No Doubt

I had no doubt that my favorite show would be picked up for a third season.  (News Flash: White Collar’s been picked up for a third season!) I had no doubt that it would be rainy and cold this morning when I woke up.  I had no doubt that the cat would throw up on something porous while I was at work today.  I had no doubt that my alarm would go off this morning and that the lights would turn on and my car would start.

Every day, I demonstrate faith.  And usually, that faith is placed in completely inconsequential things.  So why do I pray the way I do?

“Wait, what?  How did you make the leap from the weather and cat throw-up to prayer?” you ask.  Oh, just making sure you’re with me. 

James 1:6-8 says:

But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.  That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

Confession time: For a long time now, I have been that double-minded, unstable person.  My prayers, I realized, have been a study in contradiction:  “God, please give me X.”  And then a minute or so later, “Please help me deal correctly with the disappointment when I don’t get X.”  No wonder I haven’t seen positive answers to my prayers!  Basically, I’m saying to God, “I’d like You to please do this for me, but I seriously doubt You’re going to.” 

And as a result, I’m also saying, “All that stuff You say in the Bible about how much You love me, and how You have a plan for me and how You give me good gifts?  I don’t believe any of it.”  I have to believe that one of the reasons I’ve experienced so much disappointment in the last couple of years is because of how I’ve been praying.

Do you pray like that sometimes?  Do you ask God for something while at the very same time bracing for disappointment?  Do you wonder why you experience disappointment more often than you do the joy of an affirmative answer to prayer?

If so, proof-read your prayers.  It may very well be that the first half of your prayer is contradicted by the second half.  Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with asking God to help you keep your attitude in check, and there’s nothing wrong with asking that His will, and only His will be done in your life.  But when we approach God expecting Him to not do what we want, we not only set ourselves up for frustration, we strip prayer of some of its power.

God is not easily confused.  In fact, God is not ever confused.  He knows what we want before we even ask it.  And God can answer any prayer.  But do you think you’d be willing to grant a friend’s request if she said, “Would you please do this for me?  I know you won’t though.  I really wish you would, but I’m expecting you to say no”?  (I believe the old-fashioned term for this type of person is “wishy-washy”.)

Not only would you most likely not grant the request (if you could even find it in there anywhere), I bet you’d be a little insulted too.  Does your friend think you care that little for her?  Does she think you’re that powerless to help her?  Does she think you’re even friends?

I haven’t asked Him, but I’m guessing God feels the same way when we pray for something, but expect nothing.  It’s no wonder we have so many “unanswered” prayers!   Or, maybe it’s just me…

 

On the verge

About 10 years ago, I went to Maine with my family for vacation.  It was incredibly beautiful, as you can probably imagine.  The first couple of nights, we stayed in Yarmouth and when we woke up the first morning, a dense fog covered the town, shrouding everything in an eerie mist.  We went for a walk in it and it was one of the most surreal experiences I’ve ever had.

From there, we went to Bar Harbor.  Now when people hear you’re going to Maine for the first time, one if the first things they tell you is “dress warm”.  So we packed jeans and sweatshirts and jackets.  The day we went to Bar Harbor, it was 96F.

Finally, we made our way to Acadia State Park.  If you’ve never been there, do yourself a huge favor and add it to the list of places to see before you die.  It’s incredible!  You stand at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean on gigantic boulders, high above the surface of the water, and on a clear day, I swear you could see Ireland if you squinted hard enough.  The water is a deep, navy blue and when the waves crash on the rocks, the foam is such a pure white against the dark water.  It really is the most beautiful place I’ve ever been.  (And I got some amazing pictures that week!)

There have been many times in the past few years when I’ve felt like I’m standing on the edge of one of those boulders.  Behind me is the rocky path I’ve taken, full of hard climbs, tree roots, and wild flowers.  Ahead of me is the edge.  I’ve come to the end of the trail and there I stand, looking out at my future.  In my mind, it’s beautiful, but full of mystery and potential danger.  I can’t take another step toward it yet, but I can look out over it and wonder what it contains. 

And I wait.  I wait for a bridge to be built so I can cross over into my next adventure.  I wait for a boat to show up that will take me out into the ocean of “what’s next?”  I stand and I wonder – will it be good?  Will I like what’s coming next?  Or will it be hard?  Will it make me struggle and hurt?

We don’t know what our futures hold, but there are a few things we do know for sure:

1. God planned out our next step ages ago and He’s already in our next moment.  (Isaiah 25:1)
2. Our faith will continue to be stretched and made stronger. (James 1:3-4)
3. Whatever God has next for us is good and perfect and will be just the right thing for us. (Romans 12:2)

Our Father loves us so much and He always wants what’s best for us.  Sometimes, what’s best for us makes us happy.  Sometimes, what’s best for us confuses us because we don’t know our whole story yet.  Sometimes, what’s best for us feels like the worst possible thing.  Regardless of how it feels, though, what God allows into our lives is, in fact, the absolute best.

If you’re on the verge, on the edge of what you know, looking out into what you don’t know, ask God to help you let go of your security, your assumptions, your expectations and your fears.  Ask Him to strengthen your faith.  And then trust Him completely, without reservation.  Trust that the One who formed you in your mother’s womb and who planned out every last one of your days knows every step you need to take to end up exactly where He wants you to be: the center of His will.

Are you standing at the edge of what you know, ready for what’s next?  If you’ve already taken the next step, how are you seeing God at work in your life?

 

Of COURSE there’s a dog…

Remember this?  A week or so after it happened, my director sent out his usual post-concert e-mail.  In it, he listed all the things that had gone wrong that day – a pipe burst in the building next door, a bathroom flooded in the concert hall, the police were called to escort someone from the building, the principle violinist showed up 5 minutes before the concert thinking she was an hour early.  “By the time our uninvited guest arrived,” he said, ”I thought ‘Of course there’s a dog!’.”

That’s kind of how I’m feeling right now.  You know those times when the bad news just keeps coming and the only verses you can find that apply to your situation are in Job?  I’m there.  In fact, I thought I was there a few weeks ago, but I wasn’t.  It’s possible I’m not even there now, I just think I am.  Only God knows.

And only God knows where this is all heading.  So all I can do is throw up my hands and say, “Whatever You want, God.  If You need me to do anything, just let me know.  In the meantime, I’ll just let You do whatever it is You’re doing.”  Some may see an attitude like that as fatalistic.  I choose to see it as surrender, as admission that I’m not in control, and as an act of faith.

There’s a guy named Aaron Shust - I’ve featured a couple of his songs in posts before (and he’s a Steelers fan!).  Right now, he’s out on tour.  And right now, his 2-year-old son is in the hospital while doctors try to figure out why he can’t swallow and keep food down.  Tonight, this is what he had to say:

Instead of worrying I’m gonna trust God’s plan and sing His praises in New Mexico tonight! Lift Him Up!!!

That’s exactly the kind of faith that we need when we’re in a dog-on-stage situation.  It’s the kind of faith that says, “Of course there’s a God!”

Please pray for Aaron, his wife Sarah, the doctors and Nicky. 

Are you in a dog-on-stage situation right now?  How can we pray for you?

 

Set an example part 4-B: Faith

NOTE: In order to keep with the flow of this second part of our discussion on faith, we’ll take our Midweek Mental Health Break on Thursday this week instead of today.  Hope you don’t mind!

When I was writing Yesterday’s post (the prerequisite to today’s), I was eating pizza.  As I write this one, I’m eating a Sky Bar.  If you’ve never had one, it’s a chocolate bar that has four sections: Caramel, Peanut Butter, Vanilla Cream and Fudge Cream.  They’re fantastic!  This has nothing to do with today’s post, I just thought I’d share…

Ok, getting back to the topic at hand, let’s keep going with the things our hearts would do well to believe:

I am who God says I am: I am His beloved child, chosen and adopted into His family.  I am a co-heir with Christ of God’s heavenly kingdom and all spiritual blessing.  I have been bought with the blood of Jesus and set free from the grip of sin and death.  Nothing can separate me from God and His love.  I am His and I exist to bring Him glory. (Ephesians 1:3-14)

I can do all things through Christ: It is Christ who gives us the strength to live out our lives for God’s glory.  It is Christ we serve and it is in Christ we find our rest.  (Philippians 4:13)

God’s Word is alive and active in me: As we spend time studying, meditating on and memorizing God’s Word, it becomes a part of who we are.  It shapes the things we say and the things we do.  It affects our attitudes and our reactions to the bends in the road.  When we devote ourselves to Scripture, we are changed.  (Hebrews 4:12)

When we allow these five statements to penetrate our hearts and govern our lives, our faith is made stronger.  We no longer fear what life will bring our way because we know that God only allows those things in our lives that will bring glory to Him.  He is the filter through which every trial must pass and then He is the strength we need to endure.  He is our all-sufficient, powerful, loving Father.

The life lived in faith will not be an easy one, but it will be victorious.  And it will set an example for the believers.

How do you keep the faith?  To which promise of God are you clinging today?

 

Set an example part 4-A: Faith

You know how everything tastes better when you’re really hungry?  Allow me to give you an example: I’m presently eating leftover “pizza”. (Those who know me well know of my struggles accepting the New England definition of pizza and understand why I put it in quotes.  For those who don’t, I grew up 40 minutes outside New York City and therefore have very strict standards for things like pizza and bagels.  New England sadly, fails to meet those standards with frightening consistency…Who cuts a round pizza into squares?!?!)  Anyway, this pizza I’m eating barely had time to warm up before I snatched it from the toaster oven.  The crust is soggy, the cheese is strangely coagulated and it’s a bit greasy.  But I gotta tell you, right now, it’s the most delicious thing to ever pass my lips!

The hurting, questioning heart often experiences the same phenomena.  It wants so badly to feel some relief that it will devour whatever “pizza” happens to be nearby.  In moments of sheer desperation, we are willing to believe in whatever will make us feel better.  For many people, this means trusting in superstition, luck, karma, etc.

The mature Christian, on the other hand, knows that placing our faith in anything other than Christ will leave us feeling hungry and unsatisfied.  But what happens when what we know in our heads just can’t seem to make it to our hearts?

I’m going to borrow from Beth Moore’s study Believing God a bit as we explore ways we can strengthen our faith and thereby be the example we’re called to be.  In the study, Beth provided five specific things we need to believe in order to strengthen our faith and I want us to take a look at them.  (To keep this post from becoming an epic novel, we’ll cover the first two today and the others on Thursday.)  As we move through life, our hearts would do well to believe the following about God:

God is who He says He is:  If we do not believe that God is who He says He is in His Word, nothing else matters.  We must believe that He is the Creator, the Ruler of the world, the Sustainer of life, our Savior, our Redeemer and our Hope.  (Colossians 1:15-20)

God can do what He says He can do: The God who spoke the world into being and the God who raised Christ from the dead is the very same God who reaches out to us with all power, authority and glory.  Nothing is too big for Him.  And nothing is outside His notice. (Ephesians 1:18-21)

So what if you’re stuck on these two?  What if you don’t fully believe that God is who He says He is and that He can do what He says He can do? 

First, pray.  Our faith in God comes from God and he gives it freely to the one who earnestly seeks Him (Mark 9:14-24).  Ask Him for the faith to believe.

 Second, repeat these truths to your heart over and over again.  Whenever doubt creeps in, remind yourself that God is who He says He is.  Whenever something seems overwhelming, tell yourself that God can do what He says He can do.  And He says that He can rescue you, heal you, free you and give you a new, abundant life full of exactly what He knows to be best for you (James 1:17)

Begin today to set an example for those around you by taking God at his Word.  God can not lie (Hebrews 6:18).

How do you know that God’s Word is true?  What experience have you had that you can use to point others to the Truth?

 

Set an example part 2: Life

If you’re just joining us, we’re taking a closer look at 1 Timothy 4:12, so grab a cup of coffee and pull up a chair…

“Life”.  That’s rather vague, don’t you think?  It kind of encompasses, well, pretty much everything.  “How’s life?”  “What do you want to do with your life?”  “I risked life and limb to bring you this milkshake!”  (Mmmm…milkshake )

Taken at it’s surface, Paul’s directive to set an example for others in “life” can either seem like a premature summary of his point or, it can be a bit daunting.  So, for the sake of our poor brains, I’d like to narrow it down a bit.  Rather than looking at our lives as a complete, yet general, entity, I think we’ll talk about setting an example in life like this:

We can set an example for others in our approach to life.

We all have times when things just are not working the way we want them to.  And when we are in those “valleys”, it’s natural to complain and whine and feel sorry for ourselves.  In fact, it’s what the World expects.  How do I know that?  Just watch the news.  All of the broadcast.  Often, tacked on at the end is a story about someone who is in a dire situation and somehow rises above it.  If that weren’t the norm, it wouldn’t make the news.

That’s a little picture of what setting an example in life is all about.  Christians go through just as many hard seasons as everyone else (and some may argue more).  Mature, example-setting Christians rise above those difficulties.  How?  Simple – they live a life of consistency. 

Before the hard times come, example-setters are spending quality time with God and His Word.  They’re asking God to stretch them and grow their faith.  They’re seeking His face, His will and His leading.

When the hard times come, example-setters spend quality time with God and His Word.  They thank Him for giving them the opportunity to grow and to increase their faith.  They seek His face, His will and His leading.

In other words, example-setters approach life the same way, whether it’s good or bad.  Regardless of their circumstances, God is their source of life.  Sure, they may ramp up their time with Him and may cling to Him a little harder when life turns in a disappointing direction.  But because their relationship with Him and faith in Him is constant, they don’t have far to reach for His hand.

And because of that consistency in life, the valleys seem less dark and cold.  Because of that consistency, their lives don’t fall completely apart whenever a trial comes along.  In the face of tragedy, the example-setter can rest, confident that God is for them and confident that whatever comes along, He knew about it ahead of time, He’s got it under control and He has a plan.

What’s your natural, first reaction when life turns dark?  Who lives consistently as an example for you?

 

Overwhelmed

And exhausted.  And exhilarated.  And…so many other things.  I’ve just returned from spending a week with the high school and college kids at my church.  We went to Owego, NY (think Middle of Nowhere, USA and you’ve got it about right) to serve the people of that area by fixing up houses, building porches and wheelchair ramps and just showing them God’s love.  I still can’t wrap my head around everything that happened, but I do know this: My heart is so full of joy and love for the people I spent the week with that it makes me tear up whenever I think about it!

Now normally, when I go on a trip like this, I ask God to change me, to grow my faith and to teach me something new about Himself.  I prayed the same thing before and during this trip.  I’m not sure that prayer was answered in the way I prayed it.  But I couldn’t be more grateful.

This week, instead of seeing changes in my own life, and seeing my own faith stretched and challenged, I saw my prayer answered in the people I was with. 

The Bible tells us to “test the spirits” (1 John 4:1) and “be prepared to give an answer” to those who question your faith (1 Peter 3:15).  Going into this week, I never imagined that the kids I was with would need to do either of these things while they were at Workcamp.  But as it turns out, not everyone who claims to be a Christian really believes the Bible (shocking, I know).

This week, that’s exactly what I saw “my” kids doing.  They came back from their worksites with stories of leaders who don’t believe in hell and fellow campers making fun of them for worshipping.  Naturally, they were upset about what they were encountering, but you know what they did?  They tested the spirits and they were ready to give answers for what they believed and why they believed it.  They didn’t just meet the challenge, they crushed it!

The full verse in 1 Peter says this:

But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…

This week, I had the incredible privilege of seeing 15 and 16 year old kids do exactly that.  And it was an even more beautiful sight than any of the waterfalls and rock formations I saw on our way home.

Are you prepared to defend what you believe, even to those who claim to be “Christians”?  Parents, teachers & youth leaders, what are you doing to encourage your kids in their faith?

I am so proud of “my” kids, but even more than that, I know that their Father is proud of them.  And really, His is the only opinion that matters!

 

On the irony of faith

NOTE: This is a re-post from a blog I had a couple of years ago, but it still holds true today, so I thought I’d share it.

I was struck by a great irony today. I was talking to God about my tendency to not be a very trusting person. He’s been asking me to trust Him lately, and while my spiritual desire is to do just that, my humanity leans toward worry and fear instead. I caught myself praying the words of the father in Mark 9:24 – “I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief!”

Do you see the irony there? In order to make that request, I have to trust God enough to believe that He will, in fact, help me to trust Him. That just blows my mind. The act of placing our faith in God requires an act of faith. And where does that faith come from? Well, from God, of course. In His great grace, He gives us just enough faith to take the step of putting our faith in Him. In his goodness, He helps us believe when every part of us is gripped in unbelief. In His love He draws us to Himself so that we cling to Him, our Help and our Protection. Over and over again, God makes the first move. It’s not about us. It’s about Him. And it’s all for His glory!

What other ironies do you see in your walk with God?  Why are you thankful for your faith today?

 

God-ordained failure

A couple of months ago, I had a job interview.  It went really well and I was called for a second interview.  That one went really well too and I was told by some people I knew in the organization that the interview team was very impressed with me.  I had prayed about the job opening before I applied for it and I felt completely at peace about it – like I had gotten the green light from God.  I was excited that I was finally going to have a job!  Imagine my surprise and disappointment when I got a letter a few days later saying that the position had been offered to someone else.  Part of me was able to say, “Ok God.  I trust You”.  But the rest of me just didn’t understand what had happened.  I was so sure this was my job.  I was so sure God had finally answered my prayers (and the prayers of countless other people literally around the world who’d been asking God for a job on my behalf).  But He hadn’t.  And I was confused.

A similar thing happened to the people of Israel in the book of Judges.  Some men in the tribe of Benjamin had committed a horrific sin against a fellow Israelite and the rest of the nation decided to go to war against Benjamin to punish them for what they had done. 

They gathered themselves at Bethel and asked God who should go fight the Benjamites first.  God told them to send Judah first.  So the men of Judah went and were soundly defeated.  The Israelites went back to God, confused and disappointed.  They asked God what they should do and He told them to go fight again.  And again, they were soundly defeated. 

What was going on here?  It wasn’t as if they just went up to fight Benjamin on their own.  They specifically asked for God’s guidance and they did exactly what He told them to do.  And they failed.  Repeatedly.

This story makes me see something I had never seen before.  Sometimes, even when we ask for (and receive) God’s blessing in an endeavor, we still fail.  Our first instinct is usually to throw our hands up in frustration and get mad at God for leading us into a trap.  But look at what Israel did: They went back to God a third time and asked again what they should do.  Again, God told them to go fight, but this time, He told them that they would win.  I see some principles here that we can apply to our own failures and disappointments:

• God’s blessing does not always equal immediate success.  This one is hard to accept, but it’s true.  We’re so conditioned to believe that if we’re following God’s will, life should work out well for us.  The Bible does not teach that and we do ourselves a great disservice if we refuse to accept the truth of God’s word.
• Failure is sometimes ordained by God, and is not always punishment or a tool of satan.  Failure is an opportunity.  We can either react to it with bitterness and resentment, or we can take hold of it and use it to make changes in our lives, to increase our faith and to get a better understanding of God’s sovereignty and faithfulness.
• When faced with failure, our best course of action is to revisit the issue with God to make sure we’re still moving in the right direction.  Perhaps we missed something or allowed our own desires to cloud what we thought God was telling us to do.  On the other hand, we may very well be doing exactly what He wants us to do and we are simply in a time of testing and growing.  But unless we remain in constant contact, we will never know.
• Even after we succeed, we may never understand the reason behind our past failures.  There is no explanation in the Bible for Israel’s defeats and there is no explanation for their final success.  We’re simply told that they prayed, they failed, they prayed, they failed, they prayed, they succeeded.  Nothing more. 

All too often, we see failure as a negative thing.  We see it with finality.  But the Bible doesn’t see it that way.  Failure is part of life and it’s necessary for growth.  It’s not something we should be afraid of.  In fact, for the mature Christian, perhaps it’s something we should look forward to…

What have you learned about failure?  Has success ever ended up being a bad thing for you?