Steady, Pointing the way

The scene at the White House was touching.  The President invited his VP to come for what he thought was a personal visit in the final days of their administration. In a surprise, a shocked and tearful Joe Biden was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award. It was moving to watch. Biden was a Senator since 1973, and Vice President since 2009.  A genuinely likeable man, amiable and talkative, he has become a beloved part of the Washington scene. Like his policies or not, you have to admire his service, especially given the personal tragedies he has lived through. He lost his first wife when he was just 30 years of age and two years ago his oldest son died. He has served well.

I am inspired by stories of people who do their job, stick with something to completion, through all of the up’s and down’s of this thing we call ‘life.’  We are tempted to chase excitement, go for the money, or quit when things get tough but those who find the richest rewards do the ‘ordinary’ stuff – showing up, working hard, loving their family, and serving their God – year after year.  In his book, Ordinary, Michael Horton writes about a common urge to do some great thing, to find some great experience of Christianity, when in reality there are opportunities to discover and serve the Lord all around us.  "Taking a summer to dig wells in Africa is, for some, a genuine calling. But, so is fixing a neighbor's plumbing, feeding one's family, and sharing the burdens and joys of a local church. What we are called to do every day, right where God has placed us, is rich and rewarding." 

When the nation of Israel was forming out of a motley band of ex-slaves, Moses found the task of leadership overwhelming until he brought some gifted and faithful people to serve alongside of him. One of those men was a young man named Joshua. For 60 plus years, Joshua showed up, led faithfully, honored God, and lived in faith. When Moses died, he became the leader of the nation with the challenge of taking them into the Promised Land and leading the battles for conquest.  He did that well, too.  Knowing that his death was approaching, he called the nation’s leaders together to give them this charge - "“Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:14-15, NIV)   His epitaph underscores the power of a faithful example in leadership. We read that "Israel served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had experienced everything the Lord had done for Israel." (Joshua 24:31, NIV)

Go steady on, friend, letting your life, more than your words, point the way. Set aside the need to find the next BIG thing. Refuse to be captivated by the ‘revivalist’ ideas of Christianity. Reject the call of charisma that promises some revelation at the feet of a religious superstar!  Instead, serve the Lord, with gladness, in your home, at your place of employment, and in the local church where you can form deep, rich, and lasting partnerships for the work of the Lord.

Here is a word from the Word.  Ponder the call from the Spirit. "So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised. “For in just a little while, the Coming One will come and not delay. And my righteous ones will live by faith. But I will take no pleasure in anyone who turns away.” But we are not like those who turn away from God to their own destruction. We are the faithful ones, whose souls will be saved." (Hebrews 10:35-39, NLT)

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Leaning On The Everlasting Arms

What a fellowship what a joy divine

Leaning on the everlasting arms

What a blessedness what a peace is mine

Leaning on the everlasting arms

What have I to dread what have I to fear

Leaning on the everlasting arms

I have blessed peace with my Lord so near

Leaning on the everlasting arms

Leaning (leaning on Jesus)

Leaning (leaning on Jesus)

Safe and secure from all alarms

Leaning (leaning on Jesus)

Leaning (leaning on Jesus)

Leaning on the everlasting arms

Anthony Johnson Showalter | Elisha Albright Hoffman

© Words: Public Domain

A Silent God

I confess to having real envy for those blessed people who appear to have an endless conversation with God, rich and rewarding, always feeling His hand on their shoulders. I don’t!  Yes, I know His Presence and love Him.  There are times of worship when He is near, when the sweetness of His love comforts and I know Him as Friend.  I also know seasons when there is nothing but silence.  In such times, in the quiet of the night, I borrow the Psalm as my plea -  "I am sick at heart. How long, O Lord, until you restore me? Return, O Lord, and rescue me. Save me because of your unfailing love." (Psalm 6:3-4, NLT)  Every Christian, small and great, young and old, has known or will know what it means to ‘walk by faith’ when the Presence is inaccessible.

Having walked in this faith for a long time and convinced by both Scripture and long experience that our God is faithful and good, I pursue Him even when I cannot see Him. Sometimes I realize that I have moved. I have, willfully absented myself from fellowship with disobedience or neglect. It is also true that my soul’s health is effected by fatigue, by too much work; even by the dark, cloudy days.  Still, there are times when no matter my engagement with spiritual disciplines that I seek Him without sensing His presence.  Have you walked in times of God’s silence?  Read on for hope.

It is an evidence of maturity that we are willing to trust and serve God as much in the ‘dark night of the soul’ as in the moments of joyful song! He is equally worthy of our praise when we are in the depth of the valley as when He is when we are on the height of the mountain.  I can tell you from my personal experience that enduring those silences and keeping faith through intense trials creates many opportunities for revelations of the truth about ourselves and our God.

Let us never conclude that the silence of God is the same as the absence of God. Life changes. Jesus is the same.  He is always there even when we cannot or will not engage with the Holy Spirit.  It is a mistake to adopt the philosophy of the Stoics, putting on our game face, and marching ahead.  When we feel alone, we can weep. When we see suffering that overwhelms our faith, eclipses our hope, we do not sin when we cry, when we wonder, when we plead for relief. Godly people enjoy vibrant emotions. Both joy and the sorrows are part of living and God made us richer by giving us those feelings. Would we give away love so that we would never feel alone? Would we surrender joy so that we could not know sorrow?  In all of our feelings, it is faith makes us steady, not stoic. When we are 'in Christ,' our lives are equally fruitful with the Spirit's character in the darkest nights and the brightest noonday.  So, set your hope in Him. Pray that the Holy Spirit will mature a steady faith in you that remains evident in tears and laughter, because your life is anchored to the Rock. "...we ...have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us ... We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure." (Hebrews 6:18-19, NIV)

When He is silent, when His ways are beyond our discerning, let us not accuse Him of faithlessness in anger! In this, we sin. Paul wrote of his own path of struggle. His words are not warm and fuzzy like a Hallmark™ card, but they are true and rock solid in truth that sustains us. "God has been kind enough to trust us with this work. That’s why we never give up." (2 Corinthians 4:1, CEV) "We are like clay jars in which this treasure is stored. The real power comes from God and not from us. We often suffer, but we are never crushed. Even when we don’t know what to do, we never give up. In times of trouble, God is with us, and when we are knocked down, we get up again. We face death every day because of Jesus. Our bodies show what his death was like, so that his life can also be seen in us." (2 Corinthians 4:7-11, CEV)

Enduring a season of silence? Does God seem far away? Be steady. Reach out to those who will encourage you with genuine love and with truth, not cliché’ and proof-text. Surrender and sit before Him, even if you feel like raging at the darkness.  Here is a word from the Word for such times. "Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken. My victory and honor come from God alone. He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me. O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge." (Psalm 62:5-8, NLT)

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Martin Luther, who gave us the Reformation, wrote of many times of silence. The man wrote this - "O Almighty and Everlasting God! How terrible is this world! Behold, it opens its mouth to swallow me up, and I have so little trust in thee!"  Yet, he also penned this great hymn. So, friend, let’s go steady on, until the Son shines again.

A Mighty Fortress Is Our God

A mighty fortress is our God

A bulwark never failing

Our helper He amid the flood

Of mortal ills prevailing

For still our ancient foe

Doth seek to work us woe

His craft and power are great

And armed with cruel hate

On earth is not his equal

Did we in our own strength confide

Our striving would be losing

Were not the right man on our side

The man of God's own choosing

Dost ask who that may be

Christ Jesus it is He

Lord Sabaoth His name

From age to age the same

And He must win the battle

Martin Luther

Public Domain

Oh, this mouth!

“You’re a coward,” she told me, “afraid to speak the truth.”  The woman thought I should take a more public position about current political issues. Her words were like a punch in the gut even though I know they are not an accurate reflection of who I am.  In another conversation, I heard a person recount how words spoken in rage continued to echo days later. The damage was done and making it is going to take work over a long time.  On Sunday, while preaching, I made an attempt at humor that ended up backfiring, creating the possibility of offense.  Almost as soon as I said it, I knew I had made a mistake.   

Has your mouth ever gotten you into trouble? Ever said something in anger, in jest, or in an unguarded moment that you wished you could reel back in and erase?  Yes? Me, too!

The wisdom of God counsels us to  "Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone." (Colossians 4:5-6, NIV) 
“Full of grace!”  Chose words that encourage the best, that bring hope, shaped by a rich acceptance of others. It’s so easy to criticize and condemn, isn’t it?  Why do we so readily find ourselves speaking of the failures of others instead of celebrating successes?  From time to time we will have to bring correction but even then we can find graceful words instead of condemning. God, help us! 

“Seasoned with salt!” is one of those interesting phrases that we find a bit difficult to bring into our context. Salt was a much more precious item in Bible times. It was used carefully and sparingly, both as flavor and preservative.  So the command is to make our words valuable, in a way that enhances life.

James instructs us with practicality. As you read this inspired text, ask God to help you to integrate it into your life. "A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it! It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell. This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can’t tame a tongue—it’s never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth! My friends, this can’t go on." (James 3:5-10, The Message)

Sometimes I think that only answer to my unruly mouth is to stop talking altogether. Of course that is both impossible and impractical. The real solution is to let the Holy Spirit change the source of those words. "Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water? Does a fig tree produce olives, or a grapevine produce figs? No, and you can’t draw fresh water from a salty spring." (James 3:11-12, NLT)  Jesus reminds us that words are the overflow of our heart, our inner person.  Our prayer is that the Lord will root out pride, hate, prejudice, unforgivness – replacing those things with love, joy, peace, patience, and kindness. Will we still make mistakes from time to time? Of course, we are growing in grace. Begin to pray, “Lord, change my heart,” not “Lord, filter my words.”

Here is a word from the Word. May it live in us, making us more like Jesus. "Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace." (Ephesians 4:2-3, NLT) "Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church." (Ephesians 4:14-15, NLT)

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Father, let the words of my mouth

And the thoughts of my heart be acceptable in Your sight.

As you change my attitudes and ideas,

May I not say, “Oh, this mouth,” with regret,

But rather give thanks for the gift of words that

Build and bless!

Lord, begin to change our national conversation.

There are so many harsh, ugly, condemning words

Being hurled by us these days.

Teach us, as Your children, to speak words

That are full of grace and life enhancing,

For the glory of God.

In Jesus’ Name,  Amen.