A Resting Place

“And the ark of the covenant of the LORD went before them in the three days’ journey, to search out a resting place for them.”—Numbers 10:33b

With Thanksgiving drawing near, and along with that, menus to create, shopping lists to make, and chores to do, this season’s busyness may eclipse something very important God wants us to know or, rather, something He wants us to remember: His glorious work in our lives.

My husband and I are participating in a small group at the church we are attending. Over the last couple months, we have met every other week. We have prayed for one another, gotten to know one another, and discussed the Sunday sermons and its themes and how they apply to our lives.

Last night, we broke off into two smaller groups, and a beautiful thing happened in our midst. We each shared our testimonies. We shared salient points in our spiritual journey that led us to Jesus, and the moment we came to faith in Him, each of us coming to Him through different circumstances. 

Some came to faith quietly, others with great drama, and still others somewhere in between.

In that beautiful time of sharing, though, I remembered something so very precious I had forgotten in my own testimony. It was not the story of my faith in Christ but the beginning of my story in how I came to give my life to Him, when I became His disciple.

It began when I had sought counseling from my family’s pastor in my early twenties because I had “blown” it with that same family. I had crossed the line in my anger and disrespect toward them, and I knew I needed help. As I was sitting in this pastor’s living room, he began sharing a story from Scripture. I thought he might as well have been speaking Greek as I was so unused to Biblical names and the formal style of Biblical writing. That did not matter though, because the Holy Spirit removed a dark veil from my understanding and deposited truth into my heart that broke me. In less than an hour, I knew my sin. I knew I had a problem with authority and that was the “root” error in my life and the source of many of my poor decisions. I knew it was a result of my parents’ divorce and the broken boundaries that resulted. I knew it was not my fault, which gave me a tremendous amount of consolation and comfort. What was my fault and would continue to be my fault, though, was how I would choose to live my life in light of my problem with authority.

When I left this wonderful pastor’s home (he did become my pastor, by the way, and he was a man God used to grow me and mold me into the Christian I am today), I remember walking to my car and having this sense of vulnerability I had not experienced for a long time. It was as if my heart that had been hardened over the years had finally softened and became open to the love of God for me. At the same time, God healed me in that He gave me the ability to forgive my father, who I was the most hurt by, as he was the one who left our family and started this cascade of unfortunate events in my life that were out of my control.

It was the most beautiful thing, and sadly, I had forgotten it. I did not forget Him giving me the gift of His forgiveness toward my dad, but I forgot being broken through His Word sitting in my soon-to-be pastor’s living room. I forgot that beautiful feeling of vulnerability after so many years of being hard.

Well, this Thanksgiving, I want to remember how God brought me to my “resting place.” I want to remember how much He loves me and how much He sought me out and cleaned up my life in order to experience His love with a pure conscience. My sins had become such a heavy load, and I was nearing the moment I would repent of those sins and lay my life down at His feet to do with it what He will. But before the moment I gave my life to Him, Jesus had allowed me to truly feel His life in me for which I am thankful.

I encourage you to reflect on your journey with the Lord and remember a time you clearly felt His work in your life. Ask Him to show you a detail you may have forgotten and thank Him for what He has done for you.

And have a marvelous Thanksgiving!

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”—James 2:17

Park Bench in Onesti, Romania
(May 2005)

God's Gentleness

“...Thy gentleness hath made me great.”—Psalm 18:35c

Dearest Lord,

I think there is a tendency in me to view you in the opposite way of this verse, which is ironically situated between verses where David speaks of You helping him war against his enemies. As I feed on this verse, I believe I am introduced to a side of You that I need to know more about and then to follow.

Lord, there are those in Christendom, myself included (in more times than I care to admit), who are the opposite of this principle. They aren't gentle with their words in proclaiming the Gospel and Biblical truth. Perhaps I may be judging incorrectly, but I feel, rather, I believe they show and/or expose something within their own sin natures that is attracted toward a sinful anger and hate, which they then disguise in terms of God being just, hating every evil way, etc. While that is true about You, so also is the principle of You being gentle toward us, displaying perfect long suffering toward us who tempt You often with our sin and who fail daily in pleasing You. We live in a dispensation when Your grace triumphs, a time that precedes when the finger of Your wrath touches the earth.

With that said, Lord, there are others, again myself included depending on the subject, whose sin nature is attracted too far in error to the idea of Your gentleness, and they fail to stand firm against sin, for fear of controversy, not being liked, etc.

So, can I conclude there is a balance to Your gentleness that we ought to apply to our own lives?

One of the verses that has stood out to me in recent years is Isaiah 42:2, which shows a snapshot of Your humanness on earth and how You approached men. “He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.” While this can clearly be applied to how You did not answer Your accusers at the time of Your crucifixion, it was illustrated to me by a pastor in a class I was taking that it also speaks of how You approached men by not raising Your voice, and, can I add, yelling at them? To me, this is yet another verse that illustrates Your gentleness.

So, why do we as Christians spend our time belittling and tearing down one another under the cloak of “standing for the truth,” when this was not Your way. Yes, You were direct in Your words against the Pharisees, for example, but if You've commanded us in other places of Scripture to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15), surely it can be interpreted that was what You were doing.

You are all-knowing, possess perfect wisdom, and know the hearts of all men. While You walked this earth, Your life, Your words, and Your deeds were all motivated by a perfect love You have toward all mankind. It is our rejection of that truth on some level that makes us ugly, bitter people, who tear down instead of build up. It is also a rejection of that truth that makes us too passive toward sin and keep quiet when You call us to reach out to the lost by showing them their sin so that they may see why they need You.

And Lord, I don't understand all this perfectly myself, but there has to be a truth where we can honestly follow Your example of gentleness toward men and Your warning Spirit.

For gentleness, we can rest on Romans 12:18, “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with ALL men.” As for Your warning Spirit, as in the case of the woes against the Pharisees in Matthew 23, we can follow Your example of clearly exposing sin, yet pairing it with the same loving sentiment You had in that chapter in verse 37, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!”

In other words, there has to be a right way of talking to and about others where we don't allow our sin natures to be attracted to a sinful hate and anger OR attracted to an unrighteous, sin-condoning “love” toward men. That we are simply true to You and Your word, in truth and love. And gentleness.

Thank You, Jesus, for Your time and the meat of Your word. Continue to open my eyes and break up the fallow ground of my heart, so that I may see and perceive You and Your truth more clearly, in order that I may produce fruit that remains for Your glory.

“Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.”—Colossians 4:6

“And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.”—2 Timothy 2:24-26

“Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine.”—2 Timothy 4:2

Spokane, WA (June 2009)

Five Minute Friday: Fall

Thinking about the word compassion this morning has led me to read a handful of passages on it in the Bible, and what I realize is just how much I need to learn and live this subject. I am usually so quick to judge, to put people on the stand in my own little box I've made for them and to condemn them on where they are at in their lives and where they are not. And despite my knowing that this is totally not my place, I find myself doing it over and over and over again.

I fall. A lot.

And then Jesus takes my fallen self, and lifts me back up. He tells me that a just man falls seven times and rises up again. Surely, you can allow people in your life to do the same. Am I being like Jesus when I perform a trial in my heart for someone? Wouldn't it be better to stop before I take them to the stand, and ask Jesus, Lord, how can you use me to keep them from falling? How can I be a help, even in the quiet of my heart where only God and I see the trials I put on for people.

Lord, please keep me from falling.

Sullivan Lake (Near Ione, WA)
Fall 2007

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Thou Shouldest Have

“And [Joash the king of Israel] smote thrice, and stayed. And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice.”—2 Kings 13:18-19

It takes great faith to put oneself “out there.” It takes great faith to prove God and wait for His response. It takes great faith to trust Him with our lives.

Just consider this king of Israel. He pleaded with God’s prophet to do something about the coming invasion of Syria. Elisha told him to put his hand upon the bow, and he did that. Then, Elisha told him to open the window eastward. He did that. He was then told to shoot an arrow, and he did that, too. Finally, Elisha said to Joash to take the arrows and smite the ground. There was no explanation as to why he was supposed to do this or for how many times, but just that he should.

He hits the ground three times and stays.

Was this a test of his urgency of how much he truly wanted God’s help? Did he stop because he felt like he looked foolish long enough obeying the prophet of God? Or did he stay because he had some sort of “foolish mercy” (so says Matthew Henry’s Commentary) toward the Syrians?

Whatever the reason, his hesitancy angered the man of God because I believe if the king had showed more faith, courage and/or desire for God’s help, he would have smote the ground more times, and the Syrian army would have been defeated completely.

So often we don’t do the things we should do and vice versa. Paul said it perfectly through the Holy Spirit in verse Romans 7:19. “For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.”  

But we also do the things we should, thankfully, but not with our whole heart thereby missing the opportunity to bring something to its proper end. This is where the verse above sticks because I can see much of this in my own life in the areas of my talents, especially.

He then brought to my mind another wonderful verse in Psalm 78:41 that reminded me that God’s people “limited the Holy One of Israel,” and how we do that in our lives.

God makes each of us for a purpose. That purpose may be to shout about Him from the “rooftops” or to quietly in the shadows of the days, months, and years, to raise a godly family and nurture a godly marriage for a great witness to the world. The purpose could be a number of things at once or various things in the process of time. Whatever His design, we each are designed by God to be used for His glory.

And we should not limit Him. But trust Him. Completely. With our whole heart.

Onesti, Romania (2005)

Pearls Before Swine

“Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.”

—Proverbs 23:9

“Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.”—Matthew 7:6

Pearls before swine.

Just those three words paint a very strange and descriptive picture, and one that I think is not very pleasant. It leads me to consider how often I go about my conversations with others, hoping to give some godly, Biblical advice, and yet sometimes there is a catch in my spirit that does not give me liberty to do so. I come back to the truths expressed in these verses above. One who does not and will not listen to sound wisdom is one who we ought not to present our understanding.

Isn’t that a strange concept when we are commanded to preach the gospel everywhere and to be a witness? I believe God has given us a guide in these verses, letting us know that not everyone will receive truth, so don’t even try because, in effect, you are casting your pearls of wisdom before the swine, the fool. It’s sad to think there are people in the world, whom God died for, but whom He considers dogs and swine in their understanding. Unable to grasp the truths of His word and apply them to their lives.

And as if that wasn’t a bleak enough picture, He even says the giver of wisdom will be despised by the dogs and swine and that they will do evil to the wisdom giver.

Now, I feel led to say, I believe the Bible teaches that the Gospel should be given to all men, everywhere. Perhaps the truths expressed in these verses above provide a balance by guiding us that not everybody’s mind will be changed. In fact, there are some who we ought not to talk with further beyond the Gospel.

I apply this in my day-to-day dealings with others. How that, sometimes, by casting God’s pearls of wisdom before others, I may be setting myself up to be despised, and possibly injured. And if I do this despite the Holy Spirit’s leading not to, I am at fault, not God. However, if God leads me to say something, that is another story altogether.

It’s not a very nice picture of some people, myself included, as I know I am not always “ready” to hear God’s truth. Thankfully, though, we can trust God’s Holy Spirit to not only lead us and guide us when we should or should not dispense to others what we may have beautifully learned in God’s word, but that He also will help us get ready to hear the truths He’s waiting to tell us.

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: … a time to keep silence, and a time to speak.”—Ecclesiastes 3:1 and 7b

Village of Tescan, Romania. (2004)

Who Did Hinder You?

“Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?”—Galatians 5:7

This verse is a gentle rebuke of how I allow the lies of the devil to pierce through my heart and diminish my love for my Savior. I feel as though I not only allow his lies to affect my walk, but also the cares of this world and my own flesh to hinder me from the freedom that is in Christ Jesus.

The cares of this world choke the fruits of God’s Spirit, like weeds choke out the beauty of a once thriving and healthy garden. My own fleshly complacency in tending to my love for my Savior has probably been the biggest factor, though, as it is truly weak by laziness and not really liking to hear God’s rebukes no matter how tender He is with me.

How easy is it for all of us to turn from the truths of God to the lies of Satan? I hate that it is very easy, especially when we walk in the flesh. I would so much rather hear the praises of men, than the gentle whispers of God’s correction.

I keep bringing up this idea of listening to the devil’s lies because I think this is from whence many of our paths get off course. One lie and then another, and slowly, our Christian life becomes a shell of what it once was.

For example, I can easily believe Satan’s lie that God only tells me what I am doing wrong never what I am doing right. God just criticizes me. So, why listen to Him at all? God will ask too much of me or what He asks will be just too unbearable. I have to remind myself all those thoughts are lies.  In fact, it is only through God’s correction that I am liberated from bondage to those things that hinder my walk with Him.

Thankfully, I believe God has given me the strength to stay the course in one area of my Christian life: Bible reading. I continue to read His Word regularly, only occasionally missing a day. I firmly believe I am not equipped or complete without His truth guiding me through the various lies the devil throws at me, as well as the lies my flesh simply likes to entertain.

Oh, Lord, so much hinders me. I’m so sorry. Please help me to recognize any of those hindrances, help me in my weaknesses and remove far from me those things that will hurt me, hurt others, and make my relationship with you less than what it should be.

Ayutthaya, Thailand (2000)