Monthly Archives: January 2014

The plow of sorrow and suffering

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Very often I think, we are quick to try to rid ourselves of suffering and sorrow. Thanks to Cindy Rabedeaux for sharing her reflections on the benefits that suffering offers us, based on a Streams In The Desert devotional she had read:

Ecclesiastes 7:3 Sorrow is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart. “Sorrow, under the power of divine grace, performs various ministries in our lives. Sorrow reveals unknown depths of the soul, and unknown capacities for suffering and service. Sorrow is God’s tool to plow the depths of the soul, that it may yield richer harvests. It is sorrow that causes us to take the time to think deeply and seriously. Sorrow makes us move more slowly and considerately and examine our motives and attitudes. It opens with in us the capacities of the heavenly life, and it makes us willing to set our capacities afloat on a limitless sea of service for God and for others. God never uses anyone to a great degree until he breaks the person completely. Every person and every nation must endure lessons in God’s school of adversity. In the same way we say, blessed is the night, for it reveals the stars to us, we can say, blessed is sorrow, for it reveals God’s comfort.”

Thanks Cindy for the reminder that difficult times can be used to plow the depths of our soul so that our lives can bear richer harvests. It is like my dear sister said to me: God doesn’t waste pain. Let us not waste it either.

PS- A shout out to my beloved and beautiful bride who celebrates her birthday today. I won’t say how many years, just that she is not eligible for Medicare until NEXT year!

Beauty in Brokenness

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Thank you to Susanne Landgrebe for her thoughtful insights in today’s blog!

“Beauty in brokenness….we resist pain, suffering, and sorrow, yet these things are unavoidable to our humanness. Often times, pain is the gate to a new beginning. We want to put the pieces back together, after “Humpty Dumpty had a great fall,” pretending as if nothing happened, and trying to pull things back to equilibrium. Instead of resisting pain, or any “negative feeling,” we can embrace it. Instead of running from brokenness, we could grow in it. Pain has the potential to help us more than we ever dreamed possible. Remember transition, the time when the baby is moving through the birth canal, the 15 minutes of unbearable pain and darkness? Afterwards, the beautiful child is born, the pain is forgotten, the life is changed forever.

We can find the beauty in our brokenness. Remember, emotional pain and brokenness is a gate. And there are at least two paths after the gate….and we get to choose.”

Does your countenance reflect the love you receive?

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She was a poor farmer’s daughter and lived a hard life. He was a man of position and generosity. She was not a ‘beautiful’ woman by the world’s standards but don’t tell him for the beauty that captured his attention was undeniable. His labor was light and easy. She toiled from sunrise to past sunset. Her caring love for her frail father and siblings was evident in her every action. It was not unusual to hear her singing songs while doing her chores.

When he went into town people stopped to talk with him and sought to learn from his wisdom. Women of means vied for his attention. When she went to town people hardly noticed her. If they did, they took extra steps to avoid her.

And so you can imagine the gasps of overwhelming surprise when it was first rumored that the young man had asked the girl’s father for her hand in marriage. And being the culture it was he inquired about the dowry the father required for the wedding. One cow was the amount set by the father. You could imagine the stunned speechlessness of the town folk when they learned 100 cows and servants to attend them was the dowry the man paid. In our age we have come to appreciate (have we not?) the immense and equal value of women and men. But understand in those days how people would question how any woman could be worth such a fortune, never mind a poor unseemly farm girl.

And yet worth it she was, and more according to the young man. I suppose it is not uncommon even in our days for one’s countenance to reflect how they are valued, admired, and loved by others. And so it was with the young farm girl, when she walked hand in hand with her young husband, to stand tall and with confidence. She was loved perhaps more than any other. And what can I say? Others took notice of her radiant beauty. The young man also was no longer seen for his wealth but for the love that also reflected in the eyes of his bride.

This is not at all a story of gender superiority or submission. But it does tell the tale of the need we each have to love and to be loved. And it relates how the power of being valued speaks to a very deep and dear place in our hearts.

Did you know that God, like the young man, chose US while we were still unworthy? That he sought us from before we were born? That he rescued us from an eternity of despair, not to play the hero role, but because he loves us and values us so much? And do our eyes reflect this immense love or do the daily routines fog our memory of his great gift to us?*

For God demonstrates his love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

* based on a tale told by Ray Exum, Second Chicken Soup For the Soul

Don’t Drop Your Weapons

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No right-minded soldier would drop their weapons in the middle of heated conflict. Neither should we in our pursuit of peace. It may sound strange to speak of weapons and peace together, but that is how it is described by Ken Sande, author of Peacemaker: A Biblical Guide to Resolving Personal Conflict.

Everyone encounters conflict in their life. Some of it is good to get differences of opinion and facts out in the open. However much of the time conflict becomes a destructive process because the wrong ‘weapons’ are used, like defensiveness, anger, self-justification, and gossip. Sande reminds us that scriptural ‘weapons’ are actually effective in real life. These include: scripture, prayer, truth, righteous (Ephesians 6:10-18), and the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control). (Galatians 5:22-23)

These are the tools that help us pursue peace and conflict resolution. They help us to seek first to understand and then to be understood. They elevate the other person’s interest while making your principles and interest clear. They help us approach others with respect. Held firmly, not meekly, scriptural weapons defuse anger, resentment, jealousy, disrespect, and other emotions that incite further conflict and derail the resolution process. They are the same weapons Jesus used to defeat satan. We are well counseled to use them also.

What conflict are you facing? Take time to reflect on Romans 12:14-21 and become skilled at using the ‘weapons’ of peace so you can stand your ground as a peacemaker.

Draw Close -2-

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I think God is smiling today.

Are you?

Your smile is positively contagious and may speak louder than a book of sermons.

If God is love and joy, show it to others you meet!

“‘“The Lord bless you
and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.”’ Numbers 6:24-26

Knowledge versus transformation

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Think about all the information you have discovered throughout life. I wonder how many volumes of books would it take to contain all that knowledge?

Now think about how much information you have retained and actually use on a day-to-day basis. It’s still hard to comprehend isn’t it?

Now think about the few lessons that you’re working hard to remember and apply on a consistent basis; the things that will have mattered most when your life is done; those lessons that actually transformed your life in such a positive way. Chances are they are all contained in the bible.

I don’t know about you, but I’m not done yet. More transformation awaits me. And the power to make that happen is in God’s Word.
Read it daily and deeply. It is the practical solution to your daily troubles.

How big is God?

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A boy asked his father, “How big is God?”
After looking at the sky and seeing a plane in the distance, the father asked the boy, “How big is that plane?”
His son looked up and said, “It is so small I can hardly see it.”
The father took his boy to the airport and when they were close to the airplane, asked, “Now how big do you say the plane is?”
The boy exclaimed, “It is enormous!”
The father then told the boy, “That is how it is with God. How big he seems depends on how close you are to him. The closer you are to him the more grand he will be in your life!”

How big is your God?

Draw close to God and he will draw close to you.
James 4:8

Beyond “Why?”

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Children ask lots of questions: “Why is the sky blue? Why is snow white but water isn’t? Why doesn’t God have a birthday?” We love to see them exploring their world and figuring how things fit together. As adults we do well to dig deeper in our life and our faith too, a trait too often neglected as we leave behind our childhood and step into the adult world.

Perhaps this neglect of exploring and problem solving is not seen more than when problems arise. The Who-What-Where-Why-When-How questions too often get stuck at Why, particularly “Why me” and “why now?” Why didn’t I get that job/that raise? Why did my transmission fail when I have other bills to pay? Why did my loved one get cancer? Why did my retirement fund lose 30%? No doubt you have several examples you could add to the list.

The ‘why’ question is helpful for determining cause and effect relationships, for understanding the mechanics of life, and for gaining mastery on how to avoid future calamities…IF those calamities are under our control. I wonder how many times the ‘why’ question is asked to fix something and how often it is asked to find someone to blame.

The bible provides a number of ‘why’ question scenarios particularly in response to suffering. Sometimes the ‘why’ is to help us discover and apply a truth in our life we wouldn’t have discovered on our normal path. Sometimes the ‘why’ is a direct consequence of our own choosing. Sometimes it is to bring us closer to God. Sometimes it is to equip us to better relate with, listen to and help others.

But at some point, aren’t we best leaving our pursuit of ‘why’ behind us and turn to the a better understanding and application of What-Where-When-Who? WHAT, Lord, do you want me to do in the middle of this mess? WHAT do you want me to learn? WHERE can I find your blessing and your grace? WHO are you calling me to be in the middle of this sorrow and pain? WHERE can I serve you and WHEN? Oh wait, I know the answer to that one: Here and now. We’re often reminded that God has good plans for your future. But do you know he has plans for you TODAY? When our plans to become missionaries in Bolivia were interrupted by cancer, we quickly realized that God had another mission field for us – in the hospital and recovering at home. Where is the mission field God has for YOU right where you are in the middle of your suffering?

I think God delights in our asking him questions of all kinds. But at some point there is more to gain by just pursuing HIM (in whatever circumstance you face) than in getting stuck on “why me?”

Winter pruning

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It is too cold just now and of course I have no strength, but already my thoughts turn to late winter pruning. I will ask my doctor in a couple of months if I can return to yard work after a year of prohibition due to health concerns. The honey suckle is intoxicating with its delicious fragrance that wafts across the yard but it is voracious in its growth. If not pruned, it will quickly overshadow the garden and the pear tree in the NE part of the small orchard. The fruit trees and grape vines, similarly need pruning or they will not produce as much large and delicious fruit.

Jesus tells us of the value of pruning in John 15. In this parable he describes himself as the vine, his followers as those branches that remain attached to the vine and God as the gardener. Of course the branches only bear fruit if they remain attached to the vine and even these must be pruned in order to grow more branches and produce more fruit.

In the same way, we must stay attached to the vine, abiding in Christ, if we expect to bear much spiritual fruit. And also in a similar fashion, our lives must undergo a certain amount of pruning that we can produce the fruit we were placed here to produce.

When we prune the branches of our grape arbor, it looks pretty scrawny but it benefits in the long run when spring buds appear. We notice a significant change in our lives when we undergo personal pruning and the unproductive and unhelpful activities and thoughts of our lives are pruned away. But their absence makes way for a much more useful one. Just as grape vines and fruit trees are not meant just to produce more leaves, so our lives are meant for much more than an abundance of activities and possessions.

Galatians 5:22-23 tells us the fruit we are expected to produce are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Do you find any of these offensive? Of course not. Who wouldn’t want to bear more of this fruit in their lives? But how do we do this? By pruning away the excess in our lives and staying connected to the vine, throughout each day.

And the good part is that you don’t need a doctor’s permission nor wait til the end of winter. What needs to be pruned in your life? Negative thoughts and behaviors? Excessive habits and activities aren’t necessarily bad but you if find they distract your attention from your real purpose and diminish your love, your joy, your peace, it is time for pruning.

Let’s pursue love this year, and peace and all the rest. Lt’s pursue it with such diligence that pruning is welcomed to obtain what we most deeply desire and what is beneficial to those around us as well.

Your Golden List

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“If you are not grateful for small things, you’ll never be grateful for the big things.” The Ultimate Life

Red Stevens character was just waking up in the railway boxcar he hitched a ride on the previous night. His fellow traveler was standing at the open door of the rail car, counting. Red asked him what he was doing. He said he was making his Golden List for the day, something he does every morning. “What’s a Golden List?” young Red asked. The man told Red it is a list of ten gifts for which he is thankful to God. The list might change day to day but every day begins with telling the list to God.

Part of his list this day included:
Friendship
Family
Gratitude
Being able to give to others
Waking up to a new day

What ‘gifts’ do you have to thank God for?
Does someone love you? Respect you?
Do you have someone you love?
Do you breathe without coughing?
Do you have a place to sleep?
Protection from harm?
Freedom to worship as you choose?
Something to eat at least once a day?
Clean water?

I’m guessing your list, like mine, goes on and on. I wonder how your life (and the lives you touch) would change if your every day began (and ended) with your Golden List. Even in the face of difficulties there is much for which to be grateful!

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.” Psalm 136:1