daily

Those Dark Days

Why am I discouraged?
    Why is my heart so sad?
I will put my hope in God!
    I will praise him again—
    my Savior and my God!
Psalm 42:11 (NLT)

There was a time in the past that I felt so discouraged. It seemed like every day had a dark cloud and that I couldn't see beyond it. It's hard in those times to keep moving. It's overwhelming to try to be positive, get yourself moving and believe that there will be a day that is better, a day that isn't so filled with worry.

What kept me going and kept me hanging on was God. During those days which turned into weeks, months and yes, a year, each day I would hold on to the promise that God had a plan. I would talk to him and he talked to me. He showed up in so many different ways. He showed up through friends who cared, through Bible verses that I would read that encouraged me, through circumstances that helped our situation and through music.

There is a great song out now by Casting Crowns called Oh My Soul. For some reason I woke up in the middle of the night with this in my head. I wanted to share some of the lyrics because if you are walking through a dark place, this song nails it.

Oh, my soul
Oh, how you worry
Oh, how you're weary, from fearing you lost control
This was the one thing, you didn't see coming
And no one would blame you, though
If you cried in private
If you tried to hide it away, so no one knows
No one will see, if you stop believing

Oh, my soul
You are not alone
There's a place where fear has to face the God you know
One more day, He will make a way
Let Him show you how, you can lay this down
'Cause you're not alone

Here and now
You can be honest
I won't try to promise that someday it all works out
'Cause this is the valley
And even now, He is breathing on your dry bones
And there will be dancing
There will be beauty where beauty was ash and stone
This much I know

This much I know because God is faithful. He walks with us through the valley and he draws near giving us hope and allowing us to breathe. Sometimes life isn't fun. It's OK to hurt and mourn and be lost - for a time. But as you are walking through it, keep looking for God, keep holding on and know that you will praise again.

Always On His Mind

Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good. Romans 8:26-28 (MSG)

I love how the MSG puts this text....we get tired in the waiting. Overwhelmed, tired, sad, broken, pick your word. There are times in life, maybe hours or days or months or years that it seems like we can't even lift our hearts in prayer.

Don't give up. You are not alone. The Holy Spirit is right there with you. God has not left you during those times. Maybe, just maybe you can't even utter one word in prayer. The Holy Spirit does it for you. Maybe you can only say 'Help me' or whisper the name of Jesus. That's enough because the Bible tells us that our Advocate, the Holy Spirit, prays for us. He takes our groans and sighs and gives them to God continually so we are always on his mind.

If you are going through a time like this, know you are being cared for. Know that you are loved and that God is near....right there beside you...hearing your heart.

Who Is A Person After God's Own Heart?

But God removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said, ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.’ Acts 13:22 (NLT)

All these years I've heard and read this text about David. A man after God's own heart. And of course the next question that pops into your head (well, mine at least) is what did David do to make him a man after God's own heart. One thought is that he was always seeking God. But this weekend, I was reading this text again and for the first time I saw the line "He will do everything I want him to do."

WOW! Was that it? Was that why David was a man after God's own heart? Now we know that David didn't do everything God wanted him to do because of his involvement with Bathsheba, right? That was definitely not something God wanted David to do. He probably wanted David to be out on the battle field with his men or when David saw Bathsheba bathing on the rooftop God wanted him to go inside and follow God's commands.

David definitely did not always do what God wanted. Could it be that God is just looking for someone who is willing? Willing to put God first in their life? Willing to follow where ever God leads even if it's into the wilderness with no hint that you are even going to make it through? Willing to stick with it because God said not to give up?  Willing to trust God even though what he said would happen took over 15 years? Willing to confess and repent when he did something really horrible and turn back to God for his salvation?

It’s comforting to know that to be a person after God’s own heart I don’t have to be perfect. That’s not what he is looking for. We have Jesus to thank for that. What God is looking for is someone who seeks him and is willing to do everything he wants. What do you think? Do you think you can do that? I’m certainly going to try.

Musings About Fathers

Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him. Psalm 103:13 (NASB)

A few weeks ago I asked folks on Facebook and through email to answer these two questions:

What is one character trait you like about your father?
What is one character trait you don't like about your father?

I received quite a few answers! After reviewing the answers, I realized a couple of things. 1) Most of us could/would provide an answer for each question. 2) While we were being honest about our father's character traits, in most cases I could tell that not liking a character trait didn't mean that we didn't love our fathers, it meant we could see things we didn't like and loved them anyway.

This made me wonder about our relationship with God. Many people blame God for things and think he doesn't love them because things don't work out the way they want. We want the good from God but not necessarily the bad. Why is that?

I began to think about our relationships with people. If someone we know well, we've shared life with, experienced ups and downs and loved each other through it all does something to hurt us, we are more likely to forgive or overlook the offense. We are more likely to do that because there are memories we've shared, things we've walked through, we know the person really well and we know their heart.

I think it's the same with God. If we don't have a relationship with him, if we haven't walked with him and shared experiences with him, we haven't been able to learn to trust him. Trust is built through experiences and time. So let me ask you,

What is one character trait you like about God?
What is one character trait you don't like about God?

I'll tell you my answer. I love how intimate he is. He talks to us about what is important to us so that we can be in a relationship with him. And the one thing I don't like? I don't like it when he is growing me and he asks me to wait to see what the plan is.

Are you having a hard time answering those questions? That's OK. God wants you to know him so well that the answers will rattle off your tongue. He wants you to trust him so deeply that even when things go wrong you are OK because you know he's got this. He is taking care of it even if you don't know the plan.

It's never too late to build a relationship with your Heavenly Father. Never. Start by having a conversation with him. He's listening.....

Revenge Is Not Mine

For God is pleased when, conscious of his will, you patiently endure unjust treatment. 1 Peter 2:19 (NLT)

Many years ago, our extended family was on a vacation together. During that vacation we found out that someone else in the family had done something really wrong to one of our parents. It caused a lot of chaos on that trip and needless to say, that was probably the worst vacation I've ever been on.

During the uproar one of the family members said, "I would like to get revenge on them. I would really like to hurt them." They looked at me as if to say "What do you think?" Now, I am not the calmest person in the world and Lord knows I often say things I probably shouldn't but for some reason that day these words came out "The Bible says revenge is the Lord's." The person looked at me and said "Yea, but that will take too long."

For some reason this has stuck in my head all these years. She was right. God's timing is often more elongated than ours. We want results now. And, I totally understand the revenge thing. It's not in our human nature to overlook something. We want to retaliate and retaliate quickly. But, we are not called to live according to our human nature. We are called to live according to Christ's nature. Once we accept him as Savior and Lord, our thinking needs to change. We need to be changed from the inside out.

Today's Bible verse reminded me of the vacation story and it reminded me as to why we as Christians should not seek revenge. Always, foremost in our thinking should be the question "What does God want?" If I retaliate against the person who hurt me, if I seek revenge, hold a grudge or say all the things that have popped into my head, how will I represent Jesus? Will I bring glory and honor and a true representation of Jesus if I behave as myself?

I think the key in 1 Peter 2:19 is the words "conscious of his will." Always, no matter what is going on in our lives, we always need to be conscious of his will.

The Ultimate 'Loving Others' Lesson

After breakfast Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” Peter replied, “you know I love you.” “Then feed my lambs,” Jesus told him. Jesus repeated the question: “Simon son of John, do you love me?” “Yes, Lord,” Peter said, “you know I love you.” “Then take care of my sheep,” Jesus said. A third time he asked him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep. John 21:15-17 (NLT)

Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved him. Some of that may have been because Peter denied him three times - maybe Jesus was giving him the opportunity to redeem himself. In studying this though it's interesting to note the words Jesus uses for love. The first two times he asked Peter, he used the word agape. Agape means unconditional love. It's the way God loves us and the ideal for how we should love others. When Peter answers Jesus, he uses a different form of the word love, phileo. Phileo means brotherly love, the love you would express toward a friend.

The third time Jesus answered he asks Peter if he loves him using the word phileo. I always found it interesting that Jesus didn't start with phileo and move up to agape. Isn't agape the ideal? Shouldn't we all strive for that unconditional love? Shouldn't Jesus be setting the example of how we strive to love each other?

He was. You see, first Jesus was communicating to Peter that he wanted his love. He was showing Peter not only was he loved but Jesus wanted his love in return. The gospel is not about a one-sided love arrangement. Second, Jesus was telling Peter the kind of love he ultimately wanted from him but when Peter couldn't deliver it, Jesus met him where he was.

You see, Jesus knew exactly where Peter was and he knew he couldn't get to the unconditional love yet. Jesus accepted where Peter was and encouraged him. So often we expect people to 'be' what we think they should be or be where we are. It doesn't work that way. Jesus left us with the ultimate lesson in loving others. He showed us how to meet them where they are and accept them there.

 

Maybe Messy Is A Good Thing

So he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” John 13:4-7 (NIV)

We've heard this story a million times it seems...every time I read it, it'd remind me how we need to be washed clean of our sins.

But this week, I noticed something different - the dirty feet. I'll admit - I was a bit grossed out. Have you ever worn sandals and walked around an area with a little dirt before? And have you ever taken a look at your feet at the end of the day? DISGUSTING!

That's NOTHING compared to the disciples. They had been walking around different  towns with Jesus, in sandals I'd imagine, through the dirt, mud, rain. These were not the steets you and I are used to, friends.

But amidst the messiness, I heard God tell me, I love their dirty feet.

That's when I realized - Our feet should be so dirty from doing God's work, from walking with people IN THEIR MESS, that at the end of the day, they have to be cleaned. 

I thought about my own feet. Are they dirty at the end of the day? Are they so full of grime and mud that I have no choice but to scrub away the dirt at the end of the day? Have I used them to do God's work?

Maybe being messy isn't such a bad thing after all. 

““God can’t give us peace and happiness apart from Himself because there is no such thing.”
― C.S. Lewis”