It that a problem?

 

We sat together over a meal. The person I was with criticized, complained, belittled, and griped for 50 minutes of the hour. Yet, the life that he has is one of comfort. He makes loud claims of faith and is not shy about declaring that he enjoys a real spiritual maturity. I admit that I felt oh so glad to escape his company. Shocked?  Let’s get some context for that illustration.

I am sure you have heard the term “1^st world problem.”  Merriam Webster defines the phrase this way – “annoyance experienced by people in relatively affluent or privileged circumstances especially as contrasted with problems of greater social significance facing people in poor and underdeveloped parts of the world.”   1^st world problems are things like slow Internet, a temporary lack of cell coverage, or a late Amazon™ delivery. It makes me embarrassed to admit how often I gripe about things like that when in reality those things are not problems at all. 

Does it weary you to be around a person who is obviously enjoying a good life who complains constantly about people and circumstances?  I know there days when I do it and probably you do it too. It wearies God, too, for that attitude reveals self-absorption not God’s love! 

Even Christians sometimes slip into confusing minor annoyances with true life problems even questioning God’s love and care for them because of the normal ‘issues’ of life that are part of being in this world.  Let’s be clear. There are real problems and situations that cause real distress. I am not suggesting that we have to always smile, always be happy, to please the Lord. There is a place for tears, a time for anger, a need to make changes … but, I’ll say it again … we are too often angry about things that do not really merit the emotion we put into them!  I am convinced that knowing God’s love and deeply trusting Him with each day will relieve us of much angst and create a heart of gratitude.  

In our recent Bible studies at Faith Discovery Church we took a deeper look at the little book of Jonah. Remember him? He was a preacher that God called to go to Nineveh. He hated those people and decided to reject the call of God. His rebellion landed him in the belly of a ‘great fish.’  After he was sort of repentant, the fish puked him up on the shore and he went to the city where he preached a half-hearted sermon. The people responded. God ‘relented’ from the threat of their destruction. Jonah was not happy about the salvation of over a 100,000 people! He sulked and complained. Three times in four short chapters he even asks to die! Talk about a  miserable person, a self-absorbed man. Yet, the real ‘hero’ of the story is God Who keeps on trying to redeem this small-minded man, allowing him to experience hardship after hardship with the aim of enlarging his heart to greater faith.

Here is my core truth today. Don’t try to minimize your problems. With faith and praise, maximize your God!

The Word practically instructs us about the choice to live in rich faith. Soak in this truth.  "Let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are all called to live in peace. And always be thankful. Let the words of Christ, in all their richness, live in your hearts and make you wise. Use his words to teach and counsel each other. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. And whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus, all the while giving thanks through him to God the Father." (Colossians 3:15-17, NLT)   

The ‘peace’ of which the Spirit speaks is not just the absence of conflict with others. It is a genuine tranquility that grows out of a profound trust in God’s care. As we lean into the care of our Father, we choose gratitude, real thankfulness, not just empty phrases that sound good.  Then we are instructed to ‘let the words of Christ live in us.’  Our fundamental attitudes, our basic understanding about the world, can be formed by the Truth of Jesus – love always, forgive deeply, pray about everything!  That creates a life that is characterized by worship, seeing God at work and adoring Him for His amazing grace and goodness.

The closing phrase of that passage challenges our complaining reminding us of a greater mission - whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus.  We represent Him best when we gladly do what He asks, truly choose to serve selflessly, and trust Him in the depths of our heart to care for us, come what may.

Let’s choose faith so that we can experience the ‘joy of the Lord.’ Here is a word from the Word.

"It is good to praise the LORD and make music to your name, O Most High, to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night, to the music of the ten-stringed lyre and the melody of the harp. For you make me glad by your deeds, O LORD; I sing for joy at the works of your hands. …The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, “The LORD is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.” (Psalm 92:1-4, 12-15, NIV)

(Video of this blog at this link)

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One Thing Remains (Your Love Never Fails)

Higher than the mountains that I face
Stronger than the power of the grave
Constant in the trial and the change
One thing remains
One thing remains

Your love Your love Your love will never change

Your love never fails
It never gives up
Never runs out on me

Your love

On and on and on and on it goes
It overwhelms and satisfies my soul
And I never ever have to be afraid
One thing remains
One thing remains

 

In death in life I'm confident and
Cover'd by the power of Your great love
My debt is paid there's nothing that
Can separate my heart from Your great love

Your love

Brian Johnson | Christa Black Gifford | Jeremy Riddle

© 2010 ChristaJoy Music Publishing (Admin. by Bethel Music Publishing)

Mercy / Vineyard Publishing (Admin. by Integrity Music)

Bethel Music Publishing

CCLI License # 810055

 

As the World Turns

The calendar has come ‘round again and tomorrow I mark #67. I would feel ‘old,’ except that I have a friend who will be joining a celebration for her grandmother weekend. That woman is marking her centennial (100!) this year.  Compared to her, I’m still a kid.   

I joked with my children that I miss waking up without something hurting. When I reflect on my life I am, above all else, full of gratitude for God’s grace to me. He has made my days rich in so many ways. There a thousand joyful memories that play in my thoughts. Oh yes, there are some regrets that make me cringe, too. The one constant is the love of my Father, the hope and peace that I have found in Him through every season.

Solomon wrote us from the days near the end of his life.  His counsel is that we "Remember him—before the silver cord is severed, or the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, or the wheel broken at the well, and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it." (Ecclesiastes 12:6-7, NIV)   

How easily we forget God or at least marginalize Him when life is full of kids, work, friends, and activities. Yes, we can outrun the awareness of our mortality, of the brevity of life, for decades. And then, we lose a parent to death, we become aware of our aging body, we see the lines of age etching themselves onto our faces – and for some that becomes a crisis.

In Ecclesiastes, Solomon writes poetically about the approach of age. I wonder if he laughed as he wrote them? They make me smile.  “The days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them”— before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars grow dark, and the clouds return after the rain; when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men stoop, when the grinders cease because they are few, and those looking through the windows grow dim; when the doors to the street are closed and the sound of grinding fades; when men rise up at the sound of birds, but all their songs grow faint; when men are afraid of heights and of dangers in the streets; when the almond tree blossoms and the grasshopper drags himself along and desire no longer is stirred." (Ecclesiastes 12:1-5, NIV)   Eyesight fades! Legs grow weak! Teeth fall out!  Though hearing is less acute, even a bird’s song will awaken the aged! Caution grows as awareness of danger increases!  Hair turns white! Passion dies! 

Some of you aren’t smiling. That sounds grim and awful. Some of you are thinking, “I can relate.”   

Whatever your season in life, there is one thing true for each one of us – Time stops for no one. 
Must that mean dread, fear, and misery? Without hope it could. But, for those who know God, eternity becomes more real with each passing year, the anticipation of heaven’s home truly is ‘sweeter every day.’ 

Build your relationship with God now.  That’s Solomon’s counsel.  The wise know that He is life’s meaning, that He gives purpose and peace.

This short reflection closes with this word from the Word. "Don’t let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator. Honor him in your youth before you grow old and no longer enjoy living. …  my child, be warned: There is no end of opinions ready to be expressed. Studying them can go on forever and become very exhausting! 

Here is my final conclusion:
Fear God and obey his commands, for this is the duty of every person. God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad." (Ecclesiastes 12:1, 12-14, NLT)

(Video of this blog at this link)

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Build My Life

(Let this worship song speak to you today)

Worthy of ev’ry song we could ever sing
Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring
Worthy of ev’ry breath we could ever breathe
We live for You

Jesus the name above ev’ry other name
Jesus the only one who could ever save
Worthy of ev’ry breath we could ever breathe

We live for You We live for You

Holy there is no one like You
There is none besides You
Open up my eyes in wonder and show me who You are
And fill me with Your heart
And lead me in Your love to those around me

I will build my life upon Your love
It is a firm foundation
I will put my trust in You alone
And I will not be shaken

Brett Younker | Karl Martin | Kirby Elizabeth Kaple | Matt Redman | Pat Barrett © 2016 Martin, Karl Andrew (Admin. by Arkyard Music Services Limited) Kaple Music (Admin. by Bethel Music Publishing) Bethel Music Publishing

CCLI License # 810055