City of Refuge Fellowship
Building Bridges Through Prayer
He loves us!
I have often tried to imagine the scene of Isaiah 6 when the prophet is thrust into the throne room of God. Isaiah says “I saw the LORD sitting on a throne . . . and the train of His robe filled the temple.” The vision of God was overwhelming, so much so that all Isaiah could do was fall on his face and declare himself “ruined”. As if seeing God were not enough, he also got to see all of the activity that surrounds God. Isaiah wrote that he saw seraphim, six-winged angels that flew around God’s throne. The part that has always captured my mind is that Isaiah said that these seraphim cried out to each other, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!” This glimpse into heaven is amazing to me. These powerful created beings that have spent eternity in God’s presence are still so overwhelmed by Him that all they can do is shout to each other of His holiness. They are not shouting it to God, they are not acting out of duty or obligation, this is not their job;, the picture seems to show that they are in the midst of their created purpose but also overwhelmed by not merely what they see in this moment, but what they have seen and known for eternity. God’s holiness has not become the norm for them; it is still overwhelming; He is still overwhelming. The sight of God fills them to the point that they must pour out their awe and reverence and sing a song of amazement, “He is holy!”
For the past year or so I have been overwhelmed each time I have heard the song “How He loves” written by John Mark McMillan. In my mind, the song has great depth, its truth is God-breathed and timeless and it simply strikes a chord in my heart each time I hear it. The chorus is actually very simple:
He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.
Yeah, He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He lovesA few weeks ago a group from our church went to a worship and prayer conference. There was a point during the first session in which the worship leader began to sing “How He loves”. I stood in my place singing and then I stopped, I didn’t sing anymore I just listened and I heard something amazing. For a few moments I thought I was hearing not the song of heaven that the seraphim sing, but the song of earth sung by the redeemed. As I stood and listened it was as if 1,000 children ransomed by Jesus were telling each other, “He loves us! He loves us! He loves us! He loves us!” The song was for God but it felt as if it was being sung to each other and God was pleased with it. I felt undone for a moment, I know that Jesus loves me, Scripture tells me it is true, His Spirit within me tells me it is true, I even tell myself when doubt creeps in; but that night, for that moment we told each other and it was precious.
At this moment in time and outside of time the seraphim are singing around God’s throne to each other, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!” They sing of what they see and what they know, their relationship with God is built on His holiness. My prayer today is that we would sing the song of the redeemed, not merely to God but to each other. In all that we endure, in all that we experience, in all that we receive and in all that we wait for; may we sing to each other what we are sure of, what we have tasted and seen. “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us.” Love is not coming, it is not going to be proved later; it is settled, it is secure, it is perfect and it is everlasting. May we sing to God, may we sing to ourselves and most of all, may we sing to each other, “He loves us!”
Prepared to Change
Change hurts. I know, it’s not a new thought or creative concept but it is true, to a certain degree. I am of the belief that we should be constantly growing, constantly maturing, constantly changing, so does that mean we should be constantly hurting? No, I don’t think so. The pain of change is all relative depending upon our perspective and motivation. Change required by another is often painful. Change brought about suddenly, without notice or expectation generally leaves us hurting. What about change that comes with a promise? What about change that produces results, change that is costly in the moment but worthwhile in the outcome?
Joshua’s entire life changed in a moment. Moses had led Israel from before they left Egypt; he was the only leader they knew. Moses had led them through an open sea, into victorious battles; when they were hungry he prayed and bread came from heaven; when they were thirsty he prayed and water came from rocks; when he was openly opposed the ground had opened and swallowed his opponents. On at least two occasions God had become so frustrated with Israel that He was ready to destroy them but Moses prayed that God would change His mind and He did. The book of Joshua opens with very concise words from God, “Moses My servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites.” For Joshua everything changed in an instant. He had been an assistant for at least forty years. Yes, he had been told he would lead Israel after Moses died, but that is one of those things that you know in your head but never really prepare your heart for. Sure, Joshua would lead Israel, but so much had to happen first, there would be time for him to get ready.
Have you ever decided that you have time to get ready for the change that God has promised in your life? I know I have. Just today I found a journal that I wrote in 2006, as I read I laughed and shook my head, not sure if it was funny or sad that the things I wrote then were things that I am still preparing for now. My next question was a tough one to answer, have I been preparing or just waiting? What is the difference? Preparing keeps an eye on the promise, on the purpose; preparing does the work necessary to be in position to move when the time comes; waiting, well, much too often waiting just waits.
In Matthew 25 Jesus taught the parable of the ten virgins. The ten virgins went out to meet their bridegroom; five of them took their lamps and extra oil while the other five took only their lamps. The bridegroom tarried to the point that they all fell asleep but around midnight he finally arrived. When he does the five with the extra oil refilled their lamps and went to meet him while the five with only their lamps had to go to find oil to refill them. By the time they went and bought more oil and refilled their lamps the wedding banquet had already begun and they were locked out. There are many spiritual lessons and interpretations for this passage, but my thought for today is that waiting for change and preparing for change are two totally different things. One set of virgins went out as they were to wait for the bridegroom while the other set prepared themselves to wait and be found ready when he arrived. Many times in life I believe we pray for, ask for and even crave some sort of change from God but we do very little to actually prepare for it. The sad part is that when the opportunity for change comes we often miss it; we overlook it and sometimes even reject it, not because God was not faithful but because we were not found ready.
One of the most beautiful things about living our lives for God is that if we truly seek Him, not only do we find Him, but He then leads us in a way that we are never left unprepared. I am not contradicting the previous parable, but hoping to shine a light on something that may be lacking in us today. When God made the announcement to Joshua that he was now the leader of the nation of Israel He then kindly prepared him for the job. Three times God told Joshua, “Be strong and courageous.” I am sure that Joshua would have loved a rod like Aaron’s or tablets of stone like Moses had carried, even a wounded hip like Jacob walked with or a dream like Joseph’s but what God chose to give Him was strength and courage. You see, anything that God tells you to be or carry He also provides through His Word and His presence. When He tells Joshua to be strong and courageous it was not for him to find it elsewhere but to depend upon God for it. When Jesus told His disciples, “Let not your hearts be troubled”, it was not for them to figure out how to accomplish this, He then told them, “trust also in Me.” Our preparation is not found outside of God but in His presence. We are not out doing our best so we can show God how prepared we are, but rather we are called to let Him prepare us so that we can walk with Him and when change comes we see it as another step of righteousness rather than an obstacle or crooked path.
The third time God said these words to Joshua He sandwiched them around two wonderful promises: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” In essence God was telling Joshua, “I am the One that has sent you, so you can be strong and courageous, because I will be with you everywhere I ever send you.” While the change was sudden, it was not difficult for Joshua because he had spent 40 years following Moses as Moses followed God through the cloud by day and fire by night. Following had become part of his nature, leading would come naturally because he had followed for most of his life, he was fully prepared. This promise was not only for the moment that Joshua took over leadership, but for all of his appointed time as leader. There would be times when he was tempted to be not only afraid but terrified; there would be times when he would be tempted to be discouraged and to believe that he would never fully accomplish his task; but he was to always remember, God had called him and God was always with him and God would provide strength and courage.
How has God prepared you for the change that is coming in your life? Has He spoken words of wisdom, promises of His presence or the truth of your future? Has He put you in a place or position to follow Him so that He can prepare you for what lies ahead? Has He given you examples of followers and leaders so that you can be prepared to lead when the change comes? I have come to believe that that only way to learn to lead is to first learn to follow. In the context of this note today, the only way to be truly prepared for change is to follow God closely. Today let God lead you into your change, it does not have to hurt, in fact, His change for your life may bring you the greatest healing you have ever imagined.
What are you chasing?
Sometimes in life we chase a specific goal or dream so hard that we forget why we ever started chasing. There are moments, maybe even seasons in which we are overcome by determination for a prize that we start to overlook the path that leads to the anticipated outcome. There is something wonderful about focused determination but I believe we have to always be conscious of the purpose of our desire, the reason that we are driven, the promise that started the process or at least the calling that began the journey. It is a healthy thing to stop from time to time and to search our hearts and be sure that we have continued to seek and chase after God and not replaced our worship of Him with a drive to fulfill His promises in our lives.
There is a scene in the book of Exodus that has always baffled me. Moses was called up to the mountain to meet with God, to receive the law and all of God’s instructions for His people, the Bible says that he was with God on the mountain for 40 days. At some point during that time the people gathered together and decided that Moses might never come back and so they had to do something. The interesting thing to me is that they did not replace Moses, they replaced God. Moses was their link to God, so if Moses was absent then they assumed that God was absent as well. They had never appreciated or even realized God’s presence in their own lives, they had only viewed it from a far through Moses’ life. Moses was absent, so God was absent as well, that was what they believed.
The people of Israel went to Aaron, Moses’ brother, and the high priest and said “Make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” In the span of nearly 40 days Israel had replaced God in their hearts; as the saying goes, “out of sight, out of mind.” The part that is telling is that believed they needed “gods that shall go before us”. They were still concerned with the promise of God, even though they were willing to replace God Himself. Their attention was not on God but on “a land flowing with milk and honey”. They had not understood that the “promised land” was a gift that would flow from relationship with God, they had believed that the land, the promise, the outcome was where they had to focus their attention, their affection and their efforts. I believe that they got tired of standing still and waiting for Moses and God. They came to a conclusion that we will never get to where we want to be by standing still and so they were ready to move. “God helps those that help themselves”, right? You have to do something at some point, don’t you? How long should we wait before we take action?
You may be familiar with the rest of the story; just in case you are not I will give a brief synopsis. Aaron took gold from the people and formed it into a golden calf. He then set the idol before Israel and they had a celebration where they danced and sang, “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt.” God saw what was happening and sent Moses down from the mountain to deal with the people. God told Moses that He was going to destroy Israel and start over with him and start a new nation. Moses was not flattered by this opportunity, he interceded, he pleaded with God not to do this thing but to keep His promises to Abraham, Isaac and Israel. God heard Moses; He received His intercession and said He would not destroy Israel. Moses came down from the mountain and found the people still celebrating this new god. He became enraged, he threw down the tablets of stone that God had written His law on, breaking them into pieces, then he took the golden calf and burned it, then ground it to dust, put it in water and made the Israelites drink it.
The next day Moses went back to the presence of God and pleaded with God to forgive the people. Remember, Moses did not take part in this sin, but he was so concerned with the people, he was so full of mercy and the heart of God that he actually prayed, “If You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.” Moses did not plead for his own good but for the good, the mercy and the forgiveness of others. This is the heart of intercession, the heart of true leadership and I believe, the heart of one that has been with God. God then tells Moses, “Go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, My Angel shall go before you.”
I would imagine that to many people, myself included, these words from God would have been music to our ears. A giant sigh of relief to find out that God was not going to remove the promise from our lives. I know a lot of people that live in fear of sinning to the point of having God remove a calling, a promise or a dream from them. We seem to almost be obsessed with destiny so much that we have missed out on what our destiny actually is. Moses understood something that I need to grasp more firmly. Moses returned to God and said, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.” Moses wanted God’s presence more than he wanted the Promised Land. Moses was willing to live in the middle of nowhere as long as God lived there with him, but he would not move to a better spot if it meant God was not going with them. I’m not sure when it happened, but Moses was much more interested in being with God than He was with fulfilling his destiny. I believe what he understood was that his purpose could only come to pass if he lived his life in God’s presence and that his destiny was not leading Israel to a distant land but leading them to lives lived in the presence of God. Our destiny is not the fulfillment of a specific assignment; it is to be found in a surrendered love relationship with Jesus.
What are you chasing after today? If your life came down to one thing would you long for your “Promised Land” or God’s presence? You may argue that you cannot have one without the other, that may be true, but I will tell you this, God’s presence is not found in the fulfillment of dreams and promises, it is found by those that diligently seek him, with all of their hearts. David, one of the greatest men the earth had ever seen, King of Israel, great warrior, man of wealth and honor wrote, “One thing I have desired of the LORD, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life”. “The house of the LORD” means God’s presence. David had wealth, honor, respect, everything that the human heart longs for. David had seen the fulfillment of God’s promises, He had experienced God’s provision, protection and purpose, in the midst of it He was not satisfied with what God had done, He longed for God’s presence. I believe we are currently experiencing an epidemic of people chasing promises but neglecting God’s presence. I know that I have fallen into this trap. Our flesh and the enemy of our souls convince us that to chase your destiny is the same as chasing after God, it is not! If you and I will hunger and thirst for God then we will be filled with Him, with His presence and then He will fulfill His purpose for our lives. I believe that God is faithful and that He fulfills everything that He promises, but the path to that fulfillment is in His presence.
I recently heard Mike Bickle say that establishing a 24 hour a day house of prayer and worship was not his dream, it was his assignment. He said that his dream was and continues to be to live in an anointing that continually connects his heart to the heart of God. What are you dreaming of today? What are you striving for? What are you chasing after? If it is a dream, a purpose, a plan or a promise then your longing may be misplaced. Moses wanted the Promised Land, he wanted to see the fulfillment of the journey, but he wanted to be in God’s presence more. The amazing thing about all of this is that the way to get to your purpose is to dwell in God’s presence. The way to walk in the fulfillment of promises is to seek God and God alone. To go back to David’s words in Psalm 27, if you and I will long for “One thing” we will receive everything. If we will seek God and His face, then not only will we dwell in His presence, but from His presence everything that God has ever purposed, ever planned, ever dreamed and ever promised will all come to pass. Today I encourage you to consider what you are chasing and if it is anything other than God Himself, stop the chase and sit with God, sing His praises, listen to His voice and drink deep of His presence. In His presence is fullness, not only of joy, but of everything that He has chosen to pour out.
It’s OK to Ask Again
This morning as I was dropping my older son Noah off at school I told him to walk behind the van to the sidewalk because of the traffic that was moving in front. He jumped out and then stood there at the van for a second. I was looking the other direction, expecting to see him walk out from behind the van when I heard a knock on the window. It was Noah, he asked, “did you say to walk in front or behind the van?” I smiled and told him again that it was behind; he gave me a thumbs up and took off. For some of you this may sound a little funny, but after he left I had to smile because I was really happy with him. Of course the argument can be made that he should have listened better the first time I told him, but in reality, my happiness, even pride came from the fact that he did not panic when he couldn’t remember and he didn’t do what just seemed best to him, he stopped to ask again, not afraid that I would chastise him for not knowing the answer, but instead choosing to be sure of obedience over the fear of looking like he had not paid attention.
If we are going to be honest there are times in which all of us don’t hear, don’t remember or even, simply don’t listen. We all have moments in our lives in which we don’t know which way to go, we are not sure of what our next step should be or even if we are where we are supposed to be at the moment. Those times create a storm of emotions and a list of options. Many times we decide to do what seems best at the moment, “I am not sure whether to stay or go so I will make a list of the pros and cons and make a decision from there.” There are also times when we simply resort to what worked the last time we were in a familiar situation, most of us have a fallback position, “when all else fails . . .” Then there are the times in which we know we should ask God but for some reason we don’t. For each of us there is a different reason for not asking, but they all come from the same source. Some of us are attacked by pride, we won’t ask because we are able, or at least believe we should be able to figure it out. Some of us are racked by guilt and bad theology, we believe that if we were more of what God wanted us to be then He would more readily give us the answers we seek. I say this is bad theology because it makes us more sovereign than God; it puts His will in the hands of our behavior rather than His grace. Then there are those of us that won’t ask because we are gripped by a fearful, wrong image of God. We fear that He will smite us for asking, for bothering, for not knowing already, for not being as mature as we should be. But Jesus said, “Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.” James wrote, “You have not because you ask not.”
All of our reasons for not asking God come from Satan. He lies to us about who God is, what God is like and what God expects from us. He wants us to believe that God is pleased by our strength and the way to get in His good graces (as if the truths of His breath of life in us and His death and resurrection are not already proof of our standing in His love) is by overcoming on our own. And yet, God tells us that when we are weak He is strong. Satan wants you and me to believe that God thinks we should know better because then we won’t depend upon Him for the strength of His grace to overcome sin. If we are guilt-riddled then we will never cry out for help because we will believe that we should help ourselves, even worse we will believe that God thinks we should help ourselves. But God says that when we are tempted that He is faithful to provide an escape for us, He knows our weakness and forever works to give us His power to overcome sin and walk in freedom. The enemy of your soul wants you to fear God, not in reverence but in rejection. His desire is that we would have such a veiled image of God that we would constantly fear that He will reject us and yet over and over again in Scripture when God or His messengers were revealed they first spoke, “Fear not.” John wrote for us so beautifully, “Perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” The fear of punishment is the fear of being rejected by God; it is Satan’s lie that keeps us from drawing close to God with our questions, our hopes, our doubts and even our need for forgiveness.
In Scripture we see all of these examples. When Adam was presented with the one thing that God had told him not to eat he believed the lies of the serpent and gave in to the desire of his eyes. What is worse is that when God confronted him he was ready with an excuse, “The woman you gave me”. The reality is that being tempted is not sinning and even more, being tempted does not make us helpless. Adam and Eve had been prepared by God, He had spoken clearly, they could have walked away, even more, I believe they could have called on Him. Imagine how different everything would have been if Adam and Eve would have stopped and called on God, told Him all of the serpent’s accusations and allowed God to speak. You and I still have this option! When we are tempted, when we are doubting, when we are unsure, we don’t have to give up or give in, we can stop and ask, we can watch and pray, we can wait for God to make clear that which is now so unsure.
King Saul was waiting for Samuel to come and make a sacrifice to God during a time in which the Philistines had Israel surrounded. Samuel said that he would be there in seven days, but now he was late and Saul decided he had to do something and so he broke God’s law by offering a sacrifice that only priests were permitted to offer. It seems that as soon as he was finished with this sacrifice that Samuel arrived and questioned Saul about what he had done and why. Saul’s excuse was weak: the people were afraid and Samuel was not present, he had to do something. We have never been called to just do something, we are always called to trust God and to only do what He asks of us. This concept of proving ourselves to God, or making our own way is utterly misguided, it leads us to disobedience which always leads us to difficulty!
Finally, Jesus told a parable about a man that left “talents” for his servants to care for while he was away. He gave 5 “talents” to one servant; he invested and turned it into 10. He gave 2 “talents” to another servant; he invested it and turned it into 4. He gave one talent to a third servant; he was afraid to invest it and so he buried it so that he would not lose it and made no profit at all. When the man returned he praised the first two servants for being faithful but the third he chastised as being lazy. The servant reasoned that he had been afraid of losing the “talent” and so he did nothing with it. The man responded that at the very least he should have put the “talent” in the bank so that it would have earned interest. Fear causes paralysis; it keeps us from doing anything at all. Living in fear is almost like guaranteeing that we will live in disobedience. Many of us reason that even though we do little right at least we have not done anything wrong; James makes it clear that this thinking is far off by writing, “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.”
I believe the thing that moved me the most this morning when Noah chose to stop and ask again what he was supposed to do is that it showed me a level of trust. Our relationship is growing to the point where he believes that he can trust me to guide him but he can also trust me to love him, not harm him. I believe that God longs for us to get to that very same place with Him. He is not sitting in heaven waiting to see if we will “get it right.” He is not disgusted that we didn’t hear or didn’t listen, He longs to be heard, but I believe just as much, He longs to be asked, to be trusted and to show His love. No matter what anyone says, we are not pawns in God’s hands, just being moved for the sake of His plan; we are children, dearly loved, patiently guided and perfectly cared for. God does not speak and then back away to see what we will do, He speaks and leads, He whispers and guides, He sings and carries. If you are struggling with where you are today, ask God, if you have already asked Him, ask again; He is not in heaven waiting to punish you if you fail, He is walking with you planning to give you a hope and a future. In Genesis 6 God told Noah that He was going to send a flood to destroy everyone and everything other than him and his family. God told him to build an ark and then God told him exactly how to build it, gave the measurements, the design even the kind of wood to use. At the end of the chapter the Bible says something great about Noah, “Noah did everything just as God commanded him.” I want to live in that kind of obedience, but I am learning that the only way I can be that obedient is if I am willing to trust God completely, willing to believe that He loves me eternally and willing to put aside my doubts, my fears, my expectations and my worries and simply believe that He knows the plans that He has for me. And when I am unsure of those plans, all I have to do is ask.
Ten Years Ago . . .
Ten years ago today my life changed. At the time it was the most difficult thing I had ever experienced, it was the death of a dream, the end of a season and a rejection that I took much too personally. Generally I am pretty confident in God’s calling on my life, in His will for me and in the path that I believe He has led me on, but there are a couple of days each year in which I find myself with some questions, with some doubts, battling fear and hoping that the fruit of my life will be fruit that lasts. Today is one of those days. I am writing today in part for my own indulgence, for my own reflection but also that others of us that struggle with the past, with the outcome and with the paths that we have been put on, might know that we don’t struggle alone and that God does, indeed, work all things for good.
This past Sunday I heard myself declaring that no man and no circumstance could change God’s plans for our lives, that His plans were perfect and that only our disobedience could thwart His purposes for us. It is funny how God works, when I was speaking those words on Sunday today’s “anniversary” was not on my radar. Ten years ago I was in a place and a position that I was sure was going to last for many, many years. God had given me a love for and a vision for the community I was in, I was sure that I had figured out how He was going to fulfill that vision and use that love. I had mapped out His plan for my life and I was happy and content with the plan I had chosen for God. As you read this, and as I write it, I can see all of the things wrong with the picture being painted. Suddenly, without warning and I believed without provocation it was all turned upside down. Someone else made a decision for me that I was not willing to make for myself. The position I was comfortable in was no longer available to me, the place that I was sure would be my home for life was now telling me that I was no longer needed, that it was time to move on. I was sure that this scenario had to be wrong, surely if I were to leave I should have been the one to make the decision, right?
During that time in my life I thought a lot about David. I read a lot about the season in his life in which he was sent away from Israel, had to hide, align with Philistines, lead a band of “mighty men” that were mostly of ill repute as far as the rest of the world was concerned. I thought about how hard it must have been for David, not simply being away from his home, from his family, from his friends but also being away from his calling. David had already been anointed the next king of Israel, he had been a great warrior for the nation and even a soothing musician for Saul, but then it was Saul himself that despised him, that was jealous of him and consumed with killing him. Now before I go on, my situation was not that of David and Saul, it was not of a wrong and a right, an anointed and an expiring, not at all. My experience and what I hope to share is not about people but providence; not how we respond to each other but how much we are willing to trust God. Where it did relate was in mind and in God’s kindness. I was sure of God’s calling for my life, I just had no idea of His timing, His way of fulfilling His purpose or even how much preparation was needed in my life before I could truly walk in what God was speaking to me and about me. The parallel is not in the characters of the story but rather in the comfort of the experience that God leads, even into seasons and places of preparation that are produced by what feels like rejection.
At different times over the past ten years I have tried to make sense of it all. There have been moments that I have blamed others, but quickly and obviously there has never been truth in those places. Is the will of God really dependent upon men? Is God’s purpose for my life really so fragile that the people around me have the power to make it come to pass or keep it from happening? No, that belief only creates bitterness and robs of faith. I know for sure that I am not in any place or out of any place because of anyone other than God’s plan and my level of obedience. David had to come to the place of faith where he understood and believed that he was not out of God’s will, meaning that God had set Saul up as king and had anointed David as the next king. It was not going to be David’s job to establish his kingdom or to remove Saul’s; it was all about God’s will, His purpose and His desire. David’s position in the wilderness was in God’s hands and of God’s doing, not Saul’s.
At other times I have looked closely at my reactions, my decisions in this episode. There is nothing more debilitating than the internal conversation that starts with, “I wish I would have”, or “I should have” or even “I wonder if it would be different if I had”. The reality is that there are things I wish I would have done differently, there are things that I was wrong about and have repented of to God and also to those that were affected by those wrongs, but do those things void God’s plan, do they remove His blessing and my calling? During his exile David made some decisions that can only make us shake our heads in retrospect. He fled to Gath of the Philistines, can you imagine what David’s reputation was in Gath? He had killed their greatest warrior when he was only a teenager, He had led Israel in victory over them and made the Philistines the subjects of Israel. He must have been their national enemy and here he was seeking refuge? When he requested food and help from a man named Nabal and was refused David gathered his men, drew swords and prepared to destroy Nabal, his family, his servants and everything he owned, all because he rudely refused to give them bread. Most obvious were his two encounters with Saul. Twice David had opportunity to kill Saul and forcibly take the kingdom that God had anointed him to receive. The first time David realized he could not harm Saul but to show Saul that he could have killed him David cut off the corner of his robe. The Bible says that “David’s heart troubled him”, he should have never touched Saul or his robe, he did not need to prove what he could have done, he needed to trust God to fulfill the calling and anointing that He had established. David even chose to partner with the Philistines to go to battle against Israel. Had it not been for the Philistines rejection of David he would have marched into battle against Israel.
None of us are perfect in our decision making, not me, not you and not even David. The beauty of God’s love for us is that He does not require perfection, He provides it. We are not able to stand in front of Him spotless, but He is “able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless”. There are consequences to poor decisions, but there is also redemption, forgiveness, character building and restoration. The Apostle Paul wrote, “He who began a good work in you is faithful to complete it”. The path that God set us on is the path that He leads us on; He is faithful and responsible for the destination as well as the preparation and the journey. God is leading us on a path of righteousness that leads to His glory and our fulfillment. The path takes many twists and many turns, it meets many people and is full of the trouble the He has overcome as well as the joy that is complete in Him. We cannot judge each moment by our understanding or by the feelings that the current circumstances may bring. I believe we must evaluate the path according to God’s presence, His character and His promises.
Let’s fast forward to the day in which David finally takes the throne as Israel’s king. He reaches the moment that God had spoken to him and over him years earlier. He receives the crown that the prophet Samuel had anointed him to receive and he has to look back over the path that brought him to the throne. As he looks around he may see mighty men, men of valor and trust that he would have never known if he had not been hiding in the cave of Adullam. He sees his wife Abigail that he would have never known if not for the encounter with Nabal and I am sure he sees himself differently. He is probably more humble having been through the difficulties of hiding and rejection; more confident in God’s providence seeing that in spite of all of the struggles he is found exactly where God said he would be and I would believe more faithful, knowing that everything he has in life is from the hand of God alone because if not for God he would have been destroyed long before.
Ten years have come and gone for me and as I look from here to there I see much more than I could have ever anticipated. There is still some hurt but no open wounds, there are still some questions but there are also a lot of answers. Like David, there are people that are in my life, people I love and trust, that I cannot imagine living without, that I would have never chosen if not for being put on a path I did not choose or understand. I have had experiences that have shaped me, changed me and molded me into the kind of man, husband, father, pastor and friend that I would have never experienced if I had been allowed to set my own course. There has been forgiveness, grace, mercy, growth, struggle, doubt, fear, triumph and most of all God’s love and presence. Ten years later I am grateful for the path that God chose for me, I am even grateful for those that He used to set me on this path. Again, there are still days when it hurts, still days when I wonder why, still days when I question if I am even where I should be, but the overwhelming truth is that God has been with me and that is all any of us will ever need. Today if you are on a path that you did not choose for yourself I want to encourage you to ask God if it is the path that He chose. Sometimes the way He moves us feels like rejection to our flesh but is actually God’s protection for our lives and our callings. Saul rejected David, but God led him and prepared him to become the king from whom the Christ would come. If you feel rejected, know this, God comes close to the humble, trust Him, embrace Him and believe that His providence is in control, He is leading you and guiding you and He will fulfill His great purpose for your life. As for me, I finally feel ready, ten years later I feel that I am finally ready to reap the harvest of due time. I believe that my heart and my mind are finally yielding to God’s love, His Word and His purpose and while there have been many times I have wanted to faint, many times I thought I was simply finished, I look around and see God’s goodness, His love and His purpose. Ten years ago today my life changed, thank you Jesus for changing my life!
Another Loss?
I’m sitting in my office today at a bit of a loss. The truth is, today has been a day of much loss, at least that is how it appears. In the last few hours I have gotten news of the loss of an election, friends that have lost jobs due to that election, the loss of hope for at least one in a dark situation, the loss of a month old child that had been battling illness and the new discouraging diagnosis for another child. In the midst of so many heavy moments has come, like a flood, another weight, that of God’s glory, His love and His complete knowledge of all things.
In Psalm 42 the Sons of Korah wrote about a similar season. They spoke to themselves, to their very souls as they cried out, “Why are you cast down, O my soul?” They even answered their own question, “my soul is cast down within me.” Honestly, so is mine. The election that took place yesterday, that would have taken a miracle to go in the way I hoped it would, I was prepared for that outcome but not the immediate loss of jobs that followed. I just can’t see with my eyes what the purpose or plan is right now. The month-old child that passed away this morning, I was praying for her, I knew her situation was serious, but just a few hours earlier all things were status quo, even a bit optimistic. The loss of hope for my friend, well, she could be one of the Sons of Korah today, her frustration is understood and in no way toward God. The unpromising diagnosis, it is like a kick in the stomach, not what I am praying for and not what I want the child or the family to endure. In the midst of all these things I cry out for those that are suffering, “God, their souls are downcast!”
The Sons of Korah did not merely write us a Psalm of discouragement or discontent. Their next words are: “Therefore I will remember You . . .Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls; all Your waves and billows have gone over me.” At the depth of discontent came the depth of God’s presence. As the weight of discouragement fell, the weight of God’s love fell greater. At the moment of life’s most difficult news also comes God’s most perfect care. Could this be that moment that Job was in when He uttered, “He gives and He takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord.” I don’t believe that those words are a cry of surrender but rather a shout of truth. My soul is downcast and yet my spirit is full. My heart is heavy and yet God is near. My hope is challenged and yet my faith is strong. My circumstance is grim and yet God’s promise is sure.
In Jeremiah chapter 1 God told the prophet, “I am watching to see that My word is fulfilled.” I am devoted to a belief in God’s sovereignty. I believe He sees every sparrow fall and that His eyes are always on me. I believe that nothing happens out of chance but rather that “by Him all things hold together.” I also lean heavily on God’s words to Isaiah, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” God is not ordering eternity according to what I think or understand, hope or desire. He is doing what is eternally perfect and He is utterly in control. With that said, I must yield today to the God who loves me more than height, depth, length or width could ever contain. I must yield to the fact that God is not reworking His plans for our community due to last night’s election; that He is not scrambling to find jobs of influence to those that were laid off today; He is not unprepared to receive baby Phoebe nor is He not ready to give comfort, peace and love to her family; He is not angry or disappointed with my friend in despair, instead He is preparing a place, a moment, a flash of His glory to embrace her and remind her that He is with her; and He is not discouraged by the doctors reports but as He told Jarius when the servants reported that his daughter was dead, He is saying “Do not be afraid; only believe.”
I am overwhelmed today, but no longer by loss, I am overwhelmed by God. What a promise He gave to Jeremiah and that He gives to us, He is watching over His word to see that it is fulfilled. We are not governed by this world, by the circumstances we see, by the people around us and their decisions. We are affected by all those things but we are not governed by them, we are led by and cared for by the God of all things, the One who spoke all things into existence and walks among us in Spirit to lead, guide, protect and fulfill. He is watching His word, He is bringing His perfect plan to pass, and we can rest, obey, trust and sit under all of His waves and billows. He will not drown us in loss; He will revive us with peace, with truth, with hope, with life and with His presence. Please, today, don’t believe you are lost; don’t believe that loss has overtaken you. He is watching over His word and He will bring all of it to fulfillment; that is an unsurpassed gain.
Shaking
Jesus told a parable about two builders. One He referred to as foolish because he built his house on sand or with an unstable foundation. Jesus calls the other builder wise because he built his house on the stable foundation of stone. The wisdom or lack of it is not evident during the building of the houses but rather when the time of testing comes. Jesus said, “The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house”; the house built on the sand “fell with a great crash”, while the one built on the stone “did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.” Many of us have made an error in our lives, we have believed that the severity of the storm determines whether we stand or fall when the reality is, it is not the storm that conquers us, rather it is the quality of our foundation that determines our ability to endure difficulty.
The given in Jesus’ story is that there will be a storm. Sometimes I fear that we are looking for God to give us opportunities or strategies to avoid difficulty when I don’t believe the Bible teaches this to be true. We live in a fallen world that is still ruled by sin and Satan. While Jesus’ work on the cross and His resurrection have given us freedom from sin and have conquered the grave the world we live in is still ravaged by the consequences of sin. There is still an enemy that “roams about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.” We have power over sin but we are not exempt from sins effects. Psalm 34:19 says “The righteous person will have many troubles, but the LORD comes to rescue him each time.” Jesus Himself told the disciples, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Our focus cannot be the avoidance of difficulty but rather, it must be on building a foundation that withstands difficulty.
The book of Hebrews is one of my favorite books of the Bible. I especially love chapter 12, Jesus’ joyful endurance of the cross, God’s loving discipline and then a contrast of Mt. Sinai (the Law) and Mt. Zion (salvation by grace). As chapter 12 begins to come to a close the author quotes Haggai, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” He goes on to write that God shakes all the created things “so that what cannot be shaken may remain.” The shaking is like the storms of Jesus’ parable, they are the given, the guarantee, we all must endure the shaking because it is going to happen. But the shaking is different from the storms. The shaking is by God, it is His hands, His movement and it follows His purpose. We cannot become people that fear or dread the shaking, we cannot be people that look for ways to avoid the shaking, instead we must become those that understand why God shakes, that trusts Him in the midst of the shaking and then thanks Him for the outcome.
I believe that Hebrews 12:28 tells us clearly why God must shake our lives, “we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken”. God shakes our lives so that everything that is unstable will fall off. He comes and tests us, He comes and tries us, He comes and shows us that there have been things that we have invited in, that we have drawn close to and that we have given our hearts toward that are not best for us, that are not useful to God and that actually are the cause of instability in our lives. Many of us are like the builder that built on the sand. As long as the condition are just right, as long as we are in control, as long as our lives are what we want them to be then we are solid, secure and even look stable. Yet, the moment things are less than ideal, the moment the wind picks up and the rain falls hard we quickly begin to lose strength, even shape and quickly start to crumble. Again, this is not about the storm, it is all about our foundation. Sometimes, if the foundation is broken the building must be torn down and started over, this time building on what is strong and secure.
I write this today because there is shaking all around us. Many of us are in situations in which things are moving and not exactly as we had hoped or planned. Things that we were sure of are now unsure, things that we had hoped for are now farther off than ever before and things we have held onto tightly are shaking right out of our hands. To try to be a bit specific, some are dealing with issues of health, with job issues, financial strains and relational stress. Your ability to withstand is not about the storm today, or the shaking, it is all about your foundation. Some of the things we are afraid of losing we actually need to let go of, some of the things that we thought were our strength are actually causing our instability. I encourage you today, spend one day praying and don’t ask God to change your situation or to stop the shaking that is going on in your life, rather, ask God to do whatever He needs to do to make you strong. Trust Him enough to know that He will never leave you forsaken or broken but understand that sometimes He has to break us so that He can mend us stronger and more secure than ever before. The outcome of God’s shaking is to put your in a position of strength, faith, hope and security. He is giving us a kingdom, giving us a promise, giving us lives that cannot be shaken, but He does it by shaking us until all the excess rings out. This season may be difficult, it may cause you to reevaluate everything you have known, believed, trusted and hoped for. This shaking may seem to be breaking you and the storms may seem to be more than your foundation can bear but I will share with you a promise from the author of Romans, “hope does not disappoint.” You will not only endure you will overcome; you will not only make it through you will be more than a conqueror; you will not merely finish the race you will receive the crown of life. God’s shaking will not destroy you it will strengthen you, hold tightly to Him and let everything else fall away and when He is finished, you will have a foundation that is “steadfast and immovable”, a faith that is capable of moving mountains and a peace that brings quiet in the midst of life’s greatest storms.
Risk for the Kingdom
For the past three weeks I have been preaching about risk. During this time I have come to a very important conclusion, our level of risk is dependent upon the value that we have put upon the reward. The old saying is that a bird in the hand is worth two in a bush, meaning that it is foolish to trade a sure thing in hopes of gaining more because there is also the possibility of ending up with nothing. Too many of us live by this axiom. There are moments in each one of our lives in which God puts in front of us an opportunity to change, to step out in faith, to become more than we currently are, to fulfill divine purpose. With each one of those opportunities comes risk, a need to leave what we have known, to change what we have seen work in the past, to attempt a new task or even to embrace a new people. I think that the Bible, through lessons of men and women like Noah, Abraham, Joseph, David, Esther, Nehemiah, Peter, Paul, Barnabas and many others, teaches us that every step of faith requires a risk, a leap, a belief that what God has promised to do is of much greater value than what He has commanded us to leave behind.
C.S. Lewis wrote, “If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next.” I have begun to be concerned that many of us fall short of the influence we were created for in this life because we love it too much. Hebrews 11:10 says of Abraham, “For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” How is it that Abraham was willing to leave everything he had ever known and go to a place he had never seen or heard of? He put more value on being in the place that God had prepared for him than he put on being in the place where he was comfortable and secure.
In the first two chapters of his first epistle Peter refers to the church as pilgrims, strangers and aliens. He is trying to make a very important point, if you believe that this is where you belong then you will come to embrace the world around you. We were not set in the world to become like the culture, mindsets and people around us, we were placed here to bring the kingdom of God with us, to become “salt and light” that effects change rather than those that become changed. We have been created to take risks of faith that challenge the status quo, that defy selfishness and that are completely dependent upon God to be fulfilled. It was risky for Nehemiah to ask for permission to leave the king’s service and return to Jerusalem and rebuild its walls. It was risky for Esther to approach the king and reveal that she was one of the Jews that were about to be destroyed because of Haman’s plan. It was risky for Peter to go to Cornelius’ house and declare the gospel to Gentiles. With each risk was also the hope of reward, that Jerusalem would once again have walls for protection and to bring glory to God; that the king would receive Esther and the Jews would be saved; that God would pour out His Spirit on all flesh rather than only on the nation of Israel. Each of these people counted the hope of reward greater than the risk of loss.
God is speaking to all of us in like manner. He is asking us to take steps of faith, steps of change, steps of love and of service that appear costly to us now. If we look at Jesus’ words for our example we see that we are being called to “love our enemies”; “turn the other cheek”; “take no thought of tomorrow”; “not worry about what we will eat or drink”; and even to choose to lose our lives so that we might save them. Choosing to be the one that serves rather than the one served is risky if we look from the eyes of the world and the culture around us, but Jesus chose it. He declared that He, the Son of Man, came not to be served but to serve. How amazing is that? The One who created all things and even “holds all things together” chose to come and serve His creation! How? Why? I think Hebrews also answers that question for us, “for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning the shame”. What was that joy? It was you and me and every other believer that ever was or ever will be. Our salvation was costly for Jesus, even risky. He knew from the beginning that many would not believe that His death and resurrection would not assure that everyone would put their trust in Him and be saved, but He valued you, He valued me above the cost, above the risk, above the cross.
Risk is all about value. So, what do we value the most? Abraham was asked to put Isaac on the altar to show who he valued more, the promised one or the One that gave the promise. The rich young ruler was asked to choose, he could follow Jesus without his possessions or he could keep his possessions without Jesus. Maybe your current situation and decision is not as dramatic but it is a choice all the same. Will we live for the Kingdom of God? Will we spend ourselves, our time, our money, our affection and our energy to see the lost saved? Will we embrace God’s kingdom and live with a loose grip on the things of this world? Will we choose to endure things that those around us think are foolish so that we might walk in the joy that God has set before us? I want to be a risk-taker for the Kingdom of God. I want to be willing to go when He calls, to speak when He speaks, to give when He asks and to trust that He is always in control. We sing the song, “I’d rather have Jesus than anything this world could afford to give.” I want to move from singing those lyrics to living them. I pray that you will join me on this journey and that we, together, will be those that become so heavenly minded that we do more than earthly good, we literally see God’s Kingdom come and His will be done here on earth as it is and will be in heaven.
Mercy Wins
The last sentence of our vision statement at City of Refuge Fellowship reads “Our vision is to take part in the triumph of mercy over judgment and to see the glory of the Lord as it rises upon our city.” That first line comes from James 2:13, “Mercy triumphs over judgment.” I love these few words. They almost sneak up on you in the midst of James’ denouncing of favoritism and teaching on faith and works. If not careful they can be completely overlooked and if so, then so much can be lost. The fact that James uses the word “triumphs” means that there is a battle, a race, a competition that is playing out between mercy and judgment. They are grappling with each other; in some ways they are even grappling with us to see which we will receive, which we will put our hope in and even which we will give to those around us. If there is indeed a battle going on within and around me between mercy and judgment then I believe I need to be aware of it, I need to take part in it and I need to be sure that James’ words are coming to pass in my life, that I am one in whom and through whom mercy is winning it’s battle.
I believe that the best example of mercy triumphing over judgment is found in John 8. Jesus was in the midst of teaching in the Temple when suddenly a group of pious men dragged before Him a woman that had been caught in the act of adultery. The present her to Jesus, they explain her sin and then they tell Him what He already knows, that the law of Moses called for her to be stone for her sin. Then they asked, “What do You say?” This poor woman, not only is her sin on display for all to know, but she has now become a pawn in the game of those trying to test, to trick and to harm Jesus. In the midst of this scene it seems as if Jesus ignores them. He stoops down and starts to simply write on the ground with His finger. The men continue to ask, to prod, to demand that He give them an answer. Jesus stands back up and simply says, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” He then goes back to writing on the ground. The Bible says an amazing thing, “Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one”. Jesus did not say anything that changed what the woman had done. He did not say anything that changed the Law of Moses. He did not say anything that explained her situation or gave an excuse for what had happened. I believe that all He did was give context to her sin and the sin of those standing in judgment. They were the same. No matter how pious or sinful, whether all adulterers or none adulterers, they were all the same, sinners in need of mercy. In fact, that woman, and the noticeably absent man she was having an affair with, the Pharisees and you and I all are the same, we are all sinners in need of mercy.
I realized something about this passage recently; the only one with the power to give mercy is the one that also has the power to pronounce judgment. After all of the accusers left the Temple Jesus stood up again and asked the woman, “Has no one condemned you?” She said no one had and then He said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.” Jesus had the power to condemn her, He will one day judge us all for our actions, but thank God that we have not seen that day yet. Jesus offered her what He came to offer all of us, mercy that would triumph over judgment. I believe that each time Jesus forgave sins when He walked this earth as a man it was because He knew that He would die for those sins. Jesus stood in the Temple fully aware that He would die for this woman’s adultery, He had already prepared mercy for her; I pray that she received it, I pray that she saw Him as more than a kind teacher but as the Savior of her souls, the Lamb of God that takes away not only all sins, but her sins.
I have asked our church to commit to a vision of reconciliation, a vision of mercy and a vision of triumph. Where we fall short sometimes is that we are excited or interested in the outcome. We are excited by the thought of those around us receiving mercy, but we must be completely committed to the process that will bring these visions to pass. The outcome is forgiven, cleansed, saved, changed people and communities but the process is not as exciting. The process is to face the woman caught in adultery and recognize that Jesus died for this sin and we must offer mercy so that judgment will lose its hold on her. To use our community’s struggles, we must face those bound by addiction, those trapped by selfishness, those deceived by culture, those harmed by those that should have loved them, rejected for their past and present foolish choices, those hungry and naked and poor because of bad choices and those that despise religion and the religious because of their own assumptions. We must face all of these and many more with mercy in our hands and mercy on our tongues and mercy in our hearts. We must face people trapped by sin as those Jesus has already died for. We must not be constantly offended but rather motivated, encouraged and even excited by the fact that this sin, every sin has already been paid for.
“Mercy triumphs over judgment.” It is true, all because of Jesus. Jesus triumphs over judgment, Jesus triumphs over sin, Jesus triumphs over death and Jesus has triumphed over the grave. I am praying for our church. I am praying for our community, that it would be a place where mercy clearly leads, where mercy clearly stands and where mercy clearly wins. The battle is no longer to find mercy, it is to believe it. I ask one final question today, how would your family, your community, your life change if you lived every day to see mercy triumph over judgment? In my life I believe I know what would change, I believe that salvation would come near and that Jesus’ blood would transform us all. That is the victory I want to see, that is the life I want to live. I am determined to live a life that sees every person as one in need of mercy and every sin as defeated by the cross. I believe today more than ever that “mercy triumphs over judgment.”
Not what I expected
Some of our biggest issues in life revolve around expectations and disappointments. Just today I got to see this at work in my house. We have been snowed in twice over the last 6 days, getting somewhere between 3 and 4 feet of snow during that span. Last week we were able to take our boys sledding for the first time in a few years. My older son had the time of his life, my younger son, well he didn’t. With this second storm we decided to go sledding again. Last night we agreed that we would let the snow stop, dig out and clear the sidewalks and then go sledding. When we made this agreement everyone was excited and could not wait until morning. This morning I got up, dug out the van and cleared the sidewalks. We got all of the work done but then when it was time to get ready for sledding some unexpected circumstances arose. Our three year old son decided that he really did not like sledding last time and did not want to go. My knee swelled up and started having spasms and then we got calls from the other two families we were supposed to sled with, one could not go and the other family had all gotten sick overnight. The trip that was planned and expected was suddenly canceled. My older son was really disappointed; he had expected to go sledding today. The reality was that circumstances arose that we could not have foreseen and so the trip being canceled was out of our control, and yet that did not seem to alleviate Noah’s disappointment.
In John 11 we are told that one of Jesus’ closest friends, Lazarus, was sick. His sisters, Martha and Mary send word to Jesus but when He gets the news He stands still. Lazarus’ sisters had an expectation, if they got word to Jesus He would come and heal their brother. The expectation was not unrealistic, they had seen Him heal many; He had opened blind eyes and deaf ears, cleansed lepers and cast out demons, healing their brother was not only within His ability, it was what they expected Jesus’ desire to be. This time, however; something different happened, Jesus did not come, not only was Lazarus not healed, he died and his sisters were left to mourn not only his death but their own disappointment.
When Jesus arrived at Martha and Mary’s home they both had the same response, “If You had been here my brother would not have died.” They were not afraid to let Him know what their expectation had been. The way they approach Jesus and the way they speak to Him shows that they are not disappointed in Him, they trust Him and yet they are heart-broken over their loss. Jesus speaks very clearly to Martha that something much greater than she ever expected is present, that there is a purpose to His presence and that He has a plan much different from hers that He is going to fulfill. Jesus goes to Lazarus’ grave, He is moved by the tears and pain of His friends, He is moved by the condition of the mourners that surround Him, so moved that he weeps with them, He joins His heart to theirs and chooses, even as Scripture commands us, to weep with those that weep. In the midst of tears and prayers there are also questions, friends, family and neighbors ask why Jesus had not been there, how it could be that He could heal strangers and not be present to heal His friend, some simply question why, why could He have not been able to come and heal Lazarus. Again, they are disappointed because their expectations were not met.
Jesus stands at the tomb of Lazarus and calls out, “Take away the stone.” Lazarus had been buried in a cave, a large stone covered the mouth of the cave. Jesus’ request is a large one; it is not normal, not convenient and not expected. You can almost hear the surprise in Martha’s voice, almost see her turn on her heals and say, “But Lord, by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” There are moments in our lives when the will of God requires us to trust Him in the midst of the most unexpected of requests. To open the tomb would have been an emotional event in the natural. They are still mourning and the tomb should be open? He has been dead for four days, he is already decomposing, there will be odor, it sounds embarrassing almost disrespectful, and He does not even tell them why the tomb should be opened, just to open it. Jesus’ response to Martha goes back to what He had spoken to her earlier. He had made her promises, had spoken to her of resurrection and life, of glory and greater experiences and revelation than she had ever known before. Jesus answers Martha’s fears and concerns by reminding her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”
God’s glory is rarely seen in the manner, timing, place or way that we expected it. The glory of God is often revealed after our expectations are dashed and disappointment seeks to rob us of trust. The glory of God is seen and believed and released through testing, through the forging of faith, of trust and of His love for us. Jesus’ request for the tomb to be opened was a test for Martha and Mary. It was a test of their trust for Him, of their belief in His love for them and of their level of confidence in His power and authority. Everything of worth has to be tested and it is not until we enter into that testing that we discover the true measure in which we can trust God, we can believe in His love and we can be sure of His provision, His character and His will. Each of us has been and will be tested. God is going to speak through His Word, through His Spirit and then He is going to lead us to a place in which He will test our confidence in His promises. Many of us have faith as long as our expectations are met and disappointment is held at bay, but God is forging our character in such a way so that we are led by His expectations rather than controlled by ours. Disappointment is when someone or something does not live up to our desires; God is working in our lives in such a way that will lead us to relinquishing our desires and putting our hope in His.
Martha made a decision after Jesus spoke, she decided that she desired to see the glory of God and knew that the only way to reach that place was to trust Jesus completely. She gave the word, she obeyed Jesus and had the stone removed. I wonder what those few moments were like for her and Mary. As the stone was moved away what did they do? Did they hold their breath, hoping not to smell the decaying body? Did they expect to see Jesus walk in the tomb or even to see Lazarus walk out? I have a feeling that at this point they had no more expectations, they were probably pretty spent and not in a position to try to guess what would happen next but instead where there in the moment, watching Jesus, listening to His prayers and trusting in His love. This is the same place that God is leading all of us to.
I believe that some of us are in situations very near to Martha and Mary’s. We are in places that we never expected, even worse, some of us have had expectations that have simply not been met. Those places are filled with warfare, the Holy Spirit is speaking that God is present and that He is fulfilling His purpose in our lives and the Accuser of our souls is speaking disappointment and doubt. It is in this place that our faith is being tested and that the purity of God’s trustworthiness is being shown. In the midst of one of the greatest trials man has ever known Job said, “when He has tested me I will come forth as gold.” Job understood that God never left, He never disappointed and He was not bound by our understanding or expectation. To go back to Lazarus one last time, Jesus could have come and healed him. He could have spoken a word from a distance and had His friend recover; He could have never allowed the sickness to come near Lazarus at all. In any of these scenarios Jesus’ friends would have only had their expectations met, they would not have had any new revelation, no new glory, and no new experience of His love, His power and His mercy. At this moment God is not coming short of your expectations He is exceeding them. If we can fight against disappointment, not allowing it to deceive us, we will see God do more in our lives than we ever expected and truthfully, even more than we ever desired.
