belief

The Will of God

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“Outside the will of God, there’s nothing I want. Inside the will of God, there’s nothing I fear” (A. W. Tozer).

That’s where I want to be, but I’m not there yet. If I’m honest, I must confess that I probably have desires that are outside of the will of God. I also understand that anything outside of the will of God that seems good to me probably won’t be.

I love the fact that God in His plan factored in dummies like me. I don’t mean that I lack intelligence or common sense, but sometimes I can be thick-headed when it comes to the ways of God and what He wants for me. I think all of us are that way to one degree or another.

The problem is that I think too highly of what I want and not highly enough of what God wants. If I truly knew what God wants and saw what God sees, I’d want what God wants. I’d love what God loves. I’d ask for what God wills to give me.

So in one sense praying for God’s will is dangerous and in one sense it’s not. It will definitely take you out of your comfort zone and bring you to places and people that you would not have chosen for yourself. It’s also the safest place you can be outside of heaven.

“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased” (C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory, and Other Addresses).

Where He Leads I’ll Go

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I went to a hymn sing tonight at my church. Before one of the hymns, they gave a backstory to how the hymn was penned. B. B. McKinney was talking with a missionary to Brazil who was home on furlough. The missionary, R. S. Jones, had recently been diagnosed with a health condition that would prevent him from returning to the mission field. He was devastated.

McKinney asked him what his plans were going forward. Jones replied, “I don’t know what I’ll do next, but wherever He leads, I’ll go.”

From there germinated a seed that turned into the classic hymn sung in churches through the decades up to the present that has ministered to hundreds and thousands of people.

So many right now are at a loss as to what comes next. So many are at a career crossroads or facing a difficult decision and can’t see a clear answer. The best answer anyone can give is “wherever He leads, I’ll go.”

God honors that kind of surrender and dependence. God blesses those who instead of relying on their own judgment or cleverness choose to fall on God’s mercy and cry out to Him, “Not my will but Yours, Lord. Have your own way in me.”

God is faithful. He will not lead you astray. Though the roads He leads you down may be difficult and at times overwhelming, He has promised to go with you the entire way. He will never leave you nor forsake you.

“Take up thy cross and follow me
I heard my Master say
“I gave my life to ransom thee
Surrender your all today”

Wherever He leads, I’ll go
Wherever He leads, I’ll go
I’ll follow my Christ who loves me so
Wherever He leads, I’ll go

He drew me closer to His side
I sought His will to know
And in that will, I now abide
Wherever He leads, I’ll go

Wherever He leads, I’ll go
Wherever He leads, I’ll go
I’ll follow my Christ who loves me so
Wherever He leads, I’ll go”

Unglamorous

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“There is nothing thrilling about a labouring man’s work, but it is the labouring man who makes the conceptions of the genius possible; and it is the labouring saint who makes the conceptions of his Master possible. You labour at prayer and results happen all the time from God’s standpoint. What an astonishment it will be to find, when the veil is lifted, the souls that have been reaped by you, simply because you had been in the habit of taking your orders from Jesus Christ” (Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest).

That’s the part about life that no one really tells you but you learn eventually. 99% of life is unexciting and unadventurous, despite what you may have seen in just about every single movie and television show ever made.

Most of living is showing up and being faithful in your job, at your church, and in your home. Very rarely will anything you do be worthy of a news story or a newspaper headline (or a news website headline to make it 21st century). Hardly anyone outside of your immediate circle will know about most of what you do.

But that’s where God does His best work. When you are committed to be faithful in the small and menial tasks God has placed in front of you, then God can multiply those offerings like the fish and the loaves. He can open up new avenues of service that would not have been available if you weren’t already doing God’s work.

Each person who belongs to Jesus can reach those no one else can reach. Not your pastor. Not your worship leader. Not anyone but you. And your witness is showing up every day and not giving up. That will open up opportunities for you to be able to give a reason for the hope you have in Jesus and lead to gospel conversations.

I truly believe that those who have done the most for the Kingdom of God are those you and I will never know about 99% of the time. They will be the behind the scenes folks who went to work every day, came home and loved their families, and showed up every Sunday to worship and serve.

If you’re not satisfied with where you are or what you’re doing, maybe reframe it as a way of serving Jesus Himself rather than working for an employer. See what you’re doing for your family as serving Jesus. Remember that as you minister to the least of these through your church you are ministering to Jesus Himself.

God honors the longsuffering effort of patient faithfulness. If you can serve not out of your own strength but out of the overflow of the joy of the Lord that comes from time with the Lord, God sees and rewards you and those you serve. You may not get rich or famous, but you will have God’s favor which is by far the best reward of all.

What We Think About God

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“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. Worship is pure or base as the worshiper entertains high or low thoughts of God. For this reason the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like” (A W Tozer).

Most people have the idea that God is like us — only bigger, stronger, faster, smarter, etc. He’s like the advanced, idealized version of us. But He’s not.

A lot of us have probably fallen into the trap of thinking that God would never do or say something because we would never do or say that. That’s a dangerous theology that puts me as the standard by which God must abide instead of the other way around.

God is not me on steroids. God is not like me. God is completely other. Apart from God’s divine initiative in revealing Himself to us, we could never ever in a million lifetimes know Him. But He revealed Himself generally through creation and specifically through Jesus. One famous author and theologian once said that Jesus was God spelling Himself out in a language humanity could understand.

All this talk about how religion is bad and we just need to follow Jesus is true to a degree. It depends on how you define the word religion. If it’s a set of rules that you need to follow to get to God, then it’s bad. But if it’s a way of understanding God, then it’s a good thing.

Believing in God is essential, but what you believe about God is vital. If you sincerely believe wrong things about God that don’t line up with the God of the Bible, then you’re sincerely wrong. You’ve chosen to follow a god of your own devising instead of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Who we are depends a lot on what we believe about God as much as if we believe in God. How we view God says a lot about how we view ourselves and others.

“I want neither a terrorist spirituality that keeps me in a perpetual state of fright about being in right relationship with my heavenly Father nor a sappy spirituality that portrays God as such a benign teddy bear that there is no aberrant behavior or desire of mine that he will not condone. I want a relationship with the Abba of Jesus, who is infinitely compassionate with my brokenness and at the same time an awesome, incomprehensible, and unwieldy Mystery” (Brennan Manning).

Life Is a Fairy Tale

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I suppose whether you agree with this or not depends on your definition of what makes a fairy tale. Is it void of any true hardship or suffering? Then that’s not a true fairy tale. Does it need fantastical creatures? That’s debatable, but I think not.

What a fairy tale needs is a happy ending. You know going in that the main character is going to live happily ever after.

If you look at life strictly from this side of heaven, then it’s not a fairy tale. There’s so much suffering and evil that goes unresolved and unpunished. There are so many wrongs that never get put right.

But if you look through the lens of the resurrection, then you see the fairy tale. In fact, you could see the whole Bible story as a sort of true fairy tale where the King comes to rescue His beloved from imminent danger.

It all depends on perspective. If you see your life through the eyes of faith, you know that the happy ending is coming, even if you might not see it this side of eternity. But it is coming.

“It is a world of magic and mystery, of deep darkness and flickering starlight. It is a world where terrible things happen and wonderful things too. It is a world where goodness is pitted against evil, love against hate, order against chaos, in a great struggle where often it is hard to be sure who belongs to which side because appearances are endlessly deceptive. Yet for all its confusion and wildness, it is a world where the battle goes ultimately to the good, who live happily ever after, and where in the long run everybody, good and evil alike, becomes known by his true name….That is the fairy tale of the Gospel with, of course, one crucial difference from all other fairy tales, which is that the claim made for it is that it is true, that it not only happened once upon a time but has kept on happening ever since and is happening still”(Frederick Buechner, Telling the Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy, and Fairy Tale).

Known by the Scars

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I have a few scars. One is on my left hand, a reminder from when I was in a wreck back in the day. I pulled out in front of a full-sized truck, thinking it was a four-way stop. It was not.

Thankfully, I ended up being okay aside from a deep cut on my hand from the dashboard and being generally stiff and sore the next day from the impact. My scar is a reminder of how God saved me from my own foolishness that day.

I remember that Jesus also has scars. His resurrected and glorified body still had the nail piercings on His hands and feet, as well as the wound in His side. Those were the proofs that it was really and truly Jesus raised from the dead.

But also it’s a way of giving value to all those who have scars of their own. Some are more obvious than others. Some are hidden, but some are in places where we can’t hide them. Some of us are ashamed or embarrassed by our scars.

But scars tell a story where you survived. Scars are the reminder of something that could have killed you but didn’t. Scars are proof of a divine intervention. In a way, when you can wear your scars proudly, you identify with Jesus and His own scars.

Most of all, your scars should remind you that Jesus bore the wounds that gave Him the scars for you and for me. He was wounded for our transgressions, as it says in Isaiah 53. By His stripes, we are healed. He bore what we should have born because of our sins, and we get the rewards of a perfect life that should only belong to Jesus. That’s the great exchange. That’s the gospel.

Scars can be something to hide, like those humiliating moments or shameful parts of the past, or they can be part of your testimony. A pastor once said that true healing is evident when that part of your story that you swore you’d never tell anybody becomes the first line of your testimony.

“Do you know what St. Peter says to everyone who tries to get into heaven?” 
…
“Peter says, ‘Don’t you have any scars?’ And when most would respond proudly, ‘Well, no, no I don’t,’ Peter says, ‘Why not? Was there nothing worth fighting for?” (Matthew Perry, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing).

The Great Paradox

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“The great paradox of life is that those who lose their lives will gain them. This paradox becomes visible in very ordinary situations. If we cling to our friends, we may lose them, but when we are nonpossessive in our relationships, we will make many friends. When fame is what we seek and desire, it often vanishes as soon as we acquire it, but when we have no need to be known, we might be remembered long after our deaths. When we want to be in the center, we easily end up on the margins, but when we are free enough to be wherever we must be, we find ourselves often in the center.

Giving away our lives for others is the greatest of all human arts. This will gain us our lives” (Henri Nouwen).

“If you refuse to take up your cross and follow Me on the narrow road, then you are not worthy of Me. To find your life, you must lose your life—and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 10:38-39, The Voice).

That’s the paradox. You find your life by losing it. You gain love by giving it away. People notice you when you deflect the praise to the King of the universe instead of yourself. You’re blessed when you’re poor in spirit, meek, mourning, and pure in heart.

Instead of following the world’s path to success, Jesus went down the road of downward mobility. He gave up clinging to His rights of equality with God. He took on human form. He took the form of a servant. He was obedient to the point of death. His death was that of a common criminal’s crucifixion. Then God gave Him a name that is above every other name.

That’s our goal. To be unknown on earth but famous in heaven. Heavenly fame looks like faithfulness. Heavenly fame looks like denying yourself, taking up your cross daily, and following Jesus, no matter the cost.

That’s where you find your life. That’s where you find life.

The Sweetest Lesson

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“Spread out your petition before God, and then say, ‘Thy will, not mine, be done.’ The sweetest lesson I have learned in God’s school is to let the Lord choose for me” (Dwight L Moody).

I love the imagery of spreading out my petition before God. It comes from 2 Kings 19 where King Hezekiah receives a threatening letter from the Assyrians who are poised to invade the land. Instead of rushing into rash action, Hezekiah takes it before the Lord, literally spreading it out as a kind of offering of submission.

I also think of King Jehoshaphat who faced another massive army, but responded with the prayer, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you” (2 Chronicles 20:12, ESV).

In short, they both chose to let God fight for them. They decided to let God choose for them.

In my lifetime, I have had several instances where I chose for myself and it did not go well. I was like the greedy man who took the wrong grail cup in the Indiana Jones movie only to hear the words “You have chosen . . . poorly” and basically shrivel up and die.

But every time I have been wise enough and patient enough to let God decide, I have never regretted the outcome. That’s assuming my patience lasted long enough for me actually to wait on the outcome, no matter how long it seemed to take.

Maybe it’s a good idea to literally take whatever it is that is troubling you and spread it before the Lord. It could be unpaid bills or a jury summons or some other document that gives you great anxiety. Or maybe you can spread out your hands in a posture of surrender.

Either way, you and I both need to let God choose. The old prayer still works: Thy will be done. One of my favorite fictional characters, Father Tim Cavanaugh, calls it the prayer that never fails because you truly can’t go wrong asking for God’s will over and above your own.

Thy will be done, no matter what. Thy will be done, even if it means my will is undone (with a nod to Elisabeth Elliott). Thy will be done. Period.

Of All My Posts, This Is One of Them

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Not every blog post will be a winner. Sometimes, there’s just nothing to write about. Or in my case, the ol’ noggin has shut down for the night. So you get a post like this.

I do think it’s important to fill at least part of your day with something that brings you joy. While it’s important to be aware of what’s going on in the world, it should become your whole day. Make time in your day for listening to music or going for a walk or simple sitting in silence and meditating on the goodness of God.

Also, you should periodically treat yourself to foods that you really like. And by periodically, I don’t mean periodically through the day, but every week or so. You don’t want to become diabetic (or pre-diabetic like me). As with most everything else, moderation is key.

It always helps to keep the big picture in mind. Sometimes, I get caught up in the minutae and forget that what I’m worrying over and obsessing about is finite and temporary. There’s no need to waste energy over something that you probably won’t remember a year from now.

It’s also helpful to keep a mindset of prayer throughout the day. That doesn’t mean you’re constantly in prayer, but as God prompts you through various events or people or memories, keep the conversation with God open.

And at the end of the day, it’s always nice to have a furry friend to come home to. In my case, it’s a very lovable tortoiseshell feline named Peanut, but you should have a dog or cat or hamster or something that will always be glad to see you when you walk through your front door.

Oh, and be sure to cultivate a grateful spirit. That goes a long way toward making your day better when you focus on the good and not the bad.

It Says That?

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“Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
    but the Lord delivers him out of them all” (Psalm 34:19, ESV).

How I wish the verse said “Many are the afflictions of the wicked, but the righteous will avoid them all.” Unfortunately, it does not.

There is a popular brand of Christianity that preaches a prosperity gospel. Basically, if you’re righteous, you will reap spiritual, physical, and financial blessings. You will never see hardship. Any kind of suffering is not of God and you can pray it away if you have enough faith.

But Jesus said that in this world you will have trouble. Not might. Not may. Will. As in the forecast for your life is that there’s a 100% chance of affliction and trouble in your future. That’s the part that can be a bit depressing if you focus just on that part.

But the second is the hopeful part. But God delivers the righteous out of them all. As my pastor used to say, God never gives us a way out but a way through. We may walk through some dark valleys, but our Shepherd is with us.

I’ve pointed it out before, but in Psalm 23, the first few verses talk about God as our Shepherd in the third person. He makes, He leads, He restores. But in the valley of the shadow of death, it changes. Suddenly, it’s You are with me. In that place and in that season, God becomes personal and the experience becomes intimate. Theoretical head knowledge becomes precious wisdom gained from life experience of God walking with us through the worst that hell can throw at us and delivering us from it all.

No matter what, God is with us. That, not the inevitable affliction, is the key. God will be with us and all will be well because He is making all things new.