Crash

I heard a story the other day about a couple, sleeping soundly in their bed, who were awakened by the terrifying crash of their neighbor’s tree tearing through the roof of their bedroom. Through no fault of their own, their night and their house were ruined. If this isn’t a metaphor for 2020, I don’t know what is. In January/February we heard about this nasty bug that was going around in Italy, and by March were all in lockdown. 

Out of nowhere this thing came along and ruined our year. Thankfully we are the people of hope and we have someone to turn in these times of trouble. Psalm 147 says,

1 Praise the Lord. 

How good it is to sing praises to our God,
    how pleasant and fitting to praise him!

2 The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
    he gathers the exiles of Israel.
3 He heals the brokenhearted
    and binds up their wounds.
4 He determines the number of the stars
    and calls them each by name.
5 Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
    his understanding has no limit.

Though we are scattered, exiled if you will, we know and can find comfort that the Lord will gather us together in the future. Though our heart breaks from cancelled plans and opportunities that feel lost, we know that our wounds can be healed. We worship a God who has counted the uncountable, and if God can know them so well how much more does God know us?

When this current trouble passes (and it will). You are not required to look back at this time fondly. The year 2020 doesn’t need to be celebrated as a time we all hunkered down to watch too many hours of television and assemble more puzzles than we have done in the previous decade. We can grieve it and grieve it together. However, in that grief we know that there is a God that will gather us from this in-home exile to be together once again.

How good it is to sing praises to our God!

I Rejoice and Complain

For a lot of people, tomorrow is going to stink! Out of compassion, many of us have made the hard choice to cancel plans, visits, get-togethers, and parties. We want to travel and gather with those most precious to us and share a feast celebrating the good times we’ve had this year. There might not be anything more 2020 than making us rethink our yearly celebration of gratitude. Thankfully, we serve a God who wants to be with us in the hard times and the good.

Through the gamut of emotions we experience, we can call out to God and he responds with love and understanding. As I was listening to a singer the other day, she wrote in her song about the loss of her friend, “I know there's a God and He hears either way / And I rejoice, and complain / Lift my voice, that I was made / Somebody's listening at night.” 

Jesus says in Matthew 11, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” He doesn’t call us to get dressed up or perfected. He calls us when we are dirty and worn out, stressed and frazzled, weary and over-burdened. As we collectively limp through the last few weeks of 2020, I hope we can find our rest in the savior who is ready to listen when you rejoice and listen when you complain.

1 Peter 5:6-7 says, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on Him, because he cares for you.” 

As you go around your Thanksgiving Zoom call, racking your brain for something to be thankful for in this no good, very bad, awful, dumpster-fire of a year, I hope at the very least you have found a way to cast your anxieties on the Lord. While it may not remove them, I pray that you know that you don’t need to face them alone.

Happy Thanksgiving. I am thankful for you!

Afflicted

There is an affliction that can happen at any time, but really starts hitting people hard this time of year: comfy bed syndrome. This occurs when you wake up in the morning already knowing it’s going to be cold outside. You curl into the blankets a little tighter, and start thinking, “5 more minutes” like back in high school. The stresses of your daily life haven’t reached out to grab you just yet. The bed is warm and soft and safe. There is no cure for comfy bed syndrome because we use it as the remedy for so many other things.

I hope you have a comfy bed. I hope there are times that you can find good rest. However, most mornings, you know that you must leave that comfort and start your day, the world needs you. You can get a small reprieve from actually starting, but comfy shower syndrome is a discussion for another time. I don’t want this to sound like a trivial decision. Leaving the warmth of your blankets, while a small one, is still a sacrifice. A sacrifice we are willing to make because of the greater things it will lead to.

In 2020 we have been asked to sacrifice a lot: vacations, going to restaurants, time with family, work opportunities, normal church services, and the list goes on and on. And we do this for the greater good because we have been called to love. In John 15:12-13 Jesus says, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down their life for their friends.”

As the people of hope we have an eternal view. Following the calls for safety and having a church service / birthday / wedding / Thanksgiving that is a far cry from the one we want or envision is okay because we lay down our desire for our friends out of love. We can be uncomfortable because we know it is only temporary.

I hate wearing a mask. I have a giant head, beard, and glasses—three strikes! It is a discomfort that most of us never knew before this summer, but we can make the small sacrifices today because we see the large gains that will happen for the brothers and sisters around us tomorrow.

They will know we are Christians by our love.

Love Simple

You ever use the internet? It’s pretty wild you can find information and entertainment and someone willing to argue with you about literally anything. It is also an amazing distraction machine. You think you have one quick thing to look up and in the blink of an eye you’re 12 pages deep on some clickbait article and they still haven’t told you why you never see “former celebrity” anymore. And social media has the desire for “one more swipe” down to a science.

How much more productive could we be if we could ignore all the distractions? This happens in our lives as Christians too. We have been given fairly simple instructions on how we should live as followers of Christ. Jesus put it plainly in Matthew 22,

35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”37 And he [Jesus] said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

That’s it. That is what we are called to do: love God, love others. The people who know that their sins are forgiven, the people who understand the sacrifice made on their behalf should be the people who are excited to bring others into that kind of peace. But we get distracted.

We fall into the temptation of being the go-betweens of grace, “Don’t worry creator of the universe I can decide who really deserves your love.” Unfortunately for us, the scripture never told you to love the “right” neighbors. It just says you need to love your neighbor. Full stop, no loopholes, no exceptions.

When we allow distractions like who they voted for, what they look like, or how much money they have determine how much we can love them, we have already failed. Loving people, while stated simply, is hard. We need to put away all the stuff that, eternally, doesn’t matter. 

Love God, love people. It really is that easy.

High Road

Philippians 4
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 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.

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

Paul wrote these words to the church at Philippi as a reminder that we are all in this together. There was some minor disagreement between a couple people about the best/correct way to move forward on an issue. This probably wasn’t some life or death decision that would determine the future of the church. Unfortunately, many people who have grown up in the church can think of times where these types of issues have caused a major rift.

And it is in conflicted times like this that we must remember that we are called to take the higher road—called to lay down our preferences for the sake of gospel unity. We all have ideas on how we think things should be, and we have to choose how we express those opinions. Do you do in such a way that that makes the body of Christ stronger? Or do you resort to demands, or temper-tantrums, or just being a general discouragement? 

Being a Christian in our modern world is hard. We are surrounded by distractions, and obstacles, and people who don’t understand our faith. There is enough of that in the world, we don’t need more of the same in the church.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. And as you think on these things share them with your fellow Christian.

We are all in this together!

One Way or the Other

Romans 15:13 - May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Next week a lot of people are going to be mad. As we make our way to the mailbox or polling station, we cast our ballots for the person we want to be president for the next four years. This election, like every other election I can remember, is being called the most important election in history. And while it is important for the country that we make the better choice, we also shouldn’t be putting all our hope in a sinful human to fix the world.

You’ve heard all the metaphors that we use to describe opinions, and most of them are correct: they stink. Thankfully, our opinions don’t have any effect on what is true. You are loved by God and He wants the two of you to grow ever closer together. God loves your neighbor too, and that means that He might want to use you to show that love through the kindness of His children.

It doesn’t matter who we vote for if we know and trust that God is in control. Our hope is not in an elected official. In the last six weeks have you spent as much time extolling the love of Christ as you have the merit of your favorite candidate? We can abound in hope that our life on Earth is temporary and these people we put in power have no influence on eternity.

As you think on the elections, ask yourself what is most important to you. Whether your favorite person wins or loses, you can still be gracious and kind. The Bible never called us to be good Americans, we are called to be citizens of Heaven and heralds of the most high. If the sign in your yard causes you to sin pluck it out.

No matter who is elected, please be generous, thoughtful, compassionate, benevolent, humane, charitable, and kind.

Promised

John 16:32-33 – Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home… 33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

I have a feeling this verse resonates a little more these days than it has in the past. Due to our current circumstances we can feel scattered. Things we used to do or want to do are more difficult if they are not just cancelled all together. Many people who have resisted change had to learn flexibility for the first time. How we did our jobs transformed from things we knew into things we had to learn. There is this collective cloud of lingering strain that pushes our daily stress up a notch or two.

Throughout it all we can take heart because we know that this world is in God’s hands. We can find peace in this tribulation because Christ has overcome the world. In the life and teachings of Jesus, it is interesting to note that we are offered peace, but we are promised tribulations. Jesus knows the heart of humanity—selfishness, greed, complaining, focusing on getting our own way, etc.—and offers us a way out. 

Being a Christian doesn’t eliminate our problems, sadly, we’re still going to run into them from time to time. However, it does give us a framework through which we can view them. We can be flexible when we don’t get our own way because we can trust God to work through the new way. We can put other people before ourselves or be generous because we trust God to provide for what we really need.

When Jesus said this, He knew what was coming for Him. He was about to be arrested, tortured, and killed, but he knew the end of the story. The tribulations we face are all temporary, they will end one way or the other, but it is while we are in the midst of them that we must cling to our faith and take heart, Jesus has overcome the world.

Friends with Trucks

2 Corinthians 9:7 - Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

I did two things this week that I don’t usually do. The first thing was exciting. I got a screaming deal on a (way too) big TV. I loaded it into my car with not an inch to spare. I nervously drove home and muscled it up the stairs into my house. I carefully attached the feet, put it in place, and powered it on. And, as I removed the protective cover, I am greeted by the colorful glow of a completely smashed in screen.

To say I was disappointed was an understatement. Not only was the broken TV huge let down, it also meant that I had been given a new chore. I had to figure out how to get the dumb thing back to the store!

This leads to the second thing which, for me, is nerve-racking. I had to ask someone for help; I hate asking for help. My natural inclination is to be fiercely independent and self-reliant. Thankfully, I had a friend who just recently bought a truck and was more than willing to jump in and help even when he only had a limited window. He came by, helped me load it up, carried it back to the store (where just took the refund), and brought me home again. All in, it took about 45 minutes, but it meant a lot to me that it was such an easy “yes.”

As you go through your daily life how easy is your “yes?” Can you give your time or resources easily or does it take some convincing? It is so easy for us to point to busyness, we’re always so busy. However, God has called us to prioritize people over projects. We can show love to our friends and neighbors by letting them interrupt our day.

We easily and quickly agree to the merits of mission’s work. We love to support people who go out and do the hard work of taking the Gospel to people. It gets a little hard when we are asked to do the work ourselves. Doing good deeds won’t impress God, however they make a big impression on the people around you. Theologian Martin Luther said, “God doesn’t need your good works, but your neighbor does.”

How can you be a cheerful giver this week?

Remember

Isaiah 44:21-22

Remember these things, O Jacob,
    and Israel, for you are my servant;
I formed you; you are my servant;
    O Israel, you will not be forgotten by me.

I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud
    and your sins like mist;
return to me, for I have redeemed you.

Do you ever have those thoughts from your past that you spend a little too much time dwelling on? Or, in a quiet moment, you are reminded of it out of nowhere? Like somehow your brain decided that your day was going a little too well, so it reminds you of that embarrassing moment from you past or that time you screwed up big time.

Sometimes these thoughts lead to conviction and then ultimately cause change for the better; while not always a pleasant process it is still useful for the betterment of our lives. However, these thoughts can also cause feelings of guilt or inadequacy, and it is these thoughts that we must, as Paul puts it in 2 Corinthians 10, take captive.

Through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross all our sins and transgressions have been blotted out. God has forgiven us; we don’t need to constantly feel sorry for the things we’ve done in the past. We were formed by His mighty hand. This means that we will never be forgotten or left behind because of something we did.

As believers we have been given the promise of salvation, there is nothing that can separate you from the love God has for you. Sin can bring about tension or break human relationships, and whenever we are the ones that have caused this tension, we should be the ones that seek to repair it. But when the problem is from years ago, or you are holding on to a grudge towards someone that is no longer in your life, you need to do the challenging work of releasing that to God.

When we are feeling low, God reminds us to simply return to Him because He has redeemed us.

Hungry

Psalm 107:4-9
4 Some wandered in desert wastes,
    finding no way to a city to dwell in;
5 hungry and thirsty,
    their soul fainted within them.
6 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he delivered them from their distress.
7 He led them by a straight way
    till they reached a city to dwell in.
8 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
    for his wondrous works to the children of man!
9 For he satisfies the longing soul,
    and the hungry soul he fills with good things.
 
In the world as it is right now, we can surely identify with the feeling of being lost in a desert wasteland. The future is unsure, we don’t know where the world will really go from here. Pessimists point to problems and use them as examples of how we are all doomed and it’s only going to get worse; while optimists always tell you that we are just about to turn a corner and then it’s all sunshine and rainbows. When the truth is, we usually won’t know what is going to happen until it arrives. 
 
What this means is that we all need to do our best to balance out the way we think—neither side has a track record of always being right. We have all had this feeling of being lost in the desert, and when you feel this way, I hope you also feel pulled to cry out to the Lord. When we face distress, it is so easy think, “that’s it, God has abandoned me.” 

I hope it is held in your heart that God will never leave you nor forsake you. Like the people lost in the desert he wants to lead you to a better place than where you are when you face your troubles. Verse 7 says He led them by a straight way. As a frail and meager human, I really wish it said, “He led them by the easy way.” The path we end up on as we follow God doesn’t always go the way we want. However, we can trust Him to lead us to a place where the longing of our souls is satisfied.

Sublime

How many times have you listened to your favorite song? Whether it is a golden oldie, something from your youth, or music composed for an orchestra 400 years ago I would guess the answer is somewhere in the triple digits­. There is some secret quality about these songs that can’t be explained that touches us on a level that is deeper than just catchy lyrics or melody. We don’t just like the song we are moved by it; no matter how many times we hear it we still feel impacted by it.

This attachment to a song is not something that is easily transferrable. I don’t know how many times I’ve tried to share music with people, and they just tell me that they think it’s weird (to be fair I’ve listened to some weird music). However, what other people think could never change your connection to your song.

This connection, this love, should be the way we view our relationship with God. If you’ve been a Christian for more than 20 minutes you’ve probably heard or read John 3:16-17, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

It’s easy to rattle these verses off. We’ve heard them so many times. We’ve said them so many times. But just like our favorite songs, this message, this summation of the gospel should bring tears to our eyes and motion to our feet. God loved you so much that He wanted to be connected with you for all eternity, even if it meant giving His only son in your place.

I pray that hearing the phrase “God loves you,” stirs something in your heart. Regardless of troubles we may face, God will never leave you behind. And more than just nice words, I hope this faith has found its way into your heart and mind so deeply that you can’t help but share it with the people around you. Even if they think it’s a little weird.

What Are We Doing Today?

Over the course of quarantine, I’m sure this question has taken on new meaning. Until very recently the answer was almost always, “the same thing we did yesterday: stay home to stay healthy.” In the before time however, we filled our days with activities to the point that saying you were super busy became cliché. As we look forward to a future beyond quarantine, we need to make a choice of what habits we hang on to and what we need to leave behind.

Millions of people realized the benefits of working remotely. That meeting that should have been an email was finally just an email! Let’s keep that. That long arduous commute twice a day, let’s leave that behind. I’m sure there are any number of habits we have picked up over the last six months, and now is the time to start examining which of them we want to keep. A general all-day graze instead of meals, probably not the best choice. Never dressing above your favorite athleisure wear might be a problem unless your workplace is cool.

Now these are funny examples, but as Christians we are called to one thing in the way we live our lives. Will what I am doing benefit the cause of Christ? Does the way I live tell the people around me that I am living for something greater. 

In Acts 20:35 Paul says, “In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” If you are a mature Christian, I pray that you took the extra time during quarantine to dive into God’s word, to encourage your brother or sister who might be younger in the faith, and have prayed for those that must make very hard decisions.

If not, there is no better time to start than right now. The wheels are starting to spin again, and when they get going it will be easy to just fall into that old routine of being “busy” all the time. Let’s make the world we return to better than the one we left.

Grist for the Malady Mill

Matthew 5:44-45 “…I say to you, ‘Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45so that you may be sons and daughters of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.’”

This is a passage of scripture that is a lot easier to quote than it is to apply to our own lives. If you are a mature Christian it is easy to see this written with red letters in your Bible, meaning that Jesus said it, and implicitly agree. When coming into contact with the words of Jesus it is difficult to build a strong case for going against what was said. The issue comes up when we recognize that Jesus doesn’t just want implicit agreement. Jesus wants us to live this out with our lives.

As far as “things Jesus asked of Christians” goes, this one is pretty high up on the difficulty scale. There is a reason we consider another person our enemy (in our increasingly divided world I hope your reasons for seeing someone as an enemy at least go deeper than their political affiliation). An enemy is someone that has personally wronged you in some way, and in feeling that hurt from being wronged Jesus asks us to do the hardest thing. Love that person in spite of what they have done.

Jesus gives us this command because he knows that being human is a struggle. I think that’s why he points out the rain and the sun, the best people and the worst people are still subject to things that are outside of their control. This pandemic is a great example, no one got to skip the disruption of quarantine because they were more just than someone else.

Knowing that we are all going to get rained on from time to time should help us pause when we want to trash “an enemy.” Part of the human condition is bad times, times we wish we could skip, but those bad times help us to more fully appreciate the good times. We can all think of someone we have considered an enemy. 

Right now, take a moment, say a prayer for your heart or theirs, and at the very least wish you wished them well.

Peace

John 14:27 - Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. 

In John 14 Jesus is telling the disciples that He is not always going to be with them, but they shouldn’t worry because he will send the Holy Spirit. At this point, many of the disciples have been following Jesus for years, to hear he is going away is devastating. They had plans and a vision for what the future was going to look like. I think this is something we’ve all experienced in 2020.

Right now, I think that many people would agree that stress levels might be at an all-time high. Along with the normal family stuff, school is starting, it’s an election year, and thousands of people are dying across our country and the world because we just can’t seem to shake this global pandemic. As all this worry washes over us, and at times threatens to wash us away, I pray that we are able to cling to God our rock and our salvation.

There are times when we want to give into our baser instincts and lash out. And though it would make us feel so much better in the moment, the damage it would do to our relationships is just not worth it. It is in times like this that we must pour our hearts out to God. When the world feels as though it is crashing down around us, we can share our troubles with the one who has overcome the world. 

Jesus died on the cross so that we might know peace, though not peace as the world would define it. This is the long abiding peace that passes all understanding. The peace that comes with the Christian’s long-view. Things may not be going the way I want them to now, but my faith assures me that God is in control and in that I can find peace.

Stress is going to happen. If it isn’t one thing it’ll probably be another, but when it happens let not your hearts be troubled, for Jesus has given you peace hold on to.

Carousels

Do you have music that transports you? It may be a song you haven’t heard in years, but as soon as you hear the melody you are taken back to your high school best friend’s car, you’re at that party, or any of a number of places that made an impact on your life. Our brains are super weird and hold on to some of the most seemingly random things. And because of this, we often we have a hard time remembering, all the things we should remember and a hard time forgetting all the things we would like to forget.

In Philippians Paul gives us some great advice on where we should focus our thoughts, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (Philippians 4:8)

In our modern age, it seems like the world around us is travelling as fast as possible away from this advice. The 24-hour news cycle exists because people want the dirt! If it bleeds it leads. And many times, we don’t even care about the source. This is especially true in an election year. I don’t think I can remember a period in my lifetime when candidates were running campaigns of mutual respect. It seems like every other headline is saying, “candidate X eats babies.” And if you support candidate X you’ll spend the next 2 hours researching a rebuttal, and if you don’t like candidate X you’ll just think to yourself, “I knew it!”

This is the time that we need to use our self-awareness, and as Paul says in 2 Corinthians, take every thought captive. If it is not honorable don’t engage with it. Add some loveliness to the world. If someone is going read or hear words that come from you let them be commendable. Christians are the people of hope, and when we forget that we take a little bit of light out of the world.

How can you be that song that reminds people of better times? Find those thoughts that are worthy of praise and think about these things.

Here Comes The Rain Again

Psalm 57:1-3
Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
    for in you my soul takes refuge;
in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
    till the storms of destruction pass by.
I cry out to God Most High,
    to God who fulfills his purpose for me.
He will send from heaven and save me;
    he will put to shame him who tramples on me. 
God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!

Last week we had a pretty bad storm, for about 3 hours. The wind was in a frenzy, rain was falling sideways, branches and debris were falling, and many of us had to hunker down for a sweaty night with no power. This was by no means some storm-of-the-century event, but it did cause a few problems and a respectable amount of distress. 

Things feel weird when the power goes out. How many times did you walk into a room and reflexively reach for a light switch knowing full well it was going to do nothing? Most storms don’t cause any problems and the ones that do rarely rise above the level of minor annoyance: that thing I wanted to do/watch is cancelled, or my kids have to play inside all day. Every once in a while, though, the big storms hit.

Where do you turn when those storms, that are usually minor inconveniences, truly interrupt your life? Too often we see God as someone we turn to in case of emergency. We can be all too content to coast along until something goes wrong and we turn to Him and say, “why do all these bad things happen to me?” When the truth is, God wants to be with you in the good times and hard times.

We need to practice leaning into God in our wonderful days, so we know how to do it when the storms come. Let God be our refuge and our safe place. So, when the storms come, we know where to turn to for hope. We can turn to Him.

God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!

Beggars

In the Gospels one miracle Jesus carries out multiple times is that of curing the blind. It makes sense because we have all had times when we have needed someone else to open our eyes to something we cannot see on our own. Maybe it’s (in love) pointing out a bad habit or how you always mispronounce a word—things you would never if it hadn’t been brought to your attention. 

One example is found in Mark 10, when Jesus heals Blind Bartimaeus. Jesus, his disciples, and a large crowd were traveling through Jericho. As they were leaving a beggar calls from the side of the road, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Mark 10:47). Depending on how long the crowd had been with Jesus, they had probably seen him do any number of miracles at this point. However, when this blind beggar called out for help, Mark tells us, “many rebuked him, telling him to be silent.”

We don’t know why they rebuked him, my guess is that it had become almost instinct to ignore and shout down someone in such a low position. How many times have you not even heard what a homeless person said before you lied about not having any cash? Thankfully this blind beggar was undaunted by the people shouting him down, “he cried out all the more, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’”

Bartimaeus just wanted to get closer to Jesus because he knew that Jesus could save him from the fate of being lost and blind. In this time there was no braille and no ADA, if you lost your sight it was up to your family to care for you, and if they didn’t have the means you were on the street as a blind beggar. Jesus was his only hope.

Jesus hears him and calls him over, Bartimaeus springs up, makes his way to Jesus, and says, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.” Jesus replies, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way. Rather than shout down a beggar asking for help Jesus interrupts his travel to help him. How different would the world be if Christians took seriously the example of Christ. We may not be able to heal the blind with a word, nevertheless we are able to interrupt our day to see and spend time with another human being.

Summer Was a Mistake

Daniel 2:20-23 - “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
    to whom belong wisdom and might.
21 He changes times and seasons;
    he removes kings and sets up kings;
he gives wisdom to the wise
    and knowledge to those who have understanding;
22 he reveals deep and hidden things;
    he knows what is in the darkness,
    and the light dwells with him.
23 To you, O God of my fathers,
    I give thanks and praise,
for you have given me wisdom and might,
    and have now made known to me what we asked of you,
    for you have made known to us the king's matter.”

Someone told me recently that they love summer and sitting outside in the heat and the sun. I told them that their opinion was wrong. I am not a huge fan, unless there is a beach and an ocean, the temperature rarely needs to crest 78 for me to be happy and comfortable. Whether it’s months of the year or times of life, I’m sure we can all think of seasons we’d like to move faster, or just skip all together.

We are probably in one of those seasons right now. The world we live in is a stark contrast to the one we were in this time last year: vacations have been modified or cancelled, going to the store takes preparation and planning, and on top of wallets, keys, and phones we now need to remember masks. For most of us, this season has been really hard. And it is okay to grieve or be a little bummed out about how the world looks these days.

In this disappointment and grief, we can always have hope because we know that seasons change, and that God is in control. For some, this has been the hardest few months of their life, and though it’s hard to imagine, for some this has been the best. As the people of hope I pray that we can weep with those who weep, but also rejoice with those who rejoice. If your current season is a good one, I pray that you can encourage people even if it is from afar. If your current season is a hard one, I pray that you are able to hold on to your hope for a better future. 

Seasons change.

More Grace Than I Thought

Hebrews 4:14-16 - 14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

I don’t know about you but these days I feel like I need to reach deeper and deeper to find this grace. We have financial instability, racial tension, civil unrest, a global pandemic, and it is too hot outside. All this is on top of the normal stress that comes from caring for and being available to your loved ones. When it feels like the world is crashing down around you it is easy for us to lose our grasp on that peace that passes all understanding.

With the introduction of social distancing to our lives it has become increasingly easy to feel lonely and isolated. And while we are distant from our friends and family it can also at times make us feel distant from God. Thankfully this is a one-sided experience, as God is never far from you. God loves and supports those He calls His own.

We do not serve some far away savior who knows nothing of the struggle we call life on Earth. Jesus took on our form, He lived as one of us, so he understands our troubles and our weakness. We serve a God who loves us enough to experience all the lows that humanity has to offer. I’m pretty sure we can all think of a few lows of humanity that we would choose to skip given the option: losing a job, going to the DMV, eating cilantro (maybe that one’s just me). 

It is in these times, when we are facing the lows of our humanity that we need to draw confidently towards our Lord and savior. So that we may receive mercy and find grace. Our times of need aren’t going away. Thankfully God’s grace isn’t going either. 

Our Refuge

Psalm 62:5-8 – 

5 For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
    for my hope is from Him.
6 He only is my rock and my salvation,
    my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
7 On God rests my salvation and my glory;
    my mighty rock, my refuge is God.

8 Trust in him at all times, O people;
    pour out your heart before him;
    God is a refuge for us.

I think a safe refuge is something we would all like to find these days: the pandemic, the protests, the political fighting, and it is hot outside. In times like this, when we are weary and stressed out, where do we turn? All we want is relief from the patterns of this world, but we usually just settle for a distraction. Don’t get me wrong, there are times that a small problem could be solved by a small distraction, however the soul-aching problems of our lives won’t be fixed by watching another episode of The Office (granted the dinner party episode might come close).

Seriously though, when we face those times in life that it feels the whole world is conspiring against us, we need to look to the one who has overcome the world. This is not easy. We want tangible instructions: this is step one, followed by step two, and finally all my stress is gone. If it takes more than three steps, you might as well tell me it’s impossible. Sadly, sometimes our instructions look more like this: wait.

We don’t know what exactly we are waiting for, but we can trust the one who gave us the instruction. When our ultimate refuge is in God, He is our rock and our salvation, and we can trust that all the stress and uncertainty in the world doesn’t sway Him. Feel your feelings, stress and uncertainty are going to be a part of your life. And when you are in that place of being overwhelmed share that with God, He wants to hear from you His beloved.

We have hope even in uncertainty, even when it means we wait.