Brennan Manning

Reframing Your Past, Present & Future

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I’ve never thought about gratitude like that before. I get that it changes the way you see your present and can shift how your future plays out, but to change your perspective on your past? That’s a game changer.

The old saying about grace is that it means that your past now serves a purpose instead of serving shame. Gratitude helps you to see how every part of your past, good and bad, has led you to the present moment. God was in all of it with you, taking those dark and painful moments to weave them in with the brighter colors.

Also, sometimes when you look at a famous painting too closely, it looks like a big chaotic mess. You can’t tell anything about it. But once you step back, it becomes clearer. The same applies for life — once you can step back after a few days or weeks or months, you can see more clearly what God was up to in that moment.

You don’t have to give thanks FOR those awful moments and tragedies. But you can give thanks IN them. Paul didn’t say give thanks FOR all circumstances but IN all circumstances, knowing God works all things together for good and there is a redemptive purpose for pain and loss.

I still think about that quote about muddy water becoming clear as it settles and is still. So do we. Everything becomes clear when we cease striving to make it make sense and can be still and know that God is God, to know that God is still in control and in charge.

And it all begins with gratitude.

The Only Path to Joy

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“The greatest blessing God can give us is to put us in a position where we must trust him. This is our only path to joy. He will do whatever is necessary to disrupt our self-sufficiency and illusion of control” (Jim Dennison).

That doesn’t sound like much of a path to joy to me. I can think of a million other ways to joy other than by having my plans thwarted and my comfortable routine altered. In fact, I’d like very much to continue to live under the illusion that I’m in at least a little bit of control over my life.

But what I want isn’t necessarily what’s good for me. If I had the opportunity, I could eat my weight right now in those Reese’s Peanut Butter Pumpkin-shaped thingies. You know what I mean. They’re like the peanut butter cups, only they’re in spooky shapes.

Anyway, as long as I think I’m in control, I will never seek out God. I will continue to do my daily autopilot where I think about God on Sundays but about me for the rest of the week. I will pat myself on the back and think how good I have it made with nary a thank you to God for actually providing everything that’s good in my life.

But when the job goes away, that’s when I have to look up. When there’s a new normal, that’s when I recognize how much I’ve needed God this whole time. I remember that what I really crave beyond all the toys and comforts is what only God can give me — namely, God Himself.

So thank you, God, for all those disruptions. Thanks for shattering my delusions of independence and self-sufficiency into smithereens. Now I can see beyond my own little made-up pretend world to find You there and to find out You’ve been there all along.

Am I Unoffendable?

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““Choosing to be unoffendable, or relinquishing my right to anger, does not mean accepting injustice. It means actively seeking justice, and loving mercy, while walking humbly with God. And that means remembering I’m not Him. What a relief” (Brant Hansen, Unoffendable).

This book is one of those that comes along and does a seismic shift on your thinking. I’ve always grown up believing that we’re supposed to be righteously angry about injustice and wrongs and sin, but this book is showing me that you can be actively against all those things without giving in to anger.

Based on what I understand, the Bible never calls for us to be angry. It does say that in your anger not to sin. It also says that anger does not produce the righteousness of God. I think when it says to be angry but don’t sin, it’s making allowances for the natural human tendency to anger. It also says not to stay there.

The only one allowed to be truly angry is God — and of course, Jesus — because God can have pure anger rooted in a holiness and righteousness that we don’t have. We can choose not to give in to anger without also giving in to all the wrongs and oppression in the world. We can fight those things out of love rather than anger.

I don’t want to give too much of the book away. It’s worth reading and says all the things I just said but way better than I just said them. Plus, if you get the audio version you get the book read by the author, which is almost always a bonus (and it is in this case).

A lot of our anger comes from the misguided view of calling out the sin in others while ignoring our own sin. We can easily become Pharisee-ical in seeing evil and wrong as being “out there” and “in them” rather than acknowledging my own sinful depravity and capacity for evil apart from the grace of God.

I’m a little over halfway there, so those are my takeaways thus far. My assignment for you is to find the actual book or the audio book and to devour it in short order. It’s an easy read (or an easy listen if you prefer). I’m even going through all the trouble of providing a link to the book on amazon.com. You’re welcome.

https://www.amazon.com/Unoffendable-Change-Better-updated-chapters/dp/1400333598/ref=sr_1_1?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.CCApAzLdwJEJ_bILerbPnP92PX4ePbEFxUdfzlwKQuQp8W7M9XUk146MAeiZVMFn_gCWS1YcpqnZy9olfkdcAfSWcn5iw6qDCNSMfQHhWM4EdxijLEVgmtywazlTVSyAjhJq8cHtUVNdhY2iyqRj5RPo8i-hjYAd2LH_aHTRyJG9DkQ7VkckmFOCsXjPi3Xs1hSaBdb8kGdBR9qVSFqkSUFMAdfYgPn_TY8uuyNJF1s.loHWjW318gTjgxlSS8Hem4fAJ5QuDVig1J42IDbTcCk&dib_tag=se&keywords=unoffendable&qid=1730083531&sr=8-1

Got to Have Faith, Faith, Faith

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I think I read that faith means trusting an unknown future to a known God, although sometimes, God seems as unknowable as the future. I understand God as much as He has revealed Himself to me, but there’s so much more to know and even some that will never be known on this side of heaven.

I think faith means trusting what I know of me to what I know about God, giving what I know about my circumstances and my future into His Hands. I almost said understand instead of know, but faith goes beyond understanding. I trust when I do not understand because what I know of God proves His trustworthiness.

I keep thinking about that character in the Bible who said to Jesus, “I believe. Help my unbelief.”

I get that. I relate to that 1000%.

My faith doesn’t have to be complete or perfect. I don’t have to have faith the size of a mountain to move God. All I need is faith the size of a mustard seed for God to move the mountain. Again, it’s not my big faith in God but my faith in a big God who is bigger than my fears, my doubts, and my circumstances.

I confess that sometimes I wonder IF God will show up, despite having seen Him never fail to show up at the right moment. In my best moments, my faith says, “I can’t wait to see how You pull this one off, because I know You will.”

I can’t wait for the day when my faith will be made sight. Until then, I will echo the words, “I believe, help my unbelief.”

And that will always be enough.

Another Dose of Spurgeon

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I love getting a daily dose of Charles Spurgeon in my emails. There’s a soundness to the theology of those old-school preachers and writers that’s missing from a lot of pulpits and books today. They weren’t afraid to step on a few toes and speak the unvarnished truth. They weren’t also shy about proclaiming the goodness of God. Here’s today’s gem from Spurgeon:

“DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Oh Lord, in looking back we are obliged to remember with the greatest gratitude the many occasions in which you have heard our cry. We have been brought into deep distress and our heart has sunk within us, and then have we cried to you and you have never refused to hear us. You have rejected the prayers of our lusts, but the prayers of our necessities you have granted. Not one good thing has failed of all that you have promised. Blessed be the name of the Lord forever, our inmost heart is saying. Amen, blessed be his name.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith without doubting.” (James 1:5–6)

We cannot ask of a person of whose existence we have any doubt and we will not ask of a person of whose hearing we have serious suspicions of. Who would stand in the desert of Sahara and cry aloud, where there is no living ear to hear? Now, my dear hearer, you believe that there is a God. Ask, then! Do you not believe that he is here, that he will hear your cry, that he will be pleased to answer your cry to give you what you ask for? Now, if you cannot believe that there is a God, that he is here and that he will hear you, then confess your ignorance, and ask him now to give you the promised wisdom for Jesus’ sake.”

Deliverance from Fear

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“I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears”(Psalm‬ ‭34‬:‭4‬, ESV‬‬).

I heard a good word from a good friend today about this Psalm. Apparently when David penned this Psalm, He was still on the run from King Saul who sought to take his life. His life was still very much in danger. God’s promise to make him king was still in the future.

God didn’t deliver him from his circumstances but from the fear of his circumstances. In other words, God didn’t immediately pick him up from his current predicament and place him on the throne. David learned a deeper kind of trust and a deeper kind of worship in the midst of having to daily depend on God for deliverance.

The takeaway is that you or I don’t have to wait until every prayer is answered and every dilemma solved before we can worship. We can praise God in the mist of difficult circumstances that sometimes defy our understanding. We can remain under those circumstances and yet not be afraid because God is with us even then and even there.

I know that whatever comes my way isn’t bigger than the God I serve. I know that nothing in all the world can ever separate me from God’s love. I know that I am eternally secure in the arms of my Savior. Even if my circumstances don’t change, my perspective does because I see Jesus walking toward me in the middle of my storm with the power to make the waves and the wind cease or to simply comfort His child in the midst of those winds and waves.

And that’s enough.

The Lord Has Need

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“When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, saying, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’’ So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them” (Luke 19:29-32, ESV).

I heard something tonight that blew my mind a little. It definitely got me thinking the story of Jesus riding into Jerusalem in a different way.

Have you considered the story from the point of the colt? Have you thought that God appointed that a man should go and buy a donkey to take care of it and raise it and feed it? That donkey then proceeded to give birth to a colt, which the man also raises and feeds, all for the moment when Jesus sends His disciples to fetch the colt, saying “The Lord has need of it.”

Have you thought that maybe God placed you and me where we are in the time and place we’re in so that one day, you can be in the place to hear the words “The Lord has need of you”?

We don’t really think about all the time that passed before Jesus needed the colt. All that time that seemed wasted or useless was a time of preparation for one single event that led to the event that changed the entire world.

You may be in a season of preparation that proceeds the moment when God will say to you, “I have need of you.”

I get that in one sense God doesn’t really need you or me or anyone else. But I also know that God places you in the exact moment and location where He will be able to best mold you into the person He can use. Maybe it’s for a lifetime calling or maybe it’s a moment in time. But God will use you. All He asks of you and me is that we are available.

My Favorite Bookstore

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I confess that I currently listen to more books than I read. Since I spend a lot of time in my car, it makes sense to listen to books through Audible. That said, I still love an honest to goodness bookstore that only sells books.

I do love me some Barnes & Noble, but I also admit they’re like the big bad bookstore in You’ve Got Mail. They not only sell books but movies, music, and lots of other stuff. They have a very retail chain feel to them.

My favorite bookstore right now is probably Landmark Booksellers. It’s close enough so I can go there regularly. They have a unique indie vibe that I really like. They also sell new and used books, which is definitely right up my alley.

On a bit of a tangent, there’s something about holding and reading a physical book, especially if it’s older. Those old books have an aroma and a texture that makes you want to soak in every word.

Parnassus is also a legit bookstore, but it’s a bit out of my way to go there, plus the parking in Green Hills is practically nonexistent. But that’s a good one for those who live more in the Nashville area.

I hope there will always be books and people who read books and places that sell books. I can’t imagine a world with only audio books and Kindles. That would be super sad.

Today, I picked up an old used C. S. Lewis book at Landmark. It wasn’t a planned purchase, but I saw this old book with the dust jacket still intact, and it called my name. What else could I have done?

A God We Can’t Exaggerate

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“Many Spirit-filled authors have exhausted the thesaurus in order to describe God with the glory He deserves. His perfect holiness, by definition, assures us that our words can’t contain Him. Isn’t it a comfort to worship a God we cannot exaggerate?” (Francis Chan)

There’s a beautiful old book by J. B. Phillips called Your God Is Too Small. I think that’s the case for anyone who has ever lived who tried to conceive the idea of God. We always fall short. We always make God way too small.

The problem with a lot of deconstruction is that we make ourselves the standard by which God and truth are measured. We are definitely too finite and small to be any kind of measuring stick to which God must conform (thanks to Frances Chan for that one as well). It’s putting ourselves above God, essentially saying that God would never [fill in the blank] because I would never [fill in the blank].

God not only above us, He is so far beyond us that our minds could never have fathomed God at all apart from God revealing Himself to us. That blows my mind. It also humbles me whenever I get to the place where I think I have God figured out.

We can’t possibly exaggerate God. How cool is that? The biggest, grandest, wildest picture we can dream up or draw or sing about or write about falls short of who God is by far. All we can do is sit at the brink and adore the depth, to borrow from Matthew Henry.

God is never too small. Only our conception of Him is. But God made Himself incarnate and came near and became a tiny infant. That’s my favorite part.

Weeping Prayers

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This is not me currently, but I know a few people who are navigating the process of grieving a loved one. It’s never an easy process and even though I’ve been around a while, I still can’t say that grief is a natural process because death really isn’t natural. It’s a product of the fall brought about by sin and not in God’s original design.

I do believe that God hears weeping as a prayer as much as He will hear your words and desires of your heart. The Bible says that God collects our tears in a bottle. I know that someone in deep grief may not have anything more than tears to offer to God, and that is enough.

As a reminder, there is no time limit on grief, because grief is the price of love this side of heaven. It will never be right that the person isn’t here. It will never be right that you will never hear that familiar voice or see that face again until heaven.

I love the fact that Jesus, knowing He was about to call His friend Lazarus out of the grave, still wept over his death. He wept over the grief of his friends who had no inkling of the coming miracle. He wept to show that we can believe in heaven and the resurrection and still be sad at the same time.

So I’m saying that there’s no shame in grief. Sometimes tears can be the only prayers we have.