As I was working on the twelfth floor of the new dorm on UCSD, I had an inclination to look toward the north. Because of where I was in the building, I could see south easily but the north only had a small window. "What's the point of looking north," I asked the LORD, "when I can hardly see anything?" It struck me that looking towards the north is like trying to see my future. Looking south is like looking at my past, a panoramic view of the ocean and La Jolla spread from a high vantage point. Yet looking north all I could see was a big concrete wall with a small square window. A wide, wild future lays in front of me but I only have a tiny window through which to see. My future is there sure as the sun will rise tomorrow, but it will always be elusive. It will always be ahead of the present.
Needless to say, the way we see and the way God sees are very different from each other! I am reminded of God's words in Jeremiah 29:11: "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." God sees our complete lives stretched out before Him. As Corrie ten Boom was fond of saying during her time on earth, "God sees the front side of the embroidery." We see the back of the embroidery. From our vantage point there is no picture to speak of, just random colors stitched across each other with tons of strings hanging down. This verse in the KJV reads, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." Our future is uncertain and unclear to us, but to God it will be as He expects. He is not caught off guard, confused, or surprised.
At this point last year, I would not have thought my family would be living in my parent's home, our house for sale, and I would be working in construction to save towards an international move to Australia. Right now the actual move to Australia seems far off in the distance, obscured by walls to thick to break through and too tall to climb. Yet I find myself looking through that little window, excited about the prospects of a future ordained by God. Isn't it wonderful to know God has good thoughts toward us? As a Christian I have a future worth hoping for! For us who are born again, the end of our lives on earth is not the end of life: it is the beginning of eternal life! What a future awaits us on earth and in heaven thanks to our Father! May I do my part to embrace that future God has in store!
19 February 2010
18 February 2010
"Dear God: Are you angry with me today?"
This question greeted me in bold permanent ink as I closed the outhouse door on the jobsite. As a rule, I never respond to questions written on bathroom walls - especially when God is involved! It is a bad witness to damage property in God's name, and more horrible still to degrade His holy name with the depictions of racism, hatred, and sexual perversion found inside some construction site outhouses. "Jesus loves you" written among that filth is a fitting example of the bright light Jesus brought to this earth. But the grandeur and glory is lost when His name becomes graffiti. He deserves people who live out that truth rather than writing it in hiding.
The temptation to respond on the bathroom door with pen and ink was over before it began, yet the question begs to be answered just the same. Is God an angry God? How can I know what angers Him? Psalm 7:11 says, "God is a just judge, and God is angry with the wicked every day." The word in the Hebrew translated "angry" means "to foam at the mouth, to be enraged." Sin is rebellion against God and His perfect statutes, and He detests sin passionately. It is a perversion of righteousness. It corrupts, destroys, and brings death. As much as God hates sin, He hates how it destroys men. Sin is a cruel dictator that enslaves men and ushers them into hell. God is righteous, and it is right for Him to be angry. The psalmist writes in Psalm 76:7, "You, Yourself, are to be feared; and who may stand in Your presence when once You are angry?"
We have been told that God is a loving God, and this is true. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But love and anger are not opposed to one another. You can love your husband, wife, or children dearly, but they can still make you angry! When you read of children being kidnapped and prostituted, or a father shooting his kids one by one and piling their bodies in a heap, or the elderly being swindled by crooks, what kind of person has no response? A person who does not care. God cares. He cares more about you and me than we care about ourselves, and that is saying a lot!
God appeared to Moses in a burning bush and instructed him to return to Egypt. God heard the cries of His people and sought to deliver them from the oppression of the Egyptians. Moses began to make excuses: what if they don't believe me, what if they refuse to listen, I'm not good at public speaking. Exodus 4:14 says the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses. Did God's love for Moses or His people evaporate? No. But the unbelief of Moses and his reluctance to obey angered God. How about King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived? 1 Kings 11:9-10 reads, "So the Lord became angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned from the Lord God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, [10] and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not keep what the Lord had commanded." Man's anger is often mood related, but God is not moody. It is sin that infuriates Him. Man is often angry without just cause, but God is just.
I will answer the question on the bathroom door with a question: my friend, have you stirred up the anger of God today? Have you chosen a path of disobedience? After God revealed Himself to you have you walked in opposition to Him? There are two ways to abate the anger of God: repentance or judgment. If we will repent and humble ourselves before God, His anger towards our sin is satisfied. He will abundantly pardon and hold no grudge. Or we can be as Achan who disobeyed God and stole plunder from Jericho. God's anger will burn until justice is satisfied and it was only after the execution and burial of Achan that God's wrath subsided (Joshua 7:26). Your life will decide if God is angry with you or not. God is angry with the wicked every day, but He has provided the way of righteousness through the sacrifice of His precious only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Psalm 2:12 affirms, "Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him."
The temptation to respond on the bathroom door with pen and ink was over before it began, yet the question begs to be answered just the same. Is God an angry God? How can I know what angers Him? Psalm 7:11 says, "God is a just judge, and God is angry with the wicked every day." The word in the Hebrew translated "angry" means "to foam at the mouth, to be enraged." Sin is rebellion against God and His perfect statutes, and He detests sin passionately. It is a perversion of righteousness. It corrupts, destroys, and brings death. As much as God hates sin, He hates how it destroys men. Sin is a cruel dictator that enslaves men and ushers them into hell. God is righteous, and it is right for Him to be angry. The psalmist writes in Psalm 76:7, "You, Yourself, are to be feared; and who may stand in Your presence when once You are angry?"
We have been told that God is a loving God, and this is true. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But love and anger are not opposed to one another. You can love your husband, wife, or children dearly, but they can still make you angry! When you read of children being kidnapped and prostituted, or a father shooting his kids one by one and piling their bodies in a heap, or the elderly being swindled by crooks, what kind of person has no response? A person who does not care. God cares. He cares more about you and me than we care about ourselves, and that is saying a lot!
God appeared to Moses in a burning bush and instructed him to return to Egypt. God heard the cries of His people and sought to deliver them from the oppression of the Egyptians. Moses began to make excuses: what if they don't believe me, what if they refuse to listen, I'm not good at public speaking. Exodus 4:14 says the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses. Did God's love for Moses or His people evaporate? No. But the unbelief of Moses and his reluctance to obey angered God. How about King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived? 1 Kings 11:9-10 reads, "So the Lord became angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned from the Lord God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, [10] and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not keep what the Lord had commanded." Man's anger is often mood related, but God is not moody. It is sin that infuriates Him. Man is often angry without just cause, but God is just.
I will answer the question on the bathroom door with a question: my friend, have you stirred up the anger of God today? Have you chosen a path of disobedience? After God revealed Himself to you have you walked in opposition to Him? There are two ways to abate the anger of God: repentance or judgment. If we will repent and humble ourselves before God, His anger towards our sin is satisfied. He will abundantly pardon and hold no grudge. Or we can be as Achan who disobeyed God and stole plunder from Jericho. God's anger will burn until justice is satisfied and it was only after the execution and burial of Achan that God's wrath subsided (Joshua 7:26). Your life will decide if God is angry with you or not. God is angry with the wicked every day, but He has provided the way of righteousness through the sacrifice of His precious only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Psalm 2:12 affirms, "Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him."
17 February 2010
Wounded?
"Time heals all wounds," the cliche goes, and I couldn't disagree more. This assumes all wounds can be healed. In fact, time has no ability to heal in itself. Our bodies have been designed to repair themselves over time, but time has no magical qualities in itself to heal. It amazes me how often cliches and proverbs are casually said without thought of their veracity. Take the slogan, "What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas." It is ironic Las Vegas is called "Sin City" and the last part of Numbers 32:23 says, "...be sure your sin will find you out." I'll save this for another time! Back to wounds, it is not only the elderly that struggle with unhealing wounds: children, singles, parents, and grandparents have the potential to carry not only physical wounds, but emotional wounds that no amount of time could possibly heal.
Wounds are more than baggage. No medicinal treatment, herbal remedy, or surgeon's scalpel has the power to remove the rot from a wounded soul. I've been watching a documentary recently about WWII and a medic shared a difficult fact. He spoke about having to make tough decisions on the field of battle involving life and death. If a medic came upon a group of men during a battle who were seriously wounded, he would intentionally not treat soldiers who had likely suffered a mortal wound. Morphine and supplies were too valuable to use on a man who would die following treatment. A medic would need to survey the extent of the injury quickly, then decide who he would treat. The treatment of minor injuries would be delayed for the serious ones, and the most serious would be avoided. Thinking back over the interview, the medic never once claimed to have healed anyone. He supplied treatment so the God-designed natural healing process could begin.
If we'd be honest, we tend to treat our physical wounds more thoroughly than our emotional or spiritual wounds. We employ what I like to call John Wayne tactics. When actor John Wayne is shot through an arm or leg, he ties a kerchief over the wound and keeps on fighting. He might pour some whiskey over the spot and take a tug off the bottle. But if someone asks about the injury, ol' John Wayne gruffly brushes it off as "nothing." When it comes to inner hurt, we tend to try to ignore the pain rather seeking treatment. Another extreme is to be so preoccupied with our wounds that we withdraw from those who could help. We are convinced that no one has ever hurt this bad, no one could possibly understand, and we are far beyond healing. Our wounds become our closest companions and the pain overwhelms us. As Job said to his "friends," what miserable companions our wounds are!
It's true no one in the world has lived your life, and no one walking the earth today knows exactly the pain you've experienced. Sometimes we disqualify others from speaking to us on the matter because they have not shared our exact history. But let's say someone has suffered exactly like you. Are they capable of healing you? NO! But there is someone who has suffered more than we could ever imagine, and nothing is too hard for Him. His name is Jesus Christ, the Healer. He does not offer treatment. He supplies the cure. He has the power to heal physically, and is willing and able to heal your soul! Jesus healed lepers, cast out demons, made the paralyzed to walk, the blind to see, and raised the dead to life. Your wounds are severe, and you must willingly expose them for Christ to heal. Just like a doctor cannot examine an unwilling person who refuses to be a patient, Jesus will not force you to cry out to Him for healing. But He is patient, longsuffering, merciful, gentle, loving, and kind. He will not minimize your suffering. He won't say, "That's nothing." He knows too well the pain of rejection, harsh words, physical abuse, torture, and being utterly forsaken.
Which is more painful? To have a bullet pass through the gut or to watch helplessly as the medic passes you by because your wound is too severe? No wound is beyond the loving care provided by Jesus Christ to all who trust in Him. Like the Good Samaritan stopped and helped the wounded traveler, Jesus Christ will never pass you by. He will leave the 99 sheep to find the one who is lost. The words of Isaiah 53:5 are for us today: "But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed." God is eternal, operating outside of time. Time doesn't heal: God does.
Wounds are more than baggage. No medicinal treatment, herbal remedy, or surgeon's scalpel has the power to remove the rot from a wounded soul. I've been watching a documentary recently about WWII and a medic shared a difficult fact. He spoke about having to make tough decisions on the field of battle involving life and death. If a medic came upon a group of men during a battle who were seriously wounded, he would intentionally not treat soldiers who had likely suffered a mortal wound. Morphine and supplies were too valuable to use on a man who would die following treatment. A medic would need to survey the extent of the injury quickly, then decide who he would treat. The treatment of minor injuries would be delayed for the serious ones, and the most serious would be avoided. Thinking back over the interview, the medic never once claimed to have healed anyone. He supplied treatment so the God-designed natural healing process could begin.
If we'd be honest, we tend to treat our physical wounds more thoroughly than our emotional or spiritual wounds. We employ what I like to call John Wayne tactics. When actor John Wayne is shot through an arm or leg, he ties a kerchief over the wound and keeps on fighting. He might pour some whiskey over the spot and take a tug off the bottle. But if someone asks about the injury, ol' John Wayne gruffly brushes it off as "nothing." When it comes to inner hurt, we tend to try to ignore the pain rather seeking treatment. Another extreme is to be so preoccupied with our wounds that we withdraw from those who could help. We are convinced that no one has ever hurt this bad, no one could possibly understand, and we are far beyond healing. Our wounds become our closest companions and the pain overwhelms us. As Job said to his "friends," what miserable companions our wounds are!
It's true no one in the world has lived your life, and no one walking the earth today knows exactly the pain you've experienced. Sometimes we disqualify others from speaking to us on the matter because they have not shared our exact history. But let's say someone has suffered exactly like you. Are they capable of healing you? NO! But there is someone who has suffered more than we could ever imagine, and nothing is too hard for Him. His name is Jesus Christ, the Healer. He does not offer treatment. He supplies the cure. He has the power to heal physically, and is willing and able to heal your soul! Jesus healed lepers, cast out demons, made the paralyzed to walk, the blind to see, and raised the dead to life. Your wounds are severe, and you must willingly expose them for Christ to heal. Just like a doctor cannot examine an unwilling person who refuses to be a patient, Jesus will not force you to cry out to Him for healing. But He is patient, longsuffering, merciful, gentle, loving, and kind. He will not minimize your suffering. He won't say, "That's nothing." He knows too well the pain of rejection, harsh words, physical abuse, torture, and being utterly forsaken.
Which is more painful? To have a bullet pass through the gut or to watch helplessly as the medic passes you by because your wound is too severe? No wound is beyond the loving care provided by Jesus Christ to all who trust in Him. Like the Good Samaritan stopped and helped the wounded traveler, Jesus Christ will never pass you by. He will leave the 99 sheep to find the one who is lost. The words of Isaiah 53:5 are for us today: "But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed." God is eternal, operating outside of time. Time doesn't heal: God does.
10 February 2010
A prayer for today and always...
Make Me Thy Fuel
From prayer that asks that I may be
Sheltered from winds that beat on Thee,
From fearing when I should aspire,
From faltering when I should climb higher,
From silken self, O Captain, free
Thy soldier who would follow Thee.
From subtle love of softening things,
From easy choices, weakenings,
Not thus are spirits fortified,
Not this way went the Crucified,
From all that dims Thy Calvary,
O Lamb of God, deliver me.
Give me the love that leads the way,
The faith that nothing can dismay,
The hope no disappointments tire,
The passion that will burn like fire,
Let me not sink to be a clod:
Make me Thy fuel, Flame of God.
- Amy Carmichael
(quoted from Start Where You Are, Swindoll, pg. 187)
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