"But God..."

I snapped this picture on my phone this morning crossing the small skybridge between the parking garage and office building. It fit with what I have been thinking about.


Life is not easy. Let's be honest - it sucks sometimes. There are a lot of times that are not any fun. That's just reality.

The pastor at my church (also a great friend and mentor to me) snapped a picture yesterday that also fit in with I have been thinking about. Yesterday was a cloudy, rainy Monday, but toward late afternoon the skies began clearing. In his picture there were patches of blue breaking through the gray clouds.


Life can throw a lot of gray clouds rain storms hurricanes at us. Storms that shake us and leave us wondering if there is an end in sight. Life has peaks and valleys, but it also has cliffs from which we free fall and keep falling. I know. I've been there. To keep hoping for a bottom that hasn't come yet? It sucks.


The Psalmist in Psalm 73:26 says, "My heart and flesh may fail..." Translation? "I'm defeated. I'm falling. And I'm waiting to hit the bottom." Sound familiar? Stress, worry, money, job, relationships. You name it. Anything can send us free falling.


The Psalmist doesn't stop at, "My heart and flesh may fail..." Our stories don't end at "I'm defeated." The free fall doesn't go on and on.


"... but God..." is what the Psalmist writes. Two words. Six letters. Infinite power. "But God." We don't even have to read the rest of the verse. "But God." Translation? "It's over." The free fall will end. The light is coming. The blue skies are coming.


"... but God is the strength of my heart, my portion forever." Yeah, life may suck right now. Yes, the valley is dark and deep. But God is. And that is all we need.


There's a song by Matt Maher called "Alive Again"...

I woke up in darkness
surrounded by silence
oh where, where have I gone?
I woke to reality
losing its grip on me
oh where, where have I gone?
Cause I can see the light
before I see the sunrise
You called and you shouted
broke through my deafness
now I’m breathing in
and breathing out
I’m alive again!
You shattered my darkness
washed away my blindness
now I’m breathing in
and breathing out
I’m alive again!

The skies will clear. The storms will end. Hold onto that glimmer of light that creeps over the horizon, because the darkness will be shattered.


-D

Love in Action

18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. (My italics)

Now here's a verse that I think everyone would agree with. It's very easy to tell someone, "I love you." It's slightly more challenging to actually show someone, "I love you."

Why is that? Because love in action requires putting another's interests ahead of our own. Words can be empty and hollow. Actions can't be. They have to be planned out and then carried out. Words can be picked out of thin air. Actions develop in the heart. Love in action means love in the heart.

For instance, love in action could mean emptying the dishwasher without being prompted (something I could do more of). It could mean getting the baby ready for bed and sitting with her while your wife has some time to herself. Love in action means figuring out what makes your friend/spouse/whoever feel most loved. This book and its other iterations give great insight into the basic ways people both give and receive love.

The bottom line is that we must show love to those we love. The words that come out of our mouth must line up with our actions. If there's a disconnect, the meaning of those words or actions loses value.

Let us not forget the example of love: "This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him."

Have a great day!

-D

He Alone

He alone is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I will not be shaken.

"He alone..."

David in two words has made a huge statement of faith. He's not relying on his riches or his power or his armies. He's relying on God alone as a stronghold. (He certainly wouldn't be relying on the stock markets today.) If anyone had reason up to then to rely on things he had done or accumulated, David was the guy.

"He alone..." But David doesn't do that. And with good reason. If David couldn't see God as his rock, salvation, and stronghold, then I'm not sure who could. His route to the kingship was, shall we say, a little difficult, having spent time running from Saul. David had to wait for his moment to become king. He had to rest in the promise God made to him.

So what does it mean to have God as our rock and stronghold? It means we have stability. It means our current mood/status does not depend on what the economy is doing, what leaders are in charge, or _______. Temporal, material things don't shake us, because we have place our trust and faith in the eternal Creator. And when we do let things get to us and face stress, anxiety, conflict, etc, we can climb back to our rock quickly.

In verse 8, David gives us advice on making God or rock and stronghold. "Trust in Him at times... pour out your hearts before Him."

"He alone..."

-D

The Fine Art of Worrying

Worry. It's one of those things that we all do, whether we want to or not. It can come on quickly and can linger for a long time. When it comes to worry, some of us have it down pat more than others. What can we do to combat worry? Well, when it comes to questions about things like this: I think it's always wise to consult someone wise - Jesus.

"Therefore don't worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Why should we not worry about tomorrow? Well, for one thing, it's tomorrow. It's the next day. But if you take it one more step, what is tomorrow? It's always a day away. Tomorrow never actually arrives. We never get to tomorrow. Why worry about a day that never actually arrives? When we worry about tomorrow, we lessen the quality of today. Who knows what we might miss out on because we spend time worrying about what could happen tomorrow or in a week or month or year?

The apostle Paul gives us some advice in the book of Philippians about stress and worry.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."

It's fairly straightforward. Pray. Be thankful. Present what worries you to The One who can handle all worry.

John Ortberg, in his book God is Closer than You Think, says this about worry, “We live under the illusion that worry enhances our ability to control the world. Somehow we fear that if we stop worrying about something completely, it will really go wrong. So we worry as if we're still in control of something that's actually completely out of our hands... the great danger of these worries is not just that they make my life emotionally unpleasant. It is that they distract me from the presence of God in my life.”

How can we keep from being distracted?

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."

Jesus offers this advice in Matthew 6 (right before telling us not to worry). Seek Him. Why? Because when we do, we leave less room for distraction from worry. Because we are eliminating our need to control by putting His kingdom first. We focus on His agenda, not our own.

We all worry. We all have stress or anxiety. If we let it get to us too much, our health can suffer; our relationships can suffer; and our faith can falter. Instead of letting that happen, remember what Paul said, "Do not be anxious about anything." Let The One whose shoulders can bear the worry actually bear the worry.

-D

All-Time Trust

"Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts before Him. God is our refuge." -Psalm 62:8 (HCSB)

There are two interesting thoughts I had. How both good times and bad times can lead us to not trust in God.

When things go well, we credit ourselves. When things go bad, we point the finger at God.

How people can think like this is beyond me - but yet when I drill down to the guts of it, I'm like that, too. More so with the good times than the bad. Because when things go bad, I go to Him as my refuge. Of course the question is do I do that right away? Which of course the answer is not always. David's message to the people is that God can be trusted and should be trusted all the time. He is our refuge. He hears us when we pour our hearts out to Him. In good and bad, we must trust Him. Because He has proven His trust-ability to be 100%.

Trust Him all the time. Because He is trustworthy all the time. Live in His trust. Take refuge in His trust. Be bold in His trust.

-D

Insight and Understanding

Proverbs 16:21-22
21 The wise in heart are called discerning, and pleasant words promote instruction.
22 Understanding is a fountain of life to those who have it, but folly brings punishment to fools.

One of the general themes in Proverbs is to live a righteous life. Many verses detail the advantages of living such a life - Proverbs 11:5-6 for example.

As I read these verses, I really thought about those two qualities: discernment and understanding (or insight as the HCSB translates it). What is discernment? What is insight? And how do these two help in living a righteous life?

Discernment: As I think about discernment, I think about the ability to look at a situation both at and beyond the surface to make the right decision. A discerning heart has the ability to know what to say or do in that situation. Not only does a discerning person know what to say/do, he also knows when and how to say/do it. When this person speaks, people listen, because his words are measured to reflect what he wants to say and what the Bible says. Correction and instruction are most successful when the words are chosen carefully and said with the correct feeling or emotion given the situation and person. The wise in heart have this discernment, and as such, others will listen to the words they speak. The wise person has influence because he can communicate effectively and bring others along.

Insight/Understanding: Insight, to me, is having additional knowledge beyond what is basically known. Why are color commentators for sports (generally) ex-players? They have insight. They have knowledge of the sport beyond what the average person knows. To have insight is to have more knowledge or experience. To have that extra bit of information makes a big difference. Why is it a fountain of life for those who have it? Because extra knowledge gives you an edge. In the context of the spiritual life, having insight guards us from making bad decisions. You gain insight by gaining more knowledge, which for us comes from more time spent with God. Insight is our fountain of life because we have the spiritual knowledge to avoid the pitfalls of life that the fool falls into over and over.

Thoughts to ponder: Do I possess a discerning spirit? Does my fountain of life flow from understanding? Do I value discernment and understanding? Do I recognize that to live a righteous life and be transformed I must possess discernment and insight? In what areas of my life am I weak in discernment and insight? Am I working to strengthen those areas under the Word of God?

-D