This past week, I was blessed to have the opportunity to attend a Piano Guys (one of my favorite musical groups) concert. It was a moving experience. During the concert, the member of the duo who plays the cello (not the piano!), Steven Sharp Nelson, shared with the audience some struggles he has been having recently. He talked about this as part of the introduction to the song, O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, saying this song has given him comfort during his trying times. He then proceeded to play a very emotional solo.
It was obviously quite remarkable and memorable. Pondering this since then, I’ve realized how much sense this makes.
The name “Emmanuel” means “God with us”:
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
And also, when the Old Testament prophet Isaiah foretold Jesus’s coming, one of the other names he said would be given to him is “Prince of Peace”:
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
My friends, as we eagerly await the arrival and re-arrival of our Lord Jesus Christ, let me wish you all a holy and merry Christmas that is blessed with hope, love, joy, and peace.
This past week, I was fortunate to be able to go see episodes 1 and 2 of the new season (season 3) of my favorite TV show, The Chosen, in a local theater. These episodes were as well done as the previous two seasons, so I’m glad to have been able to see them on the big screen.
One thing that really struck me was the portrayal in episode 2 of this passage from the ninth chapter of Luke’s Gospel:
When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. He told them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt. Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere.
I have to admit that as many times as I have read or listened to this brief passage, I had never really pondered the implications of this situation for the disciples. However, the way this was depicted in episode 2 was masterful. After Jesus told the disciples that he was sending them out, they were all very skeptical, as you’d expect they would be. They looked around the room at one another. their faces conveying what I think we all would be wondering: “How are we supposed we supposed to do that? What are we supposed to say? We’re not you, Jesus!”
I realized then how daunting it must have been for this band of 12 misfits, none of whom had any training as religious leaders (unless you count following Jesus around and listening to his sermons).
Anyone who has read my blogs over the last couple of years knows that I believe strongly that Jesus stands by us, closer than any other friend, willing to help us carry our burdens if we only ask him. This is the source of peace that surpasses all understanding, which he so willingly offers us. I still find comfort in that commitment from our Creator.
However, there is another aspect to following Jesus that is not quite so comforting: he may ask you to do something or go somewhere that completely disrupts your plans. He doesn’t seem to mind doing that at all.
Here’s the thing: he doesn’t care too much about your plans. He cares more about your eternity than he does about what you’re planning to do on Tuesday. Also, he cares more about other people’s eternity than he does about your lunch plans, so he may place a calling on your life that helps someone else but appears to do nothing for you.
What this translates to is that, like his calling to the disciples, Jesus may drag you, kicking and screaming, out of your comfort zone, for your own sake or for the good of others.
But that’s where growth happens–just beyond the edge of your comfort zone.
One such time in my life came when I felt called to leave my successful and comfortable IT career to transition into owning a landscaping business. After much prayer and consternation, I decided to follow that calling. This led to much more consternation since the decision was very unpopular with my wife (in retrospect, I did not handle it very well, as I should have involved her much more in the decision–God’s calling is obviously important, but so is the opinion of someone affected by a decision to follow it).
Anyway, following this calling shoved me way out of my comfort zone. I often felt overwhelmed, and many times regretted the decision. And as things played out, by worldly standards, it was not a good business decision–this was in 2008, when the US economy tanked. I had to close down the business after two landscaping seasons and return to my IT career.
It was hard to think why God had been calling me to do this. It was a miserable failure, right?
Well, not so fast.
For one thing, for me personally, God finally broke me of my misguided notion that I was self-sufficient. Up until that point, I’d enjoyed a successful IT career. I had, with help from our deceitful enemy, allowed myself to believe that I had earned my success on my own through hard work. In those days, while I believed in God and occasionally expressed half-hearted gratitude toward him for my accomplishments, in my heart, I felt I was the one primarily responsible for what I had achieved. But during the challenging times of running a business during a failing economy, I learned quickly to depend on God every single day, and all through the day. I learned that any success I’m able to achieve is only a result of God’s blessings, from the abilities and opportunities he has given me.
God probably tried to teach me this in other ways, but I missed them. Often the best lessons are the hardest ones.
Even more, there were things that happened within our family as a result of the decision to follow God down this unexpected path. Sparing you the boring details, we had the opportunity to have my in-laws live with us for what turned out to be the last summer before Jesus called my mother-in-law home. This afforded us some rich quality time to spend together. Further, we got to show my father-in-law that we could all live under the same roof without being at each other’s throats, which led to him agreeing to move back in with us about a year later–a blessing that continues to this day, especially since he has been and remains one of my very best friends.
So here’s one reason why I think Jesus doesn’t mind disrupting our well-laid plans: because he knows that ultimately, there is profound joy to be had when we reach the place in our lives where we recognize our complete dependence on him, where he breaks us of the “rugged independence” so prized in our culture and helps us to see that the plans he has for us far exceed any grand designs we had. As King David realized when he was in a pit of despair, there seems to be a connection between joy and having a willing spirit:
Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
The joy of the Lord is available to us, to be our strength (as observed in Nehemiah 8:10) if we will but lean into him. If you’re anything like me, you may be afraid of failing or falling, but God’s strong hands wait beneath us, just out of sight, ready to catch us nonetheless. And sometimes–maybe a lot of times–God doesn’t care as much about the results of our efforts as much as he does about the posture of our hearts once we have reached that place of surrender and dependence.
He will take care of the results. His outcomes are better than ours anyway. Trust in him, and you will find joy. He’ll make sure of that.
I live in Colorado, which is mostly a delightful place to call home. However, my least favorite aspect of the weather here is the wind. Although windy days are not uncomon, they are not usually unpleasant. But occasionally they can become so.
We had such a day this past week. Gusts up to 100 MPH. Yuck. Time to hold on tight to Toto and all your other little dogs (ours is called Piglet).
It just so happens that we decided to add a new nativity scene to our outdoor Christimas decorations this year. Knowing that very windy days are possible, we tend to anchor our outdoor decorations very well. After the storm subsided, we went outside to survey the damage, which turned out not to be too bad. The whole nativity scene had been shaken apart, but all the pieces were lying face down on the ground. It seems that the worst thing that happened is that one of our three wisemen got blown away, and is probably halfway to Kansas by now (so in our household, the Christmas carol now says, “We two kings of Orient are bearing gifts we traverse afar…”).
In the aftermath of the storm, I was discussing the damage with my father-in-law, who lives with us. When it became apparent that the worst thing that happened was that one of our wisemen escaped, I said, “Well, at least we’ve still got Jesus.”
As soon as I said it, I thought that would be a good topic for my blog this week.
Because, while it is certainly good news for my nativity scene, it’s even better news for my life. And for yours, too.
Here’s the thing: Jesus never promised that there would be no storms in our lives. In fact, he pretty much guaranteed that there would be:
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33
Of course, we all wish there would be no storms in our lives, but that’s not the way the world works right now. At least there’s good news, though: Jesus has overcome the world! We can have peace in him.
As long as we have to endure storms, what could be better than having Jesus on our side?
In the fourth chapter of Mark, there’s a story about Jesus and his disciples traveling by boat when a huge storm came up. Even the dsciples who were professional fishermen were afraid for their lives. But was Jesus worried?
Nope. He was so exhausted that he was sound asleep.
In a panic, his friends woke him up.
What did Jesus do? He commanded the storm:
“Peace, be still!”
Jesus, in Mark 4:39 (NKJV)
And the storm listened to him!
Whatever storms we are struggling against in our lives, we should call upon our friend, who is in the boat with us. The Prince of Peace can say to those storms, “Peace, be still!”
This is how he gives us the peace–his peace–that makes no sense to the watching world. And this is why it’s such great news that no matter what happens, at least we still have Jesus.
Today is the start of the Advent season on the Christian calendar–the time of year when we commemorate the blessing that Jesus left his throne in heaven to step into this cruel and broken world so he could begin to make it right. This is the ultimate disruption of the darkness by the arrival of the Light of the World.
Just like Jesus and Satan, Light and darkness are not two equal and opposite forces. When a light gets turned on, darkness is eliminated. Darkness cannot counterattack the light. Darkness has no way to overcome light. Darkness is powerless, since it is really nothing more than the absence of light.
This analogy of light and darkness resonates with me, which is probably why I write about it regularly. It’s also a recurring theme throughout the New Testament. In fact, this week in the Daily Audio Bible’s journey through the Bible in a year, we encountered the Apostle Peter’s take on darkness and the light:
At Christmas, Jesus came as the Light to eliminate darkness from the world–an ongoing process that is sadly not yet complete. He invites us to step out of the darkness of the world and into his marvelous light, to participate with him in bringing his light into the world.
I think this is why I am so fond of Christmas lights–they brighten even the longest, darkest of winter nights. They symbolize the opportunities we all have to eliminate darkness in our daily lives. They are beacons of hope for a brighter future.
Let that be our goal as we head into the Christmas season, to be bringers of light into the darkness of this world. Let us usher in hope for everyone we encounter in the coming days, show them the bright future that awaits when we step into God’s marvelous light.
On Thursday of this week, here in the U.S. (where I live), we will celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. This got me thinking about the idea of giving thanks and a posture of gratitude. Unfortunately, like so many traditions and bedrock ideas upon which this country was built, the notion of really being thankful to God is being eroded by the harsh wind of “change for the sake of changing” that is blowing across our nation.
As I’m sure most of us know, the tradition of observing Thanksgiving with an aumtum feast dates back to the time of the Pilgrims, even before this country was formed. It was a celebration of God’s blessings, and gratitude for helping them endure the worst of conditions. It was also a way to thank their Native American friends for their help and for sharing their farming ingeniuity. But it didn’t really gain traction as a national holiday until Abraham Lincoln was president:
President Abraham Lincoln, in 1863, proclaimed a national day of “Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens”, calling on the American people to also, “with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience .. fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation..
Anyway, it’s because of all these thoughts that I felt led to write about giving thanks today.
God blessed us with the free will to focus our minds on whatever we want. For this reason, it’s up to us to select our state of mind. If I choose to focus on negative things–all the terrible things going on in the world or evidence that our country is falling apart or all the things I don’t have–I will naturally cultivate and maintain a very negative mindset. You can’t bury garbage in your yard and expect a rose garden to appear.
On the other hand, because I have instead chosen to focus on positive things, the many blessings God has given me–that I’m married to the love of my life, my redemption because of God’s love for me, the love of my family, my health, or even my job–I have developed a very positive mindset. I’m an eternal optimist, and I like to think I have a sunny disposition, both of which result from the fact that I make an effort to focus on the positive aspects of any given situation.
And really, this is the beginning of gratitude.
In the parable of the vineyard workers, Jesus taught his disciples (and us, two thousand years later) to be grateful for their salvation and not ruin it with thoughts or statements like, “Hey, why does that guy get into heaven when he has only been a follower of Christ for one hour??” (see Matthew 20:1-16.) He taught them and us to be thankful to be part of God’s non-earthly kingdom instead of focusing on the spirit-crushing opression of the Jews by the Roman empire.
But here’s the thing: we don’t need to limit our gratitude to the “big” blessings like salvation, health, or family. In fact, the way to start turning your outlook from sour to sweet, to develop you gratitude muscle, is to recognize and give thanks for smaller blessings. Most likely, you are surrounded by them, if only you have eyes to see them. Maybe it’s a warm and excited greeting from your dog, acting as though they haven’t seen you in years. It could be golden rays of sunshine bursting their way into a cloudy day. Or perhaps it’s a neighbor sharing a “hello” and a smile as you walk through the neighborhood. A blooming flower. Autumn leaves. Moonlight sparkling on a fresh blanket of snow. The possibilities are endless.
Once you start recognizing the smaller blessings, you should thank God for them, no matter how crappy the world seems to be or how challenging your life circumstances are. This is the beginning of your journey toward contentment, on the narrow path of humble gratitude. This is how you choose happiness.
We have a sign in our kitchen that says that: “Choose happiness”. I asked my son once if he believes that’s a choice you can make, and he said he didn’t think so. He is away from the faith right now, so I can see why he thinks that way. I pray for him each day, along with my younger daughter (who’s also a prodigal), that they will realize that this is a choice you can make. Humble gratitude towards our Creator is the path you can take that leads to contentment, fulfillment, happiness. Even joy. It’s the path to peace that surpasses all understanding.
One last thing before I wrap up. If you look at verse 4 of Psalm 100, the language talks about entering past God’s gates. This makes me think that we might need a key in order to pass through the gates. And what is that key? Thanksgiving! Similarly, we enter into his courts using praise.
And why should we do this? Because the Lord is good and his love endures forwever. This is the greatest blessing of all, and the best reason to give thanks.
Borrowed from YouVersion (and yes, I realize that it is for the same verse as above, but I really like the background scenery of this one!)
With that, I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving full of many blessings and the associated gratitude!
Let me start today by listing two seemingly insignificant and unrelated facts:
As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, in my family, we’ve generally had at least a couple of dogs as part of our family.
Also, since I live in Colorado, we’ve reached the time of year when the likelihood of seeing cold or otherwise unpleasant weather increases significantly.
If you’ll indulge me for a few moments, I’ll make the connection between these two factoids.
Just recently, a day came along that was very windy, and that wind smuggled in frigid temperatures with it. Since I try not to let the weather keep me from my daily walk, I bundled up and braved the elements for a brisk and quite chilly journey.
When I returned home, as I was thawing out, I noticed that one of my dogs had found a small patch of carpet near my desk that was awash in radiant sunlight. She was sound asleep, blissfully unaware of the raging wind racing past the window not more than a few yards away from her. In the warmth and safety of her “old dog spot” (as my wife and I have come to refer to such havens), she dreamed her doggy dreams, probably chasing the rabbits I never let her chase around our neighborhood. Probably catching one, too.
Here’s why I bring this up: just like our dogs have all had a knack for finding their “old dog spot” to enjoy a nap unconcerned by what’s happening around them, so should we have a place of warmth and safety, a shelter from whatever storms are raging in our lives. As followers of Christ, we should listen to his thoughts on this:
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
Adding to that, thinking about the small patch of carpet that’s radiant in the sunlight reminds me of the opening verses of John’s Gospel, particularly these words:
In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Jesus is the bedrock upon which we should build the foundation of our lives. If we do that–and I mean live it, day after day–we will find ourselves basking in the safety and warmth of his light no matter what is happening in the world around us. This is how we are to find the peace he offers us, the peace that is totally baffling to all who are not yet followers of Christ, and even to some who are.
I know it’s a wee bit early for a blog about Christmas, but this one isn’t really about that. It’s about hope. Yes, I know that one of the Advent candles symbolizes hope, and really, the entire Christmas season is about hoping for God to come and help us clean up the mess we’ve made of this world.
But again, since it’s a little early to talk about Christmas and Advent, let me focus on this passage written by the author of the letter to the Hebrews:
…we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf.
Here is one reason why I felt like it’s an appropriate time for an article about hope: here in the U.S., we have the mid-term elections coming up on Tuesday. Don’t worry, though, this is not going to be a political rant. My prayer is that I am able, through my meager offering here, to shine the spotlight on what should be our deepest source of hope: Jesus.
Several years ago, there were bumper stickers with a candidate’s likeness on them next to the word “Hope”. There was even something resembling a halo behind his head. It was troubling and saddening because nobody should place that much hope in anyone besides Jesus. Why? Because they will let you down. And also, it was comical to see a halo drawn behind anybody’s head (I would say, “especially a politician’s head”, but that would probably seem too much like a political rant!).
It makes sense to hope that your candidates will get elected and to hope that they will make things in our country better. It may make even more sense to hope that the election is fair and honest, that it helps restore our trust in the process, and that there is no violence associated with it.
Depending on which candidates win, things in our country could get a little better or a little worse, depending on your point of view. It could certainly impact our day-to-day lives.
But here’s the thing: none of the candidates can impact our eternity. Only Jesus can do that.
And nobody can take that away from us, the assurance of our eternity.
One hundred years from now, what happens today, tomorrow, or Tuesday won’t matter to us. What will matter to us is that Jesus–our only true source of hope–has entered the inner sanctuary on our behalf. He has exchanged his righteousness for our brokenness, his purity for our sin. That is what will matter.
Don’t get me wrong–I know life can be hard. I know politicians have some power to make them harder or better. But in the long run, the really long run, it won’t matter. What will matter is that we have put our hope in Jesus.
This is why Paul instructed the church at Corinth not to worry so much about what happened in their daily struggles:
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Remember that. No matter what happens, let’s fix our eyes not on what we see and hear, but on what we can’t see. What we see on the evening news will eventually blow away in the winds of time, like autumn leaves. What we can’t see, what we put our ultimate hope in–that’s what will last. That’s what will bring peace, wholeness, and joy. That’s what will usher us into heaven.
P.S. No matter what happens, no matter which candidates win, we should pray for them and all of the leaders of our nation, state, and city, even if we didn’t vote for them. This is the instruction Paul gave to Timothy, his son in the faith, and also to all of us:
I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.
Earlier this year, my wife and I journeyed to Montana to check another item off our bucket list: hike in Glacier National Park. Several of the hikes ventured to spectacular waterfalls. Standing near them, basking in their striking beauty and awesome power, I was refreshed by mist and occasional drops of water. It occurred to me that the fine mist and drops from the waterfall were enjoyable, but if I were to enter into the full scope of the waterfall, it would overwhelm me, probably to the point where it would be fatal.
Virginia Falls in Glacier National Park, Montana. The spots all over the picture are water drops on my camera lens!
I think that’s how it is with God’s grace and mercy.
One thing I thank God for almost daily is that I am floating in an ocean of his grace and awash in rivers of his grace. That is the cumulative effect of walking with God for over 40 years. But how has he shared that grace and mercy with me? Daily. One grace-drop at a time. Otherwise, if he were to cover me with a lifetime of mercy and grace at one time, that would overwhelm me.
Some days I can barely grapple with the grace he has shown me that day–that no matter how rotten my thoughts or deeds were, he welcomes me back when I come crawling to him, begging yet again for forgiveness.
There are several great pictures of God giving us what we need in small doses, day by day. Jesus taught us to ask for our bread–our sustenance–not for a lifetime, not annually, monthly, or even weekly. Daily. “Give us this day our daily bread.”
When the Israelites were wandering through the desert for 40 years (due mainly to their own brokenness), God provided manna for them to survive on. How often did he give this to them? Daily (with the exception of the Sabbath).
There’s also this beautiful passage in the middle of Lamentations, which generally is not a happy book (in case you can’t tell from the title!):
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.
There it is again: God’s compassions are new every morning.
Why is it that the Bible emphasizes relating with God within the confines of 24-hour increments?
I don’t know all the reasons why, but at least one that I can think of is this: because he wants a relationship with us.
Anyone who believes that God is distant–maybe a deity who created the universe but then left it alone to ultimately crash and burn–has not read the New Testament. They have not watched Jesus in action. They have missed the fact that everything Jesus achieved in his 3-year earthly ministry–and has continued to achieve to this day–was done through relationship. This is the Son of God showing us God’s heart for us.
In addition to his love for us, I think there’s another reason why God wants to be in relationship with us: to keep us close to him.
God knows us because he made us. He knows our human nature. When we feel like we are all set, that we have what we need, we have a tendency to forget about God. Our human nature, probably with assistance from the evil one guides us down the path of believing that we did this, that we achieved this sufficiency all on our own.
He does not want us to think like that, because the slope is a slippery one, and it leads straight to bad places. It leads to separation from God, which is the definition of hell.
On the other hand, if he gives us our blessings daily, we are more likely to remember that he is the source of those blessings. We are more likely to express gratitude to the Giver of those blessings.
This is not because he is on some kind of power trip. It’s because he wants to relate with us daily. He wants us to talk to him like we would a friend. He wants us to share with him what’s troubling us so he can carry those burdens for us, or at least with us. He wants us to thank him for our blessings so he can celebrate them with us.
How could it be any better than the Creator of the universe wanting to walk with us through our daily lives like a best friend, sprinkling grace-drops on us as we go?
I thoroughly enjoy experiences where I felt like I’ve encountered the Living God. I’m blessed to feel this way after many of the worship services at my church (New Life Church). You may also have experienced such feelings at a Christian camp or conference, while on a pilgrimage, or resulting from coming in contact with inspired artwork.
But what happens when you do these things and still feel empty, like you’ve missed encountering God? Worse, what does it mean when we go for long stretches of time without feeling God’s presence?
This little verse in the 89th Psalm makes it clear that we humans have been dealing with apparent absences of our Creator for a very long time. It’s also evident that you’re not alone if you’ve ever wondered where God was when you needed Him, when you or someone you loved was hurting.
How are we to reconcile the potential contradiction between biblical promises that God will never leave us nor forsake us (see Deuteronomy 31:6 and Hebrews 13:5 for examples) and admissions that God seems to hide himself, like the one we see in Psalms 89? And what are we supposed to do when we are enduring a day or week or season of life during which God seems to be absent?
Here are some thoughts, my meager offering, especially given that whole books have been written about this, but I am trying to cover it in a brief blog post.
Take Comfort
Whenever something unpleasant happens to me, I find comfort in learning that my experience is not unique. For one thing, I can try to learn from others’ experiences how they were able to get through the situation.
In this case, there is very good company on this journey through times of feeling abandoned by God. One relatively recent example of this is Mother Teresa. This saintly woman is well known for her decades of selfless service to the poorest of the poor in India. What may not be as well known, though, is that she had a crisis of faith that also lasted decades, which resulted from her feeling that God had abandoned her. In a letter that she had sent to her pastor and spiritual guide, Michael van der Peet, for example, she said:
“Jesus has a very special love for you. [But] as for me–The silence and the emptiness is so great–that I look and do not see,–Listen and do not hear.”
Even Jesus experienced God’s absence. I have heard pastors say that the worst thing for Jesus about the whole horrendous crucifixion order was his separation from God, as he exclaimed from the cross:
And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?”(which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Remember That Regardless of How You Feel, God Has Promised Not to Abandon You
In times when it feels like God has abandoned you, it may help to remember his promises that he would never leave you nor forsake you. Of course, those promises may feel empty when you’re wondering where God is, so here’s a little story that may help.
My wife and I spent the weekend visiting our daughter and son-in-law our new grandson, who was born in August. I know we also experienced this when this same daughter was herself an infant, but it was even more evident as an observing grandparent than it was as a parent.
Anyway, our grandson has quite the appetite. In fact, he can go from being happy and smiley to very “hangry” (hungry + angry) in an instant. When that happened, my wife or I would get to hold the mad little man while his mom and dad hurried off to the kitchen to arrange for a bottle to feed him. We would try to console him, telling him that his dire situation would soon be resolved. Of course, he wasn’t having any of that. He would scream his head off, wondering why his mom and dad had abandoned him in his time of need. It was tragically adorable.
Here’s the thing: his mom and dad always worked diligently on his behalf to produce an outcome that was probably better than he was able to imagine. But while they were doing that, since they were in another room and out of his view, he seemed to think that they had abandoned him when he needed them most.
But had they actually abandoned him? Of course not.
I think that next time I feel like God has abandoned me, I’m going to try to picture my grandson’s cute little face turning bright red from his urgent screaming and wonder to myself if that’s what I look like to God.
Remember That God May Be Maturing Your Faith
Along the same lines as the story about my daughter and her family, it’s worth noting that while she exhibited the same behavior as her new little baby when she was his age, she doesn’t act like that anymore. Why is that? Well, as part of the process of teaching her and helping her to grow up, my wife and I gradually let her go longer and longer before meeting her needs. This helped her to learn that we would meet her needs, but not always in the timing that she expected–and not always in the way that she expected. The fact that she is not still eating out of a baby bottle is evidence that one day, when she cried because she was hungry, we addressed her need with baby food instead of milk–something quite unexpected indeed (and she let it dribble down her chin as her way of telling us it wasn’t the milk she had been expecting).
In the same way, God does not want us to spend our entire Christian journey consuming milk from a baby bottle. He has innumerable ways of helping us grow, and one of those ways may be to appear absent from us for a time, teaching us to trust him and his promises–similar to what Paul says in his letter to the Romans:
Not only so, but let us also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.
God isn’t particularly hard to find, provided you are looking in the right places. This doesn’t necessarily mean church, since there’s nothing magical or mystical about it–we probably won’t encounter his presence every time we go there.
Well, where else can you find him?
Good question. The answers are as numerous as there are people on this planet–and even more than that. Each person may need to look in different places. In fact, each person may need to look in different places each time this happens to her or him! Hopefully this isn’t surprising, but our Creator is creative!
You may find God on a mountain hike or a stroll through the woods on a golden autumn afternoon. You may find him by gazing at the night sky, suddenly amazed by the magnitude of it all. You may hear him in the endless crashing of waves on the beach or the gentle lapping of the ripples against your boat. You may find him in the rain or brilliant sunshine.
Or you may find him wandering through the pages of his Word–after all, the Bible is his love letter to us. His voice gives life to the words and stories it contains. That’s how these passages speak to you in different ways each time you encounter them. And that’s why the Bible isn’t like any other book, where you should feel comfortable setting it aside because you’ve already read it. Or if you have done that, then maybe it’s time to pick it back up to see what you will find.
You should also be able to find him by connecting with other followers of Christ. We are, after all, called to be the body of Christ to one another. You never know when a godly friend will pass along an inspired word or vision to you–or when you might feel the brilliance and warmth of God’s smile shining through that of anyone you encounter.
Finally, Don’t Be Afraid–Trust Him
I know it can be frightening to feel like God has abandoned you. I mean, it can lead you to dark alley questions like, What if this whole God-thing was made up??
In the interest of brevity (since this seems to be running long, despite my best attempts at being brief), let me point out one of the last things the Apostle Paul said to his son in the faith, Timothy:
For God did not give us a Spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control.
This means that if we’re feeling afraid, we should remember that this feeling did not come from God. It also means, that it’s possible (if not likely) that our feelings of fear and abandonment are coming from Satan, who would like nothing more than for us to believe the lies that he plants in our minds, like those dark alley questions. He wants us to not trust God. If we have to have faith in God, he wants to keep it at a low level of maturity, where we only believe God exists or trust him in the few moments when we can sense his presence.
I don’t know about you (well, I think I do!), but I would rather listen to words that were inspired by God than those hissed into our ears by the enemy. I would rather trust God than anyone else–even myself (although that’s harder than you’d like it would be!). I’d prefer to take comfort from a friend who gave his life to save mine:
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”
Fall is harvest season, so maybe that’s why it caught my attention when we read through Paul’s letter to the Galatians in the #Daily Audio Bible and encountered this verse:
Logically, this makes sense. Nobody would argue with the fact that if you plant corn in the spring, you will reap corn in the fall. If you plant beans, you won’t get cucumbers or pumpkins. You’ll get beans. Again, all very logical.
So it makes me wonder why we all, at times, plant garbage into our lives and then are surprised when we reap garbage. Even worse, sometimes we blame God when we reap the garbage we’ve planted. We shake our fists at him for not answering our prayers.
When it comes to living our everyday lives as followers of Christ, we have, throughout each day, many opportunities to choose whether to practice the presence of God or to act as though God is not present in our lives.
If we plant seeds of practicing God’s presence, we will reap his blessings. What does that look like? It looks like thanking him for the blessings he gives us every day. It looks like asking him to help us navigate a difficult situation. It looks like turning to him when fear bubbles up within you. It looks like immersing ourselves in his Word, expecting to hear from him.
This is easier said than done, I know. I mess this up as much as the next person. It’s all too easy to fall into our old patterns of behavior. Of course, the enemy knows this, so he sets those traps for us.
Thankfully, though, our God is patient with us. He waits for us to realize that we’ve screwed up (again) and to meander sheepishly back into his presence. With infinite lovingkindness, he welcomes us back. I am so thankful for that!
It’s worth noting that reaping God’s blessings does not mean we will always get our way or that our lives will be easy. God never promised that.
What he did promise is that our eternal destination was improved considerably and unalterably the moment we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior. He also promised that all along the way to our heavenly home, he would help us deal with all the rotten things that can happen to us and those we love.
That’s the benefit of sowing the seeds of living into God’s presence. We receive the peace and comfort and strength we need to deal with life. If you sow any seeds other than that, you will find yourself harvesting a crop of weeds: fear, anxiety, anger, hatred, greed, strife, jealousy, selfishness, lust, violence. You know, all the stuff you see in the news.
What kind of crop would you like to reap in your life? Whatever it is, are we sowing the right kinds of seeds to get the crops we want?
Master's Canvas - Writing & Photography by David K. Carpenter 
