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Tuesday, 01 September 2009

No vision. His provision.

It doesn't take much to be discouraged these days or to lose perspective. In fact, it is all you can do to keep the proper viewpoint. Just pick up any newspaper or tune into any radio or TV news station and there is bound to be something that leaves you disenchanted. Take a gander at all the traumas and dramas that surround us, that creep into our daily living, reminding us that life in this world is not necessarily fun. There are the global concerns of wars, famine, the failing economy, earthquakes, destructive storms, the list goes on. Then, there are those things just a little closer to home, the uncontrolled wildfires, school shootings, bizarre crimes, kidnappings. Peer into the microscope a bit more carefully and we observe people we know without any source of income, in financial and personal crisis, losing their homes, in bitter divorces, committing suicide. Then reality greets right smack in the face, dead center, as we find ourselves battling with no income and the prospect of finding employment extremely unlikely at this juncture. Sometimes, it can all be so overwhelming. Our greatest potential for a faith crisis begins now. We can easily become fixated on these depressing circumstances, some of which have impacted us directly and we wonder, even for a brief moment, "why?" Of course, as Christians we humble ourselves to try to trust the Lord for the next steps but it is very difficult to sustain our stance with the limited resources of faith we possess.

Yet, in the midst of these depressing scenarios, there are a few shining lights that the Lord allows for us to experience, to encourage us in our own times of need but also to challenge us to be more like Him. Read on. This is a great story!!

There's a family that is having some financial difficulty and has had to make that hard decision, after many heartfelt prayers, that they must move out of their beloved home, a home that they have been raising their young children and establishing the roots any family strives for. But, in order to generate more income to support their family and meet their daily needs, they have to move in with their in-laws and rent out their own home. Hard as it is to do, it is what God wants them to do and it is a palatable resolution to help them get out of their financial straits. So, they do, they pack up their kids and their belongings and change addresses.

In the meantime, another family is on the brink of losing their home, after experiencing a disappointing job loss and a lengthy period of no income source, they decide, after much prayer and prompting from the Lord, to sell their home to begin the task of meeting their outstanding financial obligations. They labored over this decision of leaving their family home, a place full of treasured memories for their growing family. But, where can they live? They have little or no income and what rent could they afford? Enter family #1 who moved by the Lord's Spirit, generously put aside their present and urgent need for money and offer to family #2 a place to live to pay whatever they can until they get their "feet back on the ground" and provide a greater window of time for them to sell their home.

Wow! One in a million. Amazing love. How can it be?

Family #1 in the midst of desperate need, listened to the prompting of God's Spirit and literally "put their money where their mouth is" by proactively showing the Lord's love in action, in a real, practical and meaningful way. WWJD. Yet, how many people have uttered the politcally correct phrase "I'll pray for you" and through the busyness of life have forgotten to do so? Probably more than we would like to think. How many people, when hearing that someone else has a need, set about to really do something and not resort to utter some trite phrase "let me know if you need help"? How many have bumped it up a notch and done "something above and beyond the call of duty" and looked, for instance, at their company website in search of jobs for unemployed friends in dire need? And not just stop there but have diligently run clearance to help someone on the pathway to find a job, from beginning to end? How many people have been a true advocate for another person, laying aside their own personal concerns and addressing the immediate need at hand? How many people have consistently exhibited practical love through food, physical support as well as prayers, to a family is barely making ends meet? Not just a one shot deal to appease a guilty conscience but a proactive methodology of love as Jesus modeled for us to do. How many have given out of their need, in their own times of personal desperation in order to help out someone else in need? Too often, we give out of our surplus, a little something we have that's extra, that which does not alter our plans, disrupt our lifestyle or impact our needs, justifying our self-satisfied attitude because we think we did so much to help. Ironically, what we "have" all belongs to God anyways!

I often wonder that if the Body of Christ were to be as authentic and true as they espouse to be on Sundays and exhibit the kind of love in action that the Lord demands, that perhaps there would not be the blaring kinds of immediate needs that are out there. Real life needs. Recently, someone we knew, took his own life. Many were shocked, horrified, stymied. How could this happen? While I do not know the full details of his situation other than him being in financial trouble, I can't help but speculate curiously, would this have been the likely outcome, had someone taken the time to listen or to do something proactively to help, encourage and support him? Are we living up to our God responsibilities of being the "hands and feet" of Jesus or do we cloister ourselves into our own cocoons of comfort and self preservation? We spout out WWJD all the time but as Christians, do we really live it?

These recent turn of events gave way to some serious thought and questions that challenged the very core of my faith, the "where-the-rubber-meets-the-road" kind of place, which, upon entering is not so pleasant, but provides the fuel for a broader and richer way of deepening my walk with the Lord. Sometimes things are supposed to be hard. Sometimes we aren't supposed to see the entire panorama. Sometimes we just have to let God provide in the way He desires to supply, with no visible or concrete cues and just plain trust Him that because He loves us so much that He will provide. In His time.

Thanks Lord.

Monday, 24 August 2009

Hot Tomato

All summer long, I nurtured and watered a number of tomato plants. From seedlings to full grown leafy vines, each and every day, I pampered them, tended to them, coaxing them to produce the bright red fruit. When they grew long and tall, I staked them, trimmed them, coddled them. Soon the tiniest of yellow flowers appeared, tightly wound them bursting into a star-like bloom. It was the beginnings of these tiny buds promising the desired fruit. Days of caring, watering and feeding followed as I anticipated that day when my goal would be realized. As if overnight, there it was, the first, one little fruit. Green at first, it turned to the palest pinkish yellow, grew larger and then it happened, a bright red oval treasure hung from one leafy plant. I was ecstatic and each morning ran to the deck to check out the status of my little red tomato and it seemed to smile at me as it glowed in the sun, displaying its crimson hue. I waited eagerly for that one day, that perfect day, when I would be able to pluck the fruit and savor the results of my labor. The excitement mounted with each passing day. Two more days, I calculated, then I could pick my fruit. It was the day, I got up and eagerly went to the deck to receive my prize. But to my horror, I saw that my prized little red tomato had been ravaged, bruised, viciously compromised, leaving only the star part of the stem hanging limply on the vine. Oh, there were other little tomatoes, with promising futures but it was this one tomato that I had wanted. I was incensed, I was sad, I was resentful. Afterall, I had expected to reap the benefit of all the diligence in caring, nurturing, working and waiting, and I was greeted with unadulterated disappointment.

Sometimes life is like that, the unexpected happens and alters the course of our plans. We expect a fruit and we end up with empty hands accompanied with puzzled thinking about what went wrong. The truth is, we have very little or no control over much of anything. Despite all our efforts, our grand plans, all of our attention or care, something could and does thwart our best intentions. But praise the Lord that He IS in control of everything. It may appear that He isn't or the present circumstances tell us a different story but He has promised us time and time again of His faithfulness, of His providence , of His Sovereignty in our lives. I praise Him for the lesson of the little red tomato. We get to enjoy fruit, His fruit, in His time. His timing is never too early, never to late, always perfect.

"I will proclaim the name of the LORD. Oh, praise the greatness of our God! He is the Rock, His works are perfect, and all His ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is He." ~ Deuteronomy 32:3-4

Thursday, 11 June 2009

Wait for it....

"Wait for the LORD;  be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD." ~ Psalm 27:14
"Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him." ~ Psalm 62:5
We wait in hope for the LORD; He is our help and our shield." ~ Psalm 33:20
"But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." ~ Isaiah 40:31
"For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay." ~ Habakkuk 2:3
"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful." ~ Hebrews 10:23
"The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food at the proper time. You open Your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing." ~ Psalm 145: 15-16
"I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,  and in His word I put my hope." ~ Psalm 130:5
"We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first." ~ Hebrews 3:14
"The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride." ~ Ecclesiastes 7:8
"In the morning, O LORD, You hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation." ~ Psalm 5:3
"I waited patiently for the LORD;  He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire;  He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD." ~ Psalm 40:1-3
^"And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified youto share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light." ~ Colossians 1:10-12
God is never too early; He is never too late. His timing is always perfect.

Thursday, 04 June 2009

The Irony of It All

It is so ironic that there are people who yearn, no, actually chase after, that treasured relationship between someone who can provide Godly wisdom and counsel garnered only by experience and God's grace, perhaps they see the value of such a rare find. Then there are those who have free and immediate access to it but do not take advantage of it or perhaps even actively turn away from what could be an amazing gift from God. We never appreciate what we have until we don't have it anymore. We are such foolish people.

"Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." ~ Psalm 90:12

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. Listen, my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching." ~ Proverbs 1:7-8

"Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding" ~ Proverbs 3:13

"Listen to my instruction and be wise; do not ignore it." ~ Proverbs 8:33

"Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice." ~ Proverbs 13:10

"Listen, my sons, to a father's instruction; pay attention and gain understanding." ~ Proverbs 4:1

"The fear of the LORD teaches a man wisdom, and humility comes before honor." ~ Proverbs 15:33

"Do not speak to a fool, for he will scorn the wisdom of your words." ~ Proverbs 23:9

"Eat honey, my son, for it is good; honey from the comb is sweet to your taste. Know also that wisdom is sweet to your soul; if you find it, there is a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off." ~ Proverbs 24:12-13

"I saw that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness." ~ Ecclesiastes 2:13

Amen.

Friday, 22 May 2009

What faith?

Choosing faith over fear, being in Christ mode versus crisis mode.

I am just an ordinary person with no particular outstanding characteristic that overwhelmingly distinguishes me above everyone else. Rather, most times, I blend in quite well in my anonymity along with the sea of the masses. The more that I think that I am unique, the more I realize how very much I am similar to those around me and dare I say, even those who I care not to be like. Oh, there are a few frail moments when I trick myself into believing albeit for a brief period that I carry a greater significance in people's lives than I really do. You know a treasured friend, a revered mother, an esteemed colleague, appreciated and celebrated as an individual with unique offerings. But as I delve deeper, stripped to it's essence, in this world, I am really only treasured when I fall within the parameters of other's definition of value to themselves; revered when I exhibit the expected profile of model motherhood and any deviation from that norm is license to be categorized as one "lacking faith"; esteemed when my performance suits the agenda of those around me and definitely celebrated when I am more "alike" than when I am different.

The uniqueness that the Lord cherishes is definitely not on the hearts of His often thoughtless, selfish, wayward children, of which I am the most notable. I have been on this journey long enough to observe the not-so-pleasant side of people; the very aspects of our humanness that Jesus came to save us from, our sinful ways, many artfully hidden behind facades of outward appearance, self aggrandizement and focus. We are most defintitely a people who, steeped in our sin, at the very deepest part of our being and if we are really honest, selfish, self-serving egomaniacs who sport an ungrateful attitude smacking of unadulterated entitlement.

But God sees and knows the heart.
"But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7
We are a people who fail miserably at communication, defaulting to a prideful retort or a stilted, cold silence that speaks volumes when things become uncomfortable. It's as if our entire demeanor changes and is overtly evident to all around except ourselves. Actually, we know it as it manifests itself within but are too prideful to own up to it. We see people who cower like a weakened animal, seeking the safety of their own comfort zone, their own way of doing things, paying little mind to the possibility that perhaps the Lord is prompting them to stretch to be more than they presently are, to grow in His Spirit, to be the kind of godly person that He really desires for us to be. IT is really very sad, borderline pathetic. Without the effort to stretch, and yes, even experience the pain, none of us can grow to be better than we are, to be the children that the Lord desires for us to be, undergirded by His amazing grace and mercy.
Rather, we opt to choose the least path of resistance, the bailout plan of fear versus choosing to believe God and trust in His faithfulness and righteousness because that path is hard, that path takes us down roads that reveal to us how weak we really are, how shallow our integrity really is, how much in need we are of the Lord and all those ugly shortcomings we try so hard to coverup shine brightly through our tidy little facade, properly primped and posed, for all the public to see. Sigh. God judges the heart. Sadly, when we choose to stay within our own comfort zone, we are really exhibiting our insecurities and gross lack of faith because we trust in ourselves and our ability to "handle things" instead of trusting in the Almighty.