Tall Trees

Psalm 92:12-15
12 The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,
they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;
13 planted in the house of the Lord,
they will flourish in the courts of our God.
14 They will still bear fruit in old age,
they will stay fresh and green,
15 proclaiming, “The Lord is upright;

I recently learned that the oldest living thing on the planet is a bristlecone pine tree in California that is at least 4,600 years old and is aptly named Methuselah. This thing started growing before most cultures had recorded history. It shatters any conception we might have for a long life. Though it’s growth at this point is measured in millimeters per year it stands tall and proud as a symbol of the lifetimes that came before us and the lifetimes still to come.

In this Psalm, the tree is considered as something strong and flourishing. It is something that we should be trying to mimic in our faith. It has roots buried deep in God’s teaching. It grows tall as it reaches for the heavens. It is strong because it is fed by the word of the Lord. And though it reached maturity years ago it still bears good fruit that is able to encourage or sustain the people.

We all want to have the strength and longevity of a tree like this. We want our faith to be an ever-present reminder of where we are planted and why we are growing. While everyone of us, like every tree, will eventually pass away, the legacy we leave behind can have an impact for many generations to come.

Where are your roots planted? From what soil do you pull your nutrients and sustenance? As you age and grow tall what do you reach for?

Psalm 62:5, “For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.”

Open to Reason

Have you ever known someone who had to be right all the time, someone who always had to get the last word, someone who believed being loud was the same as being persuasive? They are not very fun to be around. And when describing them the first words that come to mind are rarely kind. These people are hard to get along with, even when (sometimes) we are those exact people.

If you are a follower of Jesus, then your call is to do your best to imitate the life and work of Christ. Jesus embodied love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. I think on my very best days I might hit two of those. Yet every day in the news, on social media, and face to face we see people—who would outwardly claim to cling to the cross of Jesus—look at those traits like a list of weaknesses.

Why is it so hard to follow the example of Jesus? Why is it so easy to look at sinful choices and call them “Christian?” Jesus called on you because he loved you and wanted you to be different. Jesus called on you because he wants you to bring his message of hope into the world.

James the brother of Jesus says it this way in James 3:13-18, “Who is wise and understanding among you? By their good conduct let them show their works in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth.15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”

Is the wisdom with which you interact with the world coming from above or from your own heart? It is not easy to see sometimes.

Trophies

A few weeks ago, at the Cadet’s regional Pinewood Derby, a kid won his first trophy. Not a participation certificate, not an “everyone that shows up gets something” award. A legit, he put in the work and was rewarded for his effort trophy. He was so proud, and his family was excited for him. While, yes Restore overall took home 6 of the 8 available trophies, this one stands out because he is one of our kids that might have a harder time fitting in.

Our Cadets and GEMS leaders do an amazing job of welcoming in kids that might be a little different, kids that might need a little extra patience, but like all kids (and adults) we recognize that they need to be introduced to the saving grace of Jesus. I hope you know the experience of someone taking a little extra time for you. I hope you have seen someone who had every right to be impatient with you take a breath and sit with you anyway.

The choice these leaders make to love these kids well is the same grace Jesus shows all of us. We don’t deserve any of it, in fact most of us deserve the exact opposite. Still John 1:14-17 says this,

“14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.15 (John [the Baptist] bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”)16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

We all have moments in our lives when we need more grace than we thought. We all have moments where we need to show someone else more grace than they deserve. Let us be the people who are known for showing patience and grace to people, even those who may not be deserving. Let us be the ones who are filled with Christ’s love. Let us be the ones who celebrate some kid getting his first trophy because he felt safe enough to try.

Laters

What are the last words you say to people when they depart a gathering? Or you’re leaving from a family visit? Most of the time we say something casual: see you later, love you, bye, peace out cub scout. And if you’re closing out an email it can be even shorter. In the epistles, the letters, of the New Testament the authors took this as the opportunity to bless and encourage the people who would read their letters.

Many of the letters had strong instructions or deep difficult corrections that would not be easy to hear but were ultimately necessary. And just like a good parent correcting their children the most important thing of all was for the recipient to know that they are loved. You only give your strong feelings toward people you love or people you hate. Indifference is indifferent it doesn’t care one way or the other.

Even when the instructions are harsh the authors close their letters by giving glory to God. Paul closes Ephesians (6:23-24) by saying, “23 Peace to the brothers and sisters, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.”

At all times, our priority is found in giving glory to God. At all times, our priority is reminding others of the love of God. At all times, we can work to show people the grace of Jesus Christ. It’s easy to forget. We rarely leave some place not knowing if we are going to see those people again, but life is unpredictable. We should do our best to share the encouragement and joy that we have with the people around us.

The next time you say good-bye, think about how you want to be remembered. Think about what is most important for the people you’re around to know (or remember) about you.

Old Ways

I walk down the stairs all by myself. I drink from a cup with NO LID and rarely spill a drop. I put teetee in the potty all by myself. All of this, and no one ever cheers for me when I do it. It’s been this way for years. But whenever a toddler, does everyone acts like they did the coolest magic trick that anyone has ever seen. Along the lines of levitating while finding your signed card inside of an orange.

I’m just trying to say maybe take it down a notch with the toddlers. Totally kidding! What I’m actually saying is that we don’t praise these things in adults because they are expected and normal for most people. Barring some medical incident, we don’t expect adults to regress to acting like a child again in how they function.

While we don’t do it with our physical lives, we seem to do it all the time with our spiritual lives. We take a bold step of faith. Then spend the next month wondering if we made the right choice. When we are making the moves that God is leading us to we don’t need to be afraid.

Paul in Romans 8:15-18 puts it this way, “15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons and daughters, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”

We have been called to live a life close to God and led by Christ. Will it be easy? Maybe sometimes, but usually, not really. Will there be times when we need to move even when we are scared? Literally all the time.

God didn’t call you to be the most fearless person to ever live. God called you to be brave—be scared and move forward anyway.

Christ Is Risen

In Luke 22 Jesus institutes the Lord’s Supper. It is one of the two sacraments that protestants still observe. The other being baptism. We hold on to these two because we see the instructions from Jesus to do so. Through observing the Lord’s Supper, we get to experience and be reminded of the sacrifice Christ has made on our behalf.

In Luke 22: 17-20 Jesus says, “17 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. 18 For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” 19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

However, right after Jesus tells the disciples that everything is changing, they have the most human reaction I can think of. They start quarreling about who was the greatest. It’s like they said, “earth shattering news is cool and all, but which one of us is better than everyone else?”

We have times that we can’t just sit and enjoy the good things God has given us. We let sinful desires like being better than our neighbor creep in. And how does Jesus answer their question? By telling them, “let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves.” We have enough people in the world trying to one-up and out-do everyone else.

To be truly great you must be willing to serve others. True greatness is living out the will of God the father. True leadership is showing people how we can all succeed together.

God With Us

Psalm 23:6 says, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

God, the good Shepherd has called us to live in faithful expectation. It is really, really hard to do. We want to live in a world where all hardship and calamity is avoided. We want to live in a world where we are happy all the time and everything comes easily. Sadly, that is not the reality in which we live. We must face a world that will have ups and downs, a world that has good times and bad times. Through it all, we can trust that goodness and mercy will be there for us.

If you examine your life and think about the hardships you’ve faced you can see the lessons that you learned along the way. We can be hardheaded, dumb little sheep sometimes that refuse to learn by any other means than the hard way. We are allowed to make mistakes because from those mistakes we learn to lean on the goodness and mercy of the Shepherd. From those mistakes we can try and save other people from falling into the same hole we did.

No matter where we go in life, we can feel the assurance of having an eternal home with God. We are given the promise of dwelling in the house of the Lord forever. In the Old Testament, to share a table created a bond of mutual loyalty and trust. God has given us a seat at his table and so much more as we are invited to be guests in his home forever. We only need to accept the invitation placed on our lives.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

The Table

Psalm 23:5 says, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.”

Have you ever been invited to a banquet or a wedding reception where they pulled out all the stops? Tables lavishly decorated, food fit for royalty, centerpieces, place settings, and so many forks you don’t even know where to start. If done correctly it is a fun and engaging experience. This is the table that God is trying to invite us all to enjoy. He has provided for all our needs; we have all we could ever want.

However, we can be hesitant to participate at such a table. We can feel undeserving, or worse we could feel the presence of our enemies. It’s hard to eat and enjoy your food when you feel stressed out or surrounded. Soldiers on a battlefield don’t get to call a time out because someone set the table and rang the dinner bell. Any meal they eat is scarfed down quickly because they never know when they will be needed to defend the line.

Unfortunately, a lot of people live their whole lives eating in survival mode. We need to learn how to trust that God will take care of us and eat. The troubles of the world and your enemies will still be there when you’ve been fed, but you’ll be able to face them with more strength and assurance that you are on the right path.

The good Shepherd wants to provide us with so much that our cups overflow with the grace and love that he has given us. And as it overflows we can turn some of those enemies we once feared into brothers and sisters that we can love.

This verse points us to the refreshment that God wants to provide for us if we would only look towards the Shepherd and trust him.

Walk Through The Valley

Psalm 23:4 says, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

Have you ever gotten deeply lost in an unfamiliar area? You trusted the GPS a little too much and ended up in a part of town all the locals know not to drive through. It can be a harrowing experience. Or worse, you see the walls of the valley closing in around you emotionally; you feel alone or abandoned. What do you do?

The answer for both of those scenarios is that you keep going. If there is a path that led you to this place, there is path that leads out. Sometimes you need to backtrack and sometimes you need to forge on ahead. No matter what, there is always a way out of the valley. It takes effort, but we can remind ourselves that we are not alone because the Shepherd is always with us.

Even when we are afraid, we can look to the Shepherd to comfort us. When we look to him, we can see that he is not worried or afraid of what is to come. It may not be easy. It may not be fun. But any challenge that we face is a surmountable one because the Shepherd’s rod and staff are there to comfort me.

Most of us don’t have much use for a rod or staff in our daily lives. However, we can see these as all the tools a shepherd needs to care for his flock. The rod was likely an instrument to defend against predators. And the staff was the traditional shepherds crook you see that could be used to pull sheep back from danger or get them back on the path.

The good Shepherd has all that is necessary to keep us safe, even when we feel like we’re walking through the valley of the shadow of death.

Restoration

Psalm 23:3 says, “[The Lord is my shepherd] he restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.” As we embrace the Lord as our Shepherd, we can feel the restoration of our soul taking place. Much of life can feel so draining. Work demands, family demands, social demands, personal demands; each of these things pull us in various directions trying to take our time and attention. And no one would say any of those pulls are inherently bad, sure they can grow to unhealthy places, but for the most part meeting those needs is a good thing.

However, just as we recognize the things that pull us in multiple directions, we must also recognize our need for restoration. Have you ever been really thirsty, and that first cup of water just isn’t enough? What do you do? You fill it up again, and again, and again until your thirst is quenched. We need to take the time and allow God to replenish us at the soul level.

How? Maybe you read your Bible, maybe listen to some music, maybe you spend time with your community receiving encouragement. Whatever restores you the best, go out and do it. Most of the demands of life aren’t going away anytime soon.

When we keep our eyes on the good Shepherd, we can follow him onto the path of righteousness. When we are on this path, we can trust that the waters of restoration are planned to be ahead, and we can trust that we are going in the right direction. Even if we stray, we can see that the Shepherd is there to lead us back to where we need to be.

None of this needs to be earned. The Shepherd is not impressed by you being the best sheep you can be. The Shepherd loves you because you are one of his.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Resting

Psalm 23:1-2 says, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.” I don’t know when the last time you lay down in a green pasture was—but it’s pretty nice to do. Notice the verse says, “makes me lie down.” There are some of us that will only rest when we are forced to do it. We are so work and industriously minded that any time not spent “producing” is time wasted.

Modern vernacular even has a term for it: Grindset, a combination of grind and mindset. The idea is that you always need to be pushing towards the goal of getting richer, of having more. But what good is it to gain the whole world if it means you forfeit your soul?

When we trust the good Shepherd, we can see that he has our best interest in mind. The Shepherd knows the path ahead might be arduous. He knows that you need to rest now because you might not have another chance to rest for quite a while. The sheep doesn’t always know what is best, so he/she needs to trust in the Shepherd.

Philip Keller (in A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23) writes that sheep do not lie down easily and will not unless four conditions are met. Because they are timid, they will not lie down if they are afraid. Because they are social animals, they will not lie down if there is friction among the sheep. If flies or parasites trouble them, they will not lie down. Finally, if sheep are anxious about food, or hungry, they will not lie down. Rest comes because the shepherd has dealt with fear, friction, flies, and famine.

Some of us refuse to rest because we are afraid. We fear missing out on something. We fear looking like we’re lazy. Or we fear any number of things that are outside of our control. It is in these times that we must trust that The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Wanting

Psalm 23:1 says, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” Other translations will say I lack nothing, or I have everything I need. For some reason it’s really easy to agree with the first part, the Lord being our shepherd. We love the idea that someone is looking out for us. We can graze, and be dumb, and walk straight towards danger because we trust that the good Shepherd will be on the lookout for us. The Shepherd will pull us back from oblivion.

However, we have a much harder time embracing the second half. It is easy to SAY I lack nothing. It’s a lot harder to BELIEVE that you actually lack nothing. I hope there is an honest part of each person that strives to be content, but we all know that there are trillions of dollars being poured out to make you feel discontent.

Every new car you pass, every aisle you walk down in the grocery store, half of the images you scroll past on social media exist to make you want to buy more stuff. How can you be happy if you don’t have the latest and greatest? How much better would your life be if you had our thing instead of our competitor’s thing?

In the midst of all these things that are designed to distract us we need to point our dumb sheep heads back towards the Shepherd. The Lord is our Shepherd when we can focus on him, we can see that all we truly need is found in him. If we can ground our identity in who we are in Christ, a lot of the discontentment will fall away. Who cares about what kind of stuff you have when you are loved by God? How can life get better when you know God is with you?

You will still need to survive with your feet on the Earth, but when you trust that God is with you each step can feel a little lighter. The burden on your back can be a little easier to carry.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Getting Even

In 1 Peter 3:8-9 we are told, “Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.”

Statements like this are there in black and white, ink on paper all throughout the scripture. We read them, understand them, and then we say, “nah.” We agree that things would be better if we could have unity of mind. But what we mean is “things would be better is everyone else was unified with MY mind.” We never want to take the risk of seeing things from someone else’s perspective. Many people you know can’t even entertain the hypothetical that they might be wrong about anything.

It's a hard place to live when our only focus is getting even. All the more so when it means repaying evil for evil. I was hurt, therefore someone else should hurt. This is not the life God ever called you to live—especially not a life you lived “in the name of Christ.” Jesus himself tells us in John 13:35, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

So, what do we do? We fight! We fight our baser instincts to lash out. We fight the cynicism of thinking the people around us are a lost cause. We fight tooth and nail to show love to people who don’t deserve it.

Peter encourages us to keep our focus on doing good, 1 Peter 3:13-15, “13 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect…”

Is your hope so obvious that people ask you about it?

Renewal

A few weeks ago, I realized that I needed to renew my driver’s license. With what I wanted to do I had to go into an office. We all know the reputation the DMV has. It takes forever, it’s inconvenient, and it’s always your fault for not having a form that feels like it might not exist.

When I arrived, there was a woman directing the initial traffic and pre-checking forms of the people in the line. I was honestly amazed by her patience. Places like this involve the full cross-section of humanity. From the smartest, most organized, prepared people (like you and me), to the dumbest person you’re afraid to see behind a wheel (whomever you just thought of you owe an apology).

No matter who showed up this lady was happy, and welcoming, and excited to help. I’m pretty sure I heard her speak at least three languages too. She knew her job and was there to help. She may have dropped a few, “Ay, Dios Mío,” when someone was wildly unprepared, and then did what she needed to help them reach their goal.

You make a million choices every day; not the least of which is how you treat the people around you. We need to remember the grace and love we have been given and then try and share that with the people around us.

Paul in 1 Timothy 1:12-15 says,

“12 I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.”

We’ve all had moments when we were the one who showed up unprepared. We were the ones that needed help. The grace we received should be an inspiration for the grace we are able to offer the people we meet even if they make us say, “Ay, Dios Mío.”

Check The GPS

If you are above a certain age, you have lived through the evolution of how we navigate when we are driving. In the long-long ago we had atlas books that had the major highways and some cities, or paper maps that never quite folded back the way you wanted. With the advent of the internet, we had MapQuest where you could put in your destination and print out your turn-by-turn directions to anywhere you wanted to go. With maps, you needed some basic knowledge for how to use them. With MapQuest, you needed to pre-plan your trip. But then came affordable GPS!

You didn’t need to know anything more than your desired destination. You had the GPS with you and just punched in an address. And now it is an app on just about every phone. We always have something that will give us step-by-step instructions on how to get from where we are to where we want to be. This service tells us where we are, where we want to be, and how long it will take to get there. It encourages (possibly makes worse) our go-go-go mentality. We also lose some of the adventure we might find by taking a wrong turn.

In Psalm 25 David says this,
“3 Indeed, none who wait for you [God] shall be put to shame;
they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
4 Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
teach me your paths.
5 Lead me in your truth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all the day long.”

Sometimes, instead of the go-go-go, we need to slow down and wait. Sometimes, we need to get off the fastest path to find what we need. Sometimes, we get so focused on where we WANT to go that we lose sight of where God NEEDS us to go.

We are pushed and emboldened to move forward, move faster, to always be making forward progress. When what we might need the most is to slow down and wait on the Lord to lead us to where we really need to be.

Worry Worry Worry

Paul in Philippians 4:6-7 says, 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

For many people, it is easy to scoff at those first six words. “Don’t be anxious,” why didn’t I think of that, as you put your palm to your forehead? There are many times that our anxiety is brought upon us by the feelings of being out of control. It is in those very times that we need to keep reading the rest of the verse. When we feel that way we should turn to God in prayer and supplication (supplication can be seen as making our requests known).

I’ve been going to church for a long time, and if there is one area I’ve seen that is a struggle for numerous people it’s prayer. We feel weird talking out loud alone. We feel like prayers only work if we use extravagant language or talk like Shakespeare. We feel uncomfortable naming our struggles. When naming our struggles might be exactly what we need to do.

If you don’t take the time to name or understand your struggles, how will you ever cast those cares on God? God wants to be with you, and you will feel his presence more if you let him sit with you. No one is impressed when you bear a burden alone. In fact, they are usually multiplied by our fear and isolation.

Prayer will rarely solve our problems immediately and on the spot. However, prayer can give your heart a peace that surpasses all understanding. Christ is with you, he goes before you and is behind you. He is on your right and on your left.

What do you need to pray about today?

Love Them Too

Who in your life would you do anything to help? Who makes the list, where no mountain is too high or valley too low for you to make every effort to support or rescue them? Unless you are literally Superman then that list is understandable short. Very few of us have the capacity to be rescuing force for more than a handful of people.

As we consider our capacity to be with and around other people, what if we scaled back the question a lot. Who in your life do you have the ability to help in some small way? Who in your life do you have the ability to show kindness? The answer to those questions results in a much longer list. It costs nothing to say good morning.

Unfortunately, many of us have decided that we only really need the shorter of these two lists to make it in the world today. We know what Christians are supposed to do. We know what God would have us do. We know the call Christ has put on our lives. And in response we just say “nah.”

We forget the words of Luke 6:33-35 33 “And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. 35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.

We are not called to help those who help us. We are not called to just be a positive force in the world. We are called to love our enemies. And that’s way harder! As we look at the world, it is easy to see that love is lacking. You don’t have to change your whole life today, but you can make strides towards being more loving to the people around you. Even the people you consider enemies.

Expertise

If you’ve been on the internet at all in the last 10 years, then you know that we are surrounded by experts. Experts on everything. One person says eat these foods to live forever. While someone else says eating those same foods will LITERALLY kill you. If the team that lost the game had only done XYZ they would’ve won the game. From raising your kids, to medical advice, to a litany of life hacks it seems like far too many people are ready, willing, and able to tell you how to live your life.

Even in the church, a place where even if we have the same theology and trust in the same God, we can look at another body of believers and list off all the ways they are “doing it wrong” in our eyes. As something of an expert myself, I would like to join the rabble and offer my own authoritative solution.

What if we just let God be God? God’s been doing it longer and has more experience. What if we look to the way others do things (within orthodoxy of course) with hopeful expectation that we have the opportunity to learn something.

Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:18-19 puts it this way, 18 Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness.”

When we crown ourselves the experts on absolutely everything, we are telling the world, “I have nothing left to learn.” There is a phenomenon called the “trained incapacity of experts” wherein highly skilled individuals in a specific field become unable to think creatively or adapt to new situations due to their deep-rooted training and expertise.

God is doing new things around us all the time, if we have the eyes to see them. God is the expert. God is the authority. What would happen if you settled into place as the student?

Got Hard Times

There’s a passage in James that gets quoted a lot at people who are going through hard times. James 1:2-4 Count it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Given the choice I think most of us would choose the lacking nothing part and skip the whole “learning to be steadfast” part. We want the glory; we just don’t want the work. We want the scars and the stories; we just don’t want it to hurt. Unfortunately, muscles don’t grow unless you work them, and this applies to physical, mental, or emotional muscles. There’s a good number of people who recently gave up on going to the gym because after a month they didn’t lose fifty pounds and have a perfectly defined six-pack.

When we face hard times, we will rarely look at our situation in the moment and say, “I’m so happy that I get to learn and grow from this important life lesson!” More often, we just hate it for a season as we weather the storm of life. It’s only when we make it through to the other side of our situation, and maybe a time of rest, that we can reflect and see how God used a hard time to make us stronger.

But this passage seems to be a strong encouragement to keep going, don’t give up. No matter what you’re facing there will be an opportunity for joy again in the future. The hard times are going to be difficult and challenging, but God wants to use them to help you grow and become more resilient. If we know that hard times can’t be avoided; we can use them to learn more about ourselves and grow. Otherwise, we will have experienced them for nothing.

Snow Away

I have decided that I don’t like snow. Or at the very least, I believe snow should be a choice, or a destination that you move towards. It should not happen to me. Yes, it can be beautiful, and I recognize the serene quality of looking out over a landscape covered in freshly fallen flakes. Unfortunately, I also recognize the hassle it causes and the way it causes too many people to forget how to drive.

Even though there are things about it I don’t like, I am also open to seeing the lessons we can learn from snow. It gives the world outside your window a strange uniformity. You can feel a sense of purification as everything looks crisp, and clean, and white. It will eventually get driven over, piled up, and turn that weird dirty snow color, but for a moment, everything feels pure.

It is those moments of purity in our lives that we have such a hard time remembering. God made the world and everything in it, and as believers we can lean into that as we learn how to trust God more. Our God is the God of all creation; of water, earth and sky.

Psalm 104:24-25 tells us
O Lord, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom have you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
Here is the sea, great and wide,
which teems with creatures innumerable,
living things both small and great. —

And John Calvin, sixteenth-century theologian, wrote, “The creation is quite like a spacious and splendid house, provided and filled with the most exquisite and the most abundant furnishings. Everything in it tells us of God.” God made the world for us to live. God made the world for us to learn.

How have you seen God in the world around you this week?