling. And, sometimes those thoughts are not accurate either. I have a lot of distorted thinking if I stop with how my emotions are making things seem. I’ve learned that there are other ways of approaching a situation or event or a feeling. One aspect of that is to evaluate the situation from a rational, reasoning point of view. I can say that but doing it is another thing altogether. My emotions often cloud my reasoning and I need to get help from outside of myself to see things from a reasoning position. And, reasoning is not necessarily the whole picture either. Logic only takes us so far as humans. God made us to be emotional and logical – even at the same time.

That leads me to what is called, in some psychological philosophies, the wise mind. The wise mind makes decisions and evaluates situations taking into account the emotions and the logic. There’s something deeper to that kind of thinking. It comes from an inner state of being that can be seen in the psalms of David. He often started out with how he felt and moved into the logical point of view and then combined them to come to one conclusion: God.

I know that when I allow myself to look at things from a wise mind perspective I usually end up thinking about God. God is not emotion or logic. He is bigger, deeper, more profound than either of those things. Yet God made man in His image so there are elements of emotion and logic in God as well.

I don’t know where I’m going with this thought exactly. However, I do know that I can’t rely on my feelings or my reasoning to navigate successfully, purposefully in this world. I need an inner knowledge. That only comes from the Holy Spirit and gets me to see things from God’s point of view.

Trusting God in Scary Situations

This week I had cataract surgery on my left eye. I’m writing this a week early because I don’t know what condition I will be in sight-wise after the surgery. The doctor and the nurses tell me I will be able to see better pretty much as soon as they take the patch off my eye the day after surgery. Other people I know who have had the procedure also say I will be able to see right away and I will notice a big difference. However, I wanted to have this blog article ready to post for June 18^th just in case.

So why did I title this blog “Trusting God in Scary Situations?” It is primarily because I’m able to come up with the worse case scenarios so easily. It makes the anticipation of the surgeries (I’m having the right eye done the next week) a frightening proposition. It is a scary situation to me because of the worse case scenarios I come up with. Yet, am I to believe the experts and trust them to do everything right without any reassurances? No. My reassurance comes from trusting that God ultimately has all things in control. He knows I rely on my eyes to write, to read, to do Bible study, to see my family, etc. If, for some divine purpose, my vision is not made better, I can trust that God has a plan in that also. I can trust God because He knows the plans He has for me (Jeremiah 29:11).

There’s only one problem to all that positive thinking: I’m depressed and I find it hard to notice the way God is working in and around my life. That also makes the surgeries scary situations. Everything seems scary right now. That’s how it normally is when I’m depressed. I go through each day worrying about my kids, my husband, any traveling I have to do, any thoughts I might have that are not the trusting God kind of thoughts, worrying about when/if this mood will ever lift (without ending up in a mania again), etc. So what do I do? I rely on friends and family to remind me of God’s grace. However, they are not always aware that I need those reminders (I hide how I’m feeling most of the time pretty well; although today, Mike husband asked me what was wrong, but I couldn’t answer him because all my worries, when they come out of my mouth, seem so trivial).

So today I’m listening for an encouraging word – maybe even from The Word. Does anyone have some for me? Maybe by the time you read this my first surgery will have gone so well, that I will already be encouraged. I’ll let you know.

Seek God

I know it’s hard for some people to believe in a God but God gives us a promise that if we follow the condition in the promise, He will reveal Himself to us. My challenge for everyone who doubts there’s a God is to seek Him and see if He doesn’t reveal Himself to you.

I know some of you might be saying, why bother asking God if He exists. I say what harm can it do. If He doesn’t exist, nothing will happen to change your life or make anything different happen in your life. However, if He does exist, He will keep His promise and allow you to find Him. The promise is found in Jeremiah 29:13:

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (New International Version)

So seek Him with your whole heart and see if He doesn’t reveal Himself to you. I know that this principle works even for those of us who call ourselves Christians. When I don’t know the answer to a dilemma in my life, I seek out God and ask for His guidance. It doesn’t always happen immediately, but eventually the answer comes, usually through something written in the Word of God, the Bible.

To end this blog I just want to challenge each reader to take the challenge. Seek Him with your whole heart and see what happens. I pray right now, as I write this, that He will reveal Himself to you in ways you never expected and you will have the peace and comfort of knowing God exists. I pray you will each seek Him and find Him because you sought Him with all your heart.

Thirty Sterling Principles, Part 12

Principle #21 addresses having wisdom over strength. From reading Proverbs 24:5-6 it seems like both wisdom and strength are important, but that wisdom and strategy ultimately are more important for winning a battle. The verses read as follows:

“It’s better to be wise than strong;

            intelligence outranks muscle any day.

Strategic planning is the key to warfare;

            To win, you need a lot of good counsel.”

In my life, I see that being wise is a great asset. For one thing, I am not physically strong so relying on my physical strength to survive each day and each obstacle would probably not end well. When I’m asked to list my assets or strengths as a person, intelligence is one of the first things I think of.

I’m not bragging about my intelligence. It’s a God-given asset, something God granted to me upon His forming me in my mother’s womb. It is something for which I am thankful. It has seen me through a lot of nerve-wracking situations from schooling to parenting. My intelligence has allowed me to think through situations and come to rational conclusions about how to proceed in various situations that have come up in my life.

I think part of my intelligence has been to seek wiser counsel. I recognize that there are many circumstances that I’ve been confronted with where I just don’t know how to proceed. Seeking the good counsel of others has allowed me to overcome some very tricky situations in my life. Some of those situations are currently going on in my life and my husband and I have sought the counsel of others to give us sound advice on how to proceed.

Intelligence and wisdom need to be cultivated in our lives. Even being born with a certain amount of intelligence doesn’t mean we will learn to use it to the best of its advantage. We need to seek it and pray about situations, and trust in God’s Word to give us direction. I know many intelligent people who think they know everything they need to know. By not being open to cultivating their intelligence, they make some bad decisions. I want to avoid being like those people, so I make sure to spend time in God’s Word, examining the principles in Scripture, and trying to apply them to my life.

Having intelligence is not enough. Applying God’s principles to our lives is exercising true intelligence. I think we need to humbly turn to God and ask Him to give us the wisdom we need in every situation. Prayerfully approaching God and His Word is one way of using the intelligence He has given us.

God's in Charge

Today I read a couple of good reminders in Proverbs 20. These reminders tell me that ultimately God is in control of our lives and we can trust Him to work out all the details.

Verse 22: “Don’t ever say, “I’ll get you for that!”
    Wait for God; he’ll settle the score.”

Verse 27: “God is in charge of human life,
    watching and examining us inside and out.”

So, I don’t have to worry about getting my way or getting even with someone when things don’t go as I expect or hope for. All I have to do is wait for God. He’ll take care of the details and settle the score. It may not happen in my timing or even in my lifetime, but eventually, God will settle the score and everything will work out according to His plans.

God can do that because he is in charge of human life. He’s watching and examining each person inside and out. He knows what is best and will work to make everything work out according to the best possible plan, even if I don’t see how something could be the best possible plan.

Both of these verses remind me that my plans may not be the best plans. Only God knows what is best and what the best settlement of the issues may be. I might think I know, but I don’t really know. If I think I know what are the best situations, or course of events, and things don’t work out the way I think they should, I end up angry. I usually end up angry at God. But if I realize that God is in control and in charge, then I can be at peace in the midst of trying situations knowing that ultimately and completely, God is working everything out for the best.

Today I pray God would give me the calm and peace I need to accept life on life’s terms and on God’s terms.

His Love Never Ceases

I just recently finished reading through the book of Lamentations in the Old Testament. I had read it before so I was not surprised by the sorrow and destruction it talked about. Jerusalem was devastated and destroyed by the nation from the north (Babylon) because God arranged for that to happen. Lamentations clearly identifies God as the one who destroyed Jerusalem because of their sin and lack of repentance. Lamentations 2:1 says,

“How the Lord has covered the Daughter of Zion with the cloud of His anger. He has hurled down the splendor of Israel from heaven to earth; He has not remembered his footstool in the day of His anger.”

It goes on to say God was without pity and “has brought her kingdom and its princes down to the ground in dishonor.” Israel sinned and turned its back on God and His ways. So God destroyed them. This could be a very depression passage of Scripture, but there’s still hope. The hope is focused on by the poet of Lamentations in Chapter 3. The poet purposefully brings to mind the truths of God’s character that allow us to still have hope in times of distress.

Lamentations 3:19 – 26 highlight the poet’s perspective, which should also be my perspective:

“I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.’ The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”

When things seem to be totally downcast and full of distress, I can turn my thoughts to the character of God and His great love for me. I like the way the NASB puts verse 22: “The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail.” His love and compassion never fail me, even when it appears that everything is falling apart around me. That’s the truth of the situation. Even when everything seems like bitterness and gall, even when my soul is downcast within me, as it has been this winter, God’s love and compassion are keeping me alive. I can wait quietly for His salvation and trust in Him. That’s what I’m trying to do.

Psalm 18:20-24 Laying Down the Pieces of My Life

I don’t have a lot of time this week for writing my blog but I thought that this passage in Psalm 18 from The Message was worth noting. It says,

“God made my life complete
    when I placed all the pieces before him.
When I got my act together,
    he gave me a fresh start.
Now I’m alert to God’s ways;
    I don’t take God for granted.
Every day I review the ways he works;
    I try not to miss a trick.
I feel put back together,
    and I’m watching my step.
God rewrote the text of my life
    when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes.”

I found comfort in these words. I like the idea of placing the pieces of my life before God. I don’t think I do that very well. I tend to worry about things and not turn them over to God. In the middle of the night I worry but don’t lay the pieces before God. I don’t sleep well as a result. If I was to lay the pieces before Him, I might sleep better. Maybe I wouldn’t need the sleeping medication prescribed to me.

However, sometimes when I try to lay everything before Him, I end up worrying even more. I don’t know how to lay down the pieces of my life in a way that brings the peace and comfort implied in this passage. I do know it’s hard work and involves work on my part (i.e. getting my act together). I seek the fresh start He can give me, I just don’t know how to obtain it.

That doesn’t mean I will give up trying. I don’t want to take God for granted. Everyday I need to review the ways He works and I try to do that by praising Him on a daily basis. I also try to look at the ways He’s rewriting my life, changing my world. And I try to remember to give Him thanks for those changes. That’s a part of my daily time in His Word and in prayer.

First Priority: Remember and Celebrate Our Redemption

Last week at my mom’s funeral, the priest talked a lot about passing over into a new life with Christ. It just so happens that I believe that is what happened with my mom on January 11^th, when she left this world and passed over into the next. I agreed with the priest’s assessment that Mom is now with Jesus in heaven and enjoying all the pleasure of her passing over.

It also so happens that today I started a study on the Biblical Feast of Passover that Israel celebrates once a year. I was taken by the fact that when God started Passover as a feast or holiday for the Israelites that He made the month it occurs in the first month of the Jewish calendar. A priority month. A month to start the whole year off with a bang. A month to remember and celebrate God’s delivering Israel out of the slavery of Egypt and the beginnings of bringing them into the Promised Land. He wanted to make sure that the Israelites remembered where they came from and how God miraculously brought them out from the pain and suffering they were enduring.

As a Christian, remembering my personal Passover is just as important. It is a chance to remember and celebrate the gift God gave me in His provision of a Savior who would mark for the world and for eternity that I am one of His, marked by the blood of Jesus, the New Testament lamb, to be spared the wrath of God. Like the Old Testament Israelites, who were marked by the sacrificial and celebratory lambs they killed and roasted on Passover night, the lamb’s blood on their doorposts marked them as children of God. And God’s wrath passed over their doors and homes as He went about killing the firstborn of the Egyptians because they would not acknowledge God or God’s special people.

Fortunately today, and since Jesus died on the cross to accomplish the New Testament Passover, we can all be God’s special people. But, it does involve making Him a priority in our lives. It does involve living life, each day and not just once a year in a special month, as people set apart for Him. I think of my mom when I think of such people. She was not perfect. She, like all of us, had her little quirks, but she loved Jesus and looked so forward to going home to Him at the end of her life. She often said to me that the life she had left to live she wanted to live in such a way that she would be able to direct people to Jesus. She wanted us all to experience the ultimate Passover and for it to be a priority in our lives. I hope I can do that each and every day as my mom strived to do.

The Promises of God

I’m continuing in my study of the Bible in the book of Joshua. God’s promises to the family of Israel are coming true. They have fought battles and God has given them the victory over many different people groups. Joshua is allotting land to each tribe and to each clan within each tribe, just as God instructed Moses who then instructed Joshua. They are coming into the inheritance, into the goodness God promised them.

One story in this section of Joshua has Caleb asking for his portion, the land God specifically said He’d give Caleb for being a faithful spy over 45 years earlier. The portion of the land Caleb wanted and had been promised was not yet conquered, so Caleb asked for permission to take his soldiers and drive out the Anakites who were there. Caleb would settle for nothing less than the land on which his feet had walked (Joshua 14:9). Caleb wanted everything God had promised him and would do what was necessary for him to get it.

Some of the other tribes either took what they were given and were happy with it, or they grumbled that what they had wasn’t enough or good enough. The “people of Joseph” actually went to Joshua to ask why they got what they got, complaining that they were too many people for the land, but they were only looking at the land already cultivated and ready to live in. Their portion also included large areas of wilderness. Joshua told them to expand the livable area:

“Yes, there are a lot of you, and you are very strong. One lot is not enough for you. You also get the hill country. It’s nothing but trees now, but you will clear the land and make it your own from one end to the other. The powerful Canaanites, even with their iron chariots, won’t stand a chance against you.” (Joshua 17:17 – 18 in The Message)

The people of Joseph had to be told what to do, and we know from Joshua 17:12 – 13 that Manasseh never did get rid of the Canaanites. It is the flip side to what Caleb did. So, what was the difference between the people of Joseph and Caleb? I think it comes down to taking God’s promises seriously. Caleb believed God when He’d said Caleb would have a certain portion of land and acted on that belief. The people of Joseph thought they were entitled to more (even though the two tribes that make up the people of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, have very large portions of the land. See map above). But they did not lay hold of all they could have and eventually settled for what was available, settled for less than what God had promised. Caleb had faith and acted according to the promise God had made with him and received all that God had promised. He didn’t settle for good enough. He wanted the best.

So am I like Caleb or the people of Joseph? Am I settling for good enough or am I laying hold to the promises of God to receive the best? I think I settle way too often. So my application for this week is to come up with a list of God’s promises for me and pray about how to work towards those coming to pass in my life – to be more like Caleb.

Credibility

My life is trouble and problem free. Or maybe not. If it was without struggle would I have anything to share with anyone? That’s one question I’ve been pondering as I’ve been studying the role of suffering in a Christian’s life.

Before I became a Christian, I may have been attracted to people whose lives looked perfect and peaceful, but I don’t think I would have believed they had any answers for me. They could not understand where I’d been or where I was. The woman that shared Christ with me did not try to tell me that her life was perfect and problem-free. If she had, I would not have believed her. A problem-free life was something I could not understand. The fact that she had issues to deal with made her seem real to me. It made her message of help from God through Jesus Christ credible to me. It was not a message that said, “Believe and all your problems will go away.” It was a message that said, “There’s help for dealing with your problems.”

This was a good thing. My problems did not all go away and no one criticized me for having problems. In fact, the people God placed in my life during the next few years were understanding and sought to get me help that blended Christian truths and psychology. My Christian friends over the years have actually found counselors for me to see. My problems would not go away instantly. Some still exist. But, there is an ever-present help that I did not know how to access before. And, some of my problems have become issues of the past through the miraculous working of God in my life. For instance, I no longer struggle with the urge to drink – get drunk from – alcohol on a daily basis.

My imperfect life, just like those who shared Christ with me, has a message, too. My sufferings say to others, “Look. Things could be worse and things have gotten better.” They say, “I understand your heartaches and hardships.” They say, “Let me comfort you with the same comfort I received from others and from God.” Suffering gives me basis for telling other people that their lives can be better – not perfect, but better. My suffering does not hinder the message of Christ. It may actually enhance the message. My hard times allow others to relate to me, give me credibility. My suffering has a purpose.

Hearing

So I went to an Ears, Nose, and Throat Specialist. I was tired of hearing other people tell me I couldn’t hear them. It was easy to hear them saying I couldn’t hear them, so I didn’t know what the problem was. Actually the problem still exists. My hearing is well within the normal range. The doctor said that technically my hearing is better than his.

The doctor did say that it is possible that I am not hearing as well as I used to. Of course, he avoided saying something like, “As we grow older . . .” First off, the “we” would be totally wrong. He was at least 10 years younger than me. He doesn’t know what growing old is like. I thought better of him for not trying to “identify” with me (especially with the old part of me).

He said I could tell my family, co-workers, and friends that my hearing is fine; their speaking is unclear. I don’t know if the family and friends will believe that or not. There is probably something I need to do. Blaming others does not make me a better listener.

Blaming others or my past does not make it easier to hear – whether it’s my spouse or God. I might as well wear earplugs. If I’m not willing to actively listen, I will miss things. I’ll miss the soft, “I love you” at bedtime. I’ll miss the quiet, still voice of God whispering to my spirit, “I love you.”

I also want to be heard. There is nothing wrong with that. It is something we all need, but many did not (and maybe still do not) have people in their lives willing to truly hear. I can get caught up in that. I can blame others for not truly listening and trying to understand me. But, just as God is actively trying to get me to hear Him, He also always hears me. The obvious: I need to give Him something to hear.

I still need to find ways to hear, listen, and understand what others are saying to me. I now know I do not have a physical reason for not hearing. I have some work ahead of me. However, God does not need help with His hearing or His speaking. He is there.