When Life Looks Bleak...

How does life look to you right now? Is everything going your way and all is right with the world? Or are you at one of those junctions in life where things are not progressing the way you had hoped and dreamed? It is so much easier to smile and praise the Lord during our happy times than in our down times. Sometimes, we may even begin to wonder where God is and if He has abandoned us. No doubt, the most difficult step in our walk of faith is to trust Him when life is a bummer. It brings out the age-old question, "Why does a 'good' God let such bad things happen to good and or innocent people?"

That was the question discussed on the air-waves for weeks after the attacks of 9/11, and again, after the Tsunami hit Indonesia, and again, after the devastating earthquake in Haiti. Why would God allow such destruction? Obviously, I am not a scholar or a theologian (not a surprise if you've been reading my blog), but I can share what I've learned through personal experience and time with the Lord.

To begin with, I had to accept the fact that God is God - omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, and I am NOT. Therefore, I will never fully understand the mind of God and His ways until I am fully in His presence on the other side of this life. That usually doesn't set too well with the human mind that is inquisitive and strives for reason. "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1 - Our walk with Christ is a walk of faith. That has to be nailed down in order to move forward in that relationship.

With that said, God DOES allow bad things to happen to good people. However, His Word assures us that "Everything will work together for good, to them who love the Lord and who are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28 - We saw that with the stoning death of Stephen in the book of Acts. That horrible death was the pivotal event that caused the newly-birthed Church to be ravaged by the likes of legalistic Jews like Saul. That persecution caused the Christians to scatter in all directions away from Jerusalem. It was the beginning of the fulfillment of the Great Commission - taking the gospel to "Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth." God used the murder of Stephen to spread the Good News to the rest of the earth - that was the "good" that came from his death.

God will use everything to work His purpose in this world. When life throws us a curve, we need to seek His will and purpose and not give in to the human nature of anger, bitterness, hatred, or even the desire for revenge. I know upfront that I won't be able to accomplish that on my own. My nature is so "human!" I must rely on the power of the Holy Spirit - God's power in me - to look for His purpose and His desired reaction. Sometimes, He wants us to do something immediately. He told the Jerusalem Christians to go - to leave Jerusalem for safety reasons, but, ultimately, to spread the Gospel.

Later in Acts, He told Paul and Silas to stay - in their prison cell - to spread the Gospel. Paul and Silas found themselves in the city of Philippi on their second missionary journey (Acts 16:12-40). Philippi was a Roman colony on the continent of Europe, and they continued to spread the Gospel westward. While there, they stirred up a commotion among the citizens when Paul cast out an evil spirit from a girl who had been following them and yelling at them for several days. The problem was with this slave girl's master. Once the evil spirit was gone, she could no longer make him money with her fortune-telling. Paul and Silas were eventually brought before the magistrate, who had them beaten, shackled, and thrown into prison. Their relationship with the Lord allowed them to be joyful - even in the midst of a deadly situation. By midnight, they were praying and singing hymns of praise - and the other prisoners were listening to them while the jailer had fallen asleep.

How could they be so full of joy after and during such an event? They were beaten with clubs and then their feet fastened into stocks. I can't really imagine how difficult it would be to endure such an attack. All through the book of Acts, we've seen how important prayer had become to those early believers. And in this dire situation, Paul and Silas once again turned to prayer. That is how their human nature of bitterness and desire for revenge did not overtake them. Their spiritual nature of peace and joy in whatever circumstances they found themselves in did take over. So much so, that they started singing - right there in the prison cell! The heavens reacted to their praise with a huge earthquake that shook the very foundation of the prison house - even causing the cell doors to open and their shackles to unfasten!

Here is where they had to really listen to the Holy Spirit and not their own. My spirit would have looked at those open doors and loose shackles, and said, "Run for your life!" But when the jailer did go in, ready to kill himself for letting the prisoners escape, there they were - all of the prisoners - not just Paul and Silas! Don't you know the jailer looked at those guys with astonishment? In fact, verse 29 says with trembling and fear he fell down before Paul and Silas and asked what he had to do to be saved! They told him, he responded, and he met Jesus! As far as we know, he was the first Roman soldier on European soil to become a believer and follower of Christ!

God used the difficult situation with Stephen. The Spirit told those Jerusalem Christians to go, which they did, and the gospel was spread throughout the region. God used the difficult situation with Paul and Silas. The Spirit told them to stay, which they did, and the gospel was spread to Europe. No situation we may find ourselves in is for naught in God's purposes. He will take whatever comes our way - good or not - and use it for His good - IF we allow Him access to our hearts.

If it hasn't happened to you yet, it will. Life will throw you a curve - probably several. You, all of us, will endure some type of suffering in this life. How will we react? Whenever I suffer, whether it's a little or a lot, I don't want it to be wasted suffering! I want to be spiritually able to release it to Him and let it be used for His purposes. I want to hear Him say, "Stay," or "Go". I want those times to be markers on my walk of faith that represent something good that He has done. What about you?

Have Your Been Sifted...Yet?

I've concluded that the most difficult job in the world is farming the land. It is not as difficult as it used to be with advent of the industrial revolution - tillers, tractors, pickers, combines, balers, etc. Just think for a moment how different life was before those inventions! Think how difficult growing crops was before even the most basic of tools were around. It all goes back to Adam. Remember how God told him that because of his sin, he would have to work the land for their sustenance, and it would be back-breaking work? That was not just a play on words.

In Luke 22:31, Jesus told Peter that Satan wanted to sift him like wheat. So, let's examine what that agriculture term suggests. Sifting grain such as wheat or barley is the process of separating the chaff, little stones, and sometimes tares from the kernels that eventually make meal. In Bible times, this was primarily done by the women using a sieve of some kind or sometimes just shaking the grain furiously by hand. It was usually a long, tedious process. Basically, the purpose is to separate the good parts from the bad. Little stones and dirt are obviously not good, and tares are weeds that choke out the good fruit. But what about chaff? It is part of the plant. Chaff is the dry, scaly protective covering of the seed grain. Once the grain is mature, the outer casing begins to dry and pull away from the seed. Its usefulness is over. Eventually, it will fall off and be blown away by the wind. When sifting, that process is speeded up so the grain can be harvested and turned into meal.

What was Satan wanting? He wanted permission to try and break Peter. No doubt, he had been watching Peter and the other disciples for three years as they followed the Christ. He had seen Peter's brashness and impulsiveness, and knew Pete could be a hot-head. He knew Peter's weaknesses. Satan thought this just might be his chance to break Peter and get to Jesus. He wasn't successful in breaking Jesus in the wilderness, so this was another chance. Remember, Satan and his demons are in constant conflict with God and His angels - Good vs. evil. He was hoping that Peter was all chaff and no seed.

This should be a wake-up call for all believers in Christ. Once you accept Jesus as your personal savior, Satan does not forget about you. He still prowls about like a hungry lion seeking someone to devour (I Peter 5:8). No, he cannot rob you of your eternal salvation. However, he can rob you of the abundant life Jesus wants you to experience on this earth. He can devour your joy, peace, and your faith. If he is successful in that, he will prevent you from sharing your faith and being a godly influence to those with whom you come into contact. In other words, you will still go to heaven, but he doesn't want you to take anyone with you.

How does Satan sift us today? Well, be certain he knows our weaknesses - just as he did Peter's. Some of the most common sieves we filter through are physical sufferings, financial hardships, career issues, family problems, and a vast array of personal temptations. In those trials (sifting), Satan tries to shake us hard enough for the chaff to fall away. His hope is that our seed is dried up and is of no use to us or anyone else. But the person who has a growing, dynamic relationship with Jesus won't have a dry, scaly covering that is so fragile that it falls off when shaken. And his seed will be ripe for planting whenever and wherever the opportunity presents itself.

I hope you didn't miss the fact that Satan had to ask permission from Jesus to even approach Peter. Talk about the sovereignty of God! And we see in subsequent verses that Jesus allowed Peter to be sifted - and he didn't do too well. That could be a whole post of its own!

Another remarkable thing is seen in v. 32. Jesus, still speaking to Peter, says, "but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once your have turned again, strengthen your brothers." Here's our WOW moment! Jesus prayed for Peter! And Jesus prays for us - He intercedes for us to the Father! He knows us, each one, by name, and takes us before the Father and expresses our needs. This is the Creator, the One who breathed life into man's existence! He also knew Peter would falter - and told him so. Of course, the brash, young Pete exclaimed his loyalty to Jesus and pooh-poohed the very thought of such. And, again, we have the benefit of knowing the rest of the story. Jesus also knew that Pete would come around and realize he had danced with the devil and would turn back to Jesus. He prayed that Peter's sifting experience would make him stronger in his faith, and that he would be a source of strength and encouragement to other believers. Was Jesus' prayer answered? Oh, yeah! Big time!

We know from Peter's experience that sometimes our trials and adversities are a direct result of Satan's work around us. We also know that sometimes God, in His infinite wisdom, allows us to be tested and sifted. There are times when we need the dry scales knocked off so that we can be spiritually healthy. We have the assurance that Jesus is with the Father watching and praying for us by name that our faith will be strengthened, and we can then strengthen the faith of our brothers and sisters.

So, the question that is posed for us is, how will we fare when Satan sifts us like wheat? Because he will - sift us, you know. Is your "faith" made up of dirt and weeds and chaff so that when you are shaken, it will blow away with the wind? Or, is there a plump, ripe seed smack dab in the core of your faith that will sustain you through the trials when they come?

Jesus is praying for you - and for me - that our faith will grow strong so that it will sustain us through whatever life brings our way. That's a WOW!

The Calming Affect and Efffect...

No telling how many times in my life I have read the 8th chapter of Luke. As I was reading it this morning, the events and parables are so very familiar, so, no doubt, I've read it countless times. However, the number of times I've really READ it, doesn't climb as high! Today, I tried to really READ it, and, again, another WOW! (I think WOW has become my new favorite word - it's so expressive of the inexpressible!) I could spend days writing about the various pieces of that chapter that are powerful, but for now, I want to concentrate on verses 22-25.

At the beginning of the chapter, Jesus and his disciples (and some faithful women, by-the-way), began taking His ministry from city to city and village to village. One day they got into a boat to travel from the west side of the Sea of Galilee to the east side. Jesus must have been physically exhausted from all that He had been doing - healing, teaching, casting out demons, dealing with religious and political leaders - and He fell asleep in the boat. I love it! We are reminded of His humanness! As a youngster, I spent a lot of time in a boat with my dad, either fishing or dragging my brother or sister behind the boat on skis. A small-ish boat is not an easy place to take a nap! And Jesus was with several people who were rowing and probably yakking as they rowed. I'm just saying...He had to be really pooped to fall asleep.

Anyway, while Jesus was napping, the wind got up to the point where the waves were beginning to swamp the boat - and He still slept...The disciples were frightened for their lives, rightfully so. They woke up Jesus, and in their fear, shouted, "...we are perishing!" The disciples were in panic-mode! In my mind's eye, I can see Jesus rousing from His slumber, rubbing His eyes and looking at the boys and out toward the the water - not in any hurry or fear. He then stood up in the boat and rebuked the wind and the gigantic waves, and there was immediate calm. Yep, another WOW! Now remember, this is the same part of the "Us" that separated the waters from the waters and the waters from the land and heaven on day two of Creation. Yes, indeedee, He had to power to speak the water into existence and to calm winds and waves. A miraculous display of omnipotent power! But that's not all...

Jesus looked deep into the eyes of his disciples and said, "Where is your faith?" To me, that means, "Don't panic; I AM right here with you in the middle of this storm!" You see, we can't avoid the storms of life no matter how hard we try or how smart we think we are. Yes, some storms are of our own making, and we do have some control over those, depending on choices we make. We wouldn't be so foolish as to go boating when we know a storm is approaching! So we should always "check the weather" before making a bad decision. However, other storms - not of our own making - will come our way. Some may be due to the choices of others and some just from the circumstances of life, but they will come.

The reaction of the disciples serves as a lesson in what not to do, and that's to not let fear and anxiety grip us so tightly, that we begin to flounder. One of the most powerful things about this story is that Jesus was right there with them in the boat! He was with them in the storm! They were not alone! We must hold tight to the truth that one who walks with Jesus - as the disciples did - is never alone. He lives in us through the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Where we go, He goes. He wasn't standing way far off on the shore unaware of the trouble the boys were in. No, He was in the same boat. So, we are never alone in our crises.

It's not just that Jesus is with us in the storm. It's what He will do if we call on Him. That is His affect. Affect is a verb, meaning it is an action word. According to Merriam Webster (BTW - another mush-have is a good dictionary), affect means "to produce an effect on or to influence." Jesus' affect when He stood up and spoke was to influence the guys to calm down. I take comfort knowing that in the middle of a life-threatening crisis, Jesus induces calm! He will calm me when me when I feel like I'm about to be overwhelmed by that which I have no control over. My friends, that is peace! Philippians 4:7 says, "...the peace of God surpasses all understanding." Those boys couldn't begin to understand how Jesus calmed the winds and waves. They didn't have to know! They just got to experience - His affect - His peace.

Jesus can also have an effect if we call on Him. Effect is a noun, a person, place, or thing, defined as a result or consequence. The result of Jesus' action was to stop the storm, literally. With His omnipotent power, He changed the circumstances of the storm. In this case, he stopped it all together. When they were overwhelmed, they called on Him to act, and He did. Now listen, He may not always choose to end your storm immediately. I recall that Paul was in the middle of a hurricane at sea and ended up shipwrecked; however, the effect was a more powerful testimony and ministry for the Lord.  But even when Paul finally made it to shore, he knew he was not alone. Jesus (via the Holy Spirit) had been in the same boat with him. When we call on Jesus, there will be an effect - a result - and it will be good. Paul was wrecked but not dead!

Soak in the familiar words of Romans 8:28, "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God and called according to His purpose." That sums up both the affect and effect of the Lord Jesus in our lives!

Where's the Bitterness???

 The writer of Hebrews defines Faith as the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)

Hoping for children was what all young married couples did. Zach and Liz were no exception. They hoped, they prayed, they hoped, they prayed, and it did not happen. Elizabeth was branded as “barren”, and Zacharias could have put her away and taken another wife. Being barren was not a good thing in those days. That label brought with it serious social consequences, and she certainly faced raised eyebrows when she approached gatherings of other ladies in their community. They were surely known as the old couple who could never have children. A mixture of shame and pity shrouded them.

I can’t even begin to imagine her surprise when she learned that she was pregnant! Today we think it odd when a woman over forty gives birth; just imagine what we would think if an eighty year old lady became pregnant! My mind won’t even go there! But let’s look at how Liz handled her surprise.

Scripture tells us that she kept herself in seclusion for five months. Apparently, that time was a time of spiritual soul-searching for her. She concluded that the “Lord had taken away her disgrace among men.” It’s important to note here that when she and Zach are introduced to us in Luke 1, they had been living with their disgrace for many years. Furthermore, we should remember that they were “both righteous in the sight of God and were walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Law.” Now here’s my question. How did Liz keep bitterness from consuming her? She had every right to be disappointed that she had not been able to have a child. Disappointment breeds anger, and anger breeds bitterness. Where’s the anger and where’s the bitterness in her life? How was she able to continue walking blamelessly with the Lord throughout her life? I think it was her relationship with the Lord that gave her an uncommon peace.

It wasn’t just those five months of seclusion that had been a spiritual journey for her. Most of her life had been a spiritual journey. Even when she was a young woman and barren, she walked blamelessly in her relationship with God. Years down the road, when other couples their age were becoming grandparents, she walked blamelessly with God. Scripture doesn’t give us detailed insight into Liz’s mind through those years, so we don’t know how much she wrestled with anger and bitterness or if peace came easy to her. When big things don’t happen for me the way I hope, I do wrestle with anger and sometimes bitterness. Oh, that I could continuously walk blamelessly with God!

Let’s continue Liz’s story. While she was in seclusion, the same angel that had appeared to Zach, appeared to her cousin, Mary. In the proclamation that Gabriel gave to Mary about giving birth to the baby Jesus, he told Mary that Liz was also pregnant with a special child. The last thing the angel said to Mary was, “For nothing will be impossible with God.” That’s an understatement if I’ve ever heard one! Not only had God allowed Elizabeth to become pregnant in her old age (and she would later give birth to a healthy baby boy), now Mary was going to become pregnant while still a virgin. Soon after learning the news from the angel, Mary went with haste to see Liz.

When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, her baby leaped in her womb, and she was filled with the Holy Spirit. At that point, Liz cried out a blessing upon Mary and her baby, who was to be the Lord. Liz seemed to understand her pregnancy and the roll her child was to play in the coming of the Lord.

Her faith had seen her through to the purpose of God in her life. She faced a crisis of Faith early in her marriage, but did not allow anger and bitterness to ruin her life. Keeping her relationship with God from being stained by bitterness allowed her to protect her relationship with Zacharias. 

So….. What do we learn from Zach and Liz’s crises of Faith? How we react at that critical and decisive moment may frame the rest of our lives. It certainly impacts our spiritual journey. Sometimes we react with anger, fear, and doubt. However, if we give that over to the Lord and walk with Him through the crisis, we will grow stronger and taller in our relationship with Him. How we react may also frame some aspect of another’s life. We’ll never know until we walk through the crisis with Him. I think Elizabeth would tell us that God was with her at the beginning of the crisis, in the midst of the crisis, and through the end of the crisis. That’s what walking blamelessly with Him means.

Where will we go from here? Next time…

A Crisis of Faith...

It's time to comment on this week's readings from Luke. Our reading plan calls for reading from the OT and NT everyday. I've been reading the NT but just haven't posted anything about it. So, here we go with Luke 1...

A crisis is defined as being faced with a decisive or critical moment in which a decision must be made with the consequences being unsure.

Zacharias faced such a crisis when the angel Gabriel appeared to him in the Holy of Holies and announced to him that he and his wife Elizabeth would have a child, and that child would grow up to be John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ. That doesn’t sound like much of a crisis; after all, most married couples look forward to having children. However, the time of barring children had long passed for Zach and Liz. Scripture tells us that Zach was old and both were advanced in years. The scripture also says that both were righteous in the sight of God and were walking blamelessly in the commandments and requirements of the Lord.

Let’s think about this for a minute. Zacharias was righteous and walking with God. So why was this a crisis of Faith ? Zach was immediately troubled when the angel appeared, and then fear gripped him. It seems that he did not recognize the angel as being from God – even though he was in the holy place interceding for his people, and the whole multitude was gathered in prayer outside the temple. Isn’t that just like us? We pray and pray, and even have others praying with us or for us, and BOOM! God shows up and fear or doubt grabs hold, and we don’t see Him through our anxiety and fear. Was Zach really praying with faith as we are admonished to by Paul? Doesn’t seem so. Would I recognize an angel of the Lord if one appeared before me? I’d like to think so; however, I am guilty of not seeing God work in and around me all the time. I find myself praying about something and then not seeing God’s answer – many times because His answer is not what I’m looking for. When His answer is not what I’m hoping it will be, I face the faith crisis of submitting to His will or not. Sometimes I don’t because His answer troubles me, sometimes it scares me, and sometimes I don’t understand it. Obviously, I’m not much different from Zach in that area.

After the angel explained to Zacharias that Elizabeth was about to become pregnant and that the child would serve a unique purpose in the coming of the Messiah, he still wasn’t convinced that God was at work. Anxiety and fear struck first, but then doubt immerged. “How will I know for certain?” Wow! That’s got my name written all over it. How many times have I sensed God’s will but kept asking, “How will I know?” If Zach had not gotten past that question, he and Liz might not have ever had their rendezvous. He did pay a price for his doubting. He was struck silent until eight days after the birth of baby John. Think what we miss because we never take that next step. Talk about the “What if’s”! Where might you be? What might you be? How would the world be different? Only the Lord knows the cost of our doubt.

Once his tongue was loosed, he began to speak in praise of God. Seeing God’s faithfulness through this crisis of faith made Zach a more powerful witness for the Lord. So, did the crisis turn out for good or ought? You got it! For good. Zach had over nine months to think about his encounter with God that day in the Holy of Holies. By the time he could speak, his first words were not, “Man, you won’t believe what I’ve been through!” It was more like, “Man, I’ve got to tell you about the greatness of God!”

How did Elizabeth face this crisis of Faith? More on that later.

Blessings, Deb