Your in my way!

"The man who practices unselfishness, who is genuinely interested in the welfare of others, who feels it a privilege to have the power to do a fellow-creature a kindness - even though polished manners and a gracious presence may be absent - will be an elevating influence wherever he goes."

(Orison Swett Marden)

In whatever you do, don’t let selfishness or pride be your guide. Be humble, and honor others more than yourselves. Don’t be interested only in your own life, but care about the lives of others too. (Philippians 2:3-4)

In whatever you do - it easy to be concerned about others when your own needs are met, isn't it? When your needs haven't been met, how easy is it then? Truth be told, we all have a selfish streak that runs deep, and we sometimes haven't a clue it is there! Selfishness is one of the hardest things for us to recognize, but it can be the one thing that drives a wedge between two people quicker than we might imagine. When our eyes are on ourselves, they aren't on God, and they certainly are not on the needs of others.

Selfishness has a companion known as pride. It is hard to have one without the other. Pride elevates self and that just gives room for selfish ambition to take the helm. Selfishness is put off when others gain priority and wants to somehow gain the same recognition, placement, or blessing. Both are ugly companions and will get us into relationship woes quickly. To be humble means we have to first recognize we are being prideful. To be unselfish requires we acknowledge we are concerned about ourselves more than we are others. Both are painful, but absolutely necessary revelations.

If we want to mature in Christ, we need to ask him to help us recognize where any selfish ambition exists within our lives. When we pray this prayer, we must be ready to see ourselves through his eyes. Christ seldom sugar-coats our sinfulness! He makes it plain for us to see and then he asks some very specific things of us. He may ask us to lay down some of our self-centered activities and look after the needs of those around us. All the while, we may be struggling with 'why' we have to do this, but in time, we see how freeing it actually is to look outside of ourselves!

Pride and selfishness may not want to relinquish their control in our lives, but if we are willing to let God enter into those places where our focus has been directed only upon ourselves, we might just see a reward awaits us that is much better in the long run! Self gets in the way of what God wants to do in and through us, so maybe it is time we ask God to deal with that part of us that is in his way once and for all. Just sayin!

Keeping up?

'Keeping up with the Joneses'

It is worth nothing for you to have the whole world if you yourself are lost. (Mark 8:36)

There used to be a saying that implicated the "Joneses'" as having so much and everyone trying to keep up with them. While the saying may not be as popular today, the desire to 'keep up' is always around us in society. We are marketed the fastest internet, the most expansive cell and data plans, the best hotel accommodations, and the biggest houses with the most 'toys' to enjoy on the weekends. Regardless of the current 'trends', the root problem still is man's extreme 'pride'. We desire some of the 'worst' things for ourselves, all because someone else has it or is doing it. All the while, Jesus is just sitting there asking for us to take as much interest in him as we do in 'keeping up'!

Did you realize that the phrase, "Keeping us with the Joneses" actually dates back to 1913? It has been around for over 100 years and actually emerged in a time we don't think of as being all that 'affluent' or 'cutting edge'. The phrase stems from the 'race' to outdo one's neighbor - not in spiritual terms, but in physical objects, the size of the home, the contents of one's home, or the income one attained from one's advancing career. The 'race' began in the late 1800's and was coined the 'rat race' sometime later. The desire for more and more became common place. The extreme exhaustion of competition is seldom acknowledged by those engaging in such a competitive manner, though. 

Competition in this world just seems to keep coming. If we are going to always strive to 'keep up' with the competition, we will soon be exhausted by all the striving required. What most fail to recognize is the 'circular' motion such competition takes. One 'achieves' this or that, but soon finds the achievement is 'outdated' and he is no longer 'keeping up', so he must set out to achieve all over again. God's good news is that there is no competition in his Kingdom. All are equally sinners - all are equally in need of a Savior. All enter into his Kingdom through grace - no amount of 'keeping up' work is required in order to 'advance' or 'be out front'. In fact, God actually says those who would be last will be the ones who will 'move on up' in the end! Just sayin!

NEVER easy - but worthwhile

But the Lord has always loved his followers, and he will continue to love them forever and ever! He will be good to all their descendants, to those who are faithful to his agreement and who remember to obey his commands. (Psalm 103:17-18)

God's part - love us. Our part - obey him. Seems pretty easy, but it has presented more challenges for God's people down through the ages that we can shake a stick at! Why is obedience so hard? If we really want to be obedient to ALL that God asks of us, not just the 'easy stuff', then we need to understand obedience is a struggle of the will. Pride gets all balled up in the mess, as well. We want things to go the easiest way possible, don't we? Whenever something doesn't quite go as we hoped, do we bail? Do we double-down and put extra effort into it? Most of us find ourselves facing the difficulties of obedience with a bit of prideful will - we want it our way, but our way isn't always God's way.

I am so glad God's action of loving us isn't based upon our performance or the speed at which we 'come around' to doing things the way he asks us to do them! If it was, we'd all be doomed. God loved when not even one of us deserved that love. In fact, nothing we 'do' makes God love us anymore than he already does. The steps toward total obedience require us to look at the commitment required at each 'level' and weigh out if we are willing to do whatever is required. For me, God's requirement was that I lay down some things and then do some others. I didn't realize how much some of the things I was 'doing' were actually moving me further into compromise in my life. 

When he asked me to stop engaging in those activities or actions, he also asked me to begin others that I wasn't all that comfortable with. Sometimes God asks us to do things that are 'foreign' to us, like spend time in his Word, actually reading it, taking it in, journaling about what we have read, beginning to feed upon it ourselves instead of always being 'hand-fed' by someone else who has digested it for us. He may ask us to step into areas of ministry that we might not have seen as 'our calling' in life, such as working in the church nursery during one church service and attend a different service time in order that mothers and fathers can attend without the struggle of taking care of a wee one's needs.

God may ask us to begin to talk with each other about things that have been hard for us to deal with, such as relationship issues that have brought rifts or less than close feelings for each other. Being open to doing what he tells us to do when we don't think we have done anything to cause the rift is one of the hardest things. Why? Pride gets in the way of us seeing the value of the relationship over the 'value' of holding onto the wrongdoing or hurtful actions of another. Obedience is almost NEVER easy, but it comes with some of the greatest blessings we could ever want - especially the one that starts and ends with being loved by God! Obedience starts 'in God's love' and it ends 'in God's love'. We lay down our will because we are loved by him - we take up his will because we want to show our love in return. Just sayin!

Thanks for the advice

Some people like to do things their own way, and they get upset when people give them advice. Fools don’t want to learn from others. They only want to tell their own ideas. (Proverbs 18:1-2)

Some people just cannot see any other solution to their issue than what they can manage to come up with in their own minds or through their own power. To suggest something outside of that imagined solution somehow makes you the "crazy one" in the equation! There is much danger in being so determined to just do things our own way, though. In many circumstances, the way we determine to be the "best" or "right" may just be the easiest and present the least resistance. I know I have chosen this option more than a few times, only to find out that the easiest "up front" isn't always the easiest on the "back end". My pride kept me from finding out if there was an "easier" or "better" way other than what my mind could muster on its own.

Sometimes pride determines the course we take whenever we are faced with something a bit "over our heads". We might think we have a solution, but pride keeps us from asking if we are even on the right track! Pride is one of the most limiting things we can face - probably more limiting than just about any other issue in our lives. Why? Pride limits our ability to see any other solution to life's issue than our own - it is our way, or the highway. We don't even look for another solution because we have our minds and hearts so wrapped around what we believe to be best that we almost shut out any other possibilities. Pride escalates one's ideas and beliefs to the place of superiority and shuts down any other idea or belief not completely like one's own. 

There is a tell-tale sign one is experiencing some issue with pride in their life. When you are presented with another solution to what is front of you, do you immediately reject it as "wrong" or "unworthy" of your time or attention? Do you even stop to consider any other way than your own? There are times when we want this immediate rejection of ideas - like when they are totally wrong or violate God's commands. For example, if someone says the way to get to work sooner is to just be a ding-dong of a driver on the road and weave furiously in and out of traffic until you nearly run every driver off the road, you might want to reject that one! On the other hand, if someone tells you to set your alarm 15 minutes earlier and avoid hitting the snooze button five times, you might want to give that one some consideration. 

Some of what we imagine is "right" or "good" may not be "bad" - it just may not be what is best in the moment. We need to first weigh what we are about to do against God's commands - if it is okay there, it is likely okay for us to pursue. Then if the scripture doesn't give us any real clear advice on the matter, we have to rely upon conscience - something a little less reliable. When another comes alongside to give us advice, we weigh it against scripture and our conscience. If it doesn't violate either, we might do well to give it consideration. We may never know when that "teachable moment" may occur which actually helps us move beyond something we've been struggling with for a while! Just sayin!

Hey, I want that, too!

Truly God is good to Israel, to those whose hearts are pure. But as for me, I almost lost my footing. My feet were slipping, and I was almost gone. For I envied the proud when I saw them prosper despite their wickedness. (Psalm 73:1-3) 

I imagine we all have those moments when we see stuff happening around us in this world, then stop to ponder how has the world 'gone so wrong' in its actions and beliefs? We might not understand how the wicked prosper, the misguided rise to positions of power, or the righteous lose out on what appears to be so much. That doesn't mean we lose our faith in the one who holds all mankind in his hands and will eventually bring all to judgment - the good, the bad, and the worst. Moments of doubt and confusion come to all of us - we just have to press into our faith a bit harder, so those doubts aren't given any ground to fester. Emotions will surface that indicate we are struggling a bit with what we see, hear, or imagine, but those emotions don't have to be denied. They are real, so the sooner we acknowledge them, the quicker we can seek God's help in 'settling them'. What really helps during those times of struggle is our friends who come alongside us. We need each other to help us when our faith begins to weaken, or when our emotions seem to be getting the best of us. 

When we observe the wicked prosper, it is possible we have a little bit of our own battle stemming from our pride? After all, we want to prosper, as well. We want the 'good stuff' to happen in our lives - is that wrong? No, it is not, but we might not realize just how quickly our pride can be dashed upon the cold, hard ground of disappointment and failure! To become prosperous or be elevated to a position of power in this world is not wrong. We might even want our lives to be kind of carefree and without all the hurdles we could encounter along that path to success. To pursue the path out of prideful ambition is when we run into difficulties. To pursue a path that 'gives us everything we desire' may just throw us into a greater pit of emotional distress than we were in when we found ourselves with a bit of envy toward those who 'had' what we did not. If we were honest, when the wicked succeed and prosper in their ways, we might even want them to 'get what is coming to them'. Is that wrong? Vengeance is, but to desire to see righteousness succeed and wickedness decline is never wrong. 

We might just see the wicked doing the same old things - things that don't bring God honor or give way to justice for all mankind. That might even begin to bother us more and more as we see them succeed in their ways and righteous individuals seemingly 'fail' as they attempt to forward their beliefs. It is hard to stand in observation of the 'little guy' being trodden underfoot, but we must never lose sight of the 'BIG GUY' who always walks with the 'little guy' on this earth! God doesn't want us to be tempted to compromise our faith, making choices to follow after things or people who will distract us or dissuade us from our walk with him. He will always intervene in our lives any time we allow our pride to create a yearning for the path of the wicked. This is a very good thing, because we aren't always capable of discerning those two diverging paths on our own! God's presence will always help us know when pride is drawing us away from the narrow path and down the one that will eventually cause the wicked to stumble. Just sayin!

Does it count for much?

As the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.” When people commend themselves, it doesn’t count for much. The important thing is for the Lord to commend them. (2 Corinthians 10:17-18)

How many times do you hear someone brag about what they have accomplished and wonder why they find it necessary to boast so much about such a small thing? Truth be told, I have been amongst the braggarts on occasion! Not a pretty sight. Boasting is really for the purpose of calling attention to oneself. As a young person, I thought unless people were always paying attention to you, they didn't like you. My bragging actually drove them away, not closer! Now, it goes without saying, if I catch the big fish on that next fishing outing, I am holding it high, but I don't do it to 'call attention' to my 'angling expertise'. I am just jazzed to have snagged one! Sometimes we 'call attention' to our accomplishments in quite an innocent fashion, while at others, it is to get some kind of praise from someone else. 

When people commend themselves - is it possible some may actually 'commend themselves' because they don't hear any praise from any other source? Someone raised in that kind of environment, constantly badgered or put down by another, may actually 'hunger' for some form of recognition or praise. Maybe we can understand some form of bragging when that is the case, but even when no one else around you recognizes your extreme worth or values your input in this world, God does! Nothing we do ever escapes his notice, and I will tell you this for certain - a 'pat on the back' from God is ten times more rewarding than one from some stranger on this earth. God's recognition goes beyond the praises of the moment, or even the high five of success. It ministers to our spirit and nourishes our soul.

Mom used to remind me it was not my responsibility to 'tell others how good I am', but to live in such a way that the goodness is evident. Maybe that is what Paul is reminding us of this morning - live in a way that requires no amount of 'bragging' in order for the evidence of God's work within to be noticed. In another passage, we are reminded it is good to hear God's, "Well done, my good and faithful servant", when we cross over from this life into the next. I imagine we will all find such delight in those words of praise - much, much more than those accolades we receive on this earth. Just sayin!

Him more...me less

Imagine being the 'new kid on the block', drawing crowds of seekers from all around, only to find out the 'debates' over your legitimacy are mounting just as your ministry gets started. This is what Jesus encountered as he set about on his earthly ministry. His disciples are with him, he is baptizing people just across the way from where John the Baptist has been at work for a while already. John's followers - his disciples - enter into a debate over 'ceremonial cleansing' with a Jewish man. We might not realize just how easily the enemy will use someone to question what we are doing, whether it is legitimate any longer, or which 'way' is right. It is good to see that John's disciples immediately come to him to seek clarity - to get their understanding of what John was doing expanded in light of what Jesus was doing. Any time we begin to do things for the Kingdom of God, the enemy of our souls will send someone to oppose those actions. Why? Satan is never threatened by stagnant Christians - he is only threatened by those who are taking action as God directs!

John’s disciples came to him and said, “Rabbi, the man you met on the other side of the Jordan River, the one you identified as the Messiah, is also baptizing people. And everybody is going to him instead of coming to us.” John replied, “No one can receive anything unless God gives it from heaven. You yourselves know how plainly I told you, ‘I am not the Messiah. I am only here to prepare the way for him.’ It is the bridegroom who marries the bride, and the bridegroom’s friend is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows. Therefore, I am filled with joy at his success. He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less. (John 3:26-30)

Notice the response of the disciples of John - 'everybody is going to him instead of coming to us'. Isn't it just like us to get a little twitterpated when our 'popularity' or 'draw' seems to wane in light of something else God is doing through another? John is immediate in his response - almost a 'kind rebuke' of sorts. He actually responds with a heart of understanding - he knows he was only paving the way for the Messiah's arrival and is more than willing to 'bolster' Christ's 'success' across the river. It is a truly wise person who realizes and accepts when God is bringing up another who will become 'greater' while they will become 'less'. Imagine if John had of been prideful or arrogant. He might have found ways to deter people from seeking the Messiah if he was, but he wasn't. In fact, he knew his purpose was to point the way - not to become the way.

God always looks for faithful servants, and he will bless their work greatly. A faithful servant knows when they are called, but they also know when it is time to see the work they have been engaged in 'evolve' to the next level. The message to us today is to be faithful in what God has called each of us to do. Be engaged with those he puts in your path - encourage them to seek God in every way imaginable, then step back and see what he does when they do! God may not ask us to be about the same work throughout our entire lives, but when he gives us a task to do, we are to do it heartily and with a committed purpose. When he tells us it is time to let it go, he always asks us to do so gracefully and with prayerful support of what he is beginning to do through another. Just sayin!

A virtue that begins the action of healing

Though the Lord is great, he cares for the humble, but he keeps his distance from the proud. (Psalm 138:6)

Have you ever stopped to consider why God cares for this human race? We get a whole lot of things wrong, but he still loves us deeply. We get all wigged-out at our neighbors, spend our resources foolishly, get involved in things that consume our time way too much, and he still keeps waiting on us to realize just how much we need him in our lives. Though he is GREAT, he cares for the HUMBLE. Those who realize their intentions may be good, but their actions reveal just how badly they can mess things up on their own are never going to be rejected by our merciful and GREAT God. In fact, he will continue to draw them to himself, pouring out grace upon grace, until we finally realize our 'best self' is the 'self' that stops being too proud to seek his presence in our lives.

James 4:6 reminds us that God actually opposes the prideful, but he gives grace upon grace to the humble. Humility is actually the one 'virtue' that every other 'good thing' in our lives is built upon. It takes admitting we need help in order for the processes of growth to actually begin in our hearts, minds, and spirit. For a long time, I believed the old adage, "God helps those who help themselves", even thinking it was part of scripture. I have discovered it is not scriptural at all - in fact, if you understand grace, you will recognize that grace is given to those who admit they can NOT help themselves! We think we need to do something to 'get grace', but we must always remember grace is given freely - without us deserving it at all. We find God's care when we admit we have done a poor job of ruling our own lives and invite him to really take over that rulership.

A word of caution here - we can ask for his rulership without really giving him that place in our lives. If you are anything like me, when things are going well, I might think I can steer my life, but as soon as the proverbial 'poop hits the fan', I realize just what a 'stinky' job I have done at 'driving'! Pride makes us think we don't need to lean in when things are going well, and it makes us vulnerable to attack of all kinds, because PRIDE will always open the door for compromise, failure, and hurts. Humble people recognize their need but aren't too ashamed to admit it to God. They are open to doing what he says, not always what they 'feel'. The truly humble person is open to God's leading because they realize without it, the path will be riddled with all manner of 'messes', 'hurts', and 'life-long hang-ups'. 

True humility is manifest in more than our words - it comes in the actions of repentance. Remembering that repentance is a 'turning away' from what we had previously pursued or done, it carries the idea of doing more than admitting we need help. Maybe God stands with the humble because they willingly admit their short-comings and failures, seeking his help to overcome them. Perhaps part of humility is 'drawing close' to his heart, settling into his presence, and listening intently to his words. How does this relate to humility? It shows we truly don't want to remain in control any longer and are intent on his taking that control for us. Humility is the one virtue that begins our healing. Just sayin!

Bigness isn't a draw

 God wasn’t attracted to you and didn’t choose you because you were big and important—the fact is, there was almost nothing to you. He did it out of sheer love... (Deuteronomy 7:9)

How many times do we get 'big heads' about ourselves, thinking we are all kinds of 'bigness' and 'greatness' because of something we do? Some of us more than others, but we can all fall prey to this 'pride' thing once in a while. God isn't 'attracted' to our 'bigness' or 'importance' - whether real or imagined! He is attracted to US - as we are, with all our quirks and hangups. It is not what we 'do' or 'accomplish' or 'amass' that makes us 'big' in his eyes. He loves us in spite of all those things!

Truly, there is almost 'nothing to us' when God draws us toward his heart and asks us to give him control of our lives. We might have 'done' all kinds of important things in our lives, but it is the frailty of our souls and emptiness of our spirit that he sees first and foremost, and he draws us into his arms because of this insane emptiness. We might not understand how anyone can just 'do something for us' out of sheer love (unconditional, without us having to do anything to earn it), but this is how he operates - freely giving exactly what we need.

For those who are still considering themselves unworthy of such a great love, stop believing that lie. It comes straight from the pit of hell! God's love transcends our 'doing' (even the messed-up actions of our past or present) and reaches into our lives with unconditional redeeming grace. We might not 'feel' his grace today, but we can trust that his grace is at work making us whole and strong - replacing our imagined 'goodness' and 'bigness' with his goodness. In time, we will begin to 'feel' the evidence of his grace in our lives, but what is required of us right now is to just trust he is at work because he loves us enough to set things right in us.

It is not unusual to feel 'unworthy' of such 'benevolence'. Grace isn't earned, and some might not understand how so much 'good' can just be given so freely to someone who has done nothing to deserve or earn it. God's love is kind of insane - it just gives and gives and gives. We have to trust his heart if we are ever to be whole in our own. Just sayin!

Life Lesson #15 - Hungry

Life Hack #15:

Don’t for a minute envy careless rebels; soak yourself in the Fear-of-God—that’s where your future lies. Then you won’t be left with an armload of nothing. (Proverbs 23:17-18)

That ugly, green-eyed monster often known as jealousy or better known as discontent can grab onto us so quickly. Discontent breeds all manner of other issues, so it is best nipped in the bud before it festers and multiplies! Envy enters in anytime we think someone else has any advantage we don't have in life. We might not know how frequently we actually evaluate ourselves in light of what we see another "have" - whether it is knowledge, privilege, or possession. When we sense this "discontent" with what the other person seems to have or get, it can lead to a lot of ugliness in our lives we really don't want to deal with later on!

Discontent is really a sense of inequity. If you haven't already figured it out - all things are NOT equal in this life! We are all created different sizes, shapes, hair colors, skin tones, with different IQs, and born into different families. There is one place that makes the "playing field" level for all - the family of God. Regardless of station in life, aptitude, or attitude - all are equal in his eyes. All are sinners. All stand in need of a Savior. All have fallen short of the glory he intended for their lives. All need the sanctifying work of the cross. 

No one can make another grow any faster - even when well fed and in an environment which fosters growth. Growth is individualized and a response of one's inner man to the forces surrounding him/her. Growth, or maturity, may not be equal because we each embrace things we are taught in different times, perhaps even with different interpretations of what is taught, but learned from the same lesson. This makes us unique - equally human and in need, but not equal in the application of truth.

God knows discontent makes for a lot of messy stuff later on if allowed to take root. It damages relationships, causes us to struggle with issues of pride, and then leaves us just wanting more, but believing we will never have what it is we desire. Guard yourselves well against discontent because it will leave you destitute! Is it possible for discontent to drive us closer to God and his purposes in our lives? When it is recognized early and does not become a thing which drives us into the realms of envy and jealousy, that may be possible. Envy or jealousy carries the attitude of wishing "ill will" on another. It goes beyond motivating us to search for things which will drive us deeper into our relationship with Jesus - causing us to turn inward, feel deprived, and then complaining bitterly about our deprived state.

In the hands of God, it can be turned into an opportunity to open our arms and heart to receive something new from God - something we may not even have known we really needed in our life, but which he knows will bring us tremendous blessing. Discontent has a way of motivating us - but we need to make sure our motivations are God-driven. In the course of time, we will see that he takes this discontent with whatever our inability is, and he begins to drive us deeper into his hope, promises, and the privilege that comes with being a child of God. In this sense, discontent has an advantage in our life - it creates a hunger.

We need to be aware of our hunger, though - for not all hunger is to be fed. When discontent enters, the very best thing we can do is ask God if this is him creating the desire, or our "self" getting us into the region of envy. With this in mind, we will be sure to avoid the pitfalls of envy but allow godly discontent to be built into a driving force which propels us forward into the good things God desires for our lives. Just sayin!

Be the soil

A proud man is seldom a grateful man, for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves. (Henry Ward Beecher)

Pride leads to destruction; a proud attitude brings ruin. (Proverbs 16:18)

I have had those moments when I thought I didn't get as much as I deserved - credit where credit was due; thanks for a job well-done; or some form of remuneration. As a young leader, I thought this stuff was important. As I matured a bit, I learned it wasn't all that important - there was a certain sense of joy in just doing a job well, no matter who got the credit, thanks, or 'payment' for it. I have come to realize it is quite a dangerous thing to drift into this pathway of believing we are 'owed' something. If we are to be truthful here, our attitude about why we are doing something is very important. 

Proverbs 29:23 reminds us, "Pride will ruin people, but those who are humble will be honored." It is important to have the right attitude behind our actions. Look at what Beecher said - a proud man is seldom a GRATEFUL man. It isn't that we want the gratitude directed towards ourselves - it is that we are grateful to be called upon to do whatever it is we are doing. Grateful for the skills we have been given. Grateful for the time to complete the task. Grateful for the hope or pleasure it will give another. There is no greater honor than to have completed the task and see the work become a means of blessing to another.

Do you know the rest of the quote by Beecher? The full quote is: "Pride slays thanksgiving, but a humble mind is the soil out of which thanks naturally grow. A proud man is seldom a grateful man, for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves." Pride slays thanksgiving - herein is the crux of our study today - gratitude. Do things from a grateful heart and the outcome will be much different. Think less about what you will get from the action and more about how it will be a blessing to another. Become the soil out of which thanks grows. Gratitude is grace in action. Just sayin!

Multiplied blessing

All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. We have plenty of hard times that come from following the Messiah, but no more so than the good times of his healing comfort—we get a full measure of that, too. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)

God comes alongside of us in hard times - that should bring comfort to someone who needs that word today. If you don't need to hear it, perhaps you are the one to come alongside another who is going through the hard times today. Either way, God is at work! Have you ever noticed how you can be going through some really rough stuff and then before long you find yourself helping someone else who is also going through something a bit harder than they can handle alone? This isn't by accident - God has prepared you for that moment. A full measure of God's comfort and healing is made available to us in hard times - share what it is you have been given and witness the multiplication of the magnitude of God's grace!

Hard times aren't optional - they will come. What we do when facing them is where the 'option' part comes into play. We can choose to lean into God a bit harder, or we can pull away and declare we are 'out'. There is always a choice, but when we choose to lean in, allowing God to come alongside of us, we might just be surprised as to how his work begins to be multiplied in and through us. He brings us comfort - helping us to find our way through to the other side of the issue. He also prepares us to bring comfort to another - helping them to stand strong in their own struggle. It is in the 'going through' that we learn how to lean upon someone other than ourselves!

For years, I didn't like to lean on anyone. In fact, I almost perceived the need to lean on someone as a weakness. I don't actually remember the moment God began to deal with my pride issues, but once I began to yield to his tug to let go of my need to do everything myself, I began to realize just how many people he had prepared to come alongside me in my times of struggle. As long as I stood too proud to ask for help, or even acknowledge I was going through difficulties, I was actually denying someone the benefit of seeing their preparation time in their time of struggle put to use in my life. 

It is a hard thing to admit I used to deny others their opportunity to be a blessing, and I still struggle with letting go of my desire to do things myself on occasion. The more I step back and allow God to come alongside in my life - admitting I am not as strong as I believe myself to be - the more I see how he has all kinds of 'instruments' just ready to be used. You may have been one of those instruments in my life on occasion - thank you. You may be that instrument to another soon - be faithful. You never know how your hardship 'prep time' will one day be a blessing in the life of another. Just sayin!

Is there a mismatch here?

 Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here’s what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts. Mean-spirited ambition isn’t wisdom. Boasting that you are wise isn’t wisdom. Twisting the truth to make yourselves sound wise isn’t wisdom. It’s the furthest thing from wisdom—it’s animal cunning, devilish plotting. Whenever you’re trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the others’ throats. (James 3:13)

Boast if you must, but do it with a heart totally in love with Christ and your boasts will not be about yourself - they will be about the good things God has done in your life! As we stop for a moment together today to consider the Word of God, can we focus on one portion of this passage together? I would like us to consider the words - "Its the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts." The way you live - your actions. The way you talk doesn't always equal your walk, does it? Some of us talk one ay, but walk another. Why is there this incongruency in the two? Could it be there is a root of pride at work in many today that causes the tremendous distance between how we talk and walk?

Pride isn't always a bad thing - if I take pride in my appearance or health - does that make me prideful? No, it just means I want to shower regularly so I don't have a body odor that drives others away, comb my hair so there aren't rats and snarls in there, wear clean clothing that more or less goes well together, and keep myself in a generally good shape so I don't have unnecessary physical issues. There is a 'good' form of pride that isn't a bad thing at all. There is also a very 'bad' form of pride that gets us into so much trouble if we let it! That 'bad' form of pride is what actually causes us to live a life that doesn't afford a 'match' between talking and walking.

The bad form of pride? We might see it best exemplified in what our passage references as animal cunning - that willingness to plot and plan in order to get ahead, be noticed, be 'on top' in this world. Our passage also reveals the exact opposite of this manner of living - live wisely, live well, and live humbly. Living wisely by embracing the teachings of Christ - allowing them to change the motivations of our heart. Live well by actually doing what we are told to do - not just hearing and then walking away unchanged. Live humbly - to live wisely and well we absolutely cannot forget the importance of humility. 

Humility allows us to see the error of our actions - the place where our words and actions are 'mismatched'. Humility causes us to reach out to God to help us overcome this distance between the two. Humility affords us the opportunity to grow, while pride just causes us to bring more and more death into our lives. Some see humility as a hard thing to achieve, but do you know what is at the root of humility? The willingness to submit to the leadership of another - Christ. To truly live humbly, we submit to the teachings of Christ, allowing them to change the way we live AND talk - so both are aligned. Just sayin!

You want me to be real?

In the same way, I urge you who are younger: accept the authority of the elders. And everyone, clothe yourselves with humility toward each other. God stands against the proud, but he gives favor to the humble. (I Peter 5:5)

If you have ever looked at someone and thought how miserable their life must be, you may just be right. I often think some people want to walk a different road than they are traveling. Their way is complicated with all kinds of relationship issues, their daily path riddled with things which have spun out of control, and their way forward is just plain hard for them to understand, much less walk. When I look upon these individuals, my heart breaks. Their choices have resulted in more hardship and "heart-hurt" than anyone would want to face. Yet, they often refuse the very advice they need to get them out of the place they are in! If you have ever encountered an individual like this, then you probably have tried to give them some "good advice", but had it immediately dismissed as "You don't know what I am dealing with here". Perhaps it was "taken" but there was never any real follow-through which amounted to permanent change. We might even see them as being an "enabler" of another's bad behavior. Why do some refuse to heed the advice of the "wise"? For some it is a matter of pride. For others it is a matter of living with misconceptions such as having been told they'd never amount to anything anyway. Regardless of the reason, the "misery" of the miles walking the path before them continues.

When pride keeps us from heeding solid advice (wise counsel), we often find ourselves re-creating the same issues over and over again - just with different scenarios and maybe even some different "players". Pride has a way of keeping us from embracing the very truth we so desperately need in order to be able to actually walk a different path. Some think humility is an admission of weakness - of an inability to keep it all together, or do it on their own. In fact, humility requires strength far beyond whatever it takes to stand in pride. To be truly vulnerable, transparent with our feelings and our failures, is definitely not a thing which the proud easily gravitate toward. In fact they guard against such honest disclosure! Humble people have the potential to become wise people. Truth is often the very thing we need to crawl out of the rut we have dug for ourselves. When pride is in the way, we just keep seeing the walls of the rut as a hurdle we must overcome. The problem in seeing the walls from this vantage point is that we spend a whole lot of time "pacing" in the rut trying to figure out how to get out of it! In all this "pacing", we wear the rut even deeper! Now the walls are even more challenging to scale!

Humble people look up! They see the walls - but they are not content to remain in their confines any longer. They are willing to listen to the advice of the ones who have been lifted out of a few ruts themselves! When someone offers to walk them through breaking free of the rut, they might struggle a little with such step-by-step instruction, but they push past their pride to get free of the walls which have enclosed them in their misery. As they hear the instruction as to where to find a foothold, then the next one, and so on, they take the steps in the order they are instructed. In turn, they find themselves leaving the rut behind and breaking out into the light of God's grace. God's favor is his grace - unmerited, undeserved. God opposes the proud - those who stand strong in their own ability - demanding to find their own way. Think of the freedom which comes to the one who is willing to lay down his pride - choosing instead to walk in the humility which opens one to learning from those God has placed in their lives. We are reminded to maintain this posture - one of being both willing to hear the advice (counsel) of those who God places in our lives AND to be open to spurring another on when we finally find ourselves free of the behavior which had us so emotionally, spiritually, or physically bound.

To embrace truth, we must be open to truth. To be open to truth, we must be willing to shed some of the defenses which we have erected in our pride - the defenses that keep us from admitting we need help, much less asking for it. This often means we "suffer through" the transparency of being "real" with another. In so doing, we are choosing to no longer "enable" our own bad behavior, much less that of another. It is in us choosing humility (the laying down of our own stubborn strength), in really laying down our masks of prideful concealment, that we break free. Not sure if you are being "enabled" or are the "enabler" today. I imagine we all have been both at some point! Regardless of our present "role" - let us be willing to shed our masks of pride - opening up to the possibilities of finally living free of the limitations of that pride! In humbling ourselves, we will find ourselves exalted - right into the arms of God's grace! Just sayin!

Above or better? Not!

Lord, have mercy on me...a sinner. Those words speak volumes. When we finally get past our pride and begin to see ourselves realistically, we are on the right path. Pride gets in our way so many times - giving us 'reason' and 'permission' to compare ourselves one with another. This is dangerous because these are faulty comparisons. As I have already said this week - there is no degree to sin - all sin is destructive to us and possibly even to others. Pride is hard to identify in our lives sometimes, but it is indeed a 'big deal'. 

He told his next story to some who were complacently pleased with themselves over their moral performance and looked down their noses at the common people: “Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax man. The Pharisee posed and prayed like this: ‘Oh, God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, crooks, adulterers, or, heaven forbid, like this tax man. I fast twice a week and tithe on all my income.’ “Meanwhile the tax man, slumped in the shadows, his face in his hands, not daring to look up, said, ‘God, give mercy. Forgive me, a sinner.’” Jesus commented, “This tax man, not the other, went home made right with God. If you walk around with your nose in the air, you’re going to end up flat on your face, but if you’re content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself.” (Luke 18:9-14)

There are times when we are so confident WE can do something, but then when we fall on our faces, not accomplishing whatever it was we set out to accomplish we struggle with this thing called 'pride'. Why? WE thought we could do it in our own strength. I have tried many things in the workshop having watched a few YouTube videos of others who actually do woodworking as more than an occasional hobby and my results varied quite a bit. Why? I am not at their level of expertise! Pride is an elevation of ourselves to an unrealistic position. It is us saying we are better than another. When it comes to making some things out of wood, I am okay, but those others online are not just okay - they are doggone great at it!

Anytime we begin to compare, we are putting ourselves higher than another. We say, "At least I am not like...." We may not realize it at first, but we are somehow seeing ourselves as 'better than you'. Nobody does it like me...I am best at this...I am the most informed...I have the best relationship...and the list goes on and on. We don't always realize we are doing this - because some comparison we do is rather unconscious - we do it in our minds without even thinking about. Some of the problems we overlook in ourselves are the very things we focus so closely on in others. This can be a tell-tale sign we are struggling with this 'unconscious' pride thing.

The God we serve is the very one who can handle our failures - nothing separates us from his love. There are times we say we can handle all the stuff that comes up in our lives - but this is pride. We cannot handle life alone - we need to ask for help even when we don't think we need it. Maybe we struggle with pride more than we thought. We are pretty certain we can do life without really asking for direction from anyone - especially God. What a dangerous place to be - to stop taking life to God and doing it all on our own terms. Whenever we feel like we can handle life alone - we sin - and then we begin to feel shame - then we try to cover it up in our pride. See the ugly cycle there?

Pride isn't easy to see, and it can be even harder to acknowledge. We may feel shame, but covering up our failure is never going to work to make us feel any better. Rather than covering up, we need to ask for help. The humble are lifted up - they aren't stepped on by God and pushed even further down into their mire. We are lifted above the mire - not only lifted, but washed clean of the mire. It is one thing to be lifted - it is indeed another to be fully washed clean from the muck and mire of our sin. We all need the help of another - God is our first help and then he places others in our lives to continue to help us - as our accountability partners.

Sin cannot be rationalized. We are not above the rules. We are not able to handle life alone. We aren't always going to like our vulnerability when we confess our sins, but there is nothing more liberating than to get truly 'naked' before God and ask for his help with our pride. Covered up sin is just pride trying to 'dress up' the sin so it isn't as evident. God isn't fooled by the 'dressed up' version of our lives. In fact, he is more comfortable with our nakedness than we are! Just sayin!

A good lesson

The purity of silver and gold is tested by putting them in the fire; the purity of human hearts is tested by giving them a little fame. (Proverbs 27:21)

Praise is definitely one of the things which always puts to the test the integrity of a man or woman. Too much and they could get big heads, making it almost impossible to live with them. Too little and they will have issues with their self-esteem, often forming resentment towards those who receive praise instead of them - like bears woken from their slumber, they will lash out. Just enough and the individual seems to flourish. We all need praise - but do we handle it as we should? We all give praise - but is it sincere? Praise can either be an expression of appreciation, approval, or admiration. With praise, we express our respect, and often our gratitude, for others. When we praise God, we are often showing him both respect and an expression of our thankfulness for all he does and has done for us. When we praise someone else, we may simply be showing how much they mean to us and how much their actions have impacted us in a positive manner.

Praise is like a "barometer" of our true character. We are tested by how we respond to praise - what we "do" with it determines how it affects us. When something is tested, there is a process underway to determine the quality or reliability of the object being tested. Praise reveals both the strength and the integrity of an individual. When praise is received, we have many choices in how we will "accept" it. Some of us in this group will receive it whole-heartedly, almost as though we expected it. I doubt the ore in a furnace ever expects the heat, so beware of being too 'expecting' of praise! In fact, the ore in the furnace undoubtedly has no idea what it is being subjected to - all it knows is it is "hot"! The same may be true of us when receiving praise - we don't know how much "heat" it will bring into our lives! Praise turns up the heat, so to speak, testing every fiber of our integrity. If you have ever struggled with a little bit of pride, you know pride is oftentimes fed by the volume of praise received. Just like a fire in a furnace, if praise is given frequently, the "fire" burns hotter! Praise is a testing of a man's ability to maintain proper focus and balance - some do better than others at this point of finding 'balance'.

Consider the cost of a little fame - it seems insignificant at first, but is it really? Fame is what some may call our "public" reputation. We are told to consider how our public reputation is put to the test whenever we receive words of appreciation, approval, or admiration. In fact, we probably should also consider just how much our hearts are affected by our "giving" of praise! When we are giving praise in the right manner, and with the right motive, we might just find our hearts are built up. When we give praise to manipulate another, or just to share kind words without any really heartfelt motivation behind it, we might begin to feel our hearts getting a little harder as we begin to set ourselves us as "superior" to another. Whenever we give insincere praise, we are hurting both the other person and ourselves. The other person needs honest appraisal, not flattery. We need to be honest - flattery is really a form of dishonesty in any relationship. I am not saying we don't ever say a kind word - I believe we can find good in all people (we may just have to look a little deeper in some than others). We must not use our words of praise as a means of manipulating another. We also must not use them to give another a false sense of security.

So, perhaps we need to take our lead from those who learned to praise well. David was a man with a good sense of how to give and receive praise. He knew the first place his praise was directed would always be to God. Just as he learned to exclaim the repute of his God, he learned to proclaim the goodness of those who were faithful, supportive, and consistent in their walk - men and women of integrity that he surrounded himself with. Paul constantly lifted up the churches who followed hard after Christ. He learned to give them words of praise which encouraged them to seek even harder - to draw even nearer to Christ. These examples remind us praise should be sincere and it must be from a heart that is first focused on Christ. So, praise on! Don't stoke the fire with insincerity, but with genuine respect and appreciation of another. When you do, you are learning to build up another in a positive manner. In so doing, you are helping them to learn to find 'balance' in their own lives - it might just test them a little, but out of every test can come a good lesson. Just sayin!

Help, I'm sinking here!

Selfishness and pride get in the way in our lives way more than we might like to freely admit to each other, but if we are to grow in Christ we do need to acknowledge this fact! The moment we begin to realize there is something at work within us that is in direct opposition to the work of Christ in our lives is the moment we can begin to choose to live differently. It only takes a moment to change a life course, while it takes a lifetime to live it out. Don't believe me? Look upon the parent who lost their child to drugs and tell me it didn't take a moment to change that parent's entire life course, or the single parent left alone to raise her children simply because there was someone more 'appealing' to her husband. A choice made in a moment - a lifetime to live it out. The moment we make a choice is as significant as each step we take beyond those choices, especially when it comes to growing in the grace and love of Christ.

Don’t let selfishness and prideful agendas take over. Embrace true humility, and lift your heads to extend love to others. Get beyond yourselves and protecting your own interests; be sincere, and secure your neighbors’ interests first. In other words, adopt the mind-set of Jesus the Anointed. Live with His attitude in your hearts. (Philippians 2:3-5)

Selfishness and prideful agendas have a way of taking over our lives and even the lives of others we associate with. When we find ourselves 'inward focused', we overlook the impact of our choices on others. We don't even consider the impact those choices will have upon our own lives, either. Why? I think it is probably because our 'inward focus' keeps us from seeing beyond the immediate. Pride has a way of highlighting the immediate and keeping our attention away from the bigger picture. Think for a moment about the last time you 'covered up' a mistake you made in life simply because you were too ashamed to admit it to anyone. What kept you from admitting the mistake? Some of us may say it was fear because we worried that the others in our lives wouldn't accept us or love us any longer if we admitted to the mistake. Others may say it was the sense that nobody really cares about them anyway, so why would they trust another with their short-comings? 

Pride keeps us from admitting where it is we need the help in our lives the most. We don't want to admit it to Christ, but how silly is that since he already knows? I have been asked why we need to tell him we need his help in that area where we struggle if he already knows. I imagine it might be that there is something powerful in admitting that area of need in our lives that is released in us - by acknowledging the need there is this change in our attitude that occurs. Our attitude begins to become one of trusting him for his help instead of us attempting to 'soldier on' in our own futile self-efforts. If we don't want to admit our need to Christ, we certainly don't want others to know about it, so do you begin to see how this simply choice to hold it all in begins to affect our lives? In time, the single choice to hold it in and deal with it ourselves excludes us from the very thing we need to actually break free of it!

Pride keeps us focused on our 'self interest' - we try to preserve self at the expense of overcoming the very thing that is causing us to sink in the first place! Just sayin!

The truth about my pride

Some of us are asked to do things we aren't all that willing to do - especially when we consider the price of what is asked of us. Some will say the price they are asked to pay doesn't equal the reward they will receive from whatever it is they are asked to do. Perhaps someone riddled with cancer asks you to go with them to the doctor for their next update - while inside you are secretly dreading the long waits that cut into your day's plans and the fact you are surrounded by sick people with waning hope that just act to make you a little more than depressed. Maybe you have been asked to give of your time to a ministry at the local church or been 'volun-told' you will be the rep at a local event sponsored by your employer - all the while wondering just how much this is going to "cut into" your "free time". Regardless of what you are asked, you probably occasionally struggle a little with the "price" associated with it, huh? We all struggle when it comes to the price we pay - it is only natural. What we fail to recognize is Christ wants us to move from responding in the natural and beginning to respond in the spiritual - especially when it comes to the 'cost'!

"If you want to give it all you've got," Jesus replied, "go sell your possessions; give everything to the poor. All your wealth will then be in heaven. Then come follow me." That was the last thing the young man expected to hear. And so, crest-fallen, he walked away. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and he couldn't bear to let go. (Matthew 19:21-22)

This rich young ruler was having a hard time with Jesus' response. He had the desire to follow Christ, but the "price" was just too high for him. He left "crest-fallen" because he was "holding on tight to a lot of things, and he couldn't bear to let go." You know, we hold onto a whole lot of stuff - not just the physical stuff, but even the emotional and imagined stuff. Stuff we hold onto tightly becomes the very thing we will consider to be too great a price to pay. Dad helped me secure the best deal on my first 'brand new' car at a local dealership many years ago - then he watched me drive home, following carefully behind while I got used to my shiny new blue Ford Escort. I had never owned a truly new car so this was a big step for me - both in cost and in responsibility. I was probably close to 30 or a little older at the time. I was so delighted with the reliability of my new transportation, having had cars that I regularly had to replace parts on (many times with my own two hands and lots of 'labors of love').

Then came the fateful day when my new car got its first "boo-boo". I took it to one of those oil change places where they do the oil then check every fluid and level known to man. As I drove home, I did not notice anything wrong, but when I got out of the car and walked into the house, I was stopped in my tracks. There on the front left fender was a huge drip pattern where the paint had begun to come off (well, actually it was the top shiny coat). I immediately panicked and began to wipe furiously with a soft cloth. What I came to realize was no amount of rubbing was going to change the fact the brake fluid carelessly dripped there had eaten through the paint. I spent some hard earned money on some various types of polishing creams and waxes, and in time, it was "almost" perfect - but I knew it was still flawed. Now, I tell this story about myself because I want you to know my response. I was "crest-fallen" - my "possession" was now less than perfect. I remember even asking God how HE could have let this happen! A dangerous thing to ask unless you really want the answer!!! In a matter of a few days, he eventually opened my eyes to the fact I was more "proud" of the car than I was in giving him the glory for providing the job that provided the very finances to actually buy it! In fact, I was so focused on showing off the car - with an attitude of extreme pride - I forgot totally to give any honor to him for the job he had miraculously provided which not only provided well for my household as a single mother of two, but allowed such "extravagances".

Often, we know we have a little bit of a wrong focus based on our response to an event that affects the objects of our affection. If our focus is on the object first, what has happened to it and how this affects US, we might just have a little bit of a wrong focus toward the object or ourselves. Often, we hear the last thing we expect to hear - "Ummm....I think your eyes may have been a little more focused on that object than on me." These words are Christ's - deeply affecting our world when they are spoken into our hearts. The object of our affection is also the object of our attention. We stand there dispirited, discouraged, and often depressed. Why? Simply because we realize we are not in the place we want to be as it comes to our relationship with Christ. As I looked at the car fender that day, my eyes began to open to the truth of my pride - a constant companion with me in this journey we call life. If I got less than an "A" on a paper in school, I struggled with my response to it - pride. If I found myself unable to keep up with the demands of a job which could require 12-14 hour days from me AND raising two children on my own, I got down on myself - pride. If my spiritual life was not where I wanted it to be, I bought more books, read more of the Word and prayed harder, but still did not grow much - pride. Now, who would have thought one event could have opened the door to so many issues? When God begins to speak, he rarely stops until it is ALL said!

In short order, God began to bring balance into my life. All through the tiny streaks created by an "corrosive" fluid on the fender of my car. I wonder if God intended something "corrosive" to be the very thing that began to "eat away" at my overwhelming pride? Maybe! You never know the lesson God will use - you just need to be open to the possibilities! I am not saying the battle is won, but today failure is an opportunity for me to learn, not a tragedy to be avoided. Life balance involves time for God (first thing each morning), time for family, and time for others. Work is a means to "finance" my life's enjoyments - ministry, family fun, and even a new video game once in a while! We never know what life-lesson is being taught - but if we are open, he will teach us. Rather than turning away crest-fallen, we will be transformed by his Spirit within us. We just need to be open. Just sayin...

Are you influential?

Andrew Young reminds us, "We rise in glory as we sink in pride." He also reminds us, "Influence is like a savings account. The less you use it, the more you've got." Two seemingly different statements, but there is something that is consistent in both - WE are not to be at the center. Pride may not be what we label our sense of 'importance', or our desire to be 'noticed', but pride is a result of us being a little bit too close to the 'center' in our lives instead of Jesus. Influence is something we might desire to have in life, so those around us are positively affected by whatever it is we say and do. If the reason we desire influence is so that others will take notice of something we have done, pride may be just a little too closely related to what we believe to make us 'influential' in life. The greatest 'influence' comes not in us being noticed, but Christ being noticed IN us.

When you heard that Good News, you believed in Christ. And in Christ, God put his special mark on you by giving you the Holy Spirit that he promised. The Spirit is the first payment that guarantees we will get all that God has for us. Then we will enjoy complete freedom as people who belong to him. The goal for all of us is the praise of God in all his glory. (Ephesians 1:13-14)

We belong to Christ, not the other way around. He sends his living Spirit to reside within us because he is working to change us - moving us from glory to glory. It isn't US doing the work of transforming our lives - it is God IN US doing the work to transform us into his image. Ego at the center really shuts down the work of God in us because the 'rebuilding' of our lives comes to a halt when we take up the work of 'self-transformation'. God asks for us to allow him to do the work of building us up wherever our character needs restoration. The hope of glory exists because God is doing the work of regenerating our spirit. Do you know what it means to have something 'regenerated'? It means there is a complete moral reform that takes place! It means there is a remaking that is taking place to bring about a 'better form'. The 'former' existed, but not to the degree of glory that the 'reformed' will!

Transformation begins in the spirit of man, but then God goes about the work of transforming our souls. This is the life-long reformation work that God undertakes within us - daily helping us to overcome bad habits, giving us new direction on how to make the right choices, and helping us sort out all the 'mess' we find in our lives because we have a sin nature. God doesn't rip out our soul and give us another one - he reforms our soul. He helps us make better choices that reflect he is at the center of our lives. He helps us build one right choice upon another until it becomes habitual that we choose wisely. In time, our soul is transformed - selfish ambitions, prideful choices, and egocentric focus are put aside, replaced with God's intentional purpose, his 'influence' shining through in right actions. 

We don't transform ourselves. We don't create a new image. God is the one who does the transformation that allows the image of his Son to become clearer and clearer in us until the influence we have in life is not ours, but HIS. Just sayin!

So, you will even use my rebellion?

Picture the scene of seas out of control - waves tossing you about like you were a pin pong ball on the surface of the water. The sailors, all highly skilled in their task of steering and controlling the ship with rudder, sail, and their knowledge of the seas - trying desperately to return to shore, making absolutely no headway as they attempt to navigate the churning waters. They look for a "cause" for their present circumstances. They seek out Jonah in the hull of the ship, having "discussed" their circumstances with each other, they were told by him that he was clearly the "cause" of their present danger. Yet, they choose to attempt any other alternative than what he proposed. His proposal - throw me into the sea. I don't know about you, but I have been asked a few time to "throw someone under the bus", but I find the internal struggle with this whole concept just a little unnerving! Giving into the desire to be free of the circumstances and struggling with what may be an 'easy alternative' are common struggles for all of mankind. These sailors did what most of us forget to do - they prayed!

Then they prayed to God, "O God! Don't let us drown because of this man's life, and don't blame us for his death. You are God. Do what you think is best." They took Jonah and threw him overboard. Immediately the sea was quieted down. The sailors were impressed, no longer terrified by the sea, but in awe of God. They worshiped God, offered a sacrifice, and made vows. (Jonah 1:14-16)

God never ceases to amaze me with the many and varied ways he uses to get the message of his power and protection across to his creation. We often don't realize the means God will use until we look back "after the fact" and realize how much God was displaying his power AND his protection in our lives. It is in the "hindsight" where our hard-learned revelation occurs. In all their efforts to escape whatever calamity awaited them if they remained in the storm, they return to Jonah one more time. His answer is the same - throw me overboard. Not exactly the answer I am sure they hoped for at that moment, but the seas are getting more and more miserable to navigate - they are at the end of their rope. They are in a quandary and the only option they have is to PRAY!!! Imagine that! So, they turn to the one they "think" might be willing to listen - the God of Jonah - the one he appears to be running from. After all, it his God which is responsible for the sea's upheaval - at least according to Jonah.

Let's see their prayer a little closer. They turn to the God they really don't serve, but who seems to be in control of their present situation. Many times God uses circumstances to reveal himself - especially to those who don't know him personally already. God had asked Jonah to go to Ninevah because the people there were in need of him and here he stands in the hull of the ship, surrounded by sailors most likely in just as great of a need. Even in Jonah's running away from God, God is using him to touch the lives of people! How is it God can use even our disobedience to speak into the lives of others? I don't really fathom how he does it, but I see it recorded for me over and over in scripture - so I believe it is possible!

They still don't want to throw their newest acquaintance overboard, but he seems to insist this is the only course of action. Look at how they seek to be forgiven even before they take their next step to do as he suggests. Jonah could have said, just turn the ship around, I am heading for Ninevah so God will make this storm quit. It is quite possible his repentance could have calmed the seas. Nope, he insists they throw him into the crashing waves. Why do we find our rebellion such a stronghold in our lives - something we just cannot let go of, getting ourselves deeper and deeper into the thick of it as we continue to hold onto what we clearly need to let go of in the first place? I don't imagine Jonah is alone in his "firmness" of stubborn rebellion. In our rebellion, we frequently don't see any way of escape but to be consumed by that which is a result of our rebellion!

They all agree - it is time to trust Jonah's God to do what "he thinks best". Heathen men, praying to the divine God of the Universe, trust him to "do what he thinks best"! Now, isn't this awesome? God immediately calms the seas and they all stand on the deck of the ship, totally amazed at the power of Jonah's God. I wonder how many actually had the seed of salvation "planted" that day? The power of God on display - the hearts of men changed forever! I don't encourage our rebellion, but I am encouraged God can use even our rebellion as an instrument of grace in the life of another. In the openness about my own rebellion (running from God), others have been touched by the grace of God. I can only imagine how many times God has used our "cumulative" rebellion over the years! We cannot lose sight of what comes next - the sea does not consume Jonah. Herein is where we find our hope - our sin may get us into some pretty wicked messes, but it need not consume us! In our rebellion, God even provides for OUR protection! Run as we might, God still watches over us! Just sayin!