When life is good

Pastors constantly deal with people’s problems. Broken hearts, failed dreams, strained marriages, and bad news are stuff of my daily life. Those who come to me need more than a poem and a pat on the back!  They want to find a solid foundation of hope.  My desire is to help them dig down to the bedrock of faith.  There is an obvious difference between those who have built their lives around a daily engagement with the Living Lord and those for whom Jesus is a kind of spiritual ER doctor; there, but hopefully never really needed.  What kind of faith are you building, Christian?  One to live by or one only for emergencies?

Real faith goes far beyond emotion, bypasses sentiment; even reaches deeper than an inspiring story from some great Christian in history.  It rests on the revealed Truth of the Scripture, on the surety that Christ is the Hope- for the present and for eternity.   Those who believe this, despite their trials and uncertainties, are settled securely on the Rock of our salvation.  They can say, just like Paul did in his trial, "I know Whom I have believed and that He is able to guard that which I have entrusted to Him." (2 Timothy 1.12)

How much real faith does it require to sing, "God is Good, All the Time," when days are full of sunshine, when the horizons appear limitless? When we are healthy, when our job is secure, when our spouse loves us;  too often we pray quickly in the morning, “Thanks God for this good life. See you tonight!” and we rush off to pursue our agenda.  When we live under the delusion of perpetual youthful vitality, when we think nothing could ever shake our sense of security, there is a temptation to let 'worship' deteriorate into a habit full of rote words, empty prayers, and ritual. 'Bible study' devolves into a superficial search for the daily promise, or a short reading from "Daily Bread."  We hand off ministry that demands self-sacrifice to 'somebody with more time.'  

We keep just enough 'faith' in play to keep our conscience quiet; keeping our Heaven policy 'in force.' When the crisis comes – and believe me, a storm will blow over each one of us sooner or later – if we have neglected to maintain the foundations of faith, we risk collapse.  I love a prayer written in the Proverbs.  The words may seem odd until you ponder them at length.  Lord, "give me just enough to satisfy my needs. For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, "Who is the Lord?" (Proverbs 30:8-9, NLT) Jesus asks us to consider the same principle when He says, "what does a man profit if he gains the whole world and in the process loses his soul?" It's not our blessings that are the problem. It is the way we respond with a misplaced confidence in them!

If your life is blessed today, praise God. Don’t forget to 'lay up treasure' in Heaven.  Strengthen the foundations of faith. The steady practice of spiritual disciplines produces a harvest of righteousness that will feed us in the lean times of pain, suffering, and trial.

Worship faithfully.
Learn the Word and process the Truth into the very core of your soul’s values.
Don't let religious jargon replace the Truth that will keep you in times of trials.

Here's the word from the Word. "We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. ... how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him." (Hebrews 2:1-3, NIV)

So, "concentrate on doing your best for God, work you won’t be ashamed of, laying out the truth plain and simple. Stay clear of pious talk that is only talk. Words are not mere words, you know. If they’re not backed by a godly life, they accumulate as poison in the soul."
(2 Timothy 2:15-17, The Message)

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My hope is built on nothing less,
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus' Name.

On Christ, the Solid Rock, I stand,
all other ground is sinking sand!- public domain