Sometimes I Wish ...

Sometimes I wish there was a place I could go where I could scream as long and as loud as I want to - a raw, primal scream, maybe even ranting and raving about everything I've ever wanted to scream out loud but held inside instead ... and no one could hear it but God in heaven (but maybe He could cover His ears for a little while, just in case). 

Or I wish I could wake up in one of those places you see in the movies sometimes, that all-white, alternate-universe place with no walls, no ceiling, no floor, no people, no noise ... no anything except whiteness as far as the eye can see.  And I could just sit there awhile in complete stillness and silence and peace.

That would be nice.

Six Dollars and Thirty-Three Cents

            Six dollars and thirty-three cents.

            It’s all the money that my 8-year old and 11-year-old have right now … and they have asked me to donate it to those affected by Harvey.

 

            We were watching some coverage of the aftermath of the storm, and we saw the story of “Mattress Mack,” the man who opened up his high-end furniture store as a shelter.  And my 11-year-old turned to me, almost with tears in his eyes, and said, “It’s so incredible that someone would risk their business like that to help other people.”  He immediately went to his room and scraped up all the coins he could find (getting his 8-year-old brother to do the same) and they gave it to me to give to the Harvey victims.

 

            Six dollars and thirty-three cents. 

 

            “But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. 

            Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ‘I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.  They gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything – all she had to live on.’”  (Mark 12:42-44)         
 

            Six dollars and thirty-three cents.  It might not be much in the world’s eyes, but it’s an incredible sacrifice in God’s eyes.  Because it comes from a heart that wants to love and help … a heart that sees the hurt and needs of other people and refuses to do nothing … a heart that knows it doesn’t have much to give but that gives it anyway.

 

            ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’”  (Matthew 25:40)

When faith hurts!

            If there’s one thing I’ve learned over these past depressing years, it’s that faith is messy sometimes.  Faith hurts sometimes.  And we might get upset with “faith” because it’s not doing what we want it to do.

            But the thing is … we don’t have faith in God because it’s fun or because it gives us an emotional high or because it makes life the way we want it to be.  We have faith in God because He is real.  Because He is good and faithful, even when life is messy and it hurts and when prayers don’t work. 

            And I think our faith becomes more real and strong as we face the hard times and trials. 

            It’s easy to “have faith” when life is going like we want it to.  But that’s not really faith, now is it?  It’s gratitude that life is good.  It’s happiness because we are getting what we want.  (And many times, it’s idolatry in disguise.) 

            But when the trials come, we have to struggle with our views of God and ourselves and life and faith.  Heartbreaking trials gradually, painfully move us from a naïve, untested, “gimme” faith in a version of God that we created in our minds … to a genuine, hard-won faith in God as He is - a God who is mysterious, who can’t be manipulated by us, who is far above us, who has His own plans and timing, and who is sovereign over all, knowing when to say “Yes” and when to say “No.”  Through the trials, we learn who we really are and we learn to have faith in Him for the God that He really is.  And that is a faith that helps us cling through the hard times.

            If we can’t say “Blessed be Your name” during the hardest trials then we don’t really mean it during the easier times either. 

            If we won’t follow Him when the road gets rough - if we turn our backs on Him when we get hurt or things don't go our way - then we were never really following Him to begin with.  

            (An excerpt from other posts - something I need to be reminded of often.)

The Most Real Kind of Prayer

Isaiah 7:9

"... If you do not stand firm in your faith,
you will not stand at all."

God Is Love, But Love Is Not a god!

Our society doesn’t get this.  We have it backwards.  We have turned love into its own god, even redefining who God is, according to how we think love should look, act, and believe.

But love is not a god. 

But God is love.

Our view of God should not be based on how we define love; our view of love should be based on who God is, on how He believes and operates.

If we seek to understand who God is according to His Word, we will also understand what true love is.

But if we try to redefine God according to our own ideas of love, we will understand neither.

  



Shortest Bible Lesson

Should "Satan" Be Capitalized?

            I’ve read a lot of things lately where people don’t capitalize the name “Satan.”  They say it’s because they don’t want to give him that much credit or attention. 

            And while I can appreciate that sentiment, why do I still capitalize his name?

            Because the inspired Word of God does.  And who am I to act like I know better.

            One author in particular said he barely talks about Satan because he doesn’t want to focus on him in any way.  He doesn’t want to give Satan that much “air-time.” 

            But the Bible talks about Satan and evil all the time.  It warns us about him, cautions us about him, tells us how to defend ourselves against him and his attacks. 

            I wonder, doesn’t not talking about him at all make him more invisible, make it easier for him to slip in undetected, to work in the shadows … because we aren’t even looking for him!?!

            Just a thought.

            Satan works best when we act like he doesn’t even exist!  When we don’t take him very seriously!    

 

            “Be self-controlled and alert.  Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”  (1 Peter 5:8-9)

 

            “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.”  (Ephesians 6:11-12)

 

The Good That Can Come From Pain

Faith

Take Comfort

We Fall on Him

What are we doing to God's Word?

As Christians, should we really be apologizing for and softening the Gospel’s Truth when God intends it to be convicting?  Of course, we should be sharing the Gospel in a loving, gracious, gentle way, being respectful of other people’s right to disagree, but we shouldn’t be embarrassed by it and we shouldn’t change it to make the world feel more comfortable with their sin.

Which is better?

Trust

 

Really living

If only we'd listen more!

Pursuing God?