Category: Christian Living

Depositing God’s Truth in Your Spiritual Bank

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Recently at our Focused Living Bible Study we had the privilege of hearing from three women in three different life stages.  They all shared specifics about how they’ve seen God take them “Deeper Still” in their relationships with Him.   All three had fantastic messages to share and we were blessed by their authenticity and candor.   It just so happens that the last woman to share was my mom.  During her talk she highlighted how much she values studying the Bible to keep aligned with God’s truth.  She told us that she started formally studying the Bible in 1974 and has continued ever since in a variety of different classes and groups.  My mom admonished us to see studying God’s word as an opportunity to make deposits in our “spiritual banks,” pointing out that truths we learn now can sustain us in the years to come.  Isaiah 55:10-11 says pretty much the same thing:

“As the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return to it without watering the earth 
and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth:  It will not return to me empty,
 but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

Our Bible study is wrapping up another challenging and inspiring study, but before I add my workbook from Faithful, Abundant, True:  Three Lives Going Deeper Still to the growing collection on my shelf, I’d like to reflect on what I’ve learned.  Spending time looking back is an opportunity to make a deposit in our “spiritual banks.”  Writing down the truths we’ve learned will bless us in the years to come and imprint them more deeply into our memories. 

Truths Taught by Kay Arthur

-Don’t Shrink Back

Kay taught us about God’s faithfulness and encouraged us to make time for God’s word and to keep from entangling ourselves in the affairs of the world.  Referring often to the book of Hebrews, she reminded us not to “shrink back” and to continue growing deeper with God.

Hebrews 10:35-39  “So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.  You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For, ‘In just a little while, he who is coming will come
 and will not delay.’  And, ‘But my righteous one will live by faith.  And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.’  But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.”

-Handle God’s Word Correctly

Kay reminded us of the value of God’s word and the importance of learning to use and handle it correctly.  She pointed out that studying the Bible is not just about getting us through our issues, but changing us from the inside out.

2 Timothy 2:15  “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”

2 Timothy 3:16-17  “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

-Abandon Unbelief to Find the Rest of Faith

Kay also taught is that having faith means resting in the word of God.  We cannot have the rest of faith if we have unbelief in our lives.  If we truly believe God can do what He says, then we will trust Him and find rest, unlike the Israelites who doomed themselves to wandering in the desert for forty years because of their unbelief.

Hebrews 3:16-19 & 4:1-2  “Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.  Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed.”

Truths Taught By Priscilla Shirer

-God Is Able

Priscilla Shirer showed us that God is able to surprise us in the midst of our impossible situations.  She encouraged us to remember that knowing Who we’re dealing with changes the way we pray.  When we pray, we can be confident knowing God has the power to do what we ask.  She also encouraged us to pray: “God, do this, or do something better!”

Ephesians 3:20-21  “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

-An Abundant Life is Not Free of Difficulty

Priscilla reminded us that God’s abundance is not about experiencing peace because of our circumstances, but in spite of them.  We can experience the fullness of God even in the midst of our impossible situations.  He is the only dependable constant in our lives in a world that is ever changing.

2 Corinthians 12:7-10  “Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.  Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.  But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

-Don’t Just Learn About God; Believe His Word is True for You Personally

Priscilla pointed out the importance of translating the head knowledge we gain from studying God’s word into heart knowledge that causes true life-transformation.

Hebrews 12:1-2  “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Truths Taught By Beth Moore

-We Must Activate the Mind of Christ

Beth emphasized that anyone who accepts Christ has the ability to have the mind of Christ.    She says,  “Our challenge is to learn how to activate His mind in our thought processes regarding the reality of our experience.” (p.108)

1 Corinthians 2:15-16  “The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for,  ‘Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’  But we have the mind of Christ.”

-Discernment Doesn’t Happen By Accident

When the Holy Spirit resides within us, we possess the potential for great discernment, but it is like a muscle that must be exercised to grow stronger.  We grow in our discernment through “prayer, pursuit and practice.”  (110)

Hebrews 5:13-14  “Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”

-God’s Spirit Fills Us to the Extent We are Willing to Yield

God will only take us as far as we are willing to let Him go on our spiritual journeys.  Without obedience to Him, we prevent ongoing growth from occurring.

John 14:15-16  “If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.”

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That is quite a bit of truth to absorb in six weeks of study!  I feel like I just made a huge deposit in my “spiritual bank.”  How about you?  What truths do you want to savor and remember before you move on to the next study?  If you’re not attender of Focused Living, what things are you learning right now that you want to remember later?  Make a comment below and share with us (click on “leave a comment” at the top of this post and the comment field will appear at the bottom of the post).  You can also make a comment on Facebook if you prefer.

I’ll close by making Paul’s prayer for the Philippians in 1:9-11 my prayer for you:

“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.” 

Click on the blue sign below that says “Watch Vimeo”  to see the “Deeper Still” testimonies of the three women at Focused Living.

Boosting Your Spiritual Metabolism

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October, November and December are months filled with celebrations in my family.  It seems we’re continually enjoying birthday dinners, Halloween candy, Thanksgiving delicacies and Christmas treats at a fairly steady pace for a long stretch of time.   Although we generally try to eat healthy food, it seems there is always an excuse for a “splurge” during those months.  This December, my husband and I realized that our “fun splurges” were becoming a regular part of our diet.  By the end of the Christmas holidays, we were both feeling the effects of too many months of making bad choices with food.  It was time for a change.

My meal planning and cooking had been on autopilot for quite a while.  I’d chalked it up to a busy schedule, but the truth was, I was getting pretty lazy. We were eating the same four or five meals all the time and making things interesting by eating plenty of unhealthy snacks and desserts in between.  We didn’t feel good physically and often criticized ourselves for the bad food choices we were making.  Then, we’d do the same thing again the next day.

Driving home from a visit with family over the holidays, I began perusing a book that outlined a twenty-eight day plan for eating healthy, cleansing our bodies and rebooting our metabolisms.  It sounded a bit daunting, but after some serious thought, we decided the health benefits were worth the effort.

To implement this plan required full buy-in for both of us.  We had to commit to following all of the guidelines of the plan for twenty-eight days.  There was no way to eat on autopilot anymore.  I was checking our book so much that the pages were dotted with splotches of food from reading recipes while I cooked. I had to write meal plans for the week in a spiral notebook and check it frequently.  My husband would regularly ask, “Is this in the plan?”  I’d grab the book to check, not trusting my memory to guide me.

Having to think about meals so much required more effort than our old ways of interacting with food.  We had to be intentional in planning menus, preparing ahead and anticipating possible challenges along the way.  However, we were also seeing the benefits of the plan and were feeling great.  I’d never given so much thought to what, when and how I was eating until then- but my metabolism seemed to be responding well.

I realized a striking similarity between our new eating plan and our spiritual lives.  We can’t go on autopilot.  We can’t just check off our thirty minutes reading the Bible and praying in the morning and then move on with the day.  Instead, we need to be in tune with God’s Spirit and connecting with Him at regular intervals throughout the day to get the strength and wisdom we need.   My eating plan required healthy snacks and meals at regular intervals to fuel my metabolism and keep it burning.  Our spiritual metabolisms also need regular fuel to function fully. I’m finding Beth Moore’s words to be true:  “Dependable discernment comes only by walking in the Spirit, and walking in the Spirit comes only by walking and talking with God Himself…The Spirit of God fills us only to the extent that we yield to His authority and welcome His Presence.  (Beth Moore, Faithful, Abundant, True: Three Lives Going Deeper Still p. 138)

There is an obvious comparison between eating healthy and maintaining spiritual well being.  Both require constant vigilance.  We need to be intentional with our efforts to connect with God instead of becoming lazy spiritually or relying on others to keep us growing in our faith.  Beth Moore uses the story of the Israelites and Moses from Exodus 20:18-21 to illustrate this:

When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.”  Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”  The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.

Beth explains:  “That’s how a lot of people still want their religion today.  We still say in effect, ‘I’m not looking to be close to the Father God and to get to know Him intimately through His Son Jesus Christ.  I just want someone to tell me what to do and what not to do and I’ll go on with it from there’…What people with this mind-set don’t understand is that they’re missing the most satisfying love relationship of their entire existence…We will never live one single day in the Spirit accidentally.  It simply cannot happen…You show me a godly woman, and I’ll show you a woman who pursued God”  (Beth Moore, Faithful, Abundant, True: Three Lives Going Deeper Still p. 137 & 139).

Not surprisingly, the Bible has quite a bit to say about staying tuned into the Holy Spirit.  Galatians 5:25 tells us:  “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”  Our job is to match the cadence of our steps to those of the Holy Spirit.  We can only do this through consistent time in God’s Word and prayer.

Over the past few years as I’ve learned more about the Holy Spirit, I’ve incorporated a few regular phrases into my prayer life.  They help me keep in step with the Spirit and remain intentional in my pursuit of Him.  The first is: “God, pour out your Spirit on me today.”  When I pray this, I imagine God taking a pitcher of water and pouring it over my head so that everything around me is soaked with His Spirit.  Although I know that His Spirit already resides in me, asking for more of Him increases my capacity to be filled and used by Him.   Ephesians 5:18b admonishes us to be “filled with the Spirit.”  The footnotes in my study Bible explain this verse well: “The Greek present tense is used in this verse to indicate that the filling of the Spirit it not a once-for-all experience.  Repeatedly, as occasion requires, the Spirit empowers for worship, service and testimony.”  (Zondervan NIV Study Bible p. 1832)

Another regular prayer of mine is “God, align my heart with Your Spirit.”  Essentially, this means asking God to make me want the things He wants.  This is what it means to pray “in Jesus’ name.”  In John 14:13-14 Jesus says  “And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”  When we ask in Jesus’ name, it acknowledges our desire for God to be glorified by our requests.  It’s not like a closing salutation for a prayer; it is a statement of wanting our wills to align with God’s and to ask in prayer for the things we know He wants.

Just like I read my meal-planning book throughout the day, we have to consult the Bible regularly to stay aligned with God’s will and Spirit.  We have to be actively engaged in studying His word, praying and seeking Him.  We can’t base our faith on memories of the past. That would be like cooking on autopilot and making the same default meals over and over.  God has something new to show us all the time.  He wants to keep our spiritual metabolisms moving to ingest new truths so that we can use our gifts to bless others and honor Him.

“I am the Lord; that is my name! 
I will not yield my glory to another
 or my praise to idols.  See, the former things have taken place, 
and new things I declare; 
before they spring into being
 I announce them to you.”  -Isaiah 42:8-10

Maybe it’s time to think about your spiritual metabolism.  Are you on autopilot cruising along spiritually without giving much thought to your need for the Spirit?  Is there an area you need to surrender so that you can obey God more fully?  It may seem daunting, but once you address these things, you won’t want to go back to autopilot again.  God has too many great things in store for you and will give you exactly what you need to live walking in His Spirit.

I’ve attached a link below to a song that is a little older.  It is called “Rushing Wind” and is by a Christian musical artist named Keith Green who passed away in a plane crash in 1982.  Although it may not sound as current as some of the songs I usually include, I hope it will bless and inspire you.  I first heard it as a freshman in college in 1988 and it is still one of my favorites.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqhS17wt_pE

The Aftermath of Being “Punked”

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Beth Moore told a story in Faithful, Abundant, True:  Three Lives Going Deeper Still about a time when she was duped by a woman with a testimony that seemed too amazing to be true.  When Beth learned that she and her ministry had been deceived, one of her staff members said: “We’ve been punked!”

I decided to look up the word “punked” online to see some of the definitions for this slang term that has become popular in recent years.  Here are a few of the definitions I found:  punked:  A way to describe someone ripping a person off, tricking, teasing; humiliated completely, as in disrespected; putting oneself in a position of being open to ridicule; having been lied to or fooled.

Like Beth, I still wince when I think of a few times that I’ve been “punked” by Satan through hard circumstances with others.  While I’ve never had someone “punk” me in such a deliberate way, I’ve experienced my fair share of pain.  What I chose to do with the pain often led me down a path of being spiritually attacked. People may hurt us intentionally or unintentionally, but it is really Satan who does the “punking.”  First Peter 5:8 says it clearly:  “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”  When we’re hurt, we can either draw closer to God or look for unhealthy ways to cope that leave us spiritually vulnerable.

Looking back, it’s clear there were times when I made myself pretty easy prey for that prowling lion looking for someone to devour.  Beth Moore gave a big and extreme example of when Satan used a situation to “punk” her, but we all have situations that can lead to being “punked” by him. It’s just one of the down sides of living in a fallen world.  We can be sure that even if someone didn’t intentionally mean to “punk” us, Satan looks for ways to capitalize on our hurt and use it against us.  Here are a few situations he can use to “punk” us when we’re not staying alert:

-A pastor or ministry leader disappoints you personally causing you to withdraw from Christian community or to stop attending corporate worship services

-A pastor or ministry leader’s sinful nature is suddenly exposed and you stop trusting anyone in a leadership position and cynicism begins to take root in you

-Your tight knit community of friends fractures and goes its separate ways causing you to feel hurt and wary of engaging in deep relationships anymore

-Your spouse, friend or business partner betrays you, leaving you choking on your own bitterness and unable to see past your own problems

-Your teen or adult child seems to do the opposite of everything you taught him, leaving you disillusioned about the Christian parenting tools you thought were foolproof

-The ministry where you’ve been serving seems to be changing in a way that doesn’t fit with your vision so you disengage and stop seeking ways to use your gifts

-You have a difference of opinion with someone you serve with and decide it’s not worth it to be involved in ministry anymore

-A close friendship falls apart and your fear of being hurt prevents you from cultivating new friendships

If you can relate to any of the scenarios above, you are not alone.  What if it’s too late?  What if you’ve already been “punked?”   Here are a few thoughts on dealing with the aftermath and moving back into a place of health and wholeness.

-Don’t let being “punked” make you bitter

Ephesians 4:31 tells us:  “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.”  When bitterness takes root in us, it flavors everything in our lives negatively.  Bitter people rarely exude joy, peace, or grace.  It’s hard to share the love of Christ when bitterness plunges its roots deep into the soil of our lives.   Pray and ask God to remove the bitterness you feel welling up inside of you.

-Don’t lose trust in all people because you were burned

In Matthew 10:12-14 & 16 Jesus says:  “As you enter the home, give it your greeting. If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet…I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.”  Being shrewd and innocent means having discernment to know the difference between people who are trustworthy and people who are not.  It is unwise to assume the negative about all people you encounter because of one or two bad experiences.

-Pray against cynicism

Colossians 3:12-14  “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” Cynicism doesn’t coexist well with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness and love.  It makes us sarcastic, jaded and unable to be authentic in our relationships with others.

-Don’t lose sight of the other good things in your life

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18  “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  Sometimes it’s easy to focus on the hurt we feel and to miss all of the other places good things are happening.  Good things and hard things usually co-exist in our lives.  We show wisdom when we can be thankful noticing the good and instead of fixating on the bad.

-Get help to access the tools you need for healing

Matthew 18:15-16 “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’”    Often we try to muscle through hard situations on our own when what we need is the help of others.  There was a time when the same person was repeatedly emotionally hurting me.  I was afraid to talk to anyone about it for fear of being a gossip.  When I finally confided in a wise friend, she spoke the truth and reassurance I desperately needed to hear.  Eventually a Christian counselor equipped me with the tools I needed to heal and learn from what I’d experienced.  The ways I grew by facing my pain caused much good to come from a very difficult situation.

-Practice Forgiveness

Matthew 6:14-15 says:  “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”  I don’t think I could say it any clearer.  If we love God, then we need to forgive.  This is a choice we make, not a feeling.  Think of forgiveness as a cycle that may need to repeat rather than a one-time transaction.  You’ll feel tremendous relief when you’re able to release your hurt at the feet of Jesus.

-Take time to heal, but don’t withdraw permanently

Matthew 5:14-16 says: “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”  Taking time to heal is healthy and good, but we can’t hide our lights forever.  If you need to push the “pause” button for a while to re-group, that is a good thing, just don’t let it become your new “normal.”  Hebrews 10:25-26 says:  “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

-Don’t let Satan sideline you and keep you from using your gifts to bless others

1 Peter 4:10 says: “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.”  If you’ve been hurt while serving in a specific area and want to step back, take some time to pray and see what is next.  Maybe there are some issues you need to confront in your current situation.  Maybe it is time for you to find a new place to plug in and use your gifts.  Just make sure you don’t leave any unfinished business behind before you move on.  Running from a difficult or frustrating situation doesn’t bring healing– it just delays it.

-Put on your spiritual armor

Ephesians 6:10-18  “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”  Be aware that you are vulnerable to spiritual attack and access the spiritual armor God gives you to stand firm against it.

Just in case you need a reminder if you’ve been “punked”, you are not alone.  You might be wondering how I compiled the list of suggestions above.  It’s all from personal experience.  I’ve let the messiness of life open me up to being “punked” by Satan more than once.  Hopefully, the things I’ve learned will bless you and enable you to avoid having to learn the hard way like I did.

There are many helpful resources to assist you if you’ve been “punked” and don’t want to find yourself there again.  A few books that have made a difference for me are:

Forgive and Forget by Lewis Smedes (Don’t let the title fool you- this book is about learning from your hurt so that you won’t be doomed to repeat it)

Boundaries by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend

Safe People by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend

If you have other resources that have helped you, please make a comment and share them with others.

Need a little encouragement right away?  Click on the link below to hear the song “Holding Nothing Back” by Ryan Stevenson. It will remind you that it’s best to keep our eyes on Jesus in the midst of our hurts and disappointments.  There is no better way to safeguard against getting “punked.”

When Praying Expectantly Wears Thin

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Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.  –Proverbs 13:12

California is having its driest winter in the state’s 164-year history.  While I know this is bad news for our water supply, I must admit I’m enjoying the dry days, warm weather and clear blue skies.   I can’t make it rain, so I might as well enjoy the sunshine.  Who could blame me?

Recently our family took advantage of a warm and sunny Saturday to go mountain biking together.  My younger son had been asking to ride on a specific trail that he spied a while back, so we thought it was the perfect day to try it.  He knew that getting to the fun downhill part would require quite a bit of hill climbing first.  I was pretty impressed he wanted to do such a challenging ride.  At first the promise of that grand finale on the second half buoyed his spirits as we started our ascent.  Pretty soon, however, he started falling behind the rest of us. The excitement for the descent evaporated as his muscles burned and his lungs gasped for air.  When he finally reached the top, he’d lost all desire to finish the ride and wanted to turn around and go back the way we came.

I cheered for him as he walked his bike up to where we were waiting and reminded him of his goal.  “You can’t stop now, buddy!  The trail you’ve been waiting for is coming soon.  Just two more small hills and we’ll be on the fun part.  You can do it!”  I was trying hard to sound positive and encouraging, but he wasn’t buying it.

“This ride is stupid and I don’t want to do it anymore,” he grumbled as he dropped his bike to the ground and sat hunched at a picnic table nearby.

He’d been waiting expectantly for what he thought would be a fun ride, but the journey there was harder than he anticipated.  Maybe you can relate.  We all have those times when our enthusiasm begins to wear thin the longer our expectations go unmet.  I couldn’t help thinking about this as I did the lesson for Week 4, Day 4 of Faithful, Abundant, True:  Three Lives Going Deeper Still.  I love that Priscilla Shirer is encouraging believers to pray big prayers.  She says  “Knowing God and the resources He’s made available to you … changes not only how you pray but what you feel free to ask God for.  You will begin to realize that you don’t have to pray small or with reservation.  You can ask the Lord for exactly what you desire no matter how outlandish or impossible it may appear to be”  (p.92).

I wholeheartedly believe Priscilla’s words to be true.  God can do anything we ask.  However, I also know firsthand that “whether God moves is a question of His sovereignty, not His ability.  What He does is His business.  Believing that He can is our business”  (p.94).  Sometimes praying expectantly gets tiring, maybe even a little discouraging.  Waiting with no clear sense of when a prayer might be answered is hard work when we try to do it on our own strength.  Over the years of waiting for different prayers to be answered, I’ve learned some things that have helped me not to lose hope.  Below are a few thoughts and verses on how to keep your focus where it needs to be as you pray expectantly and wait for God to reveal His plans to you.

-Keep Your Eyes On God Instead of on the Answer You Seek

It can be easy to fixate on the answer we’re looking for instead of on God.  Praising God for who He is and reminding yourself of all Jesus did for you can bring you a peace that is not dependent upon your circumstances or a particular answer you’re seeking.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.  –Hebrews 12:1-3

You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the Lord forever,
for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.  –Isaiah 26:3-4

-Maintain An Eternal Perspective

Sometimes we get so consumed with the thing we’re praying for that we forget this world is not our permanent home.  It’s helpful to take a step back sometimes and see your situation from a different perspective.  We are just passing through this world on our way to our home in heaven.  A good question we can ask ourselves to keep in check is: “In the light of eternity, how much does this really matter?”

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.   -2 Corinthians 4:16-18

-Remember that God Does Things His Way, Not Yours

It’s easy to focus so much on the outcome we’re expecting that we miss the ways God is already at work in our lives (or even in a particular situation we’re praying for).  When we pray expectantly, it’s helpful to take God’s sovereignty into consideration.  We need to give Him room to move and work in the way He sees best instead of expecting Him to do things according to the expectations we have.

 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.  “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.  –Isaiah 55:8-9

-Focus on Gratitude

When we are praying expectantly about a specific situation, it might be easy to forget all the things God has done or is doing in our lives.  It builds our faith and our trust in God when we take time to list the specific things we can already be thankful for in our lives.  We can even thank God for how He is working behind the scenes while we wait.  In all circumstances, there is something for which we can thank God.

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.  -1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

-Pray for Strength and Confidence in God as You Wait Expectantly

It is okay to admit to God that we are growing weary or that our confidence in Him is waning.  We can ask Him to restore our strength, confidence and hope as we wait.  We can ask Him to show us what we can be learning as we trust Him for the answers to our prayers.  It helps to be honest and admit when we’re struggling and need help adjusting our attitudes.

I remain confident of this:  I will see the goodness of the Lord 
in the land of the living.  Wait for the Lord;
 be strong and take heart
 and wait for the Lord.  –Psalm 27:13-14

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.  –Psalm 139:23-4

-Let Others Encourage You

It’s always easier to wait for something when we have company.  Enlisting a trusted friend to pray with us and to encourage us as we wait for God helps us to stay hopeful.  It also keeps us from getting bitter or disillusioned if the answer is taking longer than we think it should.

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. –Hebrews 10:23-25

See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. –Hebrews 3:12-14

You may be wondering how things turned out for my son on our bike ride.   After he regained his strength and listened to our encouraging words, he was willing to get on his bike and continue.  At first, he was sullen as he trudged up the next hill pushing his bike, but he was definitely trying harder.  Not surprisingly, all of his grumpiness disappeared when we finally reached the trail that wound back down the mountain.  When we stopped to enjoy the sweeping views part way down, he was back to his old enthusiastic self and couldn’t wait to keep riding.  He led the way down the hill and was thrilled with what he’d accomplished at the end.
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I pray that you’ll find hope and courage as you pray expectantly.  There can even be joy in the waiting if you’re open to seeing it.  God has great things in store, there is no doubt about that.

Click on the song “While I’m Waiting” by John Waller for some further encouragement as you wait.

When God’s Abundance Turns Sour Circumstances Sweet

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In Faithful, Abundant, True:  Three Lives Going Deeper Still Priscilla Shirer says:  “As I’ve considered different seasons of my life, it’s occurred to me that I’ve often been waiting on my circumstances to change before feeling like I can experience God’s abundance.  We often think:  If I can just get out of this season and into the next one, then I know abundance will be waiting for me.  If I can just get out of this disappointing, frustrating circumstance I’m in, then I know I’ll experience God’s best”  (p.68).

Like Priscilla, this thought process has occurred in different seasons of my life.   One time that stands out was my freshman year in college when it felt like all of the comforts and security of home were stripped away from me.  Instead of embracing the exciting new phase I’d entered, I grieved the end of my childhood.  Making meaningful connections with new friends was a struggle and I longed to be known and valued.  I viewed my new surroundings in Southern California with a critical eye and compared everything to home.   Nothing met my unrealistically high standards.  I thought: If I could just leave this place, I would be happier.

In spite of my struggles, I knew I had to figure out how to make things work.  I grew up in a home where “We Don’t Quit” was a motto—I could even picture the paper with my dad’s printing written in green felt pen and pinned to my brother’s bulletin board.   I didn’t want to give up so easily after all the hard work of getting into college and I certainly didn’t want to disappoint my family.

So, in the midst of my intense loneliness, I turned to God– the only One I felt really knew and loved me in this strange place so far from home.  For the first time in my life I needed and wanted to spend time studying His word to find truths that would sustain and encourage me.  I poured out my heart in prayer, sharing my struggles and heartaches.  I listened to Christian music at night as I fell asleep.  It bathed my mind with God’s comforting promises, which seemed more relevant to me than they ever had before.

As the school year progressed, I slowly began to accept my new surroundings, to find friends and to enjoy Christian fellowship.  By the time my parents came to collect me in June, I realized that I was leaving a little piece of me behind as we drove up back to Northern California.  More importantly, my relationship with God was stronger and deeper than it had ever been in my life.

In the midst of my misery and loneliness, I’d discovered the abundance of God’s love and the reassurance of knowing that He would always be with me.  By removing me from the comfort and security of my earthly home, He showed me that my ultimate comfort and security came first and foremost from Him.  God took my sour outlook and sweetened it slowly as He revealed Himself to me during that difficult year.

There have been many other times when I’ve struggled through hard things. Difficulties are always going to pop up, but that doesn’t mean we just have to grit our teeth and white-knuckle our way through them.  God is there with us and has things to show us through our struggles.  Priscilla Shirer says it well:  “The abundant life is not when no impossible situations occur and you’re experiencing peace, joy, and happiness.  While that’s nice, true abundance is really seen when you’re sitting in a prison circumstance, when you’re eye to eye with an impossible situation, and right in the heart of your impossible, you experience the fullness of God”  (p.69).

Seven years ago I found myself staring impossible right in the face and felt hopeless to do anything about it. My Dad’s health was rapidly deteriorating as a debilitating neurological disease ravaged his mind and body.  Although we loved each other, we’d never had a great relationship.  We’d both made feeble attempts to connect at various times in life, but they never produced much.  As I watched him decline, I despaired that I’d lost the chance to develop a close relationship with him because of his compromised state.

And then, right in the heart of impossible, God showed up and made the last two weeks of my Dad’s life our sweetest time together.   He gave me the courage to initiate sharing thoughts with my Dad that I’d never been able to verbalize before.  Although his ability to think and speak was painfully slow, he responded and we had several tender conversations.  It was the first time we shared honestly how we felt about each other without the usual awkwardness or sarcasm that characterized our relationship.   By the time my dad passed away I had a peace about our relationship that had eluded me for my entire life.  I’d thought my Dad’s illness had eliminated any possibility of having a meaningful connection with him, but God used it to bring us together in a way I never would have anticipated.

Ironically, the relationship with my dad that had been such a source of pain and hopelessness for me was the catalyst that launched me into sharing my writing with others.  After my dad passed away, I wrote about our final days together and submitted it for consideration in an anthology of short stories.  To my surprise, the story was chosen and published in 2013 in a book called When God Makes Lemonade:  True Stories that Amaze and Encourage.  I was humbled to discover that God often uses the hardest things in our lives to reveal Himself to us.  Reading the book has showed me the authors of the other stories experienced something similar.
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The truth is we get access to God’s power when we lay our weaknesses and difficulties at His feet.  The apostle Paul knew this when he wrote 2 Corinthians 12:7b-10:

“Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

When we take our hard circumstances and our weaknesses and entrust them to Jesus, we invite Him to bring change.  Sometimes He changes the hard things we’re dealing with, sometimes He gives us the courage to take action, but often He changes our perspectives more than anything else.  There is no circumstance too large or too small for Him.  Paul tells us God is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20).  We can have great hope remembering that He can go beyond our wildest imaginings.

Is there a sour circumstance in your life?  Maybe something that seems impossible to change?   God can and will work to bring sweetness to it in His perfect timing.  He is able.  Are you willing to let Him show you?

For added perspective on this topic, click on the link to listen to Laura Story’s song “Blessings.”  It will show you how God uses hard situations to change us and to show us a new perspective.

The Rest of Faith

Kyle Sleeping '03

“Twenty-six days until Christmas!”  My twelve-year old son announced gleefully as we pulled into the driveway after a Thanksgiving trip visiting family.  I could feel the knot of dread forming in my stomach.  Christmas was less than a month away and I had not done one thing to prepare.  It felt like the train was leaving the station and I was standing on the platform watching it go.  On top of that, I was already worn out and not looking forward to jumping back into the regular responsibilities of daily life.  I was feeling heavy hearted and discouraged that some old frustrations were re-surfacing after I thought they’d been resolved.   Suffice it to say, it was not a good way to kick off the Christmas season.

I woke up early the next morning with my mind swimming.  There were so many things I needed to do, I felt overwhelmed with where to begin.  Knowing I wasn’t going to fall back to sleep, I pulled back the covers and decided I might as well be productive in spite of my lack of energy.  I could already sense I was starting the day off on the wrong foot and realized before I tackled any tasks, I needed some time alone in God’s word and prayer.  I grabbed my Bible study book and thumbed through to Week Two, Day Four in Faithful, Abundant, True:  Three Lives Going Deeper Still.  I had to laugh as I read the title “The Rest of Faith.”  I’d never fully understood this phrase before and certainly wasn’t experiencing it at that moment.  Did “rest” mean “remainder” as in “the rest of the story”?  Or did it literally mean “peace of mind or spirit?”  As I delved into Kay Arthur’s study it was as if the lesson had been written specifically for me to read on that very day.

The study examines the passage in Hebrews 3:7- 4:3.  In case you don’t have a Bible handy, here it is:

So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice do not harden your hearts
 as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness where your ancestors tested and tried me,
though for forty years they saw what I did.  That is why I was angry with that generation; I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray,
 and they have not known my ways.’  So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ”

See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.  We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. As has just been said:

“Today, if you hear his voice,
 do not harden your hearts
 as you did in the rebellion.”  Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt?  And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness?  And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed?  So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.

Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.  For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed.  Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said,  “So I declared on oath in my anger,
 ‘They shall never enter my rest.’”

And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world.

Before diving into an explanation of the passage, the lesson directed me to read Numbers 13 & 14, which is the story that the Hebrews passage refers to in chapters 3 & 4.  The Numbers passage describes the Israelites arriving at the Promised Land (the first time).   In the Numbers story, 12 spies are sent by Moses to scout out the land for 40 days.  Upon returning, they report that the land is flowing with milk and honey, just as God had promised.  However, ten of the spies finish the description of the bountiful land with foreboding:  “But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large” (Numbers 13:28).  Only two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, advise the Israelites to go through with God’s plan.  In Numbers 14:7-9, Joshua and Caleb say to the people:

“The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.”

Instead of listening to Joshua and Caleb, the people cry out against them and ultimately, against God.  Because of this rebellion, God declares that the Israelites will wander in the desert for 40 years, one year for every day the spies scouted out the land.  Further, He strikes the 10 spies who had given a bad report with a plague and they die immediately.  Out of all the adults over 20, only Joshua and Caleb survive and live to enter God’s rest in the Promised Land 40 years later.  (You may remember the story of their second time entering the Promised Land from my earlier blog and/ or the live talk at Focused Living entitled “Finding Your 20 Seconds of Courage.”)

Kay Arthur points out how sad it is that “instead of believing and trusting God and His Word, [the Israelites] threw a tantrum of unbelief that cost them 40 years of wandering in the wilderness…Only Joshua and Caleb were spared, and that is because they were the two spies who believed in God”  (p. 47).

Contrast the fear of the people with the reassurance that Caleb tries to provide them:  “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it”  (Numbers 13:30).  Kay explains:  “This… is the rest of faith…Rest is uniting the Word of faith and living in it at that very moment.  It’s the action of faith for today—for this moment, this situation”  (p.47).    According to Hebrews 3:19, the Israelites were disobedient because they showed unbelief.  This is what prevented them from entering into God’s rest in the Promised Land.  For them, the rest would have been both literal (not having to wander in the desert anymore) and figurative (having spiritual peace).

Hebrews tells us we do not have to make the same mistake the Israelites made. “For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said”  (Hebrews 4:3).  We enter into God’s rest when we accept Christ as our Savior, and we continue to enter into His rest every time we show Him we believe His word to be true through our actions and attitudes.  Entering God’s rest starts with one decision and then becomes an ongoing series of choices in our lives daily.

Belief in God shows by our actions.  This boils down to a simple question:  Do we live like we believe?  If so, we should be receiving His rest.  For me, that means spending less time trying to work things out on my own wisdom and spending more time seeking God.  Once I’ve laid a situation at His feet, my job is to trust Him by resting in Him.  In my life, this has more to do with a change of focus than anything else.

The morning that I woke up with a bad attitude, heavy with discouragement and totally unprepared for Christmas, I had to do some serious soul-searching.  I was convicted that if I really believed the Christmas season was about celebrating the birth of Jesus, then I had no reason to be stressed and anxious.  I’d lost my focus by worrying about all of the tasks that seemed so daunting to me.

The start of the Christmas season is often accompanied by a ramp up of stress for many people.  The holidays tend to accentuate areas in our lives where we don’t have peace.  It could be something simple such as worrying about all of the shopping, decorating and cooking to be done.  It could be something deeper.  The holidays often exacerbate loneliness or shine a spotlight on difficult relationships.   Sometimes they remind us of our weaknesses when we succumb to the temptation to eat and drink too much.  They might emphasize the inadequacy we feel when our bank accounts can’t cover the purchases we want to make.  For those struggling with depression, the dark days of December and the swirl of activity can make their spirits descend even further.  Sadly, there are many of us who feel exempt from the Angels’ pronouncement in Luke 2:14  “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

Regardless of the circumstance in our lives that rob us of our peace, God invites us to believe His promises and to find rest in Him.  Scroll back up and take a look at the photo at the top of this posting.  That sleeping little boy is my younger son when he was two–the same one who is now twelve that I mentioned earlier.  He was so worn out after a busy day he’d spontaneously fallen asleep on the couch.  He had no choice but to enter into the deep rest he so desperately needed.  That’s what the rest of faith is all about- relinquishing our need to control and trusting God to work in His perfect timing.

If you find yourself feeling weary and worn, let the song below bring you some encouragement.  You are not alone—let God’s redemptive power work in you as you trust Him to give you exactly what you need for each moment.

Click here to listen to “Worn” by Tenth Avenue North.

Finding Your Twenty Seconds of Courage

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Throughout the story of Gideon we see moments of incredible bravery when Gideon had to step out in faith to trust God.  Gideon’s weakness became a conduit to reveal God’s incredible strength.  In each pivotal moment of Gideon’s story, he had to take the first step in deciding whether he would follow God’s plan or cower in his own weakness.  I like to think about those crucial twenty seconds of courage in each terrifying situation he faced:  tearing down his father’s altar to Ba’al, accepting military leadership despite his lack of experience, sending home 31,700 soldiers despite the 135,000 Midianites he was called to attack, and entering battle with only 300 men armed with nothing more than clay jars, torches and trumpets.

What we need to realize is that we have access to that same power Gideon had.  We have opportunities every day to entrust our weaknesses to God and to watch how He gives us strength to accomplish His purposes.

This whole idea of “Twenty Seconds of Courage” was inspired in me by watching the movie We Bought a Zoo.  Check out the clip here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmMFIganRQY

Matt Damon’s character says these inspiring words:  “Sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage.  Just literally, twenty seconds of just embarrassing bravery and I promise you, something great will come of it.” When we trust God to give us 20 seconds of courage to obey Him, it can transform our lives for good and impact others in powerful ways.

Gideon was not the only one who stepped out in faith relying on God’s strength in the midst of his weakness.  Let’s look at a few other people in the Bible who did this to see if we can discover how they found the courage to step out in faith when the odds were against them.

Joshua:

One of my favorite stories takes place in Joshua, Chapter 3.  Joshua has just become the new leader of the Children of Israel after Moses’ death.  Imagine how daunting it must have been to come after Moses, the man who spoke directly to God and led the Jews from Egypt to the Promised Land.  That is probably why God tells Joshua three times in Joshua 1 “Be strong and courageous.”

His task in Joshua 3 is to lead roughly two million Jews across the Jordan River into the Promised Land.  The biggest problem is that this is during flood stage and the swollen river was probably several hundred yards across.  God instructs Joshua to have the priests carry the Ark of the Covenant into the river and to trust that He will hold back the waters.  Imagine the twenty seconds of courage it must’ve taken Joshua to tell the priests the plan!  Amazingly, the priests agree to the plan and God parts the waters to allow all of the people to walk on dry ground and pass safely into the Promised Land.

I’d guess that Joshua’s courage came from his past experiences with Yahweh.  He’d seen God part the Red Sea in Exodus 14, he’d seen him provide manna for the people throughout their forty years wandering in the desert (see Exodus 16 for the first occurrence), and he’d won a battle against the Amalekites against amazing odds.  This passage describing that battle is too good not to share:

“So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.  Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven.’”

God wanted to make sure Joshua remembered this amazing victory so that he would have courage to lead in the future.

The bottom line?  Joshua found his twenty seconds of courage through remembering God’s faithfulness in the past.

Jehoshaphat:

The story of Judah’s King Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20 might be one of my favorites of all time.  In earlier chapters, we learn that Jehoshaphat was a king who honored God by removing the high places and Asherah poles from Judah.  He also valued God’s word and sent officials throughout Judah to teach the Book of the Law to the people.

In chapter 20, Jehoshaphat learns that a vast army is marching to attack Judah.  I love his response in verses 3-4:

“Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. The people of Judah came together to seek help from the Lord; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him.”

Jehoshaphat’s impulse wasn’t to gather his military advisors, count his troops or inventory the weapons in Judah’s arsenal.  His impulse was to seek God.  He gathers his people together to pray and fast.  In his public prayer before all the people, he doesn’t’ start by pleading with God to save Judah, instead, he praises God’s power. Next, he proclaims God’s past deeds.  He finally gets around to presenting God with his problem and then shows ultimate humility by admitting his position of powerlessness.  In verse 12 he says:

“We have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”

The next day God sends Jehoshaphat to meet his enemies.  The prophet who shares God’s plan reassures Jehoshaphat by saying in 20:17:

“You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.”

In 20:21 Jeshoshaphat follows God plan and marches out to battle after appointing men to go out at the head of the army singing: “Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.”

Much like the story of Gideon, God causes the enemies to turn on one another and by the time Jehoshaphat and his army arrive the enemies have all destroyed one another.  All that is left for Jehoshaphat and his men to do is collect the plunder.

The bottom line?  Jehoshaphat found his twenty seconds of courage through praising God.

Peter:

The story of Peter walking on the water in Matthew 14:22-33 is one of my favorites from the New Testament.  I love the fact that he was the only disciple with enough courage to ask Jesus to enable him to walk on water when he saw Jesus walking on the waves towards the boat.  Even though Peter does falter for a moment when he lets the wind and the waves take his eyes off Jesus, he remembers where to turn for help in verse 30:

“But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’”

Much like Jehoshaphat, he knew that in his powerlessness, God was the only one who could save him.  Just how did Peter become so trusting of Jesus that he was willing to step out of the boat into the storm tossed waters?  I turned to the beginning of the book of Matthew to see what events took place prior to this one.  It’s quite an impressive list.  Here are a few of the things that happened earlier in the story:

-He saw Jesus heal the sick (Matt 4)

-He heard Jesus preach the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5-7)

-He saw Jesus calm a storm  (Matt 8)

-He saw Jesus heal two demon-possessed men  (Matt 8)

-He saw Jesus heal a paralytic (Matt 9)

-He saw Jesus raise a girl from death (Matt 9)

-He was sent out to preach, heal, raise dead, cleans lepers and drive out demons (Matt 10)

-He saw Jesus feed a crowd 5000 people using 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish (Matt 14)

Peter had already witnessed Jesus doing amazing things.  He had developed a relationship of love and trust and knew that through Jesus he could do seemingly impossible things.  The bottom line?  Peter’s twenty seconds of courage came through trusting Jesus.

There are several common threads that we can see between the characters in all three stories.

1.  All three knew and valued God’s Word

2.  All three shared God’s truth with others

3.  All three knew God was capable of doing more than they could do on their own

4.  All three knew their own weaknesses

5.  All three impacted others using God’s strength

6.  All three had personal and intimate relationships with God

7.  All three led courageously in seemingly impossible situations

Here is the best part:  None of the things on this list are specific to a particular person, culture or time period.  All of them can be true of us today as much as they were for Joshua, Jehoshaphat and Peter.

As we wrap up our study of Gideon, what will be different in your life going forward?  What areas do you need to work on so that you’ll be ready when God calls you to step out to give Him 20 seconds of courage?

Our moments of courage can be large or small, but each one matters to God.   Do you sense God nudging you in some way that may seem frightening?

-Maybe He’s calling you to pick up the phone and mend a broken relationship

-Maybe He’s prompting you to speak an encouraging word to someone who is outside of your comfort zone

-Maybe He’s calling you to invite a friend or neighbor to church or Bible study

-Maybe He’s nudging you to open your home to someone in need

-Maybe He’s telling you to say “no” to a few commitments that will enable you to spend more time with Him or studying His word

-Maybe He’s prompting you to spend more time pouring into others or less time with people who are dragging you down

-Maybe He’s calling you to go on that Missions trip you’ve been talking about for years

-Maybe He’s inviting you to trust Him with your finances and tithe or give sacrificially

-Maybe He’s nudging you to make that appointment with a Christian counselor that you’ve been putting off

-Maybe He’s telling you to use that Spiritual Gift you know you have but have been afraid to use

The list could go on.  The point is, any act of bravery requires that first twenty seconds of courage to get started.  Are you up for it?  When you look back at the story of your life, what things do you see God has given you to draw on for courage?  Are you ready to give Him your weakness and watch Him turn it into His strength?  Post a comment and let us know!

Your Weakness Lets God’s Strength Shine Through

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I started teaching high school at the tender age of 23– only five years after graduating from high school myself.  Being a new teacher was hard.  What made matters worse was that I looked like I could’ve been one of the students.  I decided that the best way to gain respect was to hide my weaknesses and insecurities.  I thought the students and parents would look down on me if I didn’t appear to have all the answers and everything “together” all the time.  Even among the other faculty members, I felt wary about sharing struggles.  I spent a lot of time compensating for my weaknesses and trying to cover them up.  That year I found myself in the staff lounge bathroom from time to time crying my eyes out over some difficulty I was facing.  Too proud to admit the truth, I’d blame my red, watery eyes on “allergies” if anyone approached me with concern for my wellbeing.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned that admitting weaknesses is not only healthy and human– it’s also biblical.   To think I can do things on my own without God is simply foolish pride.  Maybe that’s why the story of Gideon appeals to me so much.  There’s no doubt he was weak.  He didn’t have the credentials needed to engage in battle against a formidable enemy—and that is exactly why God chose him.

Another reason I like Gideon is that he needed reassurance from God several times before he acted.  Just before entering battle against the Midianites with his puny army of 300, God blessed Gideon with the chance to overhear a Midianite soldier talking with his tent mate about a dream he had.   When Gideon overheard the dream and learned the men feared him and the army of Israel, he was greatly encouraged.  The story below picks up just after this in Judges 7:15-21.

When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed down and worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, “Get up! The Lord has given the Midianite camp into your hands.” Dividing the three hundred men into three companies, he placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them, with torches inside.

“Watch me,” he told them. “Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do. When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all around the camp blow yours and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon.’”

Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands. The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled.

When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the Lord caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. The army fled to Beth Shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath.

I love imagining the sound of the shattering pottery and the shouts of the soldiers.  I can just picture the shimmering light produced by the flames of 300 torches strategically placed in a circle on the hills surrounding the Midianite camp.  The small band of soldiers had been too far apart to see one another as they waited in the dark for the signal.  Imagine their triumph at the sound of the trumpet and the lights they all held high in the darkness.

These men did not fight with the traditional weapons of battle, yet God used their uncommon weapons to achieve a stunning victory.  On paper, nothing about their plan worked from a worldly perspective- they didn’t have the manpower or the tools to achieve victory, but they had God on their side.

“The weaknesses we often despise are required for the light of Christ to be seen and for the darkness around us to be dispelled.  Without the limitations and deficiencies of our vessels, we would not serve our purpose well.  Your weakness is not a liability.  It is one of your greatest assets.  God’s presence and power are best seen when our large, impressive personalities aren’t getting in the way.  So welcome His light into your weakness, and let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!”  (Priscilla Shirer, Gideon, p. 125)

So, how does this look for those of us living in the 21st century?  First and foremost, we need to recognize our weaknesses and realize they need to be surrendered to God.

For me, the process of seeing my weaknesses took quite a while.  Throughout my teens and twenties, I struggled with insecurity. I’d grown so accustomed to it that I just assumed it was a part of who I was.  Never once had I considered asking God to use it for His glory.  I did my best to compensate for it in many ways- whether by trying to achieve more academically, to wear the “right” clothes, to associate with the “right” people or to hold positions of power and respect.  While none of these things were necessarily “bad,” none of them helped to alleviate my insecurity.  (Thus, the crying in the bathroom when I was a new teacher).  Sadly, my compensating made me more intimidating and less approachable as I tried harder and harder to be “perfect” so that I would feel more secure.

It was not until after I had kids and participated in my first Beth Moore Bible study that I ever realized insecurity was a weakness I could submit to God.  As I began to pray about it, God started to change me.  He didn’t miraculously remove it from my life, but He used it to make me more sensitive to others.  I began realizing that insecurity is a pervasive issue in our culture and that many women struggle with it.   God showed me many ways Satan uses it to keep women from connecting with one another because they feel too threatened and intimidated.  Insecurity prevents many of us from living into the people God is calling us to be.   It causes us to put up unhealthy facades that prevent authentic connection.  It renders our gifts useless and often leaves us feeling like outsiders with nothing to offer.  Few Bible teachers address this issue, so it remains a silent struggle for many.

I still remember the first time I admitted that I battled with insecurity publically.  I’d been asked to sit on a panel of women at our weekly Focused Living Bible Study.  Each panelist was asked to share about an area in her life where she needed God’s intervention on a regular basis.  I had a “safe” answer prepared in my head, but when the microphone was handed to me, I horrified myself by blurting out “I struggle with insecurity.”  My face was red and my hands were shaking as I passed the microphone on to the next panelist.  Inside, I was kicking myself for being so vulnerable.

To my surprise, when the panel ended several women made a beeline for me and thanked me for sharing aloud what they‘d been struggling with for years.  Each woman thought she was the only one.   When I let my clay vessel crack open and I exposed my weakness, the light of God’s love used my honesty to encourage others.  The weakness I’d been hiding and trying to compensate for in a variety of ways became the very thing God used to make me more authentic, approachable and encouraging to others with similar struggles.

Whether or not we like to admit it, we’re all just simple clay vessels like those earthen pots the soldiers carried to battle.  Your weaknesses may be different from mine, but you have something God can use for His glory, if only you’ll surrender it to Him.  With the Holy Spirit living within us, God can use our weaknesses to shine His light to a dark world in desperate need of a Savior.

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For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness, ”made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.  But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.  2 Corinthians 4:6-7

Click on the link below to hear Matthew West’s song “Strong Enough,” to be reminded that God’s strength trumps your weakness.

Click on the link below to hear Josh Wilson’s “Pushing Back the Dark.”  You’ll be inspired to give your weaknesses to God and to watch how He uses them to shine His light to the world through you!

It Never Hurts to Ask

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I’m generally a rule-follower by nature.  I don’t like to ruffle feathers or make requests that inconvenience people.  I don’t like to draw attention to myself.  I’m not particularly dramatic.  In the last few years, however, I’ve started getting a bit more courageous about taking risks and making requests.   A new phrase has been finding its way into my vocabulary:  “It never hurts to ask.”  My husband chuckled at my newfound courage a few months ago as I loaded two giant resin pots into the back of our car.  We’d owned them less than a year and they were already starting to fall apart due to sun damage.  I figured it was worth asking for our money back.  “It never hurts to ask,” I told my husband.  If they said “no,” we weren’t any worse off than we were before.  I lugged the pots into the store and politely explained the problem to the woman at the return counter.  She took one look at the cracking and sun-bleached pots and gave me a store credit equal to their value. That night, I proudly showed my husband the gift card I’d gotten.  “See?   This will pay for two new ones.  I told you, it never hurts to ask!”

Apparently, Gideon had a similar thought when he boldly asked God to show him a tangible sign that He was calling him into battle against the Midianites.  Here is the story from Judges 6:36-40.

Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised— look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said.”  And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew—a bowlful of water.

Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece, but this time make the fleece dry and let the ground be covered with dew.” That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew.

Priscilla Shirer’s contention in Gideon:  Your Weakness, God’s Strength is that once Gideon finds the fleece and the ground exactly as he asked, he begins to doubt.    Gideon wonders if he’s mistaken because the ground would naturally dry faster than the absorbent fleece.  So, he risks asking God for a second sign of confirmation.  This time, he requests that God make the ground wet and the fleece dry.  In His infinite patience, God grants Gideon’s second request.

Priscilla points out that Gideon had been heavily influenced by the predominant “religion” of Baalism.  “The universe, a Baalist would subscribe, was self-sustaining, with no eternal Being actively involved in supporting and maintaining it.  While they believed it possible to stimulate or manipulate nature/Baal to respond in a certain way, they firmly believed that the world and its happenings were independent of God’s involvement.  This made the personal, intimate relationship that Yahweh offered to Gideon contrary to his Baal-instructed mind.  He had never felt a need to pray for certain things, because the processes that nature put in place were set and could not be altered”  (Gideon, p. 111).

Priscilla then turns the tables and makes this personal:  “consider how many things we don’t take to God in prayer because we’ve grown accustomed to the usual processes we experience daily… Even God’s people have been duped into believing that either He will not really do anything on our behalf or that He doesn’t need to because certain things just happen anyway”  (Gideon, p. 112).

The book of James echoes this sentiment:  “You do not have, because you do not ask God.  When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives… Come near to God and he will come near to you”  (James 4:2b, 3a, 8a).

Last week I heard a story from a friend. It shows the contrast between asking God to intervene and assuming natural processes will just run their course.  A few years ago, my friend’s uncle found himself in the Emergency Room with crushing chest pain.  He was told that he needed to have emergency open-heart surgery to repair a dissected aorta.  The prognosis was grim.  Doctors predicted he had mere hours to live if he didn’t have the surgery and preparations were quickly made to begin.  My friend and her family members gathered in the waiting room and began praying.  Her stepfather, who was a surgeon, was granted permission to observe the surgery.  As he stood in the operating room and watched the surgeons work, the situation looked dire.   He decided to go out and give family members the sad update.  As he rounded the corner to the waiting room, he found the family sitting in a circle deep in prayer.  Not a man of the same faith, he made a hasty retreat, deciding he preferred the grim scene in the operating room to the prayer circle in the waiting room.  As he re-entered the surgery, he was shocked to discover the doctors completing a full repair on the aorta.  Miraculously, they’d been able to salvage enough tissue to suture it back together.  The doctors were incredulous and my friend’s stepfather could hardly believe what he was seeing.  In fact, the heart surgeon calls her uncle his “miracle patient” to this day.  My friend’s stepfather had just accepted that there was little hope for the uncle.  Seeing his family members praying in the waiting room had seemed like a vain and foolish attempt to ward off the inevitable.  How wrong he was.

My friend’s uncle has gone on to live for thirteen more years.  He’s had a rich and full life and has been blessed to watch his youngest daughter marry and to be a part of the lives of his three grandchildren.  And all because his family members refused to give up hope and trusted God to intervene.

Are there things in life you’ve just accepted without even considering praying about them?   Are you plodding through life not even thinking of the ways God could intervene in your circumstances if you asked Him? Maybe it’s a spouse or family member whose heart seems totally hardened toward God.  Maybe it’s a child you lock horns with daily.  Maybe it’s your health.  Maybe it’s a broken relationship that won’t seem to heal.  Maybe it’s a hidden addiction.  Maybe it’s the ongoing struggle that you’re tired of fighting against depression, anxiety, loneliness or insecurity.  Maybe it’s financial distress.  Or maybe, you’re tired of just surviving and you long to be thriving in a fuller, richer, more passionate life.

Whatever it is, there is nothing that we cannot bring to God in prayer.  He delights in invitations for Him to move and work in our lives.  We can’t necessarily tell God how to work something out, but we can grow through the act of praying and drawing near to Him.  Sometimes prayer changes our circumstances, sometimes it changes our perspectives.  Sometimes it changes both.  One thing is for sure- it never hurts to ask.

Do you have a story of God’s intervention in a situation that others assumed was “just the way it is?”  Take time to comment so that others can be encouraged by it and God can receive the praise.


God Margin: When God’s 300 is Greater Than the Enemy’s 135,000

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2 The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me.’ 3 Now announce to the army, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.

4 But the Lord said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will thin them out for you there. If I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go; but if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”

5 So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the Lord told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues as a dog laps from those who kneel down to drink.” 6 Three hundred of them drank from cupped hands, lapping like dogs. All the rest got down on their knees to drink.

7 The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the others go home.” 8 So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites home but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others.

Now the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley. 12 The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore.  –Judges 7:2-8, 12

I love the story of Gideon because he had no choice but to trust God and to watch how His plan would unfold to rescue the children of Israel from the Midianites.  “If anything was going to be the downfall of these people, it wouldn’t be Midian; it would be Israel’s pride.  So God purposefully, lovingly stripped down Gideon’s army to the bare bones, leaving them no choice but to rely on Yahweh for victory”  (Gideon by Priscilla Shirer, p. 76).

In case you need a refresher, here it is:  Gideon was called by God to lead the Israelites in defeating the Midianites who had been oppressing them.  God wanted to be sure that there was no question among the Israelites about who was responsible for their victory, so He whittled the Israelite army down from 32,000 men to 300. “Thus, God minimized pride’s chances of taking credit for a victory”  (Gideon, p. 75).

I’ve been struggling to write this blog—not because I can’t identify with this story, but because too many different examples in my own life come to mind.  In the past year, I’ve seen the truth of Gideon’s story over and over again.  Priscilla Shirer says “we need not see our weaknesses as repulsive, but as helpful in developing our continued dependence on God”  (p. 76).  When we lay our weaknesses at God’s feet and admit we can’t handle things on our own, He steps in to do some of His best work.

One of the places I feel my weakness most is when I watch someone I love struggling.  Over the course of the last several years, I stood by while my husband become progressively more discouraged at work.  It was like a heavy weight that burdened him all the time, consuming his thoughts and robbing his joy.  Finally, we reached a point last winter when he hit an all time low. He felt stuck—unable to make a change for a variety of valid reasons, yet struggling with the thought of continuing where he was.  One night as we sat on the couch having yet another conversation about it I said, “We need to be praying about this more consistently.  I’m going to ask God to change either your circumstances or your perspective.”  My husband answered, “I don’t really see how either one is going to change, but I guess it can’t hurt to try.”  We prayed for months and nothing seemed to be happening

In late spring, his discouragement plummeted even lower.  The subject of his job dominated our conversations.  We talked for hours on end and reached the same conclusion every time- prayer was our best and only real option.  At one point, I remember saying:  “I can’t wait to see how God shows up.  The more impossible the situation seems to us, the more obvious it is that He’s at work.”

A few weeks later, my husband got an unexpected phone call from a company who was looking to fill a new position.  It was a unique opportunity at a place he’d ruled out for a variety of reasons.  He entered into dialogue with the company cautiously, but with a glimmer of hope.  A series of meetings and interviews over the summer caused a roller coaster of emotions in our household.   There were several major obstacles that seemed insurmountable.  We continued to pray and ask God whether this opportunity was what He had planned for my husband.  With each step of the process, God stripped away anything that would cause us to believe we were in control.  We tried hard to keep the right perspective.  We wanted to put our hope in God and not in this particular job opportunity.

In late summer my husband was officially offered the job.  We’d been praying for peace and clarity and when he received the offer, we knew what he had to do.  He turned it down.  Although he wanted to work there, neither of us felt peace with the terms of employment.  Although it was disappointing, we knew it would be obvious when God was giving us the green light.  We truly believed He had something else in store, even if it meant waiting longer.

To our amazement, the company came back the next day and responded to every one of my husband’s specific concerns.  Each issue we’d prayed for throughout the summer was addressed clearly and decisively.  All of the reservations he’d had were resolved and we both felt peace.  There was no explanation other than God’s hand at work.

Priscilla Shirer calls it “God Margin.”  She says “it’s the space that exists between your skills and resources and what God can accomplish (Gideon Session 3 video). IMG_6035

My husband started his new job last week.  He has a spring in his step and a sparkle in his eye that’s been missing for quite a while.  When people ask about the new job, he says,  “It’s been overwhelmingly positive.  I’m truly humbled by the way God has worked.”  His joy doesn’t come from his new company, but from the blessing of trusting God and watching Him work in ways that were beyond anything we could have imagined.   God did change my husband’s circumstances, but He also changed his perspective and reminded him that our true hope never faltered.

There is nothing unique about our story—we all have opportunities for “God Margin” in our lives regularly.   When we acknowledge our weaknesses and offer them up to God, we get to see how He’ll use them for His glory.

I encourage you to commit your seemingly “hopeless” situation to God and wait for Him to reveal Himself in the midst of it.  Keep in mind, however– God rarely does things according to our plans.   Give Him lots of room to work in His way and His time frame instead of telling Him how you want it resolved.

If you already have a good “God Margin” story to share, please post a comment below.

For more encouragement, click on the link below to hear Matt Maher’s song “Lord, I Need You.”  It’s a great reminder to find your strength in God throughout every day.