Month: November 2020

“Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.” Psalm 127:1

            Are you a planner? Do you like to-do lists? Do you know what you’re going to be doing this week or this month? That’s me. I like to know what’s coming and be able to plan for it. I’m also a worker. I like to achieve a goal, even if that goal is something as simple as getting the kitchen cleaned up or mowing the grass. When I look at a completed project, I feel a sense of satisfaction of a job well done.

            The problem I run into is that I begin to see those accomplishments as things that I did. Just me. This verse reminds us that unless the Lord is in the work, all the work is in vain. I can work at something with all my might. I might even accomplish something the world calls very good. But if God isn’t a part of the work, it’s all useless. That work isn’t going to accomplish what I want, nor will it last. But if God is in the work, that’s when things start to happen. We may not see it right away, but we will eventually see that His work is the only thing that lasts, the only thing with eternal impact.

            So we don’t have to work, right? If God is to be in the work we can just sit back and let Him do it, can’t we? That’s not what this verse is saying. God does do the building, but the laborers are still active. God’s the One that keeps us safe, but the watchmen are still needed. We each still have work to do. The question we need to ask is if we’re doing our work or God’s. Are we doing it for our glory or His? Are we trying to complete a task, or are we doing what God has called us to do? Are we responsible for the outcome or are we leaving that in God’s hands? I don’t know about you but realizing that I’m not responsible for the end result takes a huge burden off my shoulders. I do what I can, and I do it with excellence. Then I’m done. I don’t have to worry or fret. The rest is up to God. I can be content in the knowledge that no matter what the result, God has accomplished His purpose. More than that, He chose to accomplish it through us!

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28

            For those of us called by the name “Christian,” the Thanksgiving holiday should not be a once-a-year event. Maybe the turkey, dressing, and overeating should be limited. But the act of giving thanks should be a daily experience for us. There are many places in scripture that encourage us to be a people of thankfulness. If I’m honest, when I try to be thankful I usually look for something to be thankful for. Maybe at the end of the day, I think back over the day and think of the events of the day that I enjoyed, or were positive answers to prayer, or that were pleasant surprises and I’m automatically thankful for those things. Often in this time of year, we’re asked to tell what we’re thankful for. When that happens, we think of the things that are enjoyable, things and/or people we love. That type of thankfulness is a wonderful thing. Too often, I accept these kinds of blessings and take them for granted, forgetting to thank the Giver of all good and perfect gifts. So it’s good to be reminded to thank Him for them.

            This verse reminds us of a different kind of thankfulness. It tells us that in all things, God is at work. All things. Everything. God is at work for good. He is working to make sure that every single thing we go through will bring good for us. That doesn’t mean that we won’t experience difficult, or even horrible things. I think of a friend who is currently grieving the sudden and unexpected death of her beloved son. While she loves God with her whole being, I’m sure she is not thankful for that awful car accident that stole the life of this young man. But we can be sure that God is going to bring good out of it. That doesn’t mean that those who loved him are not experiencing pain. The grief is real. The pain should not be ignored. But even in that valley, we can know that God is at work. And we also know that God’s work is only for our benefit, for our good. God will use our pain to mold us and make us into people who are able to live in the peace and comfort that can only be known when we are trusting and relying completely on Him.

            What difficulties are you having right now? Our culture is currently struggling with many things. We have a global pandemic that is causing physical pain for those who get sick, emotional pain for those who lose a loved one to the illness, relational pain as we are separated from those we love, and financial fear for those whose jobs are affected. On top of all of that, there is a racial divide that has bubbled to the surface in the form of misunderstanding and even violence and hatred. As if all of that isn’t enough, we have political division that creates anger towards those who think differently than we do. There’s a fear that if our candidate isn’t in office, the future will only get worse. All of that is in addition to the normal life events that happen in every life.

            As followers of Jesus Christ, how do we respond to all of that? With thankfulness. I am not necessarily suggesting we be thankful for the things that are happening. Rather, let’s be thankful that in the midst of all of this, God is at work. And His works are always for our good. I ask again: what difficulties are you having? In the midst of that difficulty, thank God! He’s going to use it. If you continue to stay close to Him, you will someday see just how He brought you through a deep valley into the pleasant places He has prepared for His people.

“Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” Matthew 6:27

            Worry. What a terrible word. It doesn’t even have a nice sound.  It’s not one of those words that rolls off your tongue. Instead it kind of gets stuck in your mouth as if even saying the word slows you down. That’s appropriate because that’s what worry does to us. Not only does it slow us down. Worry can bring our growth to a complete stop. And yet, I’m so good at worrying! It’s one thing I do very well. I don’t think I’m alone in that, either. When I look at our world today, there is so much to worry about. We all realize that our circumstances can change in the blink of an eye. Maybe we knew that before but most of us didn’t really, truly believe it. We had our lives mapped out. We had a plan for today, for next week, and for our future. Oh, maybe we thought we had an idea that something might happen to change things, but we didn’t really believe it. Then events that none of us could have predicted changed our world in ways we had never imagined. And the fact that we’re not really in control became very evident.

            Although we have been dealing with new and different situations, worry is nothing new. It’s a very human condition. Jesus tells us in Matthew to not worry. After all, worry doesn’t add a single hour to your life. Some Bible versions say that it doesn’t add a cubit to your height. That’s because the Greek word that is used here can be a measure of length or of time. The point is that worry doesn’t change a thing in our circumstances. Worry doesn’t make the bad stuff better or fix a single thing. All it does is tie us up in knots. Have you ever noticed that worry feeds on worry? Once a seed of worry begins, it only grows. As we think about it and dwell on it, it grows more. So we dwell on it more. So it grows more. And it doesn’t do a single thing to actually improve the situation. All it does is make those knots in our stomach tighter and tighter.

            How do we stop the worry? How do we untie those knots and find God’s peace again? The dictionary says that worry is to “give way to anxiety or unease; allow one’s mind to dwell on difficulty or troubles.” So worry isn’t something that happens to us. It’s something we allow our minds to do. We give our thoughts permission to dwell on the object of our worry. So if we don’t want to worry, let’s change our thoughts. Instead of dwelling on the cause of our worry, let’s dwell on the One who says He’s going to take care of it all. Do you ever wish you could know what the future holds? We know the One who does know the future. Not only that, He has a plan for our future. Not just a large, global plan but a specific plan just for you. And for me. Let’s think about that. Let our minds dwell on the One who’s going to provide all our needs. Instead of giving way to anxiety, let’s give way to praise! When we do, we’ll see our worries melt away and joy and peace reign supreme in our hearts.

“Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died – more than that, who was raised to life – is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” Romans 8:34

            There are certain words that just give a nice feeling. Words that make you feel comfortable, or encouraged, or glad. For me, one of those words is intercession. I love knowing that others are on my side, are stepping up to help me fight my battles, whatever those battles may be. There have been many times when I can tell others are interceding for me in prayer because I don’t get discouraged when I normally would, or things happen in a way that could only be by prayer. Having intercessors in your camp just makes you feel less lonely. You know you’re not alone in the mess that you’re facing.

            What if no one is interceding for you? Or at least, you don’t know of anyone who is? That’s just the opposite – a very lonely feeling. It’s pretty easy to get discouraged then. But, wait! That situation never happens. And I do mean never. Not once. Not ever. Because no matter what our circumstances may be on this earth, there is someone in heaven Who is interceding for us. As important and special as earthly intercessors are, Jesus is so much better. He doesn’t step up to intercede once in a while or when He remembers. He doesn’t just shoot up a quick prayer when He happens to think of it. This is written in the present tense. He IS in heaven. He IS at the right hand of God. He IS interceding. Right now, this very minute, Jesus is talking to the Father about you. He’s presenting your case to the ultimate judge and is telling Him that you’re not guilty. You’re not guiltless because you are blameless. You’re not guilty because Jesus already took your punishment

            As if it wasn’t enough for Him to take your punishment, He’s now standing in your corner, fighting for you. He’s your Advocate, your guide, your protector. Your intercessor. Here’s another amazing thing: when we don’t know what to pray, it’s okay. The Spirit intercedes in our prayers so that the prayers that Jesus passes on to the Father are for our very best. We may still be facing formidable odds but we don’t have to despair. In fact, we should be greatly encouraged to know that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are all on our side. When our deck is stacked like that, we can be sure that our battle is already won!

“Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.” Romans 13:1, 2

            The last several months have seen so much division and disagreement in our culture. It hurts my heart to see and hear so much judgement and anger being spewed at other people. Part of that has been around politics. In fact, many of the disagreements have been turned into political issues, even if they didn’t start that way. We seem to believe that if only our favored politician would be in office, everything would be better. If our non-favored candidate wins, we can very easily blame them for everything that goes wrong. We think that surely God didn’t mean for so-and-so to be in office. The decisions they’re making are just wrong, so therefore we don’t need to obey.

            These verses shoot that thinking all to bits. God is the ultimate ruler. Think about it. We don’t vote for a new god every 4 years. We don’t have to. For one thing, there is no other God. For another, God is perfect, so why would we even want another? He is truly the King of kings. That means that no matter who sits on an earthly throne or is in an earthly position of authority, God is over them. Not only that, but God has established every authority.

            It may be easy to think that when Paul wrote these verses, he didn’t know what certain rulers were going to do or be like. This book is written to the church in Rome, the seat of the Roman Empire who was ruling at that time. Their rulers did things like require the people to worship them as divine beings or feed the Christians to the lions. One ruler, Nero, even used Christians as torches for his garden parties. And yet God is saying to submit to these governing authorities. If the people of that day were to submit to authorities like that, surely we can submit to our authorities.

            This does not negate our responsibility to vote. And it doesn’t mean we can’t have an opinion or that we shouldn’t strive for positive change. What it does mean is that unless someone is asking us to do something contrary to scripture, we are to obey those in authority over us. Regardless of who’s in the White House, or is our boss, or any other position of authority, we are to pray for them and show them honor. Even if their actions make us think they don’t deserve it. They may not but that doesn’t matter. It’s not really about them. It’s about God and our response to Him. Anytime we choose to disobey or dishonor any of our rulers, we’re actually dishonoring God. Anytime we choose to obey those whose decisions run contrary to our own opinions and honor the un-honorable, we are actually obeying and honoring God.