On Eagles' Wings

“Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.” Ephesians 6:7, 8

            What is the work you have to do today? Are you looking forward to it? Is it drudgery? Do you enjoy it, or do you do what needs to be done, looking forward to when the work is done? I think all of us have times when we enjoy what we do, or at least parts of it. And we also have times when we wish we didn’t have to spend our hours and our days doing what we do. It doesn’t matter if you work for an employer or if your work is in the home. This applies in all situations. These verses help me because they shed a different light on the work I do. What is it you must do that you really don’t enjoy? For me, it’s doing the dishes. I don’t know why I dislike that chore, but I do. I wonder how that would change if I remembered that I’m washing God’s dishes.

            Let’s look at these verses against the backdrop of the first century in which they were written. The Roman Empire had many slaves, so we know that at least some of the people Paul was writing to were living in slavery. Some had been slaves their whole lives, others were working to pay off a debt. However they became a slave, the fact remains that they were a piece of property, to be treated and possibly disposed of at the whim of their master. Even the Jews looked down on slaves and started each day with a prayer thanking God that they were not slaves. Even the kindest master didn’t change the fact that your life was not your own. You belonged to another human being. I want to make something very clear: I don’t believe the Bible is condoning slavery. As William Barclay says, “Christianity does not offer us escape from circumstances; it offers us conquest of circumstances.” So, Paul is not condoning slavery. Rather, he is helping those who find themselves in that situation to live as Christ would have them live within those confines.

           Take a look at the word “serve.” What does it mean to serve? Or maybe more to the point, what is the difference between a servant and a slave? A servant has a choice. A servant can walk away from a cruel employer. But a slave has no choice. They could try to run away, but if they’re caught it could easily mean death. So, God is saying that if you find yourself in the horrible situation of being a slave, you may not have a choice in your actions, but you do have a choice in your attitude. For example, if your job as a slave was to wash the dishes then you washed the dishes, whether you liked it or not. But as a servant of Christ, you can choose to wash those dishes with a joyful heart and a desire to do the best washing job you can.

            How does this affect me today? First of all, I give God thanks that I can’t conceive of living in slavery. I know slavery still exists in the world today, but I am blessed to live as a free person. But if even slaves were encouraged to work with a servant’s heart, how much more should we? After all, we have a choice in how we spend our time. Why, then, do we choose complaining? Most importantly, I do belong to someone: God. He bought me with His own blood. And still I complain. If I would only remember the loving sacrifice of my master, how could I not complete every task with a joyful and thankful heart, even if it is doing the dishes?

“By faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope.” Galatians 5:5

            I just came in from outdoors and while outside, I had to think that we’re living in a very monochromatic world today. The sky is grey white and you can hardly tell where it stops and the white snow-covered earth begins. Even the cars, regardless of their original color, are grey because of the slush and dirt on them. Don’t get me wrong. I love snow and I love winter, so I’m not complaining. I’m just stating facts. I admit, though, that I love snow more when the sky is blue and sunshine makes the snow sparkle, but that’s not today. This is the time of year when I start to think of bulbs. I don’t mean light bulbs, although I could probably come up with a spiritual analogy with those, too. Maybe something about being useless unless we have the current of the Holy Spirit flowing through us. But the bulbs I’m thinking of are flower bulbs. There’s something almost magical to me about anything that grows from a bulb. Right now, I have a ton of bulbs planted under the snow and dirt. Daffodils, tulips, iris, lilies, hyacinths – the list goes on. In every case, it seems as if nothing is happening right now. But it won’t be long before they sprout and become a rainbow of colors. So while we may think nothing is happening, God is at work in those bulbs down in the dirt.

            What always strikes me this time of year is that we are all like those bulbs. In the seasons of life when it seems as if nothing is happening, or maybe we feel as if we’re living in the dirt, God is at work. We may not see the work He’s doing while we’re in that winter of our soul, but He is never at rest. And that’s what made me think of this verse from Galatians. It starts with our faith. I’m not saying God can’t work in us if we don’t have faith. What I am saying is that our faith in what He’s doing can help us wait through the dreary winters of our lives. And we don’t just trudge through those winters. We wait eagerly. I get the picture of a child stooping down to get a closer look at a flower bud just ready to pop open. That’s how we should be. We may not know what God is going to do in us, but we can have faith that it’s going to be beautiful!

            We know it will be beautiful because of what we’re hoping for: righteousness. Of course, we’ll never be completely righteous while we’re still on this earth, but each day that we live with Christ, He makes us a little more like Him. A little more of the color of His righteousness will shine through us. That’s certainly something to wait for with eagerness! But sometimes that waiting is so hard, isn’t it? There are those times when I think that surely I’ve waiting long enough! That’s when I need to lean even harder on the Holy Spirit. After all, our waiting is through the Spirit anyway so let’s utilize His strength and His power to see us through the drab waiting. And let’s remember that when we hope for something in God, we don’t hope as the world does. It’s not wishful thinking. Our hope is a sure thing. It’s going to happen! So if you’re feeling as if winter will never end, either out your window or in your heart, remember that God is at work in that bulb of your heart and before you know it, you’ll be blooming brightly!

“We constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith.”  2 Thessalonians 1:11

            Do you have a calling in life? In this letter, Paul, Silas and Timothy seem pretty sure that the Thessalonians had a call. In the present day we hear of people saying they were called to go into full-time ministry or were called to the mission field. I ask again: do you have a call on your life? The answer is yes. God has called every one of us to live lives built on faith in Him. For some, that faith has called them to do things like enter the mission field, but that doesn’t mean those of us left behind are not called. The word translated “calling” could also be translated “station in life.”  Are you living in obedience to God? Then wherever you are is your calling. The next question we need to ask ourselves is if we’re living a life worthy of that calling. How do we do that? The same way we do everything else in the Christian life: by trusting in Him, by dying to ourselves daily, by seeking Him with our whole heart. I know, I just said a mouthful, and there’s no way we can do that on our own. That’s okay. It’s God who gives us the ability and will help us with it every step of the way.

            In addition to making us worthy, He will also use His power in a couple of other ways. First is the fulfillment of every good purpose. I think the NIV says this backwards. It makes more sense to me to say that every purpose we have for good will be fulfilled by Him. In other words, what is the good you are wanting to see done in the world? What good things do you want to do? And by good, it means something pleasing to God. Whatever good, or Godly, things you are desiring will be completely fulfilled by Him. Then there’s the second part of this statement talking about acts prompted by faith. My mind immediately goes to things I’ve been asked to do without a guarantee that it was going to work out. While that’s certainly included in this, it has a broader meaning. It’s talking about the fact that we are believers in Jesus Christ. Because of that, we live a certain lifestyle. We live for Him. What are the actions we take because of our belief in Him? It may be something as simple as showing God’s love to the clerk at the grocery store with a smile and a thank-you. It may be the patience you show to the driver who cut you off or praying for the person who was rude to you. Whatever it is that you do because you are a follower of Jesus Christ, that is an act prompted by your faith.

Is that easy to do? Not for me! At least not all the time. Sometimes, I’m shocked at how simple it is to act in a Christlike manner, but other times, it feels like I have to fight my flesh to the ground! And that’s exactly what we need to do. So, this leaves us with three questions. 1) Do you feel worthy of God and what He has called you to do? 2) Do you have the ability to be and do the good you want to see in the world? 3) Do you have the strength to always live according to your Christian faith? Thankfully, we don’t do any of this on our own. We have God’s power available to us. The word for “power” is also where we get the word “dynamite.” That’s pretty powerful! There is one huge difference, however. I’ve never heard of dynamite being used for anything other than destruction. But God’s power is destructive only to our enemy. For us, it’s the power for building us up in Him and giving us the strength to carry out His calling for good among the people of this earth.

“Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.”  Proverbs 12:18

            Remember when you were a child and someone would say something mean? What was your response? Often we hear, “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” Do you still believe that? I don’t, either. In fact, words can cause some of the deepest wounds we have. I wonder if that’s why God’s word has so much to say about the tongue and our words. I’m sure every one of us can think of times when we were hurt by someone’s words, a time when we felt the knife of their words go deep. I’m also sure that each of us can think of times when we’ve said hurtful things. Maybe we intended to hurt the other person, or maybe we were just thoughtless. I know there have been times when before my lips were even finished uttering the words, my brain was thinking, “I can’t believe I just said that!” Either way, words can cause damage.

            Let’s think about this a little. If I were pierced by a sword, what would come out? Blood, of course. And the Bible says the life is in the blood. So when we are emotionally wounded with words, what comes out? Our very emotional life can begin to drain from us. I think of people I’ve known who have been so beaten down by the words thrown at them their whole lives that they have no real life left in them. They see themselves as worthless, meaningless, unworthy of any kind of love. Life often seems hopeless to them. And that’s where the second part of this verse offers so much hope. Words can actually bring healing! I think first of the word of God. That’s the most important place to go for healing for anyone. But that’s actually not what this verse says. It says that if we’re wise (and wisdom comes from God), then it’s our words that bring healing. Those deep, gashing wounds can be healed! That’s so exciting!

            It’s also a bit scary because according to this verse, each of us has a choice to make. We can speak rashly, harshly, meanly, causing wounds that may go deeper than we imagine. Or we can choose the path of wisdom and spread healing in our wake. Whichever we choose, we most likely will not even be aware that we’ve caused either hurt or healing, but God knows. He knows, because He knows all things but also because it’s His Holy Spirit who takes our wise words and uses them as a salve to sooth away hurts and pains. That brings a question: if we’re unaware of the hurts or the healing, how can we be sure our words are healing words? By living in God’s wisdom. The truly wise are those who are walking so closely with God that the Spirit is guiding their every step, and yes, their every word.

“One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O God, are strong, and that you, O Lord, are loving. Surely you will reward each person according to what he has done.” Psalm 62:11, 12

            God’s power. Do you think about that very often? Whenever we have extreme weather, such as a strong storm, or temperatures that are very hot or very cold, I’m reminded that what we experience is just a small taste of God’s power. Maybe you’ve experienced a storm such as a tornado or hurricane. As mighty as that storm was, it was nothing compared to the strength and power of our God. We’ve all seen evidence on the news, if not in person, of strong storms that have caused terrible destruction. But that’s nothing compared to God. His power is so much greater that He could not only cause destruction if He so chose, but He has the power to create. With a word, He spoke creation into being. He didn’t even break a sweat. He spoke, and there we were. All the universe, all the plants, all the animals and people. That’s power! Compared to that kind of power, a strong storm seems more like a little child having a temper tantrum.

            This verse goes on to say that He is loving. Once again, I see this in extreme weather. The forecast for this week calls for very cold temperatures. I’m not looking forward to it but think of how cold it could get if God removed His hand of protection. Think of how bad that storm could have been if God wasn’t holding it back. If He can create with a word, think of the destruction He could cause with a word! But instead of destruction, He gives us protection because of His unfailing devotion and kindness. That’s true whether the storm we’re weathering is in the atmosphere or in our hearts.

            I love to be reminded that I serve a God of great power. After all, what good what it do to serve a wimpy god? We’re sometimes guilty of trying to create a god in our own image. When I realize that I’m doing that, I have to ask myself why? Why would I want a god who is no stronger than I? I want the true God, the God who rules over heaven and earth, the God with the strength and power to carry out His promises. I also want a God of love, a God who cares about us and is working all things to our good. Mostly, I’m so thankful that He’s both. If he were only powerful, I’d be shaking in my boots. But if He only had a powerless love, He’d be more like a cosmic teddy bear – nice to snuggle with but not really good for much else. But He’s both. So as temperatures drop this week, thank God that He has power over all creation including the weather, and also thank Him that we can warm ourselves in His loving embrace.

“Your beauty should . . . be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.”  1 Peter 3:3-4

            Are you beautiful? I can imagine an entire array of answers. There are the “spiritual” answers, like saying that I’m beautiful because of God in me, or to deny any beauty because that would be prideful. Then there are the honest answers, which might be something like, “I’m not too bad,” but are probably more like, “not as beautiful as so-and-so, or as I used to be.” Or maybe your answer is, “You’re kidding, right? Have you actually seen this face and this body I’m stuck with?!” Unfortunately, that’s not an unusual response because of the pressures put on us by society to conform to an unrealistic ideal of outward beauty. As a result, some Christians feel we should ignore the entire subject of personal beauty.

You notice that in these verses, God doesn’t tell us to ignore beauty, or to not think about it. Rather, He describes what true beauty is. He redefines it for us so we can get our priorities in the right place. Verse three tells us what beauty isn’t by listing all the things the world would use to describe beauty. Then God turns the definition on its head by saying that true beauty is all inside. The hidden, unseen part of us that doesn’t show in any photograph. But long after all photos have faded into nothingness, our true beauty will remain. It will never fade. Our spirit will still be just as gentle and quiet as ever. If we treat others with kindness and gentleness, that will always exist. If we allow the peace of Christ to permeate our hearts, we will never lose that.

I’m struck by the fact that this is of great worth. Other definitions of that word would be valuable, expensive, costly. That makes me stop and think. What does it cost to cultivate a gentle and quiet spirit? It means we can’t indulge our prideful flesh. We are to submit to one another in love. We don’t allow ourselves to be the center of our universe. God is the center and He tells us to serve others in His name. It means we can’t allow our thoughts to charge ahead of God. We need to be quiet and listen for Him. It means, in short, we need to die to self. I know that in the end, I gain far more than I lose in this deal, but I don’t always remember that in the moment. Instead, I want the sweet satisfaction of revenge, or the luxury of self-indulgence, forgetting that revenge always backfires and self-indulgence is always empty. If I choose to give up those momentary “pleasures,” I will gain the true beauty of God’s gentle and quiet spirit, which will last for all eternity.

“Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep.”  Psalm 36:5-6

            I’m sure when many of us read these words, we also hear the music of the popular praise song entitled, “Your Love, O Lord.” The group Third Day may have written the music but the words come straight from God’s word. So let’s take a look at how it was written. First of all, David wrote it in such a way that love and faithfulness are connected, almost like two sides of the same coin. That makes perfect sense. What kind of love would it be if the giver wasn’t also faithful? We can always count on God’s love because of His faithfulness. And we can count on His faithfulness because of His love. The Hebrew word for love, hesed, has the idea of faithfulness built into the very definition of the word. This love and this faithfulness are both so great that we can’t see the end of them. Just as we can’t see to the end of the universe, God’s love and His faithfulness are beyond anything we can comprehend. They have no end.

            David follows up this pair of words with another pair of words: righteousness and justice. Like the first pair, these two are also connected. In fact, we can find both pairs connected several other places in scripture, so God obviously intends for them to go together. Let’s look at the definitions before we see the connection. Righteousness means living according to God’s standards. If we do that, we’ll always be in the right. Since God is always perfectly righteous, we know we can trust His standards to be perfectly right. We often think of justice as getting what we deserve. If you steal money, it would make sense that you would have to return the amount you stole. That’s justice according to the world. But do we always know what is deserved? For example, I would think differently about someone who stole for kicks and someone who stole because their child was starving. Because of God’s righteousness, He is the only One capable of making those judgement calls perfectly every time. In fact, when it says that His justice is like the “great deep,” that includes a sense of darkness and secrecy. In other words, God is the only One who knows the intentions of the heart, the deep, dark secrets that make His justice the only one we can count on to be perfectly fair.

            Does this mean we should never make a judgement call? I think God wants us to try to abstain from judging others as much as possible. However, sometimes we need to do just that. Have you ever served on a jury? That’s a perfect example of a time when we have to judge someone whether we want to or not. Or maybe you’re in a position of hiring and firing individuals. Or parenting. Or mediating between arguing friends or family members. What do we do in those instances? First, remember His incredible love and faithfulness available to us at all times. Keep in mind that He loves that individual just as much as He loves you or me. Then remember that we’re not God. Since He’s the only one capable of making a righteous judgement every time, we need to lean heavily on His wisdom. He may be telling us to make a decision that seems illogical. That’s okay! Sometime God is not logical. But He’s always loving, faithful, righteous and just!

“In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.”  Psalm 5:3

            Don’t you dislike waiting? I sure do! Why does it seem as if I always hit the red lights when I’m running late? Or no matter which checkout line I choose, it will be the slowest? I’m sure those things aren’t true, but it sure seems that way! But that kind of waiting pales in comparison to some waiting that is asked of us. When we’re waiting for the relationship to improve, or the prodigal to return. Maybe we’re waiting for God to make a way out of a very difficult situation. Or perhaps we’re waiting for some answers to our difficult questions. Whatever we’re waiting for, that kind of waiting is never easy. When I was once in a waiting period I ran across this verse and was immediately struck by a few things.

            First was the realization that God does hear us. Sometimes in the waiting, we think maybe God hasn’t heard our many pleas regarding this situation. Or maybe He doesn’t grasp how serious it is. Well, that word that is translated “hear” includes a sense of understanding. He doesn’t just hear us as if we’re some annoying background noise. He understands. The second aspect to strike me is that He wants us to bring our requests to Him. It may seem as if your request can never happen, or that God will never agree to it. That’s okay. Bring it to Him anyway. In fact, did you notice that “requests” is plural? Bring them all to Him. And bring them every morning. That’s not because God might forget by the next day. It’s because it’s still on our hearts and minds and God wants to hear all that is concerning us.

            The final thing that struck me, and struck me hard, is that after bringing our requests to God, we are to wait in expectation. We don’t give Him our requests, and then continue to worry about them. Nor do we bring them with a defeatist attitude. Too often, when I ask something of God, I’ve already decided that He’s not going to grant my request. That’s sure not how David prayed, is it? When he prayed, he was on the lookout for God’s answer. It’s like he was standing on the highest hill, excitedly waiting for that first glimpse of God’s answer to come over the horizon. Don’t get me wrong. He wasn’t just lounging around the campfire waiting for God to act. Psalm 5 goes on to talk about things to do while waiting: continue praying, go to church and worship communally, be glad and sing for joy. But even as you do those things, keep an eye peeled for the amazing way God is going to give you the answer you’re waiting for.

“ . . .  be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:22-24

            Do you have your New Year’s resolutions made? Are you all ready to jump into them with both feet? Me, neither. If I were to be completely honest, I would have to say that I find New Year’s resolutions rather daunting. I feel as if I’m willingly taking on more pressure to perform and more potential guilt for failing. A friend recently said that she finds them rather exciting because she likes the idea that we can become a better person at any time. I like that! It’s not about our performance. It’s more about who we are. Although, as I think about it, that may be even more daunting. How do we make ourselves into better people? That anger, that habit, that secret, are all too deeply ingrained to just get rid of them with the snap of the fingers. I don’t know about you, but I’ve tried to get rid of those things by sheer willpower. Did it work for you? Cause it sure didn’t work for me!

            If you look at this verse, it isn’t just talking about changing one habit. It says to put on a new self. If we don’t have much luck changing one habit with our own power, how do we put on a whole new self? Take a look at the wording of this verse. It doesn’t say we’re supposed to change our attitudes, or our mind. It says we are to “be made new.” It’s something that’s done to us. Or maybe we should say that it’s done for us. The Holy Spirit living within us changes us from the inside out. As we walk with God, we find ourselves becoming more and more like Him. That’s exciting! That’s a New Year’s resolution I can get behind!

            So, we don’t have to do anything, right? We can just sit back and let it happen? God doesn’t work that way. He doesn’t come into our hearts and take over. He only comes in when we invite Him in. And He only does work we allow Him to do. So, the first step is that we need to be willing for Him to change us. Secondly, there’s someone else who is also wanting us to change, but not for the better. We have an enemy who will attempt to change our thoughts and our attitudes to anything that displeases God. We need to be on our guard and when our thoughts start to stray south, pull them back to thoughts that please God. If we will do those things, we’ll find that this will be the year we grow increasingly closer to God and we grow in righteousness and holiness. That’s a reason to say, “Happy New Year!”

“But the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.’” Luke 1:30

We all know what it’s like. We’re sailing along, minding our own business when our life is suddenly interrupted in a way we didn’t anticipate and that we don’t particularly like. We hear the words of the diagnosis that turns life on its head and the future we thought we had mapped out is suddenly very uncertain. The job we thought was secure turns out to be shifting sand and we’re left flailing for something solid on which to stand. The child we nurtured and loved turns into someone we no longer know, leaving a gaping hole in our heart. We know that life brings tears, betrayals, hurts, and fears and yet we’re surprised when it happens to us. Often our response is to wonder where God is in the midst of all of that. Maybe we’re even angry with Him that He allowed this to happen, that He let our well-laid plans be so completely interrupted by the unexpected.

Yet do we consider that this is what happened to Mary? She knew what her future was going to be. She would marry this nice man, Joseph, raise their family, do the work she had been trained to do, rock her grandchildren on her lap, and die an old woman, content in the loving arms of her close-knit community and family. Suddenly, she’s asked to become an unwed mother, possibly dumped by Joseph, ostracized by her family and friends, the fodder for the town gossips. She received no baby showers with friends and relatives sharing the joy of her upcoming motherhood, no cigars shared by the proud father. Of course, we all know that it got much worse than that, but at the time she knew that she would need to endure at least that much. And yet the angel tells her she’s not supposed to be afraid because she has found favor with God. In other words, God is giving her a kindness, a blessing. Seriously?! How could this be a blessing? The answer, of course, is in the fact that this baby she was asked to bear was in reality the Son of God.

How has your life been interrupted? What plans have either blown up in your face or eroded and washed down the drain? Have you stopped to consider that it may be a holy interruption? Perhaps God is working His purpose in your life or in the lives of those around you by throwing that curve ball your way. I don’t know why some things happen, or what God’s purpose may be. But I am convinced that His love is unfailing and complete. I know, I’ve been there, too. I’ve wanted to say, “If He really loved me He wouldn’t have allowed this thing to happen.” But I’ve learned that often it’s because of His love that we are given the gift of walking through a difficult circumstance because it’s in those times that I’ve learned to lean heavily on Him and felt the strength and courage of our God. So this Christmas, as you celebrate the birth of this little baby, thank God for the holy interruptions in your life and if you’re in the midst of one right now, cling to Him for all you’re worth!