Has God got you Cornered?

LOVE IT!
 

The enemy was coming. They could see his chariots glinting in the sun. The thunder of horses’ hooves made the ground shake beneath their feet. Terror rose in their throats. We’re gonna‘ die; it would have been better to stay in Egypt, slaving, but alive.

This is actually what the people said. Poor Moses. Poor God! This must have pierced his heart. With his mighty arm He’d whisked them from under the enemy’s nose and was in the process of leading them to their new home…like a gallant Prince.

Only there was this detour. It wasn’t a comfortable one, but then it wasn’t for their sakes that He’d turned them around and maneuvered them into this sticky position, between a rock and the sea. Somehow the Egyptians had caught wind of it and Pharaoh decided to go get his slave force back! It should have been easy; they were cornered in the desert. No way out, but for God.

After all that Pharaoh had already seen of plagues and death wreaked by this God, you’d think he would have known better than to mess with God’s people. But this was as God had planned it. He’d led his people into this awkward position to tantalize the enemy to oppose Him one more time so that one more time He could show himself strong and ‘get glory over Pharaoh and all his host’ so the Egyptians would know beyond a doubt that ‘I am the Lord.’  (Ex.14:4)

It’s a story worth considering if you find yourself in a tight spot through no fault of your own. God may have you cornered for purposes that go far beyond you to the praise of His glory.

So what are you to do?

First, what NOT to do…

By way of negative example, from Exodus 14, written no doubt for our benefit:

1) ‘they feared greatly’ As long as we’re focused on the terror this will be our lot. Had they paused to consider that God had led them to this place… and that God had gone to great lengths to free them from their enemy prior to this…they might have had a different response.

2) ‘they cried out to the Lord’ This would have been a good idea, if they had gotten past the initial panicked AAAAaaaaa!!!! to a prayer powered by faith. Instead, they turned on Moses…

3) they blamed their hero for all their troubles, completely disregarding the fact that he was in this mess for their sakes. And they ranted a jumble of terror-stricken nonsense about wishing to be slaves in Egypt.

That’s what they did when they were cornered. And to be honest, I have done the very same thing in times of crisis. The memories stand etched in my mind as witness. But God didn’t abandon them for their want of confidence in Him. He would use this crisis, (as He has used mine) to build their faith in Him and in their leader, Moses.

So what ARE we to do in times of crisis
when we feel cornered and helpless?

For this we turn to Moses’ instructions and example:

#1 Fear not. (smile) It’s easier said than done, but nevertheless, our calling. And it will be more easily accomplished when we turn our gaze away from the crisis long enough to hear what God is saying. Singing praise songs is a time-honored strategy for gaining perspective. (See: II Chron.20)

[At risk of distracting us from the story in view, may I commend to you a parallel account of God rescuing His people. It’s in II Chronicles 20 and I’ll slip in some quotes from there as we go..]

“O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” (II Chron. 20:12)

#2 Stand firm. Was this the story Paul was considering when he gave the Ephesian church a strategy for the fight of faith? “…and having done all, to stand firm.”  No running around willy-nilly, no jumping up and down in an agitated panic, no tearing off to hide. Just stand firm, feet planted, right where God has put you until He gives the next instruction.

“You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the LORD will be with you.” (II Chron.20:17)

#3 Watch God do the fighting! “See the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today.” (Ex.14:13) We often think things are up to us that in reality are up to God to perform. He sometimes asks only that we stand on the sidelines in confident expectancy while He does the fighting and gets all the glory.

And he said, “Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the LORD to you, ‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s.’ “ (II Chron.20:15)

#4 Oh and last but not least they were to ‘Shut up!’ That’s not exactly how Moses said it, mind you. To his credit he appears to have responded calmly and confidently to all the drama: “The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” (Ex.14:14) Whew, what a welcome silence that would have been! The last thing that’s needed in a crisis is to multiply desperate faithless words. Better to be quiet.

At that point Moses could hear God’s direction–Stop crying out to me; use that staff I gave you to part the sea! Why of course, why hadn’t he thought of that?! Maybe this is a reminder when we pray, to also listen to what God is saying in answer to our dilemma. It could be that we have in our hand the very thing God will use to answer our request.

We know the rest of the story–

…how God brought premature darkness and a cloud to delay the foe until the path through the sea had been blown dry…

…and how his people crossed safely but when the Egyptians followed, their chariot wheels ran amuck and God put them in a panic until they were the ones attempting to flee!… “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7)

…and how He brought the waters crashing back down to bury the enemy in a watery grave.

And what was the end result?

God was glorified–made to look great, just as He’d planned! His own people now feared Him and believed in the LORD and in their appointed leader (Ex.14:31). And the surrounding nations were terrified and let the Israelites pass on by! “Terror and dread fall upon them; because of the greatness of your arm, they are still as a stone.” (15:16)

So if/when you find yourself huddled in terror, heart pounding in your ears as you imagine the worst–stand firm in faith and see what God will do. He has you cornered there for His own glory. He is mighty to save! Our Redeemer is strong; the Lord of Heaven’s armies is His name! He will surely defend us. (Jer.50:34)

–LS

“You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed; you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode.” Ex.15:13

Recipe for Dismay

LOVE IT!

Have you felt it—that sickening discomposure that leaves you weak and confounded and thinking, “What am I gonna do?!” but too overwhelmed to imagine there is anything that can be done…?

Literally ‘dismay’ means to be shattered, to be broken down with fear, ‘shorn of strength’—’like plants of the field and like tender grass, like grass on the housetops, blighted before it is grown.’  (II Kings 19:26)  You get the feeling.

There are plenty of examples.  Joseph’s brothers knew this sickening dread the instant Joseph, that foreboding Egyptian ruler, identified who he was to them.  They recognized not only his power, but the grave wrong they had done him and what was due them in return. (Gen.45:3) This is an interesting picture of what it will be like to stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ—nothing but dastardly unworthiness on our part, but… He is our Brother and has forgiven.  And that makes all the difference…  But that is a tangent.

Dismay is the temptation Joshua faced when called to lead the Israelites to conquer all of Canaan and claim it as their own. There were giants in the land!  The people back-pedaled fast, figuring it would be better to go back to Egypt.  God must hate them to have brought them to this juncture. (Deut.1:27ff.) They were the picture of dismay.  All but Joshua and Caleb.

Dismay is what all Israel felt–everyone but David, when Goliath stood up!  Another giant in the land. (I Sam.17:10,11)

And it’s what they felt again when hordes of Moabites and Ammonites came to fight their puny numbers. (II Chron.20:15)

It’s easy to find examples of dismay.  I’ve tasted it too—that sickening something in the pit of your stomach.  So, just in case you haven’t, I’ve written down the recipe.

It’s a common sense recipe really.  You just follow your best judgment with the proportions.  Start with a good look at the situation.  What are all the problems you face?  How big are they?  Compare them to your own strengths and aptitudes to see how you’ll measure up… You’ve got to really focus here.  Keep the problems foremost in your mind.

Then forget about any hocus-pocus promises. They’re only words on paper after all.  What you need is solutions you can work toward–a concrete plan of action.

Don’t be deterred by thoughts of what’s happened in the past—times when things all worked out for good.  Those were lucky exceptions. This situation is going to require some brute force, either that or some astute maneuvering.  You dare not leave it to chance.

And what about prayer.  Well, the recipe that always works for me involves praying in my own name.  Do you know what I mean?  This is how I see the situation.  This is what I want to see happen.  And this is how I’d like to see it accomplished.  Now for a game plan. Hmmm….this will require some quiet time to fret and fume.

Well, those are the main ingredients for mixing up a masterful batch of dismay, with a hint of discouragement and a touch of depression.  Oh, and there’s one important instruction for mixing it up properly. Pay careful attention to every thought that flits through your head.  Take each one seriously, as if it were the gospel truth.  Think those thoughts and don’t question their source.  It’ll give your batch of dismay a creative flare.

And that’s that—Be thou dismayed.  Good Luck!

–LS

P.S.  For more detailed instructions, consider the Scripture links included in the above instructions.  They will help to flesh out the complete picture. And should you wish to brew an antidote for dismay, these links will serve that purpose too!

To get a jump on the antidote to dismay, start with this song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijytLs96yig

Travelling Light—thoughts for a pack-light pilgrimage

LIVE IT!

 

Do you travel light?

I don’t;  though it is an ideal I have crept toward over the years. To be able to travel light shines as an ideal only because I know what it is to travel HEAVY.

When the babies were young and airlines used to let them fly free under 2 years old, I would get a hankering come spring, to visit my Grandma on the farm and introduce her to one or the other of them, whosoevers ‘turn’ it was.

What a harrowing event it can be travelling with a toddler single-handed, especially when you have no clue how to travel light.  Is there a way to do this with a baby, a baby carrier and a baby’s diaper bag all hanging from hip and shoulder on one side while you cling to your own carry-on, your purse, a blanket and that hot lunch of BBQ beef and peach pie that you grabbed but didn’t have time to finish before they called your flight to the gate…? I chuckle at the memory.  Those were the days when restrictions were lax and they didn’t keep such strict track of exactly how many items you were towing through the gate, so long as you could get to your seat.  Whew!  Just barely.

But it is occasions like this that make travelling light look so ideal!

I’m pleased to see there are tutorials available for these things.  If you’re curious, a fantastic bunch of practical information can be found at OneBag.com—the Art and Science of Travelling Light.  But regardless of how much good advice you find it will come down to a willingness to do without something—the something that you just might need, the other thing that ‘would be nice’ and the extra stuff that you wouldn’t want to be without in case…

It seems that we are determined to carry with us those things that make us feel at home, and it is precisely these things that bog us down and keep us from being fully present in the places we travel through and to. To be convinced to pack light we must first  “understand that attempts to replicate one’s “familiar” lifestyle are a good way to subvert a common goal of such temporary relocations: experiencing the place and purpose of the destination.” –OneBag.com

Or put more bluntly:

Trip enjoyment is inversely proportionate to the amount of crap (distractions) you bring with you. –Tim Ferriss

I hadn’t thought of it that way.  The point is not to bring ‘home’ with me, but to temporarily suspend the need for every comfort so as to experience the present and fulfill my purpose in it.  Ahhh……….

Now, I have no intention of writing a travel blog here, but I read these things with the backdrop of last week’s post in my head—that long one I intend not to repeat this week (!)  It was about Abraham, sojourning in a foreign land, by faith in the One who has promised to give it to his descendants as their home. Abraham, traveling light, with his most precious possession–God’s promise.

Sojourning.  I like the ring of that word, such a nice way to describe a temporary stay.  And once I saw it in the life of Abraham it started popping up everywhere.

re: Abraham’s descendants: “Your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for 400 years.” Gen.15:13 (Now that was a long sojourn!)

re: Isaac: “Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you.”
Gen 26:3 ESV

re: Lot, facing the scoundrels of Sodom: “And they said, ‘This fellow came to sojourn, and he has become the judge!’” Gen 19:9 ESV

It seems we kin of Abraham are destined to be sojourners this side of Home.  We are strangers here, misfits, foreigners. Jesus said so: “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” Jn.15:19

“We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” (1Jo 5:19)  If this is not readily apparent around you, have a peek at our forebears in the faith in Hebrews:

“These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. for people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.Heb11:13

We are indeed travelling through—but are we travelling light?

I’m not thinking here of possessions.  Though, in North America, we are all rich men, like camels passing through the eye of a needle to enter the Kingdom! Impossible, but for God. Downsizing and simplifying our lives, weaning ourselves from the love of ‘stuff’ may well be in order, but that’s a subject for another site (and there are plenty of them!)

What’s come to my attention is that my life can weighed down with virtual luggage.  I haul it around as if it were essential—old habits, patterns of thinking, customary ways of facing situations…These things I’m so used to travelling with, in fact, hinder me from seeing the lay of the land and my purpose in it. 

Besides that, I get so pre-occupied with keeping track of my own bags that I miss what’s going on around me. I miss lending a hand to fellow travellers.  Have you been there?  Are you shouldering bags that were meant to be checked?  There’s Someone who’ll see them through to their destination without you having to lift a finger.

That’s what I’ve been thinking about this week– surveying the baggage I carry and asking the Lord to show me how to lighten my load.  It’s not so much about the enjoyment of the trip.  (“In this world you will have tribulation” Jn.16:33). This is after all not a cruise.  But I am temporarily on the planet for a purpose and it’s not just to manage my suitcases!

What am I carrying that pre-occupies me, making me short-sighted and short of hands to help another?

I’m asking the Lord…

  • What needs to be jettisoned—’I can live without that.’  (But show me how!)  Help me to assess old stubborn thought patterns and make them obedient to Christ.  Show me the lies that cripple me from fulfilling God’s agenda for my journey.
  • What needs to be ‘checked’—‘Lord, you carry this one to its destination.’ Teach me to pray and leave the results in your Hands.
  • And what is mine to carry—’What is my mission in life?’ And what are the tools and skills I need to carry it out?  Help me identify my priorities and feel free to leave the rest.

I watched out the window one afternoon as a mom walked by with her young boys.  They were heading home from school.  On each of the mom’s shoulders hung a backpack, while her two boys scampered about kicking stones, tussling with each other, falling behind and dashing ahead, as carefree as puppies let out to play.

Is this  what God wishes to do for me—to carry my burdens?  They are nothing for his shoulders.  He would gladly take them and free me to be a child in His care– freed to laugh, to run, to celebrate His company.  And in my freedom  might I not better see beyond myself to passersby in need of a hand and a hope of Home?

Ahh, to travel light.  I’m dreaming of it.

What’s more, spring is on its way; it might be just about time for a trip east to visit kin…better start a proper packing list!

–LS

He redeems my soul in safety from the battle that I wage, for many are arrayed against me. … Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved. Ps. 55:18, 22 ESV

I am a sojourner on the earth; hide not your commandments from me!
Ps. 119:19 ESV

“Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry; hold not your peace at my tears! For I am a sojourner with you, a guest, like all my fathers.
Ps. 39:12 ESV

A Prayer of Moses, the man of God: Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. … The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. … So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.
Ps.90:1, 10, 12 ESV

Safely Home

LIVE IT!

The best part of a bad dream is when you open your eyes, and you’re home–safe and snug in your bed, untouched by the perils you dreamt of. Whew! I had a particularly harrowing ride in the wee hours the other morning. I hung on to the side of a monstrously big truck, squeezing by, scraping through, narrowly missing…on my way to some unknown drop-off point where I needed still to find my car (and my keys) and get myself home…And then I opened my eyes. Ah—I’m home already! Whew!

I’m often lost in my dreams–on convoluted highways trying to choose the right exits to get me safely home. Or down long hallways of doors, none of which opens to my room. Or on elevators which go not only up and down but also sideways—very confusing. [I think this nightmare harks from my short and troubled career as a candy-striper in a big hospital—charged with collecting blood and urine samples from every possible department and getting them to the lab in a timely fashion… and then sorting and delivering the internal mail. I would gladly have stayed in the mailroom forever sorting and popping mail in slots. How I disliked those meandering halls and elevators.]

I am a homebody at heart, never so at rest as when I’m home with familiar walls around me and mundane predictable tasks to accomplish. Even an empty nest is a cozy place to be.

Likely that’s why so often my dreams, and my prayers, are about someone finding the way home—safely.

I pray this for my Dad who is lost in the ever worsening confusion of Alzheimer’s still. How long Lord, before you rescue him from this dysfunctional body and bear him safely home?

I remember the day my Grandma (his mom) died—and the comforting relief that came with the thought that now she was safely home beyond the reach of harm, beyond the confines of an aging body. She was the classic farm Grandma–the indispensable family hub we wished could stay forever. She collected eggs, kept the cookie tins full, hosted family picnics and well, she worried about all of us. This was her besetting weakness. But it seemed legitimate, the grandmotherly thing to do. She loved us, right? So whenever our family was away she would sit up late in her rocker, watching the road that ran by down at the foot of the farmhouse lawn. She would wait for us to pass. Then she’d know we’d made it safely home from our travels and she could go to bed…

Are such traits inheritable? Or is this just part of the human condition? Was my relief at her death for her benefit, or for mine in no longer needing to worry what might befall her?

I pray too for black sheep, or if you prefer, lost sheep, wishing them safely home—family and friends who have somehow lost their way and distrusted the wooing voice of the Good Shepherd. In shunning hypocrisy they have missed the reality of life in Christ altogether.

An uncle lives on the streets of a cold city this winter without even a birth certificate to call his own, or a homeless shelter’s welcome. Somehow he was derailed from the Kingdom in his youth despite his God-fearing parents’ devotion. We long for him to be brought safely Home.

Question: When are we safe this side of eternity?

When our children are young we hover and protect, thinking we can keep them safe. As they grow we train and warn, hoping they will play it safe with life. When they are ‘all grown up’ we watch and hold our breaths. But when do we get to breathe again? When is there nothing to worry about? When are we safe this side of eternity? Is there a magic age or stage that we reach and then it’s smooth coasting, no worries?

What a nonsense phrase ‘No worries’ is! Who are we trying to kid? There is always something that can be worried about. And who better to do it than a mother?!

“I wouldn’t worry about it”, the husband says.

The wife’s retort: “That’s why I have to!”

But it occurs to me that in my longing for all I love to be ‘safely home’ I am left with a dilemma not resolvable till death! Ridiculous. My refusal to rest from anxiety till each is ‘safely home’ is little more than a death wish. For as long as there is life there will be uncertainty of circumstance. Risk. Danger. And even bad dreams that won’t go away. In this lifetime there is ample reason to fear for their well-being, if I’m dependent on worry and faithless prayers to see them through!

What is the value of a faith that doesn’t dispel such fears and live at peace?

Home is our destination, but it’s the walk of faith that takes us there. And in this life we will always be sojourners, never having quite arrived. Thus the need for faith—that assures us of things hoped for but not yet seen (Heb.11:1).

This week’s Sunday sermon challenged us to consider how our lives give evidence of such faith. The proverbial chair that we say we believe will hold us up, is sitting there. Will we sit down in it? Or do we stand idly by boasting of the faith we possess but unwilling to put it to the test? James wrote: “Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” He demonstrated that ‘faith apart from works is useless’ (James 2:20) by citing the life of Abraham.

I went back again this week to Abraham’s story noting the things he did by faith.

He left with God the responsibilities that were God’s. But he paid close attention to each thing God required of him in the process of fulfilling His purposes for Abraham.

So, what did Abraham actually do to be commended for his faith?

First and last, he listened to God’s voice, with a heart willing to do whatever He said. In the middle, he obeyed and waited.

Contrary to some popular teaching, listening to God isn’t a matter of just tuning in to a voice that’s always speaking and immediately responsive to our every inquiry. But God does speak in ways we can hear. After all, He designed us to commune with Him. And in Christ that fellowship is restored so that by His Spirit living in the believer, He speaks.

The question is, how am I at listening? Am I ‘slow of heart’ (Lk.24:25) to believe what He says? I know I can be hard-hearted, resistant to trusting God’s direction, preferring my ‘tried and true’ solutions sometimes. Ideally we will have soft hearts that purr with ‘Yes, God, anything You say I will do. I trust You completely. All your ways are good.’ Abraham had this kind of heart. He believed God. And God spoke to Him.

God said out of the blue: “Go, to a land I’ll show you.” (Gen.12) Abraham could have responded with: ‘Who are You, anyway?’ or ‘Why?’ or “No, I’m happy here.” But he didn’t. He got up and went, leaving his comfortable life and home behind to spend the rest of his life living in tents. [Question: Was he living in tents before this time? I don’t know.] He went, listening all the while for where to go and when to stop! He trusted God.

Little by little God’s plan for him unfolded. Little by little he obeyed. There were questions: How will I have descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky if I have no children? Will my servant be my heir? But when God answered, Abraham believed Him and set his heart to wait for the fulfillment of God’s purposes. That’s the second thing I noticed that Abraham DID to give evidence of His faith. He waited.

He only got into trouble when he gave in to fear (‘She’s my sister’—Gen.12) or when he listened to Sarah’s voice rather than God’s (Gen.16). She had such an innovative plan for accomplishing God’s will! (We women can be good at coming up with these!) Wrong plan. Wrong heir.

No, a big part of Abraham’s obedience was waiting God’s timing. He was 75 when he packed his bags to live the rest of his life in tents in a strange land. Eleven years  passed before Ishmael was born! Now he was 86. Then there was silence for another THIRTEEN years while he and Sarah just got older and older…increasing the impossibility of fertility even further! Sometimes waiting on God is the very best way to show that we believe.

Then came another opportunity to act. God said: Circumcise all the males in your household. And Abraham did it ‘that very day’ (Gen.17). He was NINETY-NINE by then. But no dawdling. He was a ‘doer of the Word’ (James 1:22) if ever there was one.

Shortly thereafter came the big announcement, and another opportunity for Abraham to take action. God said: This time next year your wife will have a son. (Gen.18:14) Here was a part for Abraham to play—making love to his ninety year old wife—yet another step of obedience in the fulfillment of God’s purposes.

You get the idea, there were actions Abraham took because he had faith. He moved. He waited. He circumcised the males in his household. And he had sex with his wife. But the fulfillment of the seemingly impossible promises was entirely up to God.

“Is anything too hard for the LORD?” (Gen.18:14)

Andrew Murray puts it this way, in his reflections on Psalm 37:
“Do what God asks you to do; God will do more than you can ask Him to do.” (Waiting on God, p.65)

God doesn’t ask us to do the impossible, only to believe that He can and will in His good time. We show we believe by doing the things He asks of us on the way to fulfilling His purposes.

As I studied this story again this week I prayed, “Lord, let me not be a Sarah, figuring out ways to make things happen that you have promised.” I can be like that, chafing that I’m not ‘doing anything’ to make things change or to bring about what I perceive to be God’s will.

If it’s up to me to make things happen, when am I ever ‘doing enough’?

I can even use prayer in this way—like a juggling feat—as if the success or failure of those I pray for is contingent on my keeping the oranges up in the air…If I don’t pray enough, they’re doomed. Yes, intercession is important, but it must be Spirit-driven and empowered by the faith that He supplies! A false sense of my indispensability, even in prayer, is a case of misguided significance at best, arrogance at worst! Faith trusts God to direct even my prayers. It leaves with Him the means by which He will accomplish all that is in His heart.

Meanwhile faith waits with a ready posture, humbly willing to obey. It neither rushes ahead to do things my way, nor lags behind overcome with disabling doubt.

“I am God ALMIGHTY—walk before me and be blameless”

This was God’s call to Abraham (Gen.17:1). Isn’t this what He has called all believers too? We too are sojourners in a world not made to be our home. We walk through it by faith in our God to guide our going and our staying, our acting and our waiting, and ultimately to grant us our last breath and take us safely home. For all this we can trust Him.

The ultimate test Abraham is known for was his willingness to give up his only son, his promised heir, as an offering to God. He trusted God could raise him from the dead if necessary. Perhaps in a lesser way, this is the test of every parent—to yield our offspring up to God’s purposes, for Him to care for, discipline, and direct through their life’s journey. Their destinies are in His hands, not ours.

But richer still is the true symbolism shown in Abraham’s offering up of Isaac, that is, God sacrificing His own Son for the life of us all. And yes, He did raise Him from the dead as Abraham supposed he could! He was “delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.” (Rom.4:25) Think on that. What more is there?

And just as Abraham was declared righteous because he was ‘fully convinced that God was able to do what He had promised’ (Rom.4:21) so are we who believe that God raised Jesus from the dead on our behalf. It’s all pre-figured in the life of Abraham and precious to consider again. In light of such a testimony of faith, my anxieties for those I wish to see ‘safely home’ are laid to rest, again. The God of Abraham is my God. My destiny and that of those I care most about is with Him. He’s not asking that I accomplish their rescue but that I trust Him to do it while I listen for His directives…

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died–more than that, who was raised–who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Rom. 8:32-34 ESV

But getting back to an answer to the sermon’s question: How does my life give evidence of saving faith?

–By my willingness to sit down in the chair of God’s provision, and to rest there without fear or nightmare of how we all shall get ‘safely home’. I will trust Him to do it while I listen for His bidding, ready to obey.

–LS

“You were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” I Pet.2:25

[May] your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. I Thess. 5:23

Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven. Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man! Ps.107:30,31

The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
II Tim. 4:18 ESV

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. Jude 1:24,25 ESV

Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ…to bring about the obedience of faith— to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.
Rom. 16:25-27 ESV

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P.S. May I urge you to sit and enjoy Abraham’s story for yourself? Watch for the voice of God and the response of Abraham—Gen.12-25; Rom.4; Heb.11).

–And if you have a prodigal, consider Abraham Piper’s own story and suggestions here.

Finding the Right One

LIVE IT!

Returning home on the ferry this week I picked up a copy of a local paper. I usually enjoy the friendly smattering of local interest stories. Being the Valentine’s Day edition this one featured a couple of ‘fairy tale’ romances…

Fairy tales with a twist I suppose. Aren’t fairy tales supposed to end with ‘happily ever after’? Whose happiness? As I read these stories I couldn’t help but glimpse the wretched realities masked between the lines–the other halves discarded along the road to finding the right one, again. And the offspring left to muddle through the ensuing chaos. What does this have to do with love?

“If you can find that person, the rest is ‘just stuff’…”

Is finding someone to quell my loneliness and make me happy really the only thing that matters? Is the rest ‘just stuff”?
Broken relationships. Abandoned commitments. Children losing their parents to lovers. Just ‘stuff’? Just the cost of pursuing true love?

How is this a happy Valentine’s Day story? There is so little ‘happily ever after’. Granted, they’ve stuck with each other now for going-on-twenty years. And yes, they’ve had ‘so much fun’. But what happened to the kids when Mom left Dad for someone that she ‘couldn’t breathe without’? I suppose they are now embarking on life, wondering if marriage is worth it? Wondering why bother? Wondering what love really looks like and how they’ll know they’ve found ‘the right one’.

The second feature was a heart-warming ‘love story’ of childhood sweethearts. But alas, they went their separate ways and ‘married other people’. Ooops. Never mind that detail. Thirty-one years later they looked each other up and ‘knew [they] still loved each other’. The real spouses fade into oblivion at this point, lost somewhere between lines of newsprint. They are irrelevant in the face of ‘real’ love. The long-lost sweethearts marry and start over. Happy Valentine’s Day(?!)

Now, I suppose these ‘other people’ to whom they’ve each pledged their lives might now be dead…maybe, which would make this indeed a heart-warming story. But the absence of any mention of them troubles the waters of this otherwise endearing tale. And I wonder, are we so hard up for true love stories? Or have we just re-written the definition of love?

When the first of these stories was actually happening (twenty years ago), it was a scandal that rocked the political world. As prominent leaders they were forced to abandon their careers. Now that the news headlines have gathered dust with the passing of years, it is touted as a fairy-tale romance. What changed?

Once upon a time love meant to lay down your life for the well-being of another. Love meant bearing with and forgiving. It had everything to do with living for the benefit of another person, being committed to their well-being through thick and thin, sickness and health, happiness and misery. It wasn’t about filling my lonely quotient or having fun, though these might well be side-effects of a committed love relationship!

So, with all this pent up objection why haven’t I written a letter to the Editor? Why instead am I blogging my complaints into obscurity? Good question.

My righteous indignation upon reading the article was tempered as I looked at the faces in print and it dawned on me, I had met these very people earlier this month, in their home. I was looking to buy a good used piano. They were selling. Suddenly these names took on friendly faces for me, and I began to see them as people, fallen people like myself. The difference is they may not yet have found the ‘right One’, the only One who can make them whole. How would my outraged letter to the editor help?

The acapella group GLAD sang a song back in the 90’s: That’s what the lonely is for. It describes our hearts as containing a room that is hollow by design. It says the loneliness we feel is there to tell us that there is something more– more than the ‘thin fire of romance’ can ever adequately warm. The song only alludes to the ‘more’ that is missing.

The common response to our heart’s cry is to go seeking that more in human form, from one relationship to another till we find the ‘right one’. But there is only one Right One. No human, not even the greatest of spouses can fill that place. We will sap them dry before that happens. No one can love like God loves. No one knows our hearts like He does.

The next track on GLAD’s album is: “Make us shine like stars in the Universe…holding out the Word of Life”. To a desperate and confused generation searching for answers within itself, the lyrics remind that we are given the role of holding out the Word of Life.

My inclination to denounce evil must somehow also include a lifting of the condemned to see the ‘more’ they were made for–their Saviour. It’s the classic conundrum of being called to love the sinner without condoning their sin. I haven’t gotten this one figured out.

It’s easy to just throw stones, more difficult to extend grace wisely.

The song goes on to celebrate:
“But your persistent love has found us. Though we stood condemned our lives have been redeemed.”

And these days, I find that my awareness of God’s grace toward me, softens my heart’s harsh reactions toward others who have not yet found His love. So for today I have no letter to the Editor, only this reflection on the awesome Love that has found me and offers to be all I need to fill my lonely heart and make me whole.

And in this context, of God reaching to man, giving Himself for us, a quote from the article at last makes sense: “In the end love conquered all but love also had a cost…” Love always costs the Giver. And no one knows better the cost of love than God Himself. We can trust Him with our love lives. He is our forever Valentine.

–LS

In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. I Jn. 4:9-12 ESV

“So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” I Jn.4:16

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her…and let the wife see that she respects her husband. Eph.5:25,33

“Seek the LORD while he may be found;
call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. Isaiah 55:6-8 ESV

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Quotations are taken from the Feb.,2014 edition of Powell River Living article titled: “A Made-in-BC Love Story”

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That’s what the lonely is for [Click for complete lyrics]
When I get lonely ah, that’s only a sign
Some room is empty, and that room is there by design
If I feel hollow – that’s just my proof that there’s more
For me to follow – that’s what the lonely is for
— David Wilcox