The Best Gift is You

Do you know the best gift you can give, especially in times of sorrow?  Yourself!  Yesterday, after our son, Jay, and his boys left for Florida; after an alarming phone call that stirred up old and unpleasant memories; after Bev had a bout with intense pain – I was beyond tears, equally sad, tired, and angry.  I stood in our kitchen and hurled a kind of prayer at God – “Could You just give us a break?”  Not too many minutes later someone inquired, “Is time a good time to come by your home?”  When that couple showed up, they brought dinner and something far better – presence!  They did not come with questions, solutions, or the latest suggestions about cancer cures. They just offered themselves and prayed with Bev and me in a way that connected Heaven to earth, earnest, faith-filled, Spirit inspired prayer. (So many others have done the same and we are so thankful!)

Sometimes the suffering in our world is so intense that we just want to avert our eyes, don’t we? When I was watching the stories of Syrian refugees, people that were living comfortable middle class lives just a few years ago, crossing ocean waters in little rubber rafts and walking hundreds of miles through hostile Europe to try to find a new home, I wanted to turn the story off. It was simply too sad. When stood next to two grieving parents a week ago, there was a part of me that wanted to escape, to distance myself professionally. But, I also want to be like my Jesus.  He never ran from those who suffered, who were in great need.  He stood with them, touched them, gave of Himself.

He did not send a message with an angel. He did not write a word in the sky. He came to us!

This, Christian, is the wonder of our faith. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." (John 3:16-17, NIV)  We call it the Incarnation, God becoming flesh, living as one of us!  That despair you felt? He gets it. That temptation that you wrestled with? He knows what it is like. That sense of futility that stalks you? He felt it, too.  How do I know that?   Because I read this about Him: "since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most." (Hebrews 4:14-16, NLT)  He still shows up, in the Person of the Spirit, to be with us.

One of the identifying marks of the Christian is love and it is a practical one. "Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ." (Galatians 6:2, NLT)  Learn the ministry of Presence.  Just be there for others, without an agenda, without a need to explain, without a need to change their situation.  Often all that is needed is for you to wordlessly say, “You are not alone, I am standing with you.”

Dr. Stephen Davy offers this wisdom for those who desire to care like Jesus did.

1. Reject the view that simply quoting scripture will eliminate sorrow.  It is not wise to approach a suffering person this way: “Hey, guess what I read this morning in my quiet time? Man, this verse was perfect for you. Oh, by the way, I got you this coffee mug with a smiley face on one side and a picture of the cross on the other.”  The Bible is not a Band-Aid.

2. Refrain from the temptation to say something profound.
3. Refuse any expectation of eliminating grief by your insight. You do not eliminate sorrow; you share it, and by sharing it, you lighten the load.

4. Resist the perspective that you must speak in order to express love.

When the Lord finally showed up at Lazarus’ grave … all He did was weep, the Jews saw this and without hearing Him say a word, they said, “See how He loved him” (John 11:36).

Here is a word from the Word. Be inspired to a wonderful ministry that, when practiced wisely, is most healing.

"My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. 
Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. 
The person who refuses to love doesn’t know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can’t know him if you don’t love.

This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God,  but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they’ve done to our relationship with God.

My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other." (1 John 4:7-11, The Message)

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Love Them Like Jesus

The love of her life is drifting away

They're losin' the fight for another day

The life that she's known is falling apart

A fatherless home a child's broken heart

You're holdin' her hand you're strainin' for words

You're tryin' to make sense of it all

She's desp'rate for hope

Darkness clouding her view

She's lookin' to you

Just love her like Jesus carry her to Him

His yoke is easy His burden is light

You don't need the answers

To all of life's questions

Just know that He loves her

And stay by her side

And love her like Jesus

Love her like Jesus

The gifts lie in wait in a room painted blue

Little blessing from Heaven would be there soon

Hope fades in the night blue skies turn to gray

As the little one slips away

You're holdin' their hand you're strainin' for words

You're tryin' to make sense of it all

They're desp'rate for hope

Darkness clouding their view

They're lookin' to you

Just love them like Jesus carry them to Him

His yoke is easy His burden is light

You don't need the answers

To all of life's questions

Just know that He loves them

And stay by their side

And love them like Jesus

Lord of all creation

Holds our lives in His hands

The God of all the nations

Holds our lives in His hands

The Rock of our salvation

Holds our lives in His hands

He cares for them just as He cares for you

So love them like Jesus

Love them like Jesus

You don't need the answers

To all of life's questions

Just know that He loves them

And stay by their side

And love them like Jesus

Love them like Jesus

Love them like Jesus

Love them like Jesus

Bernie Herms | Mark Hall

© 2005 Word Music, LLC (a div. of Word Music Group, Inc.)

My Refuge Music (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

CCLI License # 810055

God's Answers Don't Fit on Bumper Stickers

Easy answers and simple solutions seem to the order of the day in an age of sound bites and slogans.  One politician implies that the complex issue of illegal immigration can be met by just ‘building a big wall’ and we cheer  Another suggests that economic inequality can be remedied by ‘taxing the Wall Street billionaires.’  Preachers do it, too.  Phrases that are meant to be wonderfully comforting such as, "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11, NIV) get yanked out of context and twisted into a promise of perpetual blue skies for all Christians.   

An authentic Christian Life and the kind of faith that leads us to joy in the Lord will require thought, dialogue, wrestling with Truth, and waiting for revelation! Those unwilling to exist in the mystery, who will not admit “I don’t know,” will either escape into a superficial faith shaped around slogans or they will become functional agnostics, believing God is out there somewhere, but unreachable for us.

The Lord of the Universe is not a vending machine that spits out goods when we insert our prayers!  He is not bound to do what we ask, though He delights in us and desires to lead us to lives that are, in Jesus’ words, ‘abundant.’  From where we sit, He appears to be infuriatingly unpredictable.  Looking at suffering we cry -  “God, why is one dream realized and another shattered?” There are not enough answers this side of Heaven to satisfy every question.

Naomi, (book of Ruth) moved to Moab with her husband and two sons to escape a famine in Israel.  When they were finally getting life together, Elimelech, her husband, died. Naomi, picked up the pieces and moved on. Her two sons married Moabite women and for 10 years, life was good, then...  both sons died!  The tragedy was terrible for her.  Might she have asked, “Where is God in this?”  Perhaps.  He was, as we know from our view, right there with her. Does that just seem to the 'right' answer?  It IS the truth. 

The Bible tells us the ‘rest of the story’... "Boaz married Ruth. She became his wife. Boaz slept with her. By God's gracious gift she conceived and had a son. The town women said to Naomi, "Blessed be God! He didn't leave you without family to carry on your life. May this baby grow up to be famous in Israel! He'll make you young again! He'll take care of you in old age. And this daughter-in-law who has brought him into the world and loves you so much, why, she's worth more to you than seven sons!" Naomi took the baby and held him in her arms, cuddling him, cooing over him, waiting on him hand and foot." (Ruth 4:13-16, The Message)

That baby became the grandfather of Israel's great king, David! God used Naomi, to bridge His promise to a Gentile woman’s life. Ruth, was brought into Israel and apparently to faith in God.  She was included, in the plan of the Lord, in the ancestry of David and the line of the Messiah, Jesus. Yes, I ask, as you probably do, "So, does that make the pain Naomi had to endure all good?"  No, it still hurt her but there was purpose in it. 

Life entrusted to the hands of the Lord must be received with faith.  Sometimes it simply it what it is, incomprehensible to us in the moment.  If we want to please Him and find His grace in such moments, the temptation to accuse God of unfairness must be leashed and faith loosed!

When God allows us to go through awful circumstances, to walk in the dark, we have a critical choice. Will we wait for a new dream to replace the shattered one OR will we descend into bitterness and unbelief? In my own life, which is filled with unexplained grief and loss at this moment, I cling to the prayer of a desperate father who brought his son for healing to Jesus. These words find their way from my heart often these days;  "I do believe, but help me not to doubt!" (Mark 9.24)  This is no slogan; it is Truth.  IF we will trust Him, He can give us a new dream, a new life that recovers JOY.

Honestly, to please Him, we must surrender our notions about ‘fairness.’  We must let go of the idea that we have a right to live a perfectly balanced life where the pain is always offset by the blessings, where the hard times are offset by the good times. Full faith is God-focused, not self-centered;  trusting that He is able to keep us secure in His love through the shattered dreams!

God’s answer to your prayer won’t fit on a bumper sticker! Don’t adopt slogans to cope. They cannot support you. Instead, reach out to people who will love you and hold you up until your faith is strong enough to touch the heart of God again. Reject the ‘out of context’ Scripture quotes, the simplistic answers, the psycho-babble, the half- truths… but do not reject God. Ask Him for courage to weep yet keep hope and faith intact as you pray --- "I do believe, but help me not to doubt!"

Here is a word from the Word - 
"In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness. 
Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me. 
Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me. 
Free me from the trap that is set for me, for you are my refuge. 
Into your hands I commit my spirit; redeem me, O LORD, the God of truth. 
I hate those who cling to worthless idols; I trust in the LORD. 
I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul. 
You have not handed me over to the enemy but have set my feet in a spacious place.

 …But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, “You are my God.”

My times are in your hands; deliver me from my enemies and from those who pursue me. 
Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love." (Psalm 31:1-16, NIV)

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O love that will not let me go,

I rest my weary soul in Thee.

I give Thee back the life I owe,

That in Thine ocean depths its flow,

May richer fuller be.

O joy that seekest me through pain,

I cannot close my heart to Thee.

I trace the rainbow through the rain,

And feel the promise is not vain,

That morn shall tearless be.

O Love That Will Not Let Me Go

George Matteson © Public Domain

Living in the Lion's Den

Everybody loves the story that ends with a triumph.  Remember the 2006 film, The Pursuit of Happyness (sic)? It is based around the story of Chris Gardner,(played by Will Smith) who was a struggling single father trying hard to make a life for his son.  He gets beaten down over and over.  The saga includes homelessness and despair. But, he won’t give up and eventually becomes a financial success. I hated the film when I first watched it!  My heart ached for this man who wanted to be a good father, who wanted to succeed in life.  It is relentlessly tragic until the very end.

I do believe what Jesus says – that the last will be first, the suffering will find healing.  His famous promise of the Great Reversal is shaped like this:  “God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted. God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth." (Matthew 5:2-5, NLT)  "God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs." (Matthew 5:10, NLT)  However, I also know that the plot of ‘His-story’ does not always follow the line I desire.  To all appearances, sometimes the bad guys win; sometimes suffering goes on regardless of our brave and faithful prayers.

The Bible includes a great story - Daniel in the lion’s den. I first heard it when I was about 4 years of age from an older woman with cut-out pictures pressed onto a flannel board in a little Sunday room in Iowa. Her voice earnestly told us about Daniel’s faithfulness to God, about his prayers, and the terrible people who hated him so much that they conspired to have him tossed to the lions.   She told it with such passion that my little heart pounded and I wondered if “that good man get eaten?”   The Sunday School version has God showing up to shut the mouths of the lions and Daniel emerging from the danger like a conquering hero.  “Yea!” I cheered.  Faith grew in me and I learned to trust the Lord.

With maturity, there is another lesson that emerges from the story too subtle for a little child.  God allowed Daniel to enter the lion’s den for a greater purpose. Temporarily, evil seemed to win. He spend a long night alone with lion’s snarling and snapping an arm’s length away!  But, Daniel’s integrity was so notable, his faith so unquestionable, that even the pagan king shared his hope! "The king caved in and ordered Daniel brought and thrown into the lions’ den. But he said to Daniel, “Your God, to whom you are so loyal, is going to get you out of this.”  (Daniel 6:16, The Message)  "At daybreak the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den. As he approached the den, he called out anxiously, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve so loyally, saved you from the lions?”  (Daniel 6:19-20, The Message)  The real hero of this story is not Daniel, is it?  The Almighty God is the One who gets the glory when the deliverance comes.

Are you living in the lion’s den of life right now?  
Has the Lord, your loving Father, allowed you to live with suffering, or defeat, or circumstances that defy your best efforts to turn them around?

Pray for rescue!  But, also remember that it may be His will to leave you there for a long night, for His own purposes.  “Come on, Jerry, that is not fair.”  Yes, I understand that and I weep with you. I am living close to sorrow, in the presence of pain, too. I would like Him to show up and lift Bev and me from the lion’s den, but while I wait, I will trust and pray that my life will reveal genuine faith, that I remain steady in trust, hopeful and committed to serving Him.

Sometimes the greater victory is not the one we seek.  Peter wrote to the first generation of Christians who were being intensely persecuted. His words would not go over well in our American churches where we like the “Sunday School” version of life where good guys always win and every difficulty finds immediate relief when God’s people pray.  He teaches something very different – “if you find life difficult because you’re doing what God said, take it in stride. Trust him. He knows what He’s doing, and He’ll keep on doing it.” The Message, 1 Peter 4:19

Here is a word from the Word. Let it inspire you to hold onto God even through the night in the lion’s den. 
"Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way." (James 1:2-4, The Message)  
"Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life." (James 1:12, The Message)

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Victory In Jesus

I heard an old, old story;

How a Savior came from glory-

How He gave His life on Calvary,

To save a wretch like me!

I heard about His groaning,

Of His precious blood's atoning,

Then I repented of my sins

And won the victory.

I heard about His healing,

Of His cleansing pow'r revealing;

How He made the lame to walk again

And caused the blind to see!

And then I cried, “Dear Jesus,

Come and heal my broken spirit.”

And somehow Jesus came and brought

To me the victory.

I heard about a mansion

He has built for me in glory,

And I heard about the streets of gold

Beyond the crystal sea!

About the angels singing,

And the old redemption story,

And some sweet day I'll sing up there

The song of victory.

O victory in Jesus,

My Savior forever!

He sought me and bought me

With His redeeming blood.

He loved me ‘ere I knew Him,

And all my love is due Him.

He plunged me to victory,

Beneath the cleansing flood.

Eugene M. Bartlett

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Jerry D. Scott, Pastor

Faith Discovery Church

Washington, NJ  07882

http://www.FaithDiscovery.com