Never stop praying. (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
Recently, I had a brief but impactful conversation with an elderly woman I barely know. She confessed to currently lacking a passion for God. It's not that her belief had waned. It's not that her health had declined. She was careful not to use her advanced age as an excuse. She seemed somewhat dismayed by her lack of passion, yet committed to running the race, to staying the course.
Oh, how I share in her dismay. I have experienced the unspeakable joy of being utterly and competely in love with Jesus, but also the agony of feeling completely disconnected from Him. Right now, I am somehwere in the middle. While I know that Jesus is my desperately-needed Savior and I will never regard Him as otherwise, I also know that when it comes to keeping Jesus in the fore of my heart and mind, I fail time and again.
I can't speak for my fellow traveller, but I find that one of my stumbling blocks is that I tend to unnecessarily complicate my relationship with Jesus. I too often assume that if I'm not on fire for Him, then I'm not suited to be anything for Him. If I'm not actively and enthusiastically pursuing a lofty, high-profile purpose for God, then whatever I'm doing must be a colossal waste of time. If I'm not "feeling it," then there must be something wrong with me. These things pile up and I begin to feel guilty or unworthy, causing me to dstance myself from Jesus. Distance makes communication difficult, and as we all know, any relationship (including one with Jesus) depends on communication.
Our wonderful worship leader, Debbie Alexander, is fond of advising vocalists in her charge to "stay in the chord." My vocal range is best suited for the alto section, but I totally lack any natural ability to harmonize. It takes work for me to stay in the harmony, rather than slip into the familiar lines of melody reserved for my soprano sisters. But Deb's point is that as long I stay in the chord, even though it's not perfect, it will still sound good.
Jesus wants us to share all of our lives with Him, not just our endless praises and passionate petitions, not just our highest of highs and lowest of lows.. Just as in human relationships, we are motivated to have those hearfelt talks when emotions are high. But when we find ourselves in the middle, in a "not bad but not great" season of life, it's easier to keep quiet or to stick with the superficial. But without our authentic voices, part of the chord is missing. We can't sing a duet with Jesus if our mouths are closed.
We don't always have to be "feeling it." Like it or not, we're not always going to be on fire for God. All He asks is that we don't stop talking to Him. All He asks is that we stay in the chord.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Friday, February 8, 2013
More than Words
"You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life." (John 5:39-40)
These verses bring to mind the common misconception among readers of the Bible that the Old and New Testaments tell two very different tales about God. It's almost as if God has dual identity (or multiple personality) disorder - there's the wrathful God in the Old Testament, the loving God in the New Testament, and seemingly little reconciliation between the two. I fully admit that this is how I approached the Bible as a newcomer to the faith. Like a lot folks out there, I disregarded the Old Testament and focused all of my reading on the New. After all, Jesus is what it's all about, right? Can anyone else relate? It was not until much further along in my faith journey that it occurred to me that the entire Bible is about Jesus.
I am far from being the most knowledgeable person in the room when it comes to the Scriptures. As I endeavor to learn more about God by spending time in His Word, I delight in the things I discover and enjoy sharing those discoveries with other believers. But every once in a while, I find myself bragging about what I know (or think I know), talking about God's Word irreverently as if it's a trivia game in which I must demonstrate how intelligent I am. Surely God must favor one so studious!
When I read the above verses from John the other night, they fell on me as they never had before. (I love when God does this, even if it's to convict me). What they told me is that authentic faith does not come from diligently studying the Scriptures. It comes from being in relationship with Christ. Reading the Scriptures can lead someone to accept Christ, and it can deepen and nurture one's faith in Christ. But true faith comes from having a living, dynamic relationship with the Bible's protagonist. It occurred to me that when someone engages in a game of academic one-upmanship with God's Word, it might be because he or she is compensating for a lack of relationship. I stand convicted of this in my life.
The Bible - all of it - is our blueprint for life, a gift God has given us to understand Him as best we can. But unless we allow the Word to come alive in our hearts through a purposeful, committed relationship with our Savior, then the Word will remain...well, words. We should all delight in the riches that the Scriptures offer, but let's never forget that faith is about so much more than words.
These verses bring to mind the common misconception among readers of the Bible that the Old and New Testaments tell two very different tales about God. It's almost as if God has dual identity (or multiple personality) disorder - there's the wrathful God in the Old Testament, the loving God in the New Testament, and seemingly little reconciliation between the two. I fully admit that this is how I approached the Bible as a newcomer to the faith. Like a lot folks out there, I disregarded the Old Testament and focused all of my reading on the New. After all, Jesus is what it's all about, right? Can anyone else relate? It was not until much further along in my faith journey that it occurred to me that the entire Bible is about Jesus.
I am far from being the most knowledgeable person in the room when it comes to the Scriptures. As I endeavor to learn more about God by spending time in His Word, I delight in the things I discover and enjoy sharing those discoveries with other believers. But every once in a while, I find myself bragging about what I know (or think I know), talking about God's Word irreverently as if it's a trivia game in which I must demonstrate how intelligent I am. Surely God must favor one so studious!
When I read the above verses from John the other night, they fell on me as they never had before. (I love when God does this, even if it's to convict me). What they told me is that authentic faith does not come from diligently studying the Scriptures. It comes from being in relationship with Christ. Reading the Scriptures can lead someone to accept Christ, and it can deepen and nurture one's faith in Christ. But true faith comes from having a living, dynamic relationship with the Bible's protagonist. It occurred to me that when someone engages in a game of academic one-upmanship with God's Word, it might be because he or she is compensating for a lack of relationship. I stand convicted of this in my life.
The Bible - all of it - is our blueprint for life, a gift God has given us to understand Him as best we can. But unless we allow the Word to come alive in our hearts through a purposeful, committed relationship with our Savior, then the Word will remain...well, words. We should all delight in the riches that the Scriptures offer, but let's never forget that faith is about so much more than words.
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Then God
What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me. (Job 3:25)
In my anguish I cried out to the Lord, and he answered by setting me free. (Psalm 118:5)
Our church family has experienced our fair share of loss and struggle recently, both shared and carried in silence. The need faced by our loved ones and ourselves seems at times to be overwhelming. It's strange to me, but I have always been struck by the ease with which the sun keeps shining and the birds keep singing despite the magnitude of tragedy in life. It's not that the world should stop spinning just because of one person's woe, but somehow it seems that we should hear a sympathetic groan from the creation in which we roam.
One of the most uncomfortable Bible study exercises I've engaged in was to list my greatest fears - the things that, if they happened, would surely destroy me. The point of the exercise was not to fill me with a sense of panicked doom, but rather to challenge me to answer the question, "What then?" If my Number One Greatest Fear were to come true, what then? It's hard to go there mentally and emotionally, and yet many of us arrive there at some point in life, or at least flirt with the fringes. So what happens when, as artist Natalie Grant sings, the sacred has been torn from your life and you survive?
Isaiah 61:1 tells us, "He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted." The bigger picture is that God has a plan for all our lives, a perfect will to be accomplished in ways that are beyond our understanding. But today, here and now in this life, we can fully understand and experience the perfect comfort that only Jesus can provide. We've been promised both suffering and a comforter and healer for that suffering. Natalie Grant continues, If hope is born of suffering, if this is only the beginning, can we not wait for one hour watching for our Savior? This is what it is to be loved and to know that the promise was that when everything fell, we'd be held.
Are you hurting right now? Absorb this "note from God," penned by Beth Moore in her marvelous study, Breaking Free:
My child,
I loved you before you were born. I knit you in your mother's womb and knew what your first and last words would be. I knew every difficulty you would face. I suffered each one with you. Even the ones you didn't suffer with me. I had a plan for your life before you were born. The plan has not changed, no matter what has happened or what you have done. You see, I already knew all the things concerning you before I formed you. I would never allow any hurt to come into your life that I could not use for eternity. Will you let Me? Your truth is incomplete unless you view it against the backdrop of my truth. Your story will forever remain incomplete... until you let Me do what only I can do with your hurt. Let Me perfect that which concerns you.
I remain,
Your Faithful Father
So...When our greatest fears are realized, what then? Then God.
In my anguish I cried out to the Lord, and he answered by setting me free. (Psalm 118:5)
Our church family has experienced our fair share of loss and struggle recently, both shared and carried in silence. The need faced by our loved ones and ourselves seems at times to be overwhelming. It's strange to me, but I have always been struck by the ease with which the sun keeps shining and the birds keep singing despite the magnitude of tragedy in life. It's not that the world should stop spinning just because of one person's woe, but somehow it seems that we should hear a sympathetic groan from the creation in which we roam.
One of the most uncomfortable Bible study exercises I've engaged in was to list my greatest fears - the things that, if they happened, would surely destroy me. The point of the exercise was not to fill me with a sense of panicked doom, but rather to challenge me to answer the question, "What then?" If my Number One Greatest Fear were to come true, what then? It's hard to go there mentally and emotionally, and yet many of us arrive there at some point in life, or at least flirt with the fringes. So what happens when, as artist Natalie Grant sings, the sacred has been torn from your life and you survive?
Isaiah 61:1 tells us, "He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted." The bigger picture is that God has a plan for all our lives, a perfect will to be accomplished in ways that are beyond our understanding. But today, here and now in this life, we can fully understand and experience the perfect comfort that only Jesus can provide. We've been promised both suffering and a comforter and healer for that suffering. Natalie Grant continues, If hope is born of suffering, if this is only the beginning, can we not wait for one hour watching for our Savior? This is what it is to be loved and to know that the promise was that when everything fell, we'd be held.
Are you hurting right now? Absorb this "note from God," penned by Beth Moore in her marvelous study, Breaking Free:
My child,
I loved you before you were born. I knit you in your mother's womb and knew what your first and last words would be. I knew every difficulty you would face. I suffered each one with you. Even the ones you didn't suffer with me. I had a plan for your life before you were born. The plan has not changed, no matter what has happened or what you have done. You see, I already knew all the things concerning you before I formed you. I would never allow any hurt to come into your life that I could not use for eternity. Will you let Me? Your truth is incomplete unless you view it against the backdrop of my truth. Your story will forever remain incomplete... until you let Me do what only I can do with your hurt. Let Me perfect that which concerns you.
I remain,
Your Faithful Father
So...When our greatest fears are realized, what then? Then God.
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