Be a Nathan!

We've all been there. We've all had the friend that claimed to be a believer but was living out a sinful lifestyle. Some, if not most of us, have been that friend at one time. Everyone around us can see the sin but no one wants to speak up for fear of appearing judgmental or intolerant. It is just so much easier to be a yes man. It keeps the peace and it maintains friendships. But, is keeping quiet really the right thing to do?

In recent years I have adopted the saying, “Be a Nathan”. I’m not sure where the saying originated but I’m a fan. We are all called to be Nathans but in our world of tolerance and fear over offending someone, we have sinned by keeping silent. The church is in desperate need of more Nathans. Will you rise to the high calling of what God has set forth by the TRUTH of His word?

In order to best understand who Nathan is we need to go to the portion of scripture that has to do with Nathan – novel idea I know! Turn with me to 2 Samuel 12. Before you read the chapter let me give you a little background on what has taken place to set the stage for Nathan.

In 2 Samuel 11, David has come upon a woman named Bathsheba as she is bathing on her roof top. It says in verse 1 that this was at a time when kings go out to battle. David, as king, was obviously not out to battle. While his men fought for the kingdom of Israel, David stayed at home. When David saw Bathsheba bathing he inquired about her. “Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” The response he got should have been enough to thwart his desire but unfortunately, it was not.

Scripture describes this scenario in James 1:14-15, “But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.” To clarify, lust is not just a sexual desire for someone but can most easily be translated as “a strong desire of the human soul to enjoy or acquire something to fulfill the flesh.” In the case of David, lust was sexual but lust is not always physical in nature.

So David calls for Bathsheba and commits adultery with her knowing that 1)she is a married woman and 2) she is married to one of his soldiers who is out to war. The very next verse, verse 5 says, “The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, and said, ‘I am pregnant.’” Will your sins find you out or will your sins find you out? For David, he didn’t have to wait long to begin to see the hammer fall.

So David concocts a scheme to cover up his sin by calling Uriah in from the battlefield to have some time with his wife. David assumed that Uriah, tired from battle, would have some much needed R&R and then the child could be passed off as his. However, Uriah, being an honorable man declined the invitation and slept at David’s gate because his fellow soldiers were not afforded the same luxury. David attempts to manipulate the circumstances two different times but to no avail. Uriah’s valor could not be corrupted. So David plots to have Uriah killed and even sends Uriah’s death warrant by his (Uriah’s) own hand! Today we would call that
premeditated murder.

Do you see how sin grows in its intensity? Adultery led to lies, corruption and eventually murder. Very rarely does one sin stay within the confines of itself. Sin has a nasty way of growing and demanding more sin in order to cover for the original sin. What is the saying? “Oh what a tangled web we weave when at first we practice to deceive?” I have to give an “Amen” to that one, girls! We close chapter 11 with this verse, “When the time of mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house and she became his wife; then she bore him a son. But the thing that David had done was EVIL in the sight of the Lord.”

Enter Nathan. Please read all of chapter 12.

What does the very first verse of chapter 12 say? Then THE LORD SENT Nathan to David. Nathan was commissioned by the Lord for the very purpose of confronting David over his sin. Now, let me pause here for a second to point out a few things: Nathan was not vengeful in his confrontation. He presented the parable and confronted David with the word of the Lord. Nathan did not give his own opinion and he didn’t berate David. He left room for the Holy Spirit to convict.

So, what is meant by the statement, “Be a Nathan?” We are responsible as believers to lovingly confront sin in the lives of other believers. As the world has continued to beat the drum of tolerance, the church has conceded. We have sinned by allowing immorality to not only be tolerated but also to be paraded. We have pacified ourselves under the mantra of love for our own comfort all the while the name of Christ is being blasphemed.

Now that we have seen an Old Testament example of confrontation of sin, what does the New Testament have to say? In his first letter to the Corinthian church, Paul addresses a situation of immorality within the church among one of its members. In 1 Cor. 5: 1-13, Paul is instructing them on how to deal with sin among believers. In verses 11a, 12b, 13b, Paul says this, “I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person. Do you not judge those who are within the church? Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.”

Girls, unbelievers are to be evangelized but believers who claim the name of Christ and are practicing unrepentant sin are to be confronted. Not for the purpose of pointing out someone’s failures, not for the satisfaction of being able to say, “I told you so” but for the purpose of maintaining purity within the bride of Christ so that the name of the Lord is not shamed. Sin is serious business in my life and in yours. Sin cost the precious Lamb of God His life. We should be jealous for the costly blood that was shed to pay for our sin and for the name that is above every name; our Savior, our bridegroom, our Life and our Resurrection!

Have you ever felt righteous anger? Have you ever been jealous for the name of the Lord? I’m talking about seeing purity in the church, purity among the people who claim the name of Christ and a hatred of sin that defiles everything it touches. Paul said, “a little leaven leavens the whole lump.” In modern day terminology you would say, “you lay down with dogs, you get up with fleas.” In other words, there is no such thing as a little sin. Sin contaminates everything. Just as it only takes a drop of poison to make water that was once pure, deadly; such is the nature of sin.

I write all of this to spur each of us on to restore our sisters in Christ to a purity of life that is for their good and for God’s glory. When we confront for the purpose of restoration we are doing right by our sisters: “If your sister sins, go and show her her fault IN PRIVATE; if she listens to you, you have won your sister” (Matt. 18:15).

In closing, I want to point out a few things that are necessary in the understanding of what it does and does not look like to “be a Nathan” (all taken from the context of Matthew 18):

1) Check your own heart first! Confronting another believer over sin is so serious that scripture warns us to watch ourselves lest we fall into temptation. This is not a time for you to wave the banner of the “brutality of rightness”. This is what I mean – if it would bring you joy to confront this person over their sin then you are not the one to go! The person who is almost sick over it should be the one. It should grieve you to have to confront this sister and you should solely be motivated by love. Is your motive to tear down or restore?

2)The goal should always be restoration! When the shepherd pursues the lost sheep that has gone astray, he is seeking to restore that sheep to the fold. When Nathan confronted David, David’s response is a picture of what we should be praying and hoping will occur. David immediately repented and was restored. This is why David, even though his sins were great, was called, “a man after God’s own heart.” David was always contrite over his sin and moved quickly to repent. Psalm 51 is his response to this confrontation by Nathan. Oh that all would go this way and be restored!

3)Stick to the truth of scripture. You must be able to have a biblical basis for the sin.

4)DO NOT confront on hearsay!!
Scripture says to go PRIVATELY! The first time you confront it should be done in private. This is not a time for majority rules, a gossip session or strength in numbers. The good of the person you are confronting should be the primary concern – not your pride.

5)Lastly and most important, leave room for the Holy Spirit! Often times we expect immediate responses of conviction like David. Sometimes that happens but most often there is anger as an initial response. Do your part but then you must leave conviction to the Holy Spirit and timing of God. I have seen people who are confronted and years later are broken and repentant. Never underestimate God’s providence.

Is this hard? Yes! Does this take courage? Yes! Is this pleasing to the Lord? Yes! The hard thing is more often than not the right thing! Be a Nathan, ladies, be a Nathan!

The Gospel in Death

It is only appropriate that I begin this post by saying, “Thank you!” I am speechless (which doesn’t happen often) over the expressions of love poured out on our family during the passing of my father-in-law. I wonder if there is any more accurate picture of the body of Christ than in a time of loss. Just as in our own bodies, when something is hurt, the entire body feels the pain and works to aid the ailing part. We have experienced others bearing our pain and rushing in to minister to our hurt! Paul speaks to this in his second letter to the church at Corinth:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer.  Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.” 2 Cor. 1:3-7

The death of a loved one is never an experience that we look forward to but death is certain for all of us. Scripture says, “It is appointed unto man once to die and then the judgment.” However, for the believer, death is the final miracle, the ultimate grace and the complete restoration of our souls. In fact, the greatest thing that can happen to a believer is death because it is the means by which our struggle with sin is finished and our faith is made sight!

I love the passage in 1 Corinthians 15:55, “O Death where is your victory? O Death, where is your sting?” The writer is taunting death as a bee that has lost its venom, its power...its dread.

This was the first time in my life I had simultaneously felt the deep sense of grief and the fluttering quell of joy over death. I had such a sense of rejoicing within my spirit. But I wasn't rejoicing over a life well lived, I wasn't rejoicing over suffering that had ceased...I was rejoicing in Jesus! In His gospel and His saving grace!

Earlier that week before we took the kids to see their PawPaw for the last time on this earth I quickly turned to them and said, "You know, we talk a lot about Jesus in this house. We talk a lot about the gospel and sin and the need for a Savior. This is why! THIS is why Jesus died! This is why the gospel is good news! You are seeing the gospel lived out right before you and it is never more clearly spoken then in death!"

You see, sin brings death! But praise God, Jesus tasted death in order that we might have life! Jesus said so clearly, "I AM the Resurrection and the Life! Whoever believes in me though he die, yet shall he live" (John 11:25). Wednesday morning, I went into my children, confidently and boldly proclaiming that their PawPaw was with Jesus and that yes, he lives! This is why we do not sorrow as those who have no hope! PawPaw had placed his faith in Jesus Christ and the gospel was a reality for him at 4:05a.m. on February 22, 2012. All that he had hoped for, lived for and placed his faith in were all a glorious reality in the blink of an eye.

Beloved, what you think of Jesus in this life is all that truly matters. We make life so complicated. We worry and fret and as Jesus told Martha, we "are troubled over many things." But when death comes to call all that matters in that instant is Jesus. It comes down to Him. Today is the day of repentance. Today is the day of faith!

"What will you do with Jesus? Neutral you cannot be. For one day He will be saying, 'what will I do with thee?'"

The Wilderness of Singleness

Okay, I have a confession: I don’t think singleness is a curse…anymore. Yikes! I feel like I should apologize to the Nancy Lee DeMoss’ of the world and to every single woman (or man) that I have ever said, “So, who are you seeing right now?” I confess that I have often felt sorry for people who were without a spouse and would “keep my eyes and ears open” for them in hopes that I might be able to successfully find a match.

Just the terminology is so much like laundry…like we are searching for a lost sock in the midst of a sea of towels, pants and unmentionables! Admittedly, I was happy with my marital status and thought that in order for others to be happy that they must enter into this communal fellowship of wedded bliss, have a few kids and get a mortgage. I would find myself saying things to God like, “Please bring so and so a mate” or “If she only had a husband than this situation wouldn’t be so hard on her.”

The interesting thing is that a lot of singles feel this way themselves; like they are an anathema, a subculture, an anomaly of some sort that never achieve the level of contentment and completeness that married people do. The Lord has strategically placed singles in my life and I often try to avoid subjects pertaining to married life – things like my husband, my kids…my life, really, assuming that this will rub salt in a wound that may or may not even be there!

Then, one day I came across the title of a study called, “Waiting for God’s Best” and I was struck with the pervasive attitude that singleness is a curse. No boy? No man? No ring? No significant other? Poor girl! In the very next thought the Holy Spirit smacked me – yes, smacked me with this question, “What if singleness is God’s best?” Doesn’t scripture say that God gives only good things (James 1:17)? Then why are we to assume that where we are now is not His best, that we must WAIT for Him to be good to us? I don’t buy it!

I write a lot about Israel, especially from the Pentateuch (fancy word for the first 5 books in the Bible – also known as “the books of the Law”…little Bible trivia to start your day!). I am drawn into the lives of people who resemble…people! I may not have been enslaved in a foreign land, wandered in an actual desert or been taken captive by pagan nations but I have experienced all of those things spiritually. And, my reactions were no different from the Israelites. It is a running joke in our house that I would have been a great Israelite! Meaning I would have fit right in!

There are many seasons of my life where I feel like I am in the wilderness and sometimes I am. However, there are seasons where I THINK I am in the wilderness but my perspective is all wrong. The Lord gave clear reasons for the wilderness wanderings. He says in Deuteronomy 8:2, “You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that he might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.”

So, sometimes the Lord places us in “wilderness” situations in order to humble us and test us, to see the genuineness of our hearts. I submit to you that singleness is not one of those situations! In other words, singleness is not a curse or punishment or trial or even a wilderness. The Israelites were being punished for their disobedience in not trusting the Lord so they spent 40 years wandering aimlessly, waiting anxiously for the whole experience to be over so they could move on to the Promised Land.

Admittedly, there are times when we wander aimlessly in singleness waiting for the whole experience to be over so that we can move on to the Promised Land of marriage. In this, we treat singleness as a wilderness. To make matters worse, the church seems to not know what to do with singleness any more than the world does. We express our attitudes and discomfort by creating “programs” for singles to mingle, meet and hopefully marry.

I confess my guilt in this and my own lack of trust in the providence of God to chose some for marriage and some for singleness. The truth is, if we are meant to be married then there will not be a single plan of the enemy to thwart God’s purpose or His timing. The same is true if we are meant to be single.

So, I want to end by speaking first to the church as a whole, filled with married people. Singles are part of the body of Christ! They are our sisters and brothers and they should be treated as part of the whole. They are not a sub-culture meant to be lumped together for the purpose of finding a mate. They are to be grafted in regardless of what the left ring finger indicates. We have got to stop trying to play God in matchmaking, constantly mentioning the presence of another single within the church congregation and overall keeping a watchful eye on their love life! We wouldn’t do this to any other part of their lives! Let’s not be guilty of perpetuating a complex that shouldn’t even be there to begin with!

Now to singles: I want you to know if you are single that I am not minimizing your feelings. I know that many of you have a deep desire to be married and want nothing more than to be a mother and a wife. I also know that the feeling towards me as a married woman could be less than kind. I don’t write this to pour salt in a wound, point out the obvious or make you feel “less than”.

I was single once too. I wasn’t any happier about being single than some of you are right now however, I wish I had realized that it wasn’t a curse. God was working through those years and I wasted it! Wasted time I could have been serving and growing and basically being obedient but instead I look back at them as years of discontent, disappointment and STUPID decisions. Stupid decisions birthed out of desperation to make any man who came along “the one”; to see myself as valued and worthy only through my relationship status; never living life to its fullest!

Girls please know that we serve a GOOD God! He is good to you right now! He loves you as much as He loves any attached woman out there. Your singleness is not a curse, not a gift, not a cross to bear, not a time to make you into the right person or even a time to wait for God’s best. Your singleness is not who you are. Your relationship with the Lord is not based on your marital status; as if being married is a higher state of sanctification and blessing from the Lord.

Remember, the marriage covenant is temporal and does not bring the kind of contentment that the media, the movies or your girlfriends would have you believe it does. Be content is all things for “godliness with contentment is great gain!” God is using you and loving now as He will for eternity…whether there’s a man or not! But, any man who will come after you…let him!

Hacking Sin to Pieces

Isn’t that a fabulous word? Hacking. It is a power word that evokes strong images of totally destroying something one blow at a time…with effort! Have you ever wanted to hack something to pieces? If you are a woman then I would say, yes, you probably have! If you are a wife then the odds go up that yes, you probably have. I did say some THING not some ONE. Don’t judge me! You know it is true so don’t go lying against the Holy Spirit! Ha! I digress…

So the entire first month of 2012 is gone and we are already anticipating the first hints of spring. It is at this point I would be interested to see how we are all fairing with our New Years resolutions. What was it that you were hoping to accomplish or diminish or lose? Did you are take a spiritual inventory as well? Committing to read the Bible every day or reading through the Bible in 2012? For some it might have been committing scripture to memory or finally dealing with sins that are hanging out and hanging on. You know what I mean. Those sins that just need to be dealt with once and for all!

There are many reasons why we hang on to our sin. For some of us it is pride, for others, if we are honest, it brings us a measure of pleasure, even happiness for a season. Sometimes it is greed, selfishness or just a plain lack of self-discipline.
Sin is pernicious that way. You can’t make friends with it, you can’t keep it pushed down and you can’t straddle the fence with an on again, off again attitude. You just have to kill it by hacking it to pieces!

I was reading yesterday out of 1 Samuel 15 about the story of King Saul vs. King Agag of the Amalekites. The Amalekites had opposed Israel as they were fleeing Egypt. You might be familiar with the story as the one where Aaron and Hur held up Moses arms. Even though Israel secured the victory, the Lord promised that He would eventually take vengeance and “completely blot out the memory of Amalek under heaven” (Exodus 17:14). Well, as far as God’s promises, He’s batting a thousand!

I’m sure by the time the events between Saul and Agag came around that the Amalekites had either forgotten God’s promise or they thought that Israel’s God was impotent. They would quickly think again! In 1 Samuel 15:3 God gave complete instruction to Saul in how to deal with the Amalekites: “Now go and attack the Amalekites and completely destroy everything they have. Do not spare them. Kill men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys.”

No gray areas there. But verse nine shows Saul’s complete disregard for God’s command. “Saul and the troops spared Agag and the best of the sheep, cattle and fatlings, as well as the young rams and the best of everything else. They were not willing to destroy them, but they did destroy all the worthless and unwanted things.”

Did you catch the beginning of the second sentence? “They WERE NOT WILLING”…This wasn’t about a misunderstanding, this was plain disobedience. Now girls, there are things that we do unintentionally out of a sinful default mode but when we are blatant about our disobedience then we are walking a dangerous road! Scripture is clear that we are held accountable based on what we know! If you know something is wrong but choose to do it anyway there is stricter judgement to answer to! Saul learned this the hard way.

You can almost hear the thought process that Saul is going through as he justifies his disobedience to Samuel. “God would want us to keep what is best and give some to Him. He’s okay with most of the people and livestock being destroyed. Surely a few animals and one man can’t hurt.” Wow! Isn’t that a total picture of humanity? We are very careful to justify those “little” sins here and there that remain in our lives. The occasional gossip session, the little white lie, the night of fun here and there, the sick day because we are sick of work, the wandering gaze or the lingering lustful thought that we privately entertain. Just as cancer begins with one cell so are the sins that we deem as trivial and easily brush under the rug.

However, God is not ambivalent about ANY of our sin. From a human perspective He could have left things as they were with Saul and Agag. Saul had almost fulfilled the task that God had given to Him. Isn’t “almost” good enough?

Ladies, we do not serve an “almost” God. God has never and will never do anything in part. When He sent His Son to die, Jesus completed the mission in total obedience. The Lord expects nothing less from us! In our commitment and obedience to Him He expects us to go all the way and He has equipped us by His Holy Spirit to complete the task! Straddling the fence causes nothing but splinters!

Consequently, God took the kingship from Saul and commanded Samuel to “hack Agag to pieces.” I have to imagine that Samuel, as a prophet, took no delight in the task set before him. In the end, Saul was sorry for his own demise but he wasn’t sorry for His disobedience. That’s the difference between regret and repentance. My Mom used to say to me when I was younger, “You’re not sorry, you’re sorry you got caught!” Oh, that we would be filled with sorrow over our sin and grieve the smallest offense; for even these things sent the precious Lamb of God to the slaughter!

Monday Meditations

Every Monday I always take the time to write down things that the Lord is teaching me. I find it is easy to reflect on the previous week through the messages on Sunday. Usually whatever it is that I am currently studying or "hung up" on will come full circle on Sundays. This has become a way for me to remember and nail down some lessons or lightbulb moments because the old memory isn't what she used to be!

I have been thinking for a while that I would share them with you so that maybe you could glean a little something from what the Lord is teaching me. Hey, if you can learn from somebody else without having to take the fieldtrip, why not? Some of these things will be simple thoughts that seem random others will be more in depth and follow a pattern. I hope you enjoy and maybe start your own list of "Monday Meditations!"

Meditations for Monday, January 23,2012:

One of the most important things to learn in times of trial is to keep moving forward. So often trials paralyze us or keep us so occupied that we cannot focus on anything else.
What a great tactic of the enemy! God is teaching us perseverance but the enemy wants to keep us paralyzed. (Blog post for sure!)

Jesus is Lamb and Shepherd, Servant and Lord, Judge and Executed...

Nothing proves genuine or valuable unless it is tested...

Stumbling block: any person or thing by which one is drawn into sin or error. Also known as an "idol".

Scripture Meditation: 1 Peter Chapter One

Happy Monday! May you grow in grace this week!

Disappointed: Day Five

I hope that you have enjoyed this study. I pray that it has been as beneficial for you as it has for me. I feel like this has been my life’s story for the past four years, maybe longer. If I’m honest I would say that I probably have felt disappointed with God for the better part of ten years I just wasn’t able to admit it. It’s a miserable place. You are stuck between the knowledge that God is good and BELIEVING that He is in spite of your circumstances. There are many things that we have knowledge about but we can’t get that knowledge from our heads to our hearts. If I’ve learned anything at all, I’ve learned that sometimes you have to make the right choice with your head and allow your heart to catch up! Submitting our will to the will of God is never easy but the rewards are immeasurable. God is always for obedience, you can take that to the spiritual bank!!

We have already seen that Joseph was not short on obedience and that he believed God in spite of his circumstances. There is so much more to the story of Joseph than we have time to get to but I do encourage you to read the rest of the book of Genesis to get the full picture. For our last lesson read Genesis 41: 50-57; 42:1-8; 45:1-15

Why did Jacob send his sons to Egypt?

What was Joseph’s response to his brothers?

Through a series of CIRCUMSTANCES that God orchestrated in an entire nation, Joseph and his brothers were reunited. I cannot even begin to tie all of the strings together that form this thread but I want to focus in on the totality of Joseph’s life. When we met Joseph he was a young man at the vibrant age of 17. When we meet back up with him in chapter 45 he is a middle aged man, humbled and disciplined by years of disappointments, discouragements and despair. By now, Joseph is 39 and has spent the majority of his life in Egypt. He has been in Egypt longer than he was at home. He spent the first 13 years in prison before the Lord providentially moved to set him free. We have seen intimately how he handled all of the plans that the Lord had for him; from the darkest dungeon to the highest honors. I think it is fair to say that he handled all of his circumstances with a humble trust in a sovereign God.

But how would he react coming face to face with his perpetrators? How would he deal with them given the opportunity for revenge? Don’t forget that Joseph was in a position to do whatever he wanted with his brothers. They were on his turf and if he had allowed emotions, bitterness or hatred to motivate his actions then he could have exacted revenge. He certainly had the power to do so. But he CHOSE not to. He CHOSE mercy instead.

Oh girls, what a picture of the God that we serve! Who is a God like ours that changes the hearts of people from bitterness to mercy! Who is a God like ours that has mercy upon our souls in salvation instead of exacting due payment for our sin? God has the power to show mercy or to avenge. He has chosen mercy for today but that will not always be the case. One day He will chose to avenge His great name and He will pour out His wrath on all who will not believe. Today is the day of mercy, today is the day of repentance. Won’t you seek repentance and fall on His mercy before it is too late?

You know, there is so much to see here but I want to bring this all home in four points:
1) We all have a choice to make. We either choose to believe God is good or that He isn’t. Regardless, we are choosing. I want to challenge you with something though; if you say God isn’t good but claim Him as Savior then you have some searching to do. God didn’t send His Son to save you for all eternity and then make you miserable every day until you get there. He doesn’t work like that and there is no scriptural basis for that kind of thought process. The other thing I want you to consider is why would you proclaim, promote and serve a God that you ultimately do not believe is good? You see, when we really start to THINK about what we believe and why we believe it, there are so many contradictions! Let’s address the spiritual contradictions in our lives. Test your beliefs against the pages of scripture and then CHOOSE truth! It is only when our truth is overcome by THE truth that we find freedom!!

2)Scripture says that, “God remembers our frame He knows that we are dust.” In our human frailty we have no scope! Actually, we probably have less than no scope! Our perspective is limited to the past. We have no knowledge of the future aside from what scripture proclaims. Our perspective is limited to our own experience. Although we might have some knowledge about what is going on in the lives of other people we can never fully know what is going on in their hearts. But God, who has “all of the intents of our hearts laid bare before Him” is intimately aware and He is doing “heart work” in the lives of all people! For some it is a hardening but for His children it is surgery through our circumstances that cleans, strengthens and sanctifies. You will never know all of what God is up to and you will never be able to figure it out! God was working in the life of Joseph and his brothers and at the right time he moved to reunite them. The result was complete forgiveness, restoration and preservation of God’s chosen people through the famine! What a mighty God we serve!

3)God expects us to exercise faith in all of our circumstances. Scripture says over and over, “The just shall live by faith” and “without faith it is impossible to please God.” If we had all the details from beginning to end there would be no need for faith. Besides, I think if we knew everything from beginning to end we wouldn’t be able to handle it! Faith fuels the Christian walk. It is the energy that propels us into deeper waters and greater riches in the person of Jesus Christ. God wants nothing more than for us to find Him more satisfying, more delightful and more enjoyable than anything or anyone else. He will go after the things that keep us from getting to this point and do whatever it takes to loosen our grip…for our good!

4)Finally, hardship prepares us to leave this world. Trials wear us down and wear us out! Sin, temptation, testing and doing battle with the enemy of our souls is exhausting. The world has so much to offer that doesn’t offer much! If we become comfortable here we will never long for the glorious eternity that awaits us. We will settle as C.S. Lewis said, “for making mudpies instead of a holiday by the sea!” God is not content to let us settle! He does want the very best for us because He gives us the very best…Himself!

Beloved, don’t spend your years believing the lie that God is disappointing! It is so very far from the truth! If this is your present reality then hang on until the blessing comes!

Joseph did this very thing. He continued to believe God even when he couldn’t make sense of His circumstances. Through all of the seeming misfortune, God brought Joseph, his brothers and his father Jacob to live in Egypt. He preserved His chosen people through the sin and deception of Joseph’s brothers, the dream of a pagan king and the blight of a severe drought. Sin, pagans and natural disaster could not thwart God’s overarching purpose! God’s plans cannot be thwarted and no weapon formed against you shall prosper! However, it was Joseph, in the end, as he reflected on all that had happened to him that summed it up best: “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good!” Indeed He did, yes, He did!

Disappointed: Day Four

We mentioned yesterday the importance of God’s timing in orchestrating events in our lives. One of my favorite quotes on the sovereignty and timing of God comes from John Piper. He states, “God is always doing a million things at one time that we cannot know or see.” How true! We are limited in our scope so we have a tendency to think that God is only doing one thing…and that one thing ultimately has to do with us…and He’s taking His own sweet time!

God is never late, He’s rarely ever early but His record for being on time is perfect! Today we will begin to see how the delay in God’s timing in regards to Joseph was the difference between feast or famine, literally! Read Genesis 41: 1-49

How many years had gone by since the cupbearer forgot Joseph?

How long did it take Joseph to be released and made second in command?

Wow! We covered a lot of ground in that chapter. Don’t you wish that our lives progressed that quickly? Especially in times of testing, tribulation and distress? It is so much easier to read about someone else’s experience when we are able to know how it all ends. It isn’t quite as simple when we live it day in and day out! Let’s not rob men and women in scripture of their humanity. It was just as difficult for them. They felt the great swells of emotion that we feel from the depths of despair to the heights of great joy.

Joseph was no less human than you and I. I have no doubt that there were days when he was discouraged but scripture intentionally does not dwell on his misfortune. Possibly because “one day with the Lord is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.” God knew that Joseph’s story would not end in the dungeon. His time there was only a brief interlude in God’s plan for his life.

However, as we read verse one in light of the last verse in chapter 40, we are struck afresh with the agony that Joseph must have felt when he realized that relief was delayed, maybe forever. Scripture is descriptive in telling us that “at the END of two FULL years” Pharaoh had a dream. Two years when you are reminiscing seems inconsequential. Two years when you are in the midst of serious circumstances is a very long time!

Well, that cupbearer finally found some gingko and got knocked in the head by the Holy Spirit, praise the Lord! We don’t know for sure what prompted him to speak after holding his peace for this long but at just the right time he got a clue! Look at the wording in verse 14, “then Pharaoh sent and called for Joseph and they HURRIEDLY brought him out of the dungeon. Just like that, God had moved and Joseph was free.

It is always fascinating to me in reflecting on the past how one day before the Lord moves we have no idea that deliverance is just a day away. Would we live life so differently if we knew deliverance was coming tomorrow? One day, deliverance IS going to be tomorrow. How do you know if that tomorrow is not on the heels of today? It only takes a moment for weeping to turn into joy.

For Joseph, the weeping turned to joy within a matter of a few hours. He opened his eyes in the dungeon but would close his eyes that night in a palace. I often wonder what would have been his fate had the cupbearer remembered him two years earlier? He may or may not have been granted freedom from his imprisonment but what would have been his future? Another few years as a servant in the house of a government official? Some kind of indentured servitude? Only God could have written this story and only God was able to see it through. That, ladies, is God’s sovereignty.

Do you remember the definition of sovereignty? All things are under God’s rule and control, and that nothing happens without His direction or permission. God has the right and the power to rule and control everything!

In yesterday’s post I mentioned a portion of a scripture from Isaiah 30:18. I like the way the ESV phrases it best: “Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore He exalts Himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.” Sometimes, actually more often than not, the Lord waits to be gracious to us. But, in the next line we get a clue as to why He waits by the word “therefore”. I have learned anytime you see that word you need to ask yourself what is it “there for?” Usually the answer is in the verses proceeding. Something like cause and effect. In this case, the cause: God waiting to be gracious to you; the effect: He exalts Himself to show mercy to you. Conclusion: When God waits to be gracious to you He is exalting Himself in order that He show mercy to you. In other words, when God is exalted then we receive mercy! What an amazing concept!

Scripture tells us that God is able to do all things and He is able to do whatever He wants, whenever He wants. He has the ability to show grace to us at any time or to change our situation instantly, as we have seen with Joseph. However, most of us are intimately aware that there is usually nothing quick about a trial. If God instantly fixed every issue would there be room for display of His mercy and grace?

When testing becomes “long in the tooth” the deliverance is that much sweeter. What exalts the glory of God to an unbelieving world? A trial that ends quickly with little or no discomfort or a lengthy trial that puts our faith and our God on display? So it was in Joseph’s case. Through his obedience he exalted the faithfulness of his God through unfair and difficult circumstances. Potipher saw it, Potipher’s wife saw it, the jailer, the other prisoners, the cupbearer, the baker, countless others and eventually Pharaoh.

You see, our trials are never just about us and how we deal with those trials are never just about us. God has made us to have relationship and connect with others in order that we be light and salt to an unbelieving world as well as encouragement to other believers. When God calls us to Himself we are relinquishing our rights to our own desires and submitting those to the perfect will of a sovereign God. He has purposed to use us for His glory and His kingdom…we don’t get a say in how that looks!

Being disappointed with God stems from a lot of things: rebellion, pride, unbelief but ultimately it comes down to trust. Do you trust the Lord? I’m not asking do you understand or are you comfortable. I’m asking do you completely trust that God really is good and that He only has good for you? This is a critical question and one that we will dive into tomorrow.

For now, I will leave you with this: Joseph waited on the Lord through much discouragement, disappointment and despair but rose to second in command in a matter of a few hours. He was given all authority in Egypt and there was no one greater than him except Pharaoh. Do you think his circumstances had groomed him for his future? Do you think he would have been ready for this kind of responsibility at 17? It says in 1 Peter 5:6, “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due time.” Joseph had indeed humbled himself but it didn’t come cheap, easy or quickly. “For the Lord is a God of justice! Blessed are all those who WAIT for HIM!”

Disappointed: Day Three

I hope that you have been thinking about our lesson yesterday. It is vitally important that we look at the cross instead of our circumstances when determining how God feels about us. Otherwise, we wind up on a circumstantial roller coaster that is driven by our emotions. We cannot base our theology on things that are temporal, material or earthly. We must find our root in the eternal, unchanging character of a holy God as defined on the pages of scripture.

One thing I want to emphasize before we begin today is this: You can never underestimate the power and authority of scripture in your life! It says in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness; so that the woman of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” How can the breath of God not change us? It brought life to Adam’s lifeless body! What more can we need in life than teaching, reproof, correction and training? It is all contained in the Bible. You cannot improve on God’s word! Furthermore, it promises to make us complete and equipped for every good work. Jesus knows if there is one thing that I ask for on a regular basis it is to be equipped for all that He has called me to do. But, it doesn’t happen by osmosis! We have to be diligent about searching the scriptures daily, committing verses to memory so that “the word of God is near to you, in your heart and in your mouth, that you may observe it” (Deut. 30:14)

Well, poor Joseph! If it isn’t one thing then it’s another! Sold into slavery unjustly and now accused of sexual assault by his boss’s wife! The world would say he could definitely use a change of luck or fate just isn’t on his side! Joseph, however, didn’t see things according to his circumstances but he kept entrusting himself to Him who judges righteously. Rather than seeking exoneration from men, he continued to trust God for his deliverance. Unfortunately, just when it seemed that things couldn’t get any worse….

Read Genesis 40: 1-23

Who were the two officials now imprisoned with Joseph?

Who was to be released and who was to be hanged?

What did the cupbearer do in v. 23?

I have to take a minute to point out something that struck me as funny while I was reading this chapter. It says in verse 7 that Joseph asked these men “Why are your faces so sad today?” Ha! Nevermind the fact that they were in prison and likely to be hanged at any minute! When you are preparing the Pharaoh’s food and drink you better be above board all the time, if not, that could mean disaster for both you and Pharaoh! Can’t you just picture Joseph as the guy who is the eternal optimist? If you are like me( the opposite of the optimist) you almost hate to see these people coming – especially when you’ve had a bad day! There is a difference between encouragement and you-just-don’t-get-it-do-you? I think Joseph got it; he just made an intentional choice to keep his proverbial chin up!

Oneiromancy (try saying that three times quickly or even once quickly for that matter!) is the science or practice of interpreting dreams. This particular profession flourished in Egypt under their pagan religious practices because dreams were thought to determine the future. Joseph and Daniel were the only two Israelites that were given the ability to interpret dreams. Both were very careful to give credit to the Lord for their ability and accuracy. The Lord used both of them at critical times, serving under pagan monarchs, to interpret dreams.

Joseph, upon giving his favorable interpretation to the cupbearer, quickly took advantage of an opportunity that could lead to his release by petitioning the cupbearer, “only keep me in mind when it goes well with you and please do me a kindness by mentioning me to Pharaoh and get me out of this house” (v. 14). You see, Joseph knew that if anyone had the ear of the king it would be the man handing him his cup multiple times a day. It seemed like such a small favor to ask of a man who would see the light of day very soon. But verse 23 is a stark reality for Joseph, “yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.”

My mind races through a myriad of emotions. The despair and discouragement Joseph must have felt are almost palpable. I can imagine that for the first few days after the cupbearer’s release anytime Joseph heard footsteps approaching the dungeon he was flooded with excitement thinking this might be his time. After a few weeks, his anticipation grew dim and gave way to the darkness of the dungeon. Months came and went but freedom was nowhere to be found.

Oh, the disappointment with God! And oh, the anger toward the cupbearer! How could he repay the kindness shown to him with such disregard? Here is a man that had been freed and all that was asked of him was a simple petition to Pharaoh; yet he FORGOT!

Have you ever been in a situation where you were relying so heavily on another person for your happiness, your welfare, your future, your release? How often do we place these expectations on another person? We look to our parents, our friends, our co-workers, our bosses, our husbands, our boyfriends, our children, our pastors, our churches to fix it! I have found myself weeping to my husband over our circumstances and him asking me “What do you want me to do?” To which I have pointedly replied, “I want you to fix it!” Just like a child with a hurt that runs to her mother. Unfortunately, the hurts get bigger as we get older and the quick fixes of a band-aid and a kiss no longer hold the same magic that they use to.

When we find ourselves in situations where we are stuck - and Joseph was stuck – the world has a lot of advice but nothing strong enough to support us in the raging storm. No ballast for our ragged sails. The world would tell us to reach within ourselves and try harder. The world would tell us to get revenge on the cupbearer the next time we had the opportunity. The world would tell us that it never pays to look out for someone else above yourself; it’s a dog-eat-dog world! Lastly, the world would tell us that we have just had some bad luck and our luck will eventually change.

If you have learned anything by now I hope that you have learned that there is no such thing as luck or fate. There is only One who controls our lives, who holds times and seasons in His hands! He says in Daniel 5:23, I am “the God in whose hand are your life-breath and all your ways”. If every breath that I take is dependent upon a sovereign God then how can I believe there is anything left to fate? If the hairs of your head are numbered (Matt. 10:30), your name is inscribed on His palms (Is. 49:16) and He collects your tears in a bottle (Ps. 56:8) then how are your days left to chance? They are not, beloved, they are not!

Everything that happens to you is in His hands and you can rest assured that He makes no mistakes but timing is everything. Scripture talks repeatedly of waiting on the Lord. “They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength” (Isaiah 40:31). Scripture also says that the Lord “waits to be gracious to us” (Isaiah 30:18ESV). Joseph’s situation was not the result of an inept cupbearer but a providential God.

When you hear that, what is your initial reaction? Are you comforted or anxious? Do you realize that the good and the bad are all instruments in the hands of a divine Carpenter who is shaping us to look like Christ? This is where the rubber meets the road. This is where we learn that maybe our theology has been mixed with a little bit of the world’s philosophy.

We have come to associate love with comfort, sentimentality and good feelings. When something hurts or does not feel good then we believe that this is not love. We have defined love as a feeling rather than an action. Remember the scripture from yesterday that said, “God DEMONSTRATED His love for us in this: that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” Love is an action. There used to be a D.C. Talk song called “Love is a verb.” This is true. I love the people around me by doing for them not merely talking about it.

At the beginning of this series I brought up the statement that many of us identify with the thought “God is not good.” We have been able to say this based on how we define love. Where we have gone wrong is not only in the definition of love but also in how we understand God’s love. James MacDonald says, “God’s love is not a pampering love. God’s love is a perfecting love.” Do you get that? His ultimate love for us is making us into the image of Jesus not making us comfortable. After all, Jesus wasn’t comfortable and He was God!

As we draw to a close for the day, let me encourage you. I know these are hard sayings. This is not for the faint of heart. Scripture even confirms in Hebrews 12:11 that “all discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” Sweet one, I want you to realize that there is never a reason for us to be disappointed in the Lord. He has only good for us if we will hold on! Indeed, the Lord waits to be gracious to us. His timing is everything.

Disappointed: Day Two

When we left yesterday Joseph was on his way to Egypt because of an evil plot from his brothers that was silently underwritten by the mighty hand of God. Although God is not the author of sin, He still has authority over it! We looked at the definition of God’s sovereignty and how it is vital to our spiritual walk to begin to accept His providence in all things. We also learned that all testing, trial and tribulation brought on by our circumstances is ultimately filtered through the hand of the Almighty.

It is good for us to lay the proper foundation in order to handle the twists and turns we will encounter as we move through our study. One such turn awaits us today. Read Genesis 39: 1-20.

Who was Potiphar? What was Joseph in charge of? Why?

Upon arrival in Egypt, the Midianites didn’t sell Joseph to just anybody. Joseph was sold to Potiphar, a man who was in charge of the royal guards. The NASB says, “the captain of the bodyguard.” The man who is captain over the men who guard Pharaoh is no joke! He isn’t the police chief, he is the head of the secret service!

So Joseph is automatically placed in a home of high standing within the Egyptian government. This was almost unheard of based on the fact that Joseph was an illegal alien so to speak. Joseph was a Hebrew so he was a foreigner for starters.
Secondly, he was not a known entity. He hadn’t been in Egypt for a while, he didn’t come with credentials but yet he was a servant inside Potiphar’s house. Furthermore, in short order, he was placed in charge of everything Potiphar owned. It states in verse 8, “There is no one greater in this house than I.”

This is direct evidence that God’s hand continued to guide, bless and orchestrate everything that happened to Joseph. Well, I must say, if you have to be sold into slavery then this is the way to go. No doubt, things could have been much worse. I wonder if he thought about going home? I’m sure he thought often of his family but did he feel like his fate was sealed? Or did he hold out hope that one day he might see them again?

Despite his current circumstances, Joseph continued to serve the Lord with diligence. I am drawn to one particular phrase at the end of verse 9. Joseph tells Potiphar’s wife, “How then could I do this great evil and sin against God.” Joseph was not embittered over his circumstances. His utmost concern was to be obedient to the Lord in all things. So when Potiphar’s wife pursued him sexually his concern was first to the Lord. Sure the sin would have been against Potiphar but more importantly the Lord. Joseph’s trust and faithfulness to the Lord never waned, in fact, it seemed to grow!

That is the funny thing with trials. When we are in times of testing we can either draw close to the Lord or pull away. I have done both. I am not proud to admit that my first instinct quite often is to pull away, to lash out. However, the times when I have chosen to draw close are a sweet time between us! I have often found myself longing for that kind of intimacy when all is right with the world. It seems that there is no dependence that compares to a genuine need for help in distress. A time when “I need thee every hour”!

I can’t say that I wouldn’t have been bitter though. I can’t say I wouldn’t have been angry with the Lord for the injustice that got me to Egypt in the first place and now this? Are you kidding? Minding my own business, still faithfully serving and then trouble finds me! No vindication, no witnesses to defend me and now prison. Are you scratching your head? Or better yet, has your jaw dropped while you shake your head in disbelief? Me too!

It seems that our hero is on a highway headed straight to hopelessness! But in the last few verses of our chapter we see once again the hand of the Lord moving. Finish chapter 39 by reading verses 21-23.

Isn’t this a glimmer of hope in the midst of dismal despair? This is evidence of the sweetness of the God that we serve. I have a particular verse that I cling to often in the midst of trials that is a lifeline to me in times of seemingly utter despair. It was written by David and expresses a desire to see the goodness of the Lord prevail.

Psalm 27:13, “I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”

There is something within us that fights for justice and vengeance. We long for things to be made right and when we are at a crossroads where it seems that all is undone we cannot help but feel deep within our spirits that this is not the way it was meant to be. The truth is, this isn’t the way it was meant to be. It was never meant for sin to enter into a perfect world where we had complete communion with God. It was never meant that our hearts would devise evil against others and that our feet would run quickly to shed blood. It was never meant for spouses to be unfaithful, hatred and envy to rule and death to reign.

Furthermore, we cannot escape the witness of our hearts that testifies to the fact that sin is not the way it should be. “In that [we] show the work of the Law written in [our] hearts, [our] conscience bearing witness to [our] thoughts alternately accusing or defending [us]” (Romans 2:15). Our conscience tells us either by guilt or by approval whether something is right or not. Leaving circumstances undone causes us to fight for something that we believe to be right. There have been many times when I have pleaded with the Lord, “you just can’t leave it this way! There has to be a different ending!”

Praise God there is a better ending, indeed the best ending, in the shape of a cross. Jesus came to make straight the crooked paths and to open the lifegate that was once closed by sin. Sin is not the end, it is not the way it is supposed to be and our gracious God did not leave it that way. He has not left sin unattended or the sinner unredeemed. Sin has been addressed and the goodness of the Lord has already prevailed!

Listen girls, we have got to stop looking at our circumstances as indication of how God feels about us and look at the cross! The cross shows us how God feels about us once and for all! “What shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:31-32). “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Do you get that? While you were still unlovable, a wretched sinner, Christ died for you. Not after you were cleaned up. Not after you had done a few charitable deeds. While we were still sinners. God’s love for you is not dependent upon you. God’s love is dependent upon Himself, His character and His great name. He has saved you for His name’s sake. He will see it through, He will see YOU through!

My encouragement to you today as we close is this: It is so easy to despair under our circumstances. It is so easy to become disappointed in God when we have an acute focus on today. Broaden your scope to include the cross! Refocus the lens and look through the nail pierced hands to see the truth about how God feels about you.

Joseph might have been in the dungeon but he wasn’t in despair. He believed he would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Do you sweet sister? Do you?

Disappointed: Day One

Our story begins on the pages of Genesis 37 and continues through chapter 50. For the sake of time, we will focus in on the verses that deal most specifically with our lessons but I will do my best to fill in the gaps for you. However, it might help to read the whole story in its entirety to familiarize yourself with the characters and the overall direction of Joseph’s life. It is a nail biter for sure!

(As a side note, chapter 38 does not follow Joseph’s story line so in order to avoid confusion you might choose to skip over that chapter and pick up in chapter 39.)

When we meet Joseph, he is 17, his father’s favorite, an interpreter of dreams and despised by his brothers. You might say that Joseph had lived a charmed life up to this point and was an easy target for his brothers’ hatred and envy. You may be most familiar with Joseph in the story of the coat of many colors. Even though he may have been spoiled, scripture never records a time when Joseph sinned. That’s not to say that he never sinned but his character was regularly above reproach.

Let’s pick up in Genesis 37: 12-17.

Where are Joseph’s brothers originally going to shepherd the flock?

Where did they end up?

Let’s take a little detour here for a minute. We often hear people talk about the sovereignty of God but many of us do not fully understand this concept. The sovereignty of God is defined this way by theopedia.com: “The Sovereignty of God is the biblical teaching that all things are under God’s rule and control, and that nothing happens without His direction or permission.” In other words, to say that God is sovereign is to say that God is God and nothing takes Him by surprise. He not only has the right to rule and control but He also has the power to rule and control all things. (Eph. 1:11; Ps. 115:3)

Joseph’s brothers starting out for Shechem and ending up in Dothan is an example of God’s sovereignty. Dothan was about 15 miles north of Shechem and was located along the main trade route to Egypt. This made it more convenient for contacts with merchants traveling to Egypt. Keep this in mind as you read on in verses 18 – 35.

Whose idea was it to sell Joseph?

What did they do as a cover up for their betrayal?

Remember the little bit of trivia we learned about Dothan in the last paragraph? Had Joseph’s brothers stayed in Shechem the plot to sell him into slavery would not have worked. If we look on the dark side, he may have ended up dead as was the original plan. If we look on the bright side, this gave Judah a way to suggest how to dispose of Joseph without murdering him. We have no indication in scripture why they moved to Dothan but we do know that this was not simply a decision they made for one reason or another. It was all part of the providence of God in their lives.

It is interesting to think that there are times when we make logical decisions based on a need or responsibility and God is using those decisions to bring us to a Dothan in our own lives. God is always a thousand steps ahead of us. Scripture says, “He knows the end from the beginning” (Isaiah 46:10). That will always be a dividing line for us as believers and unbelievers. The flesh chaffs at that thought but the spirit comforts in a God who filters all of our days through His hands. Beloved, you are held tightly in the palm of the hand of an Almighty God and there is nothing that will happen to you apart from His purposes.

Scripture is clear that NONE of God’s plans can be thwarted (Job 42:2)! So our enemies and our ENEMY can try as they may to harm us but nothing happens without His permission! Did you realize that? Look at Job 1:6-12. Satan had to ask permission from the Lord before he had the ability to test Job and even then God placed certain parameters on that testing.

Read Luke 22:31. What does Jesus tell Simon Peter?

So you see, nothing happens to us apart from the watchful eye of El Roi, the God Who Sees! Ladies, we will have to come to grips with this and accept it by faith in order to move on in our walk with the Lord. God’s sovereignty is never separated from who He is and you will continue to bump into this for the rest of your life as long as you serve Him. We will see it over and over in the life of Joseph. It is something that the finite mind cannot completely grasp but that which the spirit knows is right. It is a hard saying but either we believe when it comes down to it that God is good or He isn’t. And if He isn’t then we have to ask ourselves why we are serving, submitting and promoting a God that wants to harm us. If we say that isn’t correct either, then we have to begin to live what we believe…otherwise we are hypocrites.

As we finish up day one we see the unfavorable turn of events in Joseph’s life. I am struck with a few questions to ponder as I try to imagine what Joseph must have felt. How complicated his feelings must have been as he journeyed to Egypt; as he went from anger, to hurt, to fear, to betrayal and back again. Joseph was just doing what his father had asked him to do. He was being obedient for goodness sake! How is it that God would allow this to happen not as a result of sin in his life but to fulfill his purpose? That is hard to swallow is it not? He didn’t fall in among thieves or find himself attacked by strangers. He was betrayed by those whom he had grown up with, trusted, and felt a sense of security. What would happen to him?

Do you suppose that on his journey he ever asked God, “Why?” In between prayers for protection and peace do you think the thought crossed his mind to wonder? Scripture doesn’t tell us so we can only speculate. I imagine if Joseph did not question God’s goodness at that point that he would before long. Sometimes at the outset it is easy to trust the Lord. A few days into the circumstance, our faith wanes, God delays and we begin to wonder, “God, what are you doing?” It is in that moment we have a choice. We can choose to believe that God is good based on the authority of His word that proclaims it is so. Or we can begin a slow mental descent into a pit full of lies.

One thing we know, as trouble doubled over trouble in Joseph’s life, he chose to believe God, to trust him even when he couldn’t see how this could all work out…do you?

Disappointed in God - Intro

So, needless to say I haven’t had much time to write over the holidays. I was determined not to have a repeat of last year therefore, I made sure to put everything in perspective. For example, I put up two trees instead of three but only put a handful of ornaments on one. Yep, a self-professed Christmas décor-a-holic managed to barely decorate at all. Secretly, it was wonderful! I am trying to get to the point where Christmas is smaller each year and God is bigger. For this year, it worked! Not to mention the stress level was much less than in years’ past. I can actually say “I enjoyed Christmas!” Praise the Lord for everyone involved!

It would normally be at this time that I would write about a New Year’s resolution. I think I remember last year writing about a marathon, memorizing the book of James and…the other escapes me. Well, I am here to report that 1) there was no marathon run in the McBride house this year and 2) I made it about half way into the second chapter of James before losing steam. My track record isn’t very good. We might be better off calling them New Years’ –goals-I-could-never-attain-in-a-million-years-but-it-sounds-good-on-paper! Sometimes I think it is best to just aim low so that we are always pleasantly surprised…and that, my friends, may be my New Year’s resolution!

After a good laugh, I want to quickly get down to business and approach two very difficult statements that are silently plaguing believers. Thoughts that are almost never discussed in Christian circles and would be considered close to blasphemy for most believers. A good portion of us would never admit that we are or ever have been disappointed with God. Furthermore, we would struggle to verbalize our concern that maybe God is not good. I believe that many of us have thought these things but would fall short in saying the words out loud. Indeed, it sounds really bad to say, “I am disappointed in God!” Sure, people who are self-proclaimed unbelievers freely express their dissatisfaction and anger towards a God that they do not serve. However, to admit such strong negative emotion within the walls of church makes people uncomfortable; maybe because we don’t know how to respond.

The truth is, as believers, the Holy Spirit testifies within us to the goodness of God. When we make statements like these it goes against what is in our hearts but there are still times in life when we question the goodness of God. How do you claim Jesus as Savior yet ardently feel that God may not really be good? We cannot separate being disappointed with God and questioning His goodness. The two are inextricably linked.

Recently, I was talking with a dear friend and we were very candid about times when we had been either angry or disappointed with God. Admittedly, it was very hard to verbalize that to her. “Yes, I have been disappointed with the way God worked in this particular situation” or “When this occurred I was so angry with the Lord and I thought how can God be good?” As we talked, I began to realize that there are many believers who feel this way but never talk about it for fear of being judged or thought heretics! I think it is fair to say that most of us can think of a time in our lives when we were disappointed with God, questioned His goodness or both. I would be willing to say that for most of us, it has been more than once. Maybe you feel that way right now…

For some of us it has to do with the death of a loved one. For others, it is an unmet expectation, betrayal by a spouse or trusted friend, financial difficulty or a wayward child. No matter what the circumstance, what we are really saying is “God, why have you chosen to work in this way? If you are good and you love me as a Father and nothing is impossible for you then why this?”

I want to clarify that I am not talking about consequences we are experiencing from disobedience. God is always merciful to His children in their sin! The cross is the greatest picture of that reality. However, we rarely get to decide what our consequences will be and how long they will last. For this study, I am focusing on a season of testing when, like Job or Peter, or in this case Joseph, we are sifted as wheat by the sovereign hand of God. There is a difference between a spanking and chastening. The bible says “the Lord chastens (some translations say disciplines) those He loves” (Hebrews 12:6). Sometimes in life there are GOOD lessons that are only learned the hard way.

In looking at the life of Joseph, we will come to understand the full weight of a life where there were often more questions than answers. This study will by no means be exhaustive but it might help to shed some light on our disappointments and the sovereignty of God. Then, I hope to be able to guide you onto higher ground. Sometimes, gaining an aerial view of life and a deeper understanding of the character of God exposes lies that we have believed. One thing is for sure ladies, God is not deterred or put off with our disappointment. He is a big God and He already knows, before you say a word, what you feel.

As we begin this study, take some time to think about times in your life when you have been angry or disappointed with the Lord. Journal about these experiences and your feelings surrounding those particular circumstances. Ask the Lord to show you how this may not have been accurate and to prepare your heart for this study.

Wisdom vs. Foolishness

A wise woman once said wisdom is defined by looking at your past and present then adjusting the decisions that shape your future to get a better result. Foolishness is defined by doing the same thing over and over but expecting a different result. Actually, I think that’s the definition of insanity but foolishness and insanity aren’t far apart on the org chart! Too much foolishness can lead to insanity. You know, the truth is, it is just plain smart to take a look at our lives and ask the question, “How’s that working for you?”

There isn’t much else that gets me going like looking out over the landscape of our middle schools, high schools and college campuses and seeing young women simply “acting a fool!” I know it seems more and more that I am giving single women a hard time. In reality, I am grieved. I want so badly for young women to really grasp what they look like and catch a vision for change! I have a quote that becomes more and more real to me every time I read it. I will spare you the entire quote because it is lengthy but the gist is that women set the tone for every part of our world! Even civilizations are upheld by women knowing their role, standing for morality and overall encouraging others to do the right thing. When women lose their bearings, their perspective, their values then the very foundations of a nation are at stake.

So here is my question, “Why are we living our lives as women like men are the only thing we have going?” If you know me at all, you know I am not a man-hater or a feminist. I am happily married to a wonderful man but he isn’t everything to me! He isn’t my stability and he isn’t my happiness. He doesn’t fulfill me and he isn’t my soul mate. (Sounds like a match made in heaven right??) He brings me happiness, at times and he works to provide stability but all of that could be dashed in a second if he lost his job or left me. We still have crisis, we still have illness and debt and devastation. Truthfully, there isn’t anyone or anything on this earth that can provide consistent stability, comfort or happiness.

I am pained that so many of you are looking for something in marriage and a husband that only exists in the movies. I am even more pained that most will not listen to women who are older, wiser and already married. Listen closely when I say, “Marriage will not only be the single most important decision you make in life(aside from Jesus) but it will most likely be the single greatest source of sanctification in your life.” Learning to live and do life with another person, who is sinful just like you will either pull you closer to the Lord or farther apart from one another. I grow closer to Kraig as I grow closer to the Lord. As I grow apart from the Lord, I grow apart from Kraig. My spiritual barometer is in direct correlation to the condition of my marriage. This has been an invaluable lesson and one that was not learned quickly or easily!! That’s free…

So girls, here are a few things I want to say to you in love as a spectator who truly wants the best for the next generation of women AND men AND marriage:

First, get a proper view of biblical womanhood, manhood and marriage. Don’t put the proverbial cart before the horse! Know what you are called to be and what you ARE NOT called to be. Know what your role and responsibilities are and begin to live those out in your life now. I’ve always said, “You have to be the right person to find the right person!” No woman ever needed a man to 1) make her a woman, 2) make her a complete woman or 3) make her a godly woman. If your desire is to be the Proverbs 31 woman then get to it!

Second, please set some standards!! You don’t have to be domineering but you do have to have standards. I have to rest here for a minute because this is uber important!! Why are we content to be the leftovers, the last resort or the rebound? Men treat us this way because we allow it. My Mom once told me, “Honey, you teach a man how to treat you!” Oh goodness, did she hit the nail on the head or what?? No man is going to treat me like gum on his shoe unless I let him! By the way, if he isn’t proud to show you off to his friends, his Mama and the world then it’s time to move on…next! Stop believing that he is feeling “other than” his actions are indicating…if he isn’t pursuing then you aren’t important to him, no matter what he says! His phone isn’t broken, he hasn’t lost your number and his grades aren’t that much of a priority. As my husband always says, “Guys are simple. If they’re interested you’ll know. If they aren’t…you’ll know.” (By the way, I hope reading some of this makes you mad instead of sad! I hope that this will spur you on to change!)

Third, don’t be anxious (Phil. 4:5). Sometimes you have to realize it’s not your time; this is not God’s time for you. Do you trust Him to give you the very best or are you just giving lip service? Listen, when we get anxious then we get impatient and when we get impatient then we get desperate and when we get desperate then we start to make poor choices. If you have your sites on a “ring by spring” so you can graduate in May and marry in June you are likely to be miserable by December.
To sum up: Set your standards high and live them! Don’t compromise, trust the Lord and respect yourself!!

A side note to Moms: As you have always set the tone for how your daughter deals with all other aspects of her life, set the tone for your daughter in her relationships. You have no idea how much weight you really have and how important your guidance is beyond the age of 18! If you get overly involved, overly emotional, start talking marriage and get devastated along with her over every guy she brings home then she will feel pressure from not only her friends but you as well. Don’t be her friend, be her mother. You are wiser than her! Teach her from your wisdom! Show compassion but instill strength in her…set the tone!! Above all, bring her to the cross to find her identify and worth. The cross determines Christ’s love for us..it is immense. So immense that He determined how He would reconcile us to Himself before He even created the world! At the time when God seemed most out of control, He was doing His greatest work. Instruct your daughters that even when it seems that God has lost control, He may be doing His greatest work! Our circumstances do not determine God’s love for us but the cross does! Marriage is a beautiful reflection of this truth and is not to be entered into UNADVISEDLY!! Advise, advise, advise! I am praying for all of you!

Grace, grace everywhere!

I never get tired of writing about grace. I’ll quote from that old sage, Randy Quaid in “Christmas Vacation”, “it’s the gift that keeps on givin’.” But in all seriousness, grace really is the “free gift”, as scripture describes it, that continues to have different meanings every time that we experience it. Grace is the gift we continue to unwrap!

We tend to think of grace in general terms as something that God gives to us that we don’t deserve. Although this is true, it is a very general definition that doesn’t do God’s grace justice. As human beings we are constantly the recipients of grace from a loving God but we truly don’t know all of the ways in which our lives are impacted and upheld by this religious affection.

Did you know that there are many different kinds of grace? Most often, grace is associated with our salvation because this is the greatest grace shown to us as sinners. However, there is grace that encompasses every part of our lives. Common grace, delivering grace, the grace of longsuffering, uncomfortable grace and saving grace just to name a few. Each of these are different aspects of the over-arching grace of God.

Common grace is that which is extended to all mankind. Examples of common grace would be the ability to work and provide for one’s family, overall health, the balance of the ecosystem on planet earth to provide food and sustainable living conditions. Life in general is a common grace since God is not obligated to extend anything but death to the sinner. “Every good and every perfect gift comes down from God!”(James 1:17) So, anything good we have in life belongs to and comes directly from Him!

Next is delivering grace. We all like this kind of grace. Usually this is the grace that we ask for the most in our lives. Grace that would deliver us from our trials, temptations, hardships and overall discomfort that comes with living in a fallen world. This is what our Savior prayed for in the garden when He asked, “If it is possible, may this cup pass from me.” (Luke 22:42) If it was possible for our redemption to be secured any other way, Jesus, fully God and fully man, was asking for deliverance. As we know, it was not extended to Him. Praise God that it was not! Our salvation was bought by God the Father not extending grace to Jesus in that moment. What a lesson for us in understanding the concept of unanswered prayer and the preciousness of the grace we experience!

Longsuffering or merciful grace is that which God extends to the unrepentant sinner or the child of God who is wayward. The Bible talks about a “sin leading to death” in 1 John 5:16; although this is an often difficult passage of scripture, it tells us that God’s grace has an end. We can trample and take advantage of God’s grace to the point that He no longer extends grace but retracts it! This is what is known in scripture as “hardness of heart.” Scripture is clear that this condition not only affects unbelievers such as Pharoah but also believers like the disciples. The gospel of Mark records in 6:52 that “their [disciples] heart was hardened.” The idea here is of a stone that is not malleable. No matter how hard you try, a stone will never yield to the touch of your hand. Oh that we would be so careful not to presume upon the graciousness of the Lord!

Uncomfortable grace is a new one for me. Not new in practice but new in theory. I have most definitely experienced uncomfortable grace but was not familiar with the term until recently. Paul Tripp defines it this way, “uncomfortable grace is God putting us into situations that we would not put ourselves in so that He can work out somethings in us that we would not work out on our own.” In other words, sometimes we are comfortable with where we are in our Christian walk. We don’t want to be stretched, confronted or refined. We are happy to stay where we are but the Lord is never content with leaving us somewhat sanctified; there is no such thing! Sanctification is the process by which believers are made into the image of Christ and I have yet to meet anyone who has attained that standard! Our walk is always moving. We aren’t stopping with the Lord or moving backwards. He is about our growth and perseverance. He is for us! And “if God is for us who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31).

Lastly, the most precious of all the graces, saving grace. If you haven’t figured out by now, our God is a gracious God. It encompasses all that He does from His glory filling the earth to His concern for the smallest detail in our lives. Salvation is His crowning glory. Just as common grace is extended to saints and sinners alike, death is our just punishment in the face of a holy God. God could have chosen not to reconcile sin and leave us to die in our trespasses…and He would have been right. But in His infinite grace and His perfect wisdom He CHOSE the cross. Can you fathom that? There was no reason for Him to offer salvation. There was no reason for Jesus to endure Calvary. No other reason other than grace.
I am often reminded of the words to the hymn “Marvelous Grace”. When was the last time you marveled at the grace of God?

“Marvelous grace of our loving Lord, grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt!
Yonder on Calvary’s mount outpoured; there where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.
Grace, grace, God’s grace! Grace that will pardon and cleanse within!
Grace, grace, God’s grace! Grace that is greater than all my sin!

Is there really any better time to reflect on the grace of God than Christmas?
Christmas is the beginning of Easter, the beginning of our salvation, the point in time where all of history converged. The very purpose of all of life for every single human being from Genesis to Revelation, including you and me, is wrapped up in 33 years of God on earth…and it began with Christmas! Jesus, the baby in a manger, God incarnate is grace.
Merry Christmas!

Coconuts vs. Rotten Apples

Girls, girls, girls…can I be honest with you from one girl to another? What are we doing?? Do we even realize that we are becoming our own worst enemy? So, I am parenting a twelve year old boy who is the cutest thing ever because all mother’s think their kids are the cutest! I often joke with him and tell him that he would be my choice if I were a girl his age! He blushes and then we laugh! But I want to tell you, the girls are making me sad…that’s right, sad. Sad for him and sad for them. If you are already overly aggressive at twelve then what is the hope for you and our young men in the future?

We have an epidemic of women in their late twenties and early thirties who are checking their biological clocks and pursuing every man with a pulse who isn’t in an orange jumpsuit! Of course I am being a bit facetious but it is amazing how clear things become when you are a spectator instead of a participant. I have to say that I am concerned for our young women because they are simply perpetuating this behavior in men! When a young man cannot even walk down the hall by himself without being accompanied by girls who are clamoring for attention where does that leave him? How can his parents teach him to pursue a young woman when he doesn’t have to? How can they teach him to be the leader of his home when he hasn’t been given the chance to take the lead in starting a simple conversation?

Girls, ladies, women…we have got to turn this thing around! We have got to get back to the days of allowing men to choose or they will never choose! Why are men delaying marriage and dating women for decades until they are almost forced down the aisle?? Because they can! They don’t have to work to win a woman’s heart. They don’t have to climb the tree for the prize fruit because there is fruit all over the ground! My advice: be a coconut not a rotten apple!

A man who will lead his family will never start out taking a back seat to a woman’s lead. If he does, there will be a lot of conflict and anguish that occurs as he fights to take his rightful place in the home. Eventually, he will either get there or give up! Sadly, most men are giving up because they are tired of the power struggle. You see, this is what God placed within them from the very beginning and when we squelch that or try and reverse the roles then we are messing with divine design!

I write this as a challenge for all of the young girls who are already starting out on a wide path paved by the world. I long to see us take back our marriages, our homes and our womanhood from the enemy! Let’s begin by looking intently at the good roles that God has given us as RESPONDERS not pursuers. Let’s give men their jobs back and take a break from the responsibility that was never ours to begin with!

Now to the mothers of these girls: teach your daughters well! Teach them that their actions, words and CLOTHING should witness to what is in their hearts! Teach them to find themselves worthy of a young man who would genuinely want them. Not because they are accessible but because he worked for it! Teach them to dream of a godly husband and do the things that will attract that kind of man. Why? Because this is what is truly in our hearts. This is what all women desire but we are impatient and anxious. The curse that was placed on Eve because of her sin is perpetual: “Your desire will be for your husband.” (Genesis 3:16) That’s not sexual desire that is the desire to lead, to be the man! Is God true or is He true?? Absolutely! His word is always applicable, always true and always GOOD! Let’s teach our girls to drink deeply from the well of God’s word and find their satisfaction and fulfillment from their One and Only soul mate, Jesus Christ!

I am praying for you…

Can I Get a Witness??

I’m going to be brutally honest and tell on myself…

When I was a kid I used to love to hear someone get up and give their testimony. Mainly because I am a good Baptist girl who has grown into a good Baptist woman and I’m nosey. Now, before you grab your ladder to climb your high horse, watch out for that speck in your own eye! Let’s face it, as women we love, I mean lurve, a good story don’t we? It seems that all of our senses are heightened when we are on the verge of an important piece of information. I do want to clarify. I’m not talking about mean-spirited, dragging -someone’s- personal- life- through- the- mud –for- the- purpose- of- my- own- satisfaction story. There is a difference between gossip and nosiness, although the two usually run close together so be careful! Anyway, I’m talking about people giving their life stories, finding out the details of an engagement or news of a long awaited pregnancy. I just love the details. Lord help me, I am detailed down to the ridiculous. My poor husband has learned over the years to trade in the common “yes” and “no” answers for more adjectives and run on sentences..he’s a good man and he’s worn down!

Anyway, back to testimonies. One thing that always intimidated me was that I never felt like I had a really GOOD testimony. I would hear these people talk about serious drug addiction, alcohol abuse, eating disorders and all manner of prodigal living and think to myself, “Well, I’ve just been saved, that’s all.” It almost seemed like the more grievous the sins, the closer to God! So, whenever someone would ask me to give my testimony I would get very uncomfortable because I wasn’t sure what that was. I didn’t have a great story. I hadn’t been a homeless runaway with any addictions and tattoos in unmentioned places. I had been a Pastor’s daughter that was raised in church and saved at age 5. Then it dawned on me, most of these stories were glorifying the sin and drawing attention to self instead of God.

From there, I began to really think about the word testimony. Most of the time when we hear the word testimony we think bio with a little bit of Jesus on the side. You know, my name is Stephanie, I am thirty-something years old, I am married to Kraig, two kids etc; However, the literal translation of the word testimony is “witness or bearing witness.” The word testify and testimony can also be translated, “someone who has personal and immediate knowledge of something.” That’s when the Holy Spirit gently pressed in on me, “your testimony is your witness to the truth of the gospel in your life!” So, basically, how does my life witness to the truth of Jesus? The reality is that according to scripture, we are all totally depraved and wayward before the cross. There is a wonderful saying that brings this home, “It’s all level ground at the cross.”

So, it really doesn’t matter what my sins were before the cross; it matters that they are forgiven in Christ. The glorious reality of the gospel in my life is what takes place AFTER salvation. You know what? That’s when it gets good! That’s when you hang on the edge of your seat to see the unspeakable mercies and indescribable grace of a Savior who continues to shut our mouths in awe! So, for the record, I’m going to give you a brief testimony as a witness to the truth of the gospel in my life by saying this, “Jesus me who I am NOT!”

“I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, that in everything you were enriched in Him in all speech and all knowledge, even as the TESTIMONY concerning Christ was confirmed in you, so that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 1:4-8

Jesus plus....

It once was said, I believe, by A.W. Tozer, that “what we think of God reveals more about us than anything else.” When I begin to ponder the glories of Jesus I feel totally inadequate to write words that do Him justice. He is like a diamond of the highest quality that reflects light from each facet. Just when you think that you have studied the diamond thoroughly, you turn it, only to find a thousand new prisms to delight in! Indeed Jesus is the Jewel of Heaven. He is our inheritance that Peter says is “imperishable, undefiled and unfading”. Why should we think that if earthly treasures such as gold, silver and material possession do very little to satisfy us for any length of time that our eternal inheritance would be made of the same substance? We look at our eternal inheritance through fleshly, sinful desires and believe the lie that the things that we crave that are passing away will somehow delight us for all eternity. As the apostle Paul has said, “May it never be!”

The thing that will keep us satisfied for all eternity is “much more precious than gold.” It has more facets of beauty than any jewel brought forth from nature. In Colossians it states that “in Christ Himself..are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Jesus is the fullness of God in bodily form and He is enough to satisfy for all eternity being our Living Water, the Bread of Life, the Light of the World, the Good Shepherd, the True Vine, the Way, the Truth, the Life and the Resurrection. These are all of the “I Am” statements that Jesus proclaimed about Himself. In Himself he provides for our physical needs, our emotional needs and our spiritual need!

Often times I fall into the trap of looking forward to all of these things. I look ahead to eternity and think of how wonderful it will be when all of my needs have passed away because I am in the presence of God. I fail to remember that Jesus is my inheritance now. He is “I Am” not “I Will Be”. I am grieved for all of us when we aren’t satisfied with being able to say, “Jesus is enough.” I find myself shrinking back from offering Jesus alone to hurting people. I petition the throne of God for Jesus and ...(fill in the blank). I feel that it is petty or belittling to only have the simple answer of the gospel and the instruction of scripture to guide those with complex issues and tangled webs, deep hurts and real fears. I search within myself to find pithy sayings, practical application and a quick-fix for all of their problems.

“Just Jesus? People need more than just Jesus. They need counseling, more money, a better job, a husband, physical healing, a vacation. If I could just give them this…and Jesus then everything would be okay.” Oh, that we would think bigger thoughts of the God we serve. The God who SPOKE the world into being, the God who created and ordained the life of every human who has ever lived, “having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation.” The God who holds our very breath in His hands (Daniel). The God who created us knowing we would fall and determining to create us anyway. The God who while we were still sinners sent His Son to die for us that we might be reconciled to Him. The God who was sinned against, who was offended and yet provides a way to pay the debt for us… to Himself, by the gift of Himself in the person of Jesus Christ. Do you get that? Let the weight of that fall on you because it is a great weight.

We owed a debt to God and HE made a way for the debt to be paid to Himself by Himself. Would that alone have been enough? But He gives us Himself as our inheritance FOREVER. Our hearts should sing! Our souls should rejoice! Our obedience should be with gladness of heart!

The cross of Christ, the gospel of Jesus and the weight of His glory should cause all things to seem trivial in comparison. And yet, it doesn’t. It doesn’t for me. It doesn’t for most of us who claim the name of Christ. We have made God very small. We have made Him only able to secure for eternity but unable to change our lives now. We have compartmentalized His power and looked to other created beings as the answer to all of our problems. We look to men to satisfy our longings as women. We look to jobs to affirm our worth as men. We look to our parents to make us complete people. We look to our doctors to make us well. We look to counselors to fix our problems. We look to the government to secure our finances. We look to ourselves for strength. We only look to God for what comes later.

Lord, forgive us! Show us all that you are and all that you have done! Satisfy us through Jesus alone! Forgive us for when you haven’t been enough. Convict us for thinking that you are not sufficient for every problem, trial, temptation and circumstance.

Psalm 104
Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty, covering yourself with light as with a garment,
stretching out the heavens like a tent.
He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters;he makes the clouds his chariot;he rides on the wings of the wind; he makes his messengers winds,
his ministers a flaming fire.
He set the earth on its foundations,so that it should never be moved.
You covered it with the deep as with a garment;the waters stood above the mountains.
At your rebuke they fled;at the sound of your thunder they took to flight.
The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place that you appointed for them.
You set a boundary that they may not pass,so that they might not again cover the earth.
You make springs gush forth in the valleys;they flow between the hills;they give drink to every beast of the field;the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell;they sing among the branches.
From your lofty abode you water the mountains;the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.
You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate,
that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man,
oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man’s heart.
The trees of the LORD are watered abundantly,the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
In them the birds build their nests;the stork has her home in the fir trees.
The high mountains are for the wild goats;the rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers.
He made the moon to mark the seasons;the sun knows its time for setting.
You make darkness, and it is night,when all the beasts of the forest creep about.
The young lions roar for their prey,seeking their food from God.
When the sun rises, they steal away and lie down in their dens.
Man goes out to his work and to his labor until the evening.
O LORD, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom have you made them all;the earth is full of your creatures.
Here is the sea, great and wide,which teems with creatures innumerable,
living things both small and great.
There go the ships,and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it.These all look to you,to give them their food in due season.
When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
When you hide your face, they are dismayed;when you take away their breath, they die
and return to their dust.
When you send forth your Spirit,they are created,and you renew the face of the ground.
May the glory of the LORD endure forever;may the LORD rejoice in his works,
who looks on the earth and it trembles,who touches the mountains and they smoke!
I will sing to the LORD as long as I live;I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
May my meditation be pleasing to him,for I rejoice in the LORD.
Let sinners be consumed from the earth,and let the wicked be no more!
Bless the LORD, O my soul! Praise the LORD!

Corn Mazes...Hansel and Gretel anyone??

It’s fall or rather should I sound sophisticated and say autumn? Either way, it is the most wonderful time of the year! After intolerable heat and humidity the crisp breeze is a welcome change.

Now…I am onto this whole thing about corn mazes. I was watching the news this morning and they had an aerial view of a corn maze that looked like a medieval labyrinth of some kind. The audio headline declared, “Couple gets lost in corn maze and police are called to get them out!” Nice! This is encouraging news especially since I plan on making my first visit to one in just a few days. Not to mention that I have been roped into going in the dark. I believe the statement straight from the lips of the owner contained the phrases, “very dark”, “flash light” and “good luck”.

I will now let you in on a secret about myself that will make the story that much more laughable: I am a self-professed fraidy – cat (whatever that means..out of the same dictionary as “swanee” I think). So, I am fearful at best when it comes to being in the dark even when I am with people. I will walk from my house to the neighbors house whooping and making a lot of fuss so that the lions and tigers and bears oh my! won’t eat me alive in the 10 yards from my front door to theirs! You can never underestimate self-preservation and overall paranoia, it can keep a person alive – at least that’s what I’ve been telling myself for the better part of my life. But, that’s a whole different issue and we’ve gotten off the point. Let’s WIND our way back to the corn maze…

So, now that I am armed with all of this second hand knowledge I started to actually think about what my plan would be if I got lost or impatient. My first plan of attack would be the cell phone. My hope is that even though we are in such a rural area I will be able to text for help. (Note to self: Be sure to ask about cell coverage before we begin!) Then, well, then I don’t really have a plan after that except for prayer…and a lot of it…that is very loud and enthusiastic, just in case there are people around me who can come to my rescue. If all else fails I can send S.O.S. signals into the dark sky with my trusty flashlight until they send out the helicopters. (Second note to self: Make sure batteries are new, take snacks and look up S.O.S. signals via internet prior to arrival!)

All of this makes for a good laugh and I promise to update you when I return (keep your eyes peeled for news updates on GMA next weekend!) In the hilarity of it all there is a greater metaphor to think about: the corn maze of life! Now, don’t laugh, I know it is a bit of a stretch but when I was privy to a view from a thousand feet above a corn maze I immediately thought, “That’s life!” When I look at my life I see a maze. Although I know that at some point I will reach the end, for now, that knowledge is hidden from me. There are times when I can only see the next step in front of me, I don’t know where I am or even where I am going but we serve a God with a thousand foot view!

It is not for us to know the times or the seasons, the why or how of everything, it is simply left to us to trust. The interesting thing is that trust is not built on circumstantial evidence. Trust is built on concrete evidence of things from the past.

Recently, we had a trust issue with one of our children. It dawned on me at that moment that we really have no reason to trust them, they haven’t necessarily done anything to earn our trust at this point in their lives. Until now they have taken orders and been told how and what to do but eventually we have to back off and create room for independence. However, independence doesn’t come with 100% trust right off the bat! Over time, they will tell us whether or not they can be trusted based on their past behaviors.

So it is with the Lord. Faith is another word for trust but often times we think that faith is like courage, something we have to muster up within ourselves. Faith is not only a gift from the Lord, given to us by the Holy Spirit that we might believe in Jesus but faith is “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.” Words like substance and evidence don’t conjure up weak imagery. The truth is that our faith is a firm foundation on which to stand because it is grounded in the character of God. Scripture says that God cannot be anything but faithful which means he will be true to His promises. How do we trust for the future? Because we know the past! We can see God’s work in our own lives, in the lives of those around us and in the lives of men and women since the beginning of time. We serve a God who is able to be trusted when we cannot see tomorrow, the next hour or even the next minute. He has the aerial view and is able to rescue you, see you through to the end or sustain you while you wait for help..snacks and all!

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths!” Proverbs 3:5-6