“The Ball’s In Your Court, God”

May 24, 2012 1 Comment

Anyone familiar with tennis, ping-pong, or volleyball understands the words, “The ball’s in your court.” If I speak these words to my playing partner it means that the match cannot continue until he hits the ball back to me. Thus, the line has become an idiom for, “The next move is yours.”

There have been times in my walk with the Lord when I’ve gone as far as I could go on my end. At that point the ball was in God’s court. If the situation was going to progress any further He would have to hit the ball back to me. In one sense, it’s comforting to get to such a place. It’s comforting because the pressure and responsibility is off you for the moment. In another sense, however, such a place is frustrating. It’s frustrating because you can grow impatient waiting for God, who seldom rushes anything, to hurry up and hit the ball back to you. Honestly, there have been times in my life when I felt like God had stopped playing the point altogether, walked over to the sidelines, toweled Himself off, and was enjoying a cool drink while I stood out on the hot court waiting for Him to return the ball to me.

As we study the Bible we find numerous examples of my subject today. Noah could obey God’s instructions to the letter and build that ark, but He couldn’t make it rain (Genesis chapters 6 and 7). The rain was a ball in God’s court. Moses could obediently return to Egypt and confront Pharaoh about freeing the people of Israel from their bondage, but He couldn’t provide the ten plagues that would eventually break Pharaoh’s will (Exodus chapters 3-12). Each one of those was a ball in God’s court. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego could refuse to bow down before Nebuchadnezzar’s golden image and allow themselves to be thrown into the fiery furnace, but they couldn’t keep themselves safe in that fire (Daniel chapter 3). That was a ball in God’s court. Peter could remain faithful to the cause of Christ and allow himself to be thrown into prison by Herod, but he couldn’t cause his miraculous release from that prison (Acts 12:1-19). That was a ball in God’s court.

Perhaps you are reading this right now and you’ve done all that God has told you to do about a certain situation, but things seem to be at an utter standstill. That’s okay. It just means that the ball is now in God’s court and He is taking His time with the return. Trust me, you’ll know when He has hit the ball back to you and the next move is yours. That might be today. It might be next week. It might be next year. But whenever it happens you’ll know it.

Oh, and by the way, I should also mention that God never hits a “winner” that you can’t return. This is because His goal with you is to always keep the point going, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. You see, in that way the game never ends, and He absolutely loves playing with you.

Filed under Discipleship, God's Love, God's Timing, Impatience, obedience, Patience, perseverance, Trusting In God, Waiting Tagged with , , , , ,

Water Lines & Old Paths

May 4, 2012 Leave a comment

You don’t have to be a nautical expert to know that boats must be as solid below the water line as they are above it. A boat that looks good above the water line but is rotten below it will eventually sink. Well, the same kind of thing holds true for Christians. Those who have a fellowship with Christ that looks good on a surface level, but who are rotting away spiritually on the inside, are in trouble. Eventually they will sink into the murky depths of life.

And so how can you, as a Christian, ensure that such a thing doesn’t happen to you? The answer is simple: You must do that which is necessary to keep your fellowship with Christ maintained and strong. How do you accomplish this? You do it through such things as: daily prayer, daily Bible study, weekly church attendance, cheerful giving, frequent witnessing, and regular confession and repentance. I know, I know, these things have been promoted so much they’ve become virtual cliches of Christianity. But they’ve been promoted so much because they work!

In Jeremiah 6:16, the prophet Jeremiah says to the people of Judah:

Thus says the Lord: “Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it. Then you will find rest for your souls…”

By encouraging the people to ask for the old paths God was telling them, “The things I’ve had you do before will still work and keep you in right fellowship with me.” To those Jews that meant keeping the moral specifics of the Mosaic law, bringing their sacrifices to the temple as acts of worship, offering up their prayers to God, confessing their sins and repenting of them, and looking to God for their guidance and protection. Sadly, though, those people would have none of it. Jeremiah 6:16 ends with the mournful words:

…But they said, ‘We will not walk in it (the good way found in the old paths).’

Now, I do realize that the “old paths” for the Christian today aren’t the same as the ones the Old Testament Jews were to walk. However, the basic template is still the same: adherence to God’s word, worship, prayer, confession, repentance, and seeking God’s guidance and protection. The Christian whose life evidences these things need never worry about rotting or sinking because his spiritual boat will be solid and worthy of sailing the seas of life. As we all know, those seas can sometimes be stormy, choppy, and downright dangerous, but the Christian who is walking God’s in old paths won’t sink. How can he when he has the Lord Himself as his captain?

Filed under Adversity, Backsliding, Bible Study, Church attendance, Commitment, Discipleship, Doing Good, faithfulness, giving, obedience, perseverance, prayer, Priorities, Repentance, Righteousness, Scripture, Service, Sin, stewardship, The Bible, Trusting In God, Witnessing, Worry, Worship Tagged with , , ,

Humility Through Character-Building Experiences

May 1, 2012 Leave a comment

The noted preacher and author Chuck Swindoll tells of a man who won a plaque for being the most humble man on earth. The man took the plaque home and placed it on the mantle in his living room. As soon as he did that they came and took the plaque from him.

Would you describe yourself as a humble person? More importantly, would others describe you as a humble person? I think it’s obvious that our society doesn’t rate humility very high. We’re too busy envying the aloof rich and worshiping self-absorbed celebrities. That’s why we need to be reminded every now and then that God places immeasurable value on humility.

The Bible is replete with passages that prove this. Here are just a few:

Psalm 10:17: Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear.

Psalm 138:6: Though the Lord is on high, yet He regards the lowly; but the proud He knows from afar.

Proverbs 11:2: When pride comes, then comes shame; but with the humble is wisdom.

Proverbs 16:19: Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.

Isaiah 57:15: For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I will dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

Romans 12:3: For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think…

Colossians 3:12: Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering…

James 4:6: But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

Of course, these verses stand alongside the fact that humility was one of the major themes of Christ’s ministry. For your homework, read: Matthew 5:3-5; 11:29; 18:1-4; 20:25-28; Luke 1:52; 18:9-14; 22:24-27; and John 13:12-17. Trust me, you won’t have any trouble picking up on the recurrent teaching in those passages. But how could we expect anything less from a Creator God who evidenced His humility by voluntarily leaving heaven, taking lowly human flesh upon Himself, living among the mess of the fallen human race, and dying a substitutionary death for the sins of that race?

I’ve known Julie (Mckinney) Phillips for years. For a while she was the person who cleaned my teeth twice a year at our local dentist’s office. During one of those visits she said something that I’ve never forgotten. As we were talking about our lives and the various troubles we had endured, she said, “Yes, I think I’ve had about enough character-building experiences!” I couldn’t help but laugh because I understood exactly what she meant and felt the same way about myself. I don’t see Julie much anymore, but even now there are times when I’m praying about some circumstance and say, “Lord, I really don’t want another character-building experience right now.”

Still, despite these prayers, God keeps sending such experiences my way. Why does He do it? I’ve come to the conclusion that it is to keep me humble. Apparently He knows that deep down inside me there is a streak that is prone to pride and arrogance and He doesn’t want that streak to get too wide. So, lest I get “too big for my britches,” I never go too long without having to endure some humbling ordeal, or to use Julie’s term “character-building experience.” Understanding how God uses such experiences helps me cope with them. It doesn’t make them easier, mind you, but it does allow me to view them through His perspective and see the good He can bring out of them. And that good is very real, even if I don’t always enjoy or appreciate what it took for me to acquire it.

Filed under Adversity, Disappointment, Encouragement, Humility, perseverance, Personal, Pride, trials, Trusting In God Tagged with , , , ,

Just Do Your Best TODAY

March 7, 2012 Leave a comment

Today I’ll offer some good thoughts from a couple of well-known Independent Baptist preachers who’ve gone on to be with the Lord. The first one comes from Dr. Tom Malone. After quoting Deuteronomy 33:25, which reads: “As thy days, so shall thy strength be”, Dr. Malone said, “I’m glad He didn’t say, ‘As thy strength, so shall thy days be.’”

The second one comes from Dr. Curtis Hutson. He wrote:

Most people live either in the past or in the future. They talk about how it used to be or how it’s going to be someday. In so doing, they miss life altogether. Jesus said in Matthew 6:34, “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” In other words, don’t borrow from tomorrow. Someone suggested that worrying is using today’s strength on tomorrow’s problems.

You’ve heard this little adage: “Yesterday is a canceled check; tomorrow is a promissory note; today is the only cash you have, so spend it wisely.” A friend once asked, “Do you know how to eat an elephant?” “No,” I replied. “One bite at a time,” he smiled and said. Years ago I saw a church sign which read, “Yard by yard is mighty hard, but inch by inch in a cinch.”

You might be different but I don’t spend much time looking back longingly on the past. That’s just not where I typically fail in this area. I do, however, spend an inordinate amount of time looking ahead to how it’s going to be someday. I have to confess that I’ve been trying to get “there” for a good many years now. I don’t even know where “there” is, let alone when I might arrive. And what makes me think that everything will be wonderful “there” anyway? As far as this earthly life goes, is there any place that doesn’t offer some sort of struggle and travail? Not really. So the best we can do is have a good attitude about today and where we are at this very second. Looking back to where we once were or looking ahead to where we plan to end up just isn’t the way the Lord wants us to live.

Filed under Attitude, Encouragement, faithfulness, Patience, perseverance, Problems, trials, Trusting In God, Worry Tagged with , , , , ,

How To Handle A Bad Inning

March 5, 2012 Leave a comment

My son Ryan has now officially begun his high-school baseball career. He had his first j.v. game last Friday. It’s put me in the mood to share one of my favorite “baseball” illustrations.

At a Little League game the visiting team had already scored 21 runs and was still batting in the top of the first inning. The mother of the kid in right-field began to worry that such a staggeringly lopsided loss would demoralize her child and destroy his confidence. So she left her seat in the stands and made her way out to the right-field fence. She stood there on her side of it and yelled out to him, “Son, this has to be an awful experience for you, and I just want you to know that you don’t have to keep playing if you don’t want to. I’ll take you home right now and explain things to your coach.” The boy, however, seemed shocked by the suggestion. He simply smiled back at her and said, “But mom, we can still win this game. We haven’t come to bat yet!”

You have a choice to make as to how you approach life. You can operate with an optimistic attitude or a defeatist one. You can believe that God is up to something good in your life or that He is leading you off a cliff. The choice is yours.

As for the optimistic approach, I’m not talking about some pie-in-the-sky, “hope so” kind of thing. I’m talking about you putting your faith in a Savior who loves you enough to die on the cross for your sins and stands ready to give your life ideal meaning and purpose. I’m talking about heeding Him when He says, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes” (Mark 9:23). I’m talking about relating to the apostle Paul when he says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

Does following Jesus mean that you will never experience any blowout defeats? Hardly. But it does mean at least two things. First, if you stay submitted to Christ’s will for your life He will keep you out of a lot of those situations that would end badly for you. Second, even when those difficult times do come along, Jesus will not only give you what you need to get through them but also use them to increase your strength and wisdom.

I don’t know where this post finds you today, but perhaps you are right now guilty of bringing a defeatist attitude to the playing field. I suppose this is understandable for a person who doesn’t know Christ as Savior. After all, if I didn’t have the hope provided by Him, the state of this world would have me down in the dumps too. But it should be different for the Christian. Our Savior wasn’t a quitter, even as battered, bloodied, and bruised He carried the cross up Calvary’s hill. None of us will ever have a worse day than that one, and yet the eternal good He accomplished through it is far too deep for our human minds to grasp. That should teach us that the hardest things we have to endure in life can produce the greatest good. And that’s why we shouldn’t quit playing even in the midst of a bad inning.

Filed under Attitude, Belief, Choices, Christ's Death, Disappointment, Encouragement, God's Love, God's Provision, God's Will, perseverance, Personal, trials, Trusting In God Tagged with , , , , , , ,

Romans 8:28 & Roan Mountain

February 28, 2012 2 Comments

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)

I grew up in the small town of Bakersville, North Carolina. I would call it Mayberry, but Mayberry looks bigger on television. Nationally speaking, Bakersville’s claim to fame is that it lies at the foot of the North Carolina side of Roan Mountain, a well known tourist site.

And what is it that makes tourists want to come see Roan Mountain? Rhododendrons. The mountain is home to the largest display of blooming rhododendrons in the world, and the display is 100% natural. All told, the plants cover over 600 acres of the mountain. We’re talking the world’s most exquisite rhododendron garden, marvelously nestled along a mountain ridge 6,300 feet high. It really is quite a site. The plants usually bloom sometime around mid June, and Bakersville holds an annual Rhododendron festival complete with a beauty pageant, street dance, 10K run, and car show. Can you say, “small town Americana”?

Back in the 1800s people held to the general notion that high mountains offered mystical, healing powers. To cash in on this idea, mining tycoon John Wilder built the grand three-story Cloudland Hotel atop Roan Mountain. The hotel was completed in 1885 and was billed as a health resort. It featured beautiful carpets, fine furniture, copper bathtubs, steam heat, a bowling alley, a croquet course, and a small golf course. The hotel thrived for several years as a class of wealthy patrons ranging from American politicians to European royalty frequented it. Ultimately, however, the high cost of operating such a place on a mountaintop marked the end of the Cloudland. By 1910 the hotel was out of operation. A few years later, just before his death, Wilder sold it. Shortly afterward the new owner auctioned off the materials of the decaying building. By 1927 nothing but rubble was left. Now even the rubble is gone.

Here, though, is where the story of Roan Mountain’s rhododendrons takes an interesting turn. After the Cloudland’s closure, workers were hired to come in with machinery and dig up the mountain’s rhododendrons. The plants were then sold off to different places. Obviously, the conservationist movement hadn’t exactly taken hold yet! The removal of the plants left the once beautiful mountaintop looking barren and scarred, and the local people who lived on either side of the mountain were grieved and outraged. They thought the days of Roan Mountain being defined by its trademark rhododendrons were gone forever.

But something unexpected started happening a couple of springtimes later. The roots of the old plants, roots that had been down too deep for the workers to touch, started sprouting new growth. And the wonderful thing was that this new growth was even more beautiful than the previous growth had been. Whereas the previous growth had looked somewhat unkept and wild, the new growth actually looked cultured, even intelligently pruned. It wasn’t too long then before the mountaintop was once again a natural rhododendron garden, with this garden being even more breathtaking than the original one.

Now let’s be clear, the digging up of those original rhododendrons was certainly not a good thing. Today we look back on it and are appalled at such a ravaging of God’s creation. But God, in His infinite power and sovereignty, was able to take that “bad” and make it work for Roan Mountain’s “good.” And you can rest assured that if He was able to do that with a bunch of rhododendrons atop a mountain, He can do it with the “bad” of your life. Do you remember what Jesus said about another kind of flowers, the lilies? He said,

…Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? (Matthew 6:28-30)

The point is that God cares much more about you than He does flowers, even gorgeous lilies or stunning rhododendrons. This doesn’t mean that He will keep everything “bad” from happening to you. But it does mean that, if you know Jesus as your Savior, He will take even the “bad” in your life and use it to produce something “good.” He’ll bring a positive out of the negative. He’ll work with the ugly to create something of beauty. Claim this promise today, Christian, and if you need an object lesson from nature, go visit Roan Mountain along about the second week of June.

Filed under Adversity, Attitude, Comfort, Creation, Disappointment, Encouragement, God's Love, God's Omnipotence, perseverance, Personal, Problems, trials, Trusting In God, Worry Tagged with , , , , , , ,

What Was Paul’s Thorn In The Flesh?

February 3, 2012 3 Comments

And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)

T. De Witt Talmage, one of America’s most prominent preachers in the late 1800s, put it best when he said, “Many of the theological doctors have felt Paul’s pulse to see what was the matter with him.” Boy, have they ever! The question “What was Paul’s thorn in the flesh?” is one of the most well known in all of Christianity. So I thought I’d write a blog post and offer the correct answer so I could clear up the debate once and for all. Yeah, right.

What I will do is name the two contenders for the “best answer” category. Ready? Here we go.

Possible answer #1: The thorn in the flesh was some kind of physical ailment with which Paul struggled continually.

In Galatians 4:13-15, Paul does speak of preaching the gospel in “physical infirmity” and “my trial which was in my flesh.” He also says of the Galatian Christians, “…you would have plucked out your own eyes and given them to me.” If we take that literally, Paul had a problem with his eyes and perhaps that was his thorn in the flesh. However, it’s possible that “plucked out your own eyes” was just a figure of speech (Matthew 5:29, 18:9).

Even if it was just a figure of speech, the idea that Paul’s thorn in the flesh was some kind of physical ailment (bad eyesight or something else) is further strengthened by the fact that he himself says, “Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities…” Furthermore, the thorn was in his “flesh,” which most commonly would be taken to mean “in my body.”

Possible answer #2: The thorn in the flesh was a demon (a fallen angel).

On the heels of using the term “a thorn in the flesh,” Paul further describes the thorn as “a messenger of Satan to buffet me.” The Greek word that is translated there as “messenger” is angelos, which is the common Greek word for “angel.” This answer is given even more credence by the fact that Paul knew the Old Testament well, and the word “thorn” is used multiple times in its pages to refer to enemies of Israel (Numbers 33:55; Joshua 23:13; Judges 2:3; Ezekiel 28:24). All of this explains why both Martin Luther and John Calvin held to this answer.

However, while the term “messenger (angelos) of Satan” seems to refer to an “angel of Satan” (which would be a demon), it should be noted that Paul also referred to the thorn as “this thing” and “it.” This creates a problem for this answer because scripture refers to Satan, the leader of all the fallen angels, as “he” not “it.” The point is that maybe Paul would have used a pronoun if he was indeed talking about a fallen angel.

Well, as you can see, each of these two possible answers has its merits. Because of this, the debate will continue until we all get to heaven. I don’t think that’s a bad thing, though. As many students of the Bible have figured out, the fact that Paul’s thorn in the flesh remains unidentified allows more people to relate to it. Putting it another way, if we knew for sure that the thorn was an eyesight problem, it would lose some of its appeal to people who have 20/20 vision. But since we don’t know for sure, each of us has the freedom to compare Paul’s thorn to whatever problem we are wrestling.

Filed under Bible Study, Comfort, Demons, perseverance, Problems, Satan, Spiritual Warfare, The Devil, trials Tagged with , , , , ,

Don’t Bail Out

January 24, 2012 Leave a comment

A pilot announced to his passengers that three of the plane’s four engines had conked out. A few seconds later he came out of the cockpit, walked past them, and put on a parachute. He opened up the back door and just before jumping said, “Don’t worry folks, I’m going for help.”

This world is filled with people who will bail out on a difficult circumstance when the sledding gets rough. They won’t be going for help either; they’ll be looking out for themselves. Sadly, too many times this applies to how we Christians relate to following Jesus.

One of the most somber questions that Jesus ever asked is found in John 6:67. Let me set the context for you. A tremendous crowd of 5,000 men (not counting women and children) gathered around Jesus to hear Him teach near the slope of a mountain hovering over the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus miraculously fed this crowd by using a young boy’s lunch of five loaves of bread and two small fish. Following this miracle, the crowd tried to take Him by force and make Him their earthly king. Wanting no part of such an election, He dispersed them, commanded the twelve to get in a boat and cross over to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, and went up into a mountain alone.

That night a terrible windstorm swept down onto the Sea of Galilee, preventing the twelve from making much headway to the other shore. When they reached a state of exhaustion and despair for their lives, Jesus walked on the water, calmed the storm, and joined them in the boat. At that point the boat was miraculously transported to the other shore.

The following morning many of the original crowd got into boats and crossed over to find Jesus. They caught up with Him in a synagogue in Capernaum. Shortly afterward, Jesus accused these people of only following Him for His miracles. Then He launched into a weird teaching about Him being the bread of life and how they needed to eat of His flesh. You talk about throwing cold water onto a fickle bunch! When the teaching was finished, they turned away and never followed Jesus again. Just as He had said, they were only interested in following Him as long as the miracles were rolling and the teachings were pleasant and easy to understand.

It’s at that critical moment that Jesus looked at His chosen twelve and asked the penetrating question, “Do you also want to go away?” Some of them may have, but Peter spoke up before anybody else could answer. He said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also, we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Good for you, Peter!

Tell me, Christian, are you right now going through a difficult time with the Lord? Are you confused? Are you frustrated? Are you out of heart? Has He hurt your feelings? Trust me, you aren’t the first to go down such a road. The question is, how will you respond? Will you turn back from following Christ? Or will you, like Peter, understand that turning away from Him is akin to turning away from the source of life and truth? Please understand that I’m not talking about a Christian possibly losing his or her salvation. As the old saying goes, “once saved, always saved.” What I’m talking about is breaking fellowship with the Lord and bailing out on what He is trying to teach you through your difficult times. Trust me, such a bail out might provide a modicum of temporary relief, but in the end you’ll come to know all too well that you should have stayed on the plane with your Savior.

Filed under Adversity, Backsliding, Choices, Christ's miracles, Commitment, Disappointment, Discipleship, Eternal Security, faithfulness, perseverance, Problems, Rebellion, Truth Tagged with , , , , ,

Burning Your Ships

December 30, 2011 Leave a comment

Hernando (Hernan) Cortez was a Spanish Conquistador who launched ships from Spanish held Cuba and conquered Mexico in 1519. In doing so he brought about the demise of the great Aztec empire. As the legend goes, when Cortez first landed on the shores of Mexico he commanded his men to burn the ships. This burning made retreat impossible and has thus become the classic historical example of going “all in” for an endeavor.

Truth be told, many historians doubt the truth of the legend. Some of them contend that Cortez did purposely render his ships unsuitable for sailing but didn’t burn them. According to the theory, he did this because he didn’t want his men to mutiny and return to the safe haven of Cuba. Others say that the idea of Cortez burning the ships stems from a poor translation of the Latin in which the story was written. But, hey, let’s not let the facts get in the way of a great story!

If you want to run with the idea of going full bore into something by “burning your ships,” there’s a Bible story that you’ll like. It’s even one that you’ve heard. It’s the one about God parting the Red Sea for Moses and the Israelites to facilitate their escape from Pharaoh’s army. You’ll find it in Exodus chapter 14.

Exodus 14:21 says that the Lord divided the waters and turned the sea into dry land by means of a strong east wind that blew all night. In Exodus 15:8, Moses describes this wind as the blast of God’s nostrils. Isn’t that great? And so the people of Israel passed through the Red Sea on dry land. But then what happened? The Egyptian army pursued them into the dry land only to be drowned in the depths when the waters came crashing back into place once the Israelites were safely on the opposite shore.

Okay, now here’s where I’m going with this. When those waters thundered back down and closed the pathway through that sea, that was God slamming the door shut on the Israelites possibly returning to Egypt. You see, it wasn’t just His way of slaying Egypt’s army; it was also His way of forcing the Israelites to forge onward into a new day. Going back to Cortez legend, it was God burning Israel’s ships.

As you read this, perhaps God has pushed you out into a new adventure but you are considering returning back to more comfortable ground. All I’ll say is that if you genuinely believe the adventure is of the Lord, don’t try to return to Egypt. There’s nothing for you back there. It doesn’t take much faith to live in Egypt anyway. That life is what it is. But it takes a high degree of faith to let God lead you step by step into a new, uncharted land. So it might just be that a good prayer for you to pray right now would go something like this, “Lord, if you want me to continue on with this adventure, close up the waters behind me so that I’ll have to stay here in this new land. And then help me make it here.”

Filed under Adversity, Choices, Courage, Disappointment, faith, fear, God's Provision, God's Will, perseverance, prayer, Prayer Requests, Trusting In God Tagged with , , , , ,

“Is Anybody Up There?”

November 8, 2011 1 Comment

Many of us have sometimes felt like the little boy who bowed his head to pray and said, “Hello, is anybody up there?” There are times when God seems so distant. Even worse, there are times when He seems downright deaf.

When one of my two boys says, “Daddy, I want to talk you,” that child has my attention. He doesn’t have to beg or audition for it. The mere fact that I am a loving father and want to hear whatever my child might deem worthy to discuss is all it takes. Well, in Matthew 7:7-11, as part of a teaching on prayer, Jesus says this:

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his sons asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

Okay, so we understand that God will not only do anything that an earthly father will do but also “how much more” than the earthly father. We like the sounds of that, don’t we? And if we stopped right there we’d have a nice little blog post. But we can’t stop right there. Do you know why? It’s because the title of this post isn’t “How Much More.” The title “Is Anybody Up There?”

I know what Jesus said. I also know that I have sometimes felt like I was talking to the ceiling as I tried to pray. I’ve asked and not had it given to me. I’ve sought and not found. I’ve knocked and had the owner behind the door seem out of town. So what do we do with such times? How do we explain them? How do we keep our faith during them?

I think the best approach we can take is to go back to Christ’s comparison of God and an earthly father. I’m sure that each of my two boys sometimes thinks that I am distant, but that’s not because I actually am distant. It’s simply because I don’t treat every conversation that I have with the child as if it’s the singular most important conversation that we will ever have. I’m hearing what the child is saying, but I don’t feel the need to immediately rush to the child’s side and smother him with kisses and assurances. Do you see my point?

Let me explain it another way. Experts in the New Testament’s original Greek tell us that the Greek behind Christ’s words from Matthew 7:7-11 are best translated as “keep on asking,” “keep on seeking,” and “keep on knocking.” The teaching is that God doesn’t always immediately grant the giving, the finding, or the opening. Sometimes He only grants it after you’ve gone to Him with many, many repetitions of the same request. So let’s say that you are in the midst of requesting the same thing for the fifteenth time but you don’t really feel like God is hearing you. That’s like my son Royce hitting me with his fifteenth request to go to McDonalds. If I haven’t taken him for those fries by then, he might feel like he’s talking to the wall. But the reality of the situation will be that I’m just waiting on the best time to take him to McDonalds. I’m hearing the fifteenth request, just like I heard the fourteen that came before it. I know what I’m doing, even if Royce doesn’t understand me.

I can’t say where all this finds you today, but maybe you’ve been praying and praying for a certain thing that God hasn’t granted yet. And maybe you’re wondering today, “Is anybody up there?” Well, God had me write this post for you. Yes, He’s up there. Yes, He’s listening. Yes, He heard all your previous prayers. He’s just waiting on His perfect timing to grant your request. Remember, if an earthly father can eventually get his kid to McDonalds, how much more can a loving, all powerful, heavenly father grant your requests?

Filed under faith, Fatherhood, God's Love, God's Timing, Impatience, Patience, perseverance, prayer, Prayer Requests Tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

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