Afraid?

 

The back pain that has afflicted me this week brought me a temptation – to fear! “Jerry,” the little voice whispers, “this is just a taste of what’s ahead as you age. You’re going to be less physically capable from now on.”  Experience teaches me that when I allow fear to be the dominant emotion in my life, I say and do regrettable things. When life feels out of control I tend to be defensive and angry. In those moments I am less loving. When fear is in the driver’s seat of my life, I lose hope. Fear generally makes me self-protective, putting ‘armor’ in place that cuts me off from my best resources.

So, some might say, just don’t be afraid.  It’s not that easy!

When we view life from a purely natural point of view, there is much to fear! Concerns about aging, for example, are a reality, but I am a fool to let those possibilities rob me of today’s joy. 3 of my adult children and their families live in South Florida and today’s forecast has them in the direct path of a Cat. 4 hurricane this weekend. I could be very fearful for their well-being.

The real answer is radical FAITH. Ironically, the deepest faith is born of profound fear; the fear of the Lord. When we ponder His majesty, remember His works, and contemplate the Word, we catch a glimpse of His true nature. No one can see even a small part of Who He is and not tremble. Just a few descriptors of Him include: “Beginning and End, Judge of all the Earth, Maker of Heaven and Earth, the One who sets up kings and takes them down, and Discerner of even the thoughts and intents of every heart.”  Tragically, even many Christians have made God so small, taming Him to Someone Whom they can perceive as safe, that they can no longer radically trust Him. When we trim down our God so that He fits inside of our preconceived ideas about Who He must be, we will surely grow fearful in this world.

The God of Glory is not like an indulgent grandfather. He is not a kindly old man who hands out candy to nice people. He is Eternal, Mysterious, Majestic, and Wholly Other! Isaiah tried to describe the awfulness of the Lord. His vision is almost incomprehensible to those of us in the 21^st century. Here is what he wrote - "I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.”  It is a scene of wonder.

Remarkably Isaiah did not say, “Wow. I wanna go and get a ‘high 5’ from the Big Guy.”  Silly, right?  Instead, he cries in terror - “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.” (Isaiah 6:1-5, NIV)

Most of us don’t want a God Who makes us feel something like terror, and we sacrifice the knowledge of His majesty, that He is larger than our fears, that He lives beyond time, that He owns the earth, and that He holds us – life and death – in His hands; in order to make Him more friendly, approachable. But, in that, we rob ourselves of the peace that comes from knowing an Awesome God. When I let God be truly God, His Presence reduces my fear as faith grows.  "Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who finds great delight in his commands." (Psalm 112:1, NIV) Awe creates a desire to do good, to subjugate my will to His. “Surely he will never be shaken; a righteous man will be remembered forever. He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. His heart is secure, he will have no fear; in the end he will look in triumph on his foes." (Psalm 112:6-8, NIV)  Go back and read those lines again. Isn’t that how you want to live – securely, fearlessly, with hope for the future? 

When fear comes Instead of trying to stand on my own limited strength, I must bow my head and fall to my knees before Him. I must confess, aloud, “You are God and I am not.”  And, I will match confession with a daily choice to to live in the fear of the Lord that is expressed in faithful obedience.  "I will bow down … and will praise your name for your love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word. When I called, you answered me; you made me bold and stouthearted." (Psalm 138:2-3, NIV)

There is only one good fear – the fear of the Lord. Go before Him, reverently, yet in full confidence of His love. Tell Him of the things that make you afraid. That is not lack of faith. But remember to take the next step to worship. Praise Him for His greatness. Praise Him that He is eternal, that His purposes prevail. You will find your fear of this present world eclipsed by the fear of the Lord from whom comes peace.

The word from the Word is a passage that tells of the response of King Hezekiah to a threatening letter he received from neighboring powers. As you read it, I pray faith will rise in your mind and heart and that perhaps you, too, will take your fear to the Throne of God.

"Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it.
Then he went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD.
 

And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD:

“O LORD Almighty, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Give ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; listen to all the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God. “It is true, O LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. 

Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God.” (Isaiah 37:14-20, NIV) 

You are God, alone!

_______

You Are God Alone

(Worship with this song by Philips, Craig, and Dean)

You are not a god created

By human hands

You are not a god dependent

On any mortal man

You are not a god in need of

Anything we can give

By Your plan

That's just the way it is

You are God alone from before time began

You were on Your throne You are God alone

And right now in the good times and bad

You are on Your throne You are God alone

You're unchangeable You're unshakable

You're unstoppable that's what You are

You're unchangeable You're unshakable

You're unstoppable that's what You are

You're the only God whose power

None can contend

You're the only God whose name and

Praise will never end

You're the only God who's worthy

Of ev'rything we can give

You are God

That's just the way it is

And right now in the good times and bad

You are on Your throne You are God alone

Billy J. Foote | Cindy Foote

© 2004 Billy Foote Music (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing (Integrity Music [DC Cook]))

Integrity's Hosanna! Music (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing (Integrity Music [DC Cook]))

CCLI License # 810055

It hurts!

Since Monday morning at 10 am, every move has involved discomfort. I lifted a small thing and somehow injured my lower back, making every move painful, causing me to think about how to best accomplish the smallest tasks. That pain has raised my awareness of the ordinary – like tying my shoes, picking up something on the floor!  Even more significantly, that small injury renewed my appreciation of being in a network of friends, a clear reminder that I am not self-sufficient.

The problem of pain is an old question in the world. “Why does God allow suffering? What purpose does pain serve?” At least part of the answer is that it is one of His ways to call us to pursue Him, to invite us to participate with Him in eternal work in this world. C. S. Lewis wrote that “We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

When I am well-fed, healthy, and at peace in my world I can easily go day after day in a self-satisfied state. The troubles of others can slip out of view, the need to engage in worship become secondary to living the good life. Who needs God when the sun shines, life is rich, the kids are healthy, our marriage is happy, and our job secure? Jesus told a story about a successful man, who found himself with a good harvest. That man forgot the source of his blessings. He said to himself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”

This is the paradox of a blessed life. God loves to bless. He has created a world for us that is filled with good things, with beauty and abundance. As we enjoy those things, the common path is to forget Him, to grow selfish, to allow greed to possess us – and in the process to destroy the very blessings we could enjoy because we have forgotten the God who gave them to us in the first place.

Moses, the leader of the people of God, warned of the sin of self-sufficiency and pride. In a long song in Deuteronomy 32-32, there are these lines:
"But Israel soon became fat and unruly;
the people grew heavy, plump, and stuffed!
Then they abandoned the God who had made them;
they made light of the Rock of their salvation." (Deuteronomy 32:15, NLT)

Yes, pain is one of the tools God uses to shape us into His glory. His own Son, Jesus completed the work of saving the world with suffering. "In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering." (Hebrews 2:10, NIV)  Could we lose our desire for ignorant bliss long enough to consider that God loves us in such a way that He is willing to allow pain in our lives to turn our attention to greater things that we might leave behind our animal existence, pre-occupied with food, sleep, trinkets, and sex, and become His true children, creations on course for our heavenly home?

We might like to think ourselves noble enough that pain serves no purpose other than to make us miserable but in that we are deluded. Suffering can be purposeful, lifting us higher. If we are unwilling to experience it, we will pass through life without deeply engaging with our spouse, with fellow Christians, with true service. Why? Because to deeply engage will bring surely to some difficulty. To care, to love, is to create the possibility of disappointment and pain, which then challenges us to care even more, like our Father in heaven who loved us ‘while we were still sinners.’

Yes, it hurts! Faith can lead us to use the pain, instead of allowing it to make us bitter or cynical. Will you trust Him, hold onto Him when it seems too much?

Here is a word from the Word. May the Spirit give us eyes to see beyond today.
"All praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the source of every mercy and the God who comforts us. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. You can be sure that the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ.

So when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your benefit and salvation! For when God comforts us, it is so that we, in turn, can be an encouragement to you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer. We are confident that as you share in suffering, you will also share God’s comfort." (2 Corinthians 1:3-7, NLT)

_________

Abba, form Your life in me.

If you must allow pain to chisel away the

Sinfulness and selfishness, then help my faith

to survive the trials.

Help me to long for You more than my own comfort,

to be willing to engage with the world in which I live

even at the expense of knowing pain, sharing the grief.

Jesus, the mystery of suffering is hard.

Whisper to the depths of my heart about how I am being

‘perfected’ through it, for God’s glory.

Amen.

For Real

A friend referred to Facebook™ as Fakebook. Her remark makes me smile because I know that by carefully posting select images and edited remarks, we can create an image about ourselves that bears little resemblance to reality. Not everyone does it, but the temptation is surely there to create an ‘enhanced’ *(fake) image. With our smartphones we can even digitally alter our pictures to make ourselves look better. Sometimes that is quite harmless but it can become an awful trap, a way to live a lie!

There are people who make their living as Image Coaches. They teach people how to project a public image that leads to better jobs, etc. There is nothing wrong with learning improved social skills, being coached to change habits that hinder our interactions with others. It is a tragic endeavor if a person only works on the outside appearance without dealing with core issues! For some, life is like a movie set.  Consciously, even unconsciously, they adopt whatever role they feel is necessary at a particular moment of life. The reality of their life matters little as long as they know the script written for them by others.  

Christian, don’t play that game!
Commit to living AUTHENTICALLY. Why?

God asks His people to be people of integrity. If we choose to appear to be somebody that we are not, we lie! Lying offends God and is terribly destructive. Perpetuating even a little bit of fraud requires increasing effort and more fraud, creating dishonesty that grows with a snowball effect.

Understand that at the root of image-building is an ancient sin - pride. If we go through the day constantly posing and preening like a little girl playing dress up in front of Mommy's mirror, we will be blind to those around us. We will not listen well. We will not be present and attentive.  

The truth will eventually emerge. We cannot conceal our real selves forever. Better to have been real all along, don't you think? Jesus said that the mouth is the overflow of the heart. Filter it, suppress it, but unless we change from the inside out, eventually we will be shown for who we really are.

Authentic Christians allow the Spirit of God to be in charge, dying to Self, so that ego cannot press them to serve an image. The Word tells us to "...serve each other in humility”, for “God sets himself against the proud, but he shows favor to the humble.” (1 Peter 5:5, NLT)

On the night before His crucifixion Jesus’ disciples posing and striving for first place in their little group. Full of themselves and in love with their images of self-importance, none of them would serve, so Jesus got up from the Passover meal and took up the servant's towel and basin. He made His way from man to man, washing their filthy feet, in the custom of the hospitable household at that time.

His choice to take the place of the lowest, though He was the Greatest, shocked and offended those men. Peter protested, "You will never wash my feet!" But Jesus did. "After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because it is true. And since I, the Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you." (John 13:12-15, NLT) While some believers have turned that into a time of ritual foot washing in their gatherings, I believe that Jesus was inviting to us to something much more important - serving each other without considering whether such service is in keeping with our image!

There is a wonderful healing truth for our world of superficiality and image. It is the assurance that God loves us, not for what we have done or how attractive we may be; He loves us because we are! He knows exactly who you are, what you've done, how you think - and loves the real you.  He does desire change and promises the Spirit to transform but He loves us right where we are.

He can work through people who are real. If we are willing to pretend, pose, to live dishonestly, we sabotage the inner work of the Spirit that leads us to Truth. He can forgive our sins, heal our hurts, and give us spiritual gifts that overcome our innate weaknesses. He will maximize our strengths. But, first we must choose to be 'honest to God' real; not an easy task, nor a once and done choice. Authenticity flows out of daily surrender to the Spirit of God.

Here is a word from the Word today. James is clear. Let’s listen to his inspired wisdom. "Obey God’s message! Don’t fool yourselves by just listening to it. If you hear the message and don’t obey it, you are like people who stare at themselves in a mirror and forget what they look like as soon as they leave. But you must never stop looking at the perfect law that sets you free. God will bless you in everything you do, if you listen and obey, and don’t just hear and forget." (James 1:21-25, CEV)

_________

Who You Say I Am

Who am I that the highest King

Would welcome me

I was lost but He brought me in

Oh His love for me

Oh His love for me

Who the Son sets free

Oh is free indeed

I'm a child of God

Yes I am

Free at last

He has ransomed me

His grace runs deep

While I was a slave to sin

Jesus died for me

Yes He died for me

In my Father's house

There's a place for me

I'm a child of God

Yes I am

I am chosen not forsaken

I am who You say I am

You are for me not against me

I am who You say I am

 (Oh) (Yes) I am who You say I am

Ben Fielding | Reuben Morgan

© 2017 Hillsong Music Publishing Australia (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

CCLI License # 810055