Month: July 2019

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.”  Matthew 6:25

            What are you worried about today? You notice I didn’t ask if you’re worried. I assumed you are. That’s because we humans have a tendency to always worry. Some people worry more than others. There are those who allow worry to kidnap their thoughts and feelings and hold them hostage. Those who don’t worry to that extent still have an undercurrent of anxiety or concern. I’ve heard that worry is simply a lack of faith. When we don’t believe that God can or will handle the situation to our liking, we worry. I remember as a teenager thinking that I didn’t want to trust God for a husband because He might make me marry an ugly man. That’s right. I really was that shallow! But it’s an example of not trusting God to work in my best interest.

            This verse reminds me that the average person in the first century worried about things with greater consequences than my usual concerns. They worried about things like where they were going to get their next meal. Or were they going to have something to wear. When we say we don’t have anything to wear, we usually mean that our clothes are out of style, or don’t fit exactly right, or are in the laundry. When these people said they had nothing to wear, they meant they literally had nothing to wear. To me, that’s something to worry about! But Jesus is telling them that even if they don’t have any food or any clothes, don’t worry. Wow! That’s a big command! It almost seems as if He’s asking them to be naïve or unrealistic about their situation. Then He goes on to compare them to the birds. Do the birds just sit around all day, waiting for God to drop seeds in their mouths? No, of course not. They do their part. They dig up worms, hunt for seeds, catch the bugs. It’s the same with us. As long as we’re willing to do our part, God will provide what we need.            

This doesn’t apply to just food and clothes. It’s true with every worry we have. I hear a lot about “laying it at the feet of Jesus.” In fact, I usually hear that coming out of my own mouth! I have to admit that when I think that, I quite often have the idea of laying my worry there, then going on my merry way. That’s not what Jesus is saying. I still have to do my part. It’s up to God to provide whatever I need to do my part. He may provide the energy I need, or the guidance, or the patience, or the resources. Whatever it is, this verse is asking me to have the faith that God will provide. When I have that faith, it makes the work a pure joy. I’m not trudging through a situation, worrying if it will end up the way I want. Instead, I’m doing the same work but with an expectation of seeing God work it all out, perhaps in ways I never could have imagined.

“She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.” Proverbs 31:25

            What are you afraid of? Spiders? Snakes? Heights? Small spaces? These are very real fears and there are many more phobias from which people suffer. There’s even a fear of phobias! It seems to me that the real fear is a lack of control. I wouldn’t hate spiders so much if I knew they were going to stay over there and not come near me. But since I don’t know when a spider is going to start crawling on me, or worse, when I might walk into a spider’s web, I have a fear of them. I know the fear is irrational. But I can’t control spiders, therefore I fear them. A fear of heights is really a fear of falling off that height and therefore losing control. I won’t go so far as to say that every fear is really a fear of lack of control, but I can’t think of one that doesn’t boil down to that.

            A very common fear is a fear of the future. We don’t know what’s going to happen and so we have no control over it. Therefore, we fear it. What if bad things happen? Many of us play the “what if” game much too often. The entire insurance industry is built on this very game. But according to this verse, the Proverbs 31 woman (or man) is able to laugh at the days to come. There’s not even a hint of fear. In fact, it’s almost a mocking laughter. It’s as if she’s taunting the future to take its best shot – she’s ready. How can she be so sure she’s ready? First, she’s worked hard to be ready. She’s stored up food, made money, bought clothing. All the things a woman of that day needed to do to be prepared for the future.

            But there’s a bigger reason she’s ready. Look at the first half of this verse. She’s prepared spiritually and emotionally. She has a strength that is greater than a physical strength. It’s an ability to stand strong in the face of opposition. I think of a stronghold, like a stone tower built to withstand the attacks of the enemy. That’s the picture of this woman. How do we attain that kind of strength? By knowing that our strength comes only from the Lord. She also has dignity. This is an awe-inspiring majesty or splendor. Again, this can only come from God. So she is strong and established in her relationship with the One who controls the future. She doesn’t need to know what the future holds. It doesn’t matter. Whatever it is, she knows that God will give her exactly what she needs to face it. Because of that, there is the joy of laughter that comes from a complete absence of fear.

What are you facing? Are you unsure what your future holds? Or maybe you know, and you’re not sure how you’re going to be able to handle it. Or perhaps you’re in a tough season right now and just not sure how you’re going to make it through. Look to God. Rest in Him. He’ll give you the ability to laugh at the days to come.

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.”  Philippians 2:3

            A few months ago I heard a devotional that has really stuck with me. In all honesty, I only remember two words of the devotional but they bear repeating – over and over again. Those two words are: “Others first.” I can’t tell you how many times I have said those words to myself since then. When someone cuts in front of me in traffic or the checkout line, when at a four-way stop, when another gets something I wanted, when someone asks a favor that requires sacrifice on my part. I have been in each of those situations since then, and before responding, I have silently said, “Others first.” Then I can respond as God would have me respond. When saying those words to myself, I often think of this verse. It’s a great verse. In my opinion, it’s one of the gems to have tucked in our memory to remind us how to live as Christ followers. It’s one I should remind myself of often.

            If it’s such a great verse and if I have it memorized, why do I need to keep reminding myself? Shouldn’t this type of behavior be habit by now? In a way, yes it should. It does become more and more natural as we grow in Christ. But Satan, the world, and even our own flesh continually tell us differently. How often do we hear, “Look out for number one,” or some other saying with similar meaning? Even our own earthly desires will tell us similar lies. When we believe those lies, we act out of vain conceit. Vain, meaning empty or groundless. Conceit, meaning thinking that we’re greater than we are. Believing that way is a perfect breeding ground for feelings of anger and resentment, which can easily lead to strife and a dividing of the body of Christ.

            What happens when we choose to believe truth instead of those lies? First, we see ourselves as we truly are. That doesn’t mean we become scum-of-the-earth doormats. This verse doesn’t say we’re worse than anyone else. That’s a very important distinction. Rather, we’re realistic about ourselves. That’s true humility. We see ourselves as God sees us: beloved but helpless without Him. And we don’t see others as superior to us. In fact, if we’re being realistic, we’ll see that they are exactly like us: also beloved and also in need of the Savior. That puts us in a position to join God in loving that person, perhaps loving them all the way to the foot of the cross! Choosing humility isn’t an attitude of putting ourselves down. In fact, it isn’t about us at all. It’s all about choosing to say, “Others first.”

“So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed.’”  Isaiah 28:16

I’ve been thinking about roots lately. I don’t mean my ancestors, or an old mini-series. I mean tree roots. I recently saw a tree that was blown down in a high wind. It was a large tree, but I was struck by how small the roots were. At least the ones that came out of the ground when it fell. So either this big tree was hiding the fact that it had very small roots, or it wasn’t attached firmly enough to the big roots that would have held it in place. Then I saw a tree near a stream. The ground had eroded, leaving some of the roots bare. Because of that, I was able to see those long roots, stretching down quite far. Of course, not all the roots were exposed, but what must the impact be on a tree that has half the roots exposed?

All of this got me thinking of our spiritual roots. Again, I’m not talking about those who have gone before us in the faith. I’m talking about each one of us, individually. How deep do your roots go? How about mine? The interesting thing about both of the trees I observed was that the tops appeared very healthy. Lots of branches and green leaves. And yet they both had problems. One wasn’t attached firmly enough to its roots, the other was attached to roots that were being eroded away. The same can be true for us. We can appear spiritually healthy and fool others into thinking that everything is just fine. In fact, we can even have thriving ministries and still be dying a slow spiritual death on the inside.

This verse tells us that God has laid a cornerstone for us, a sure foundation on which to build our lives. We know that this foundation is Jesus Christ. Of course, the first step is to become attached to that foundation by accepting Christ as our Savior. After that, how do we stay attached? In fact, we should not only stay attached but become more and more firmly attached. How do we do that? There are the tried and true methods. Things like church involvement, Bible study, prayer and so forth. Every one of these is not just good, it’s essential to our spiritual growth. There are probably additional ways in which God speaks to you. for me, it’s through His creation. Time outdoors is very important for my spiritual health. I want to be clear: that does not replace any of the other ways to be close to Him. In other words, I’m not suggesting that it’s okay to take a walk in the woods instead of going to church. But God speaks to each of us in unique and individual ways and it’s a good idea to figure out what those ways are and practice them. That’s how we stay attached to the strong roots.

The problem is, many of these ways to become close to God can become gods in themselves. And that will erode our foundation. Your church may be a wonderful, Bible teaching church. But if your church is more important to you than your relationship with Christ, that will erode your foundation until your roots are exposed and in danger. Or if I ignore something God is telling me to do because I want to spend time in His creation to get closer to Him, I’m eroding the very foundation on which my faith is built. Here’s the good news: the foundation is still there. Even if we’ve drifted away from it or have realized we’ve been building on the wrong foundation, He’s still waiting for us to return to Him and make Him Lord of our life once again. When we do, He promises that we will never be dismayed. Does that sound too wonderful to be true? I understand. But I’m willing to try it. How about you?

“Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.” 1 Peter 3:9

            Forgiveness. What a big word and so hard to do! When should we forgive? When the other person is truly sorry, right? When someone has insulted me, I want to insult them back. I want to make them hurt like they hurt me. If someone has done something evil, I want them to realize how much they hurt me and feel bad about it. I want them to acknowledge the evil done to me. When someone apologizes to us, that puts us in the driver’s seat, doesn’t it? We now have the choice of granting them forgiveness or not. If we think they haven’t suffered quite enough, we just withhold forgiveness.

            Forgiveness isn’t about the other person. They may never realize how they hurt us. Or they may realize and not care. They may even be glad they hurt us. God calls us to forgive anyway. That may seem unfair until we realize that God is simply trying to set us free. As long as we choose unforgiveness, we’re choosing to remain tied to the other individual and what they did. They are controlling our thoughts, emotions and actions, probably without even realizing it. But when we choose to forgive, we’re choosing freedom from being controlled by that hurt.

            What if we don’t feel like forgiving? This is a huge misunderstanding in our culture today. We often place too much importance on feelings. Scripture doesn’t say we have to feel a certain way. Read this verse again. Does it say we’re supposed to have warm, fuzzy feelings about that person? No, it tells us how to act towards them. We’re to treat them differently than they treated us. We’re to pay back injury with blessing. The feelings will follow later. Maybe much later, but they will change if we continue to take them to God for healing.

            Who are we to forgive? I’m guessing that every one of us can think of several people who have hurt us. I’m also guessing that one person comes to the forefront pretty quickly. Maybe it’s the deepest wound, or the most recent hurt. And that’s good. Take that to God and ask Him how you can bless that person. There may be circumstances that make this especially difficult. Perhaps the person has even already died. But God can show you how to forgive. But what if God is the One you need to forgive? That’s right. I said God. I’m not saying that God ever does evil to us or insults us but that doesn’t mean we’re not angry with Him about something. I think this verse applies to that situation as well. First, be honest about those hurt feelings. God wants you to tell Him about those feelings but you may not be to that point yet. That’s okay. Once you’re honest with yourself and with Him, then you’ll be able to start working through all of that. Or maybe the one you most need to forgive is yourself. Maybe you’ve believed lies of failure and unworthiness for so long that all that anger is turned inward. Another word for that can be depression. If that’s you, ask God to show you what you need to forgive yourself for. He will not only help us on the road to forgiveness but He’s promised us great blessings at the end of that road!