There's a saying "Everything will be alright in the end. If it's not alright, this isn't the end."
I think that's funny, and it probably wasn't based on God's Word. But let's say it was.
How many times have we been in the middle of a trial or problem that just had us completely wrapped up in worry or doubt? I'm going to go out on a limb and say "a lot of times." Am I close?
The saying at the top of this blurb states "everything will be alright in the end...." I can actually find a bible verse to back that up.
Jeremiah 29:11 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
That's sounds like everything will be alright in the end to me.
God's ways aren't ours and for some, that's the problem. We want to see things done the way we want them done, when we want them done and, of course, how we want them done. We have a preconceived idea of how our problems should be worked out so when it doesn't happen that way, we sometimes become frustrated. We fret. We worry. We get upset. After all, things aren't moving in the desired path. Therefore, we deduce things aren't happening at all.
Ahhh.... therein lies our problem. We want to tell God how to work things out on our behalf. I don't know about you, but I have tried to work things out on my own, not really waiting around for God to handle problems for me.
How can I put this so it's very easy to understand....????? Well, I'll just throw it out there... I stink at it.
I usually end up making the problem either bigger or worse. God is still able to work things out for my good and His glory, but because I had to "help" it took a little longer than if I had just left it alone.
It's a little bit like the plumber who has a sign on his truck "$100 an hour... $150 an hour if your husband helps me."
I get it. God has a plan. He's been working on that plan long before I ever came to know about said plan. And His plan is a good one.
He promises everything is going to be alright.
Churches all have a mission. That mission comes from Jesus and it is to go and share the Gospel, making disciples of ... well, everyone we can.
Here's the problem with that. We don't know how.
The fact of the matter is people won't listen to you until they think you care about them. Caring about someone cannot be faked. If you don't really are about them, they won't listen. If they won't listen, it's unlikely they will ever become a disciple of Jesus. If we're not making disciples, it's apparent we're not doing what Jesus told us to do which is to care about people enough to reach out to them. And make disciples.
That's called a conundrum.
So let's change it.
We could take the stance that we need to pray more. That would be a good place to start, actually. But it will never be enough.
James tells us to not only be hearers of the Word of God, but to do it. (James 1:22 But don't just listen to God's word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.) Let's rephrase to make it easy to understand. We need to get off our backsides and do something.
Show the love of God in some very real, practical ways. Why? Because it's a command. Commands are not negotiable. Luke 10:27 He said, "That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence—and that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself." (The Message)
Love God with all you've got. Love others as much as you do yourself.
Until the church learns to rise up from the pew or its chairs and walk outside the doors and start acting like Christians (i.e. "little Christs") we are never going to be effective in our communities. How did Christ serve? Well, he made lunch for those who were hungry. He shared life with them. He provided for those in need. The miracles always preceded the message. The gifts got their attention so they were ready to hear the Word.
I don't care how well you worship. How great your prayer is. How many people speak in tongues in your church or how packed your services are. Until the church acts like we're commanded to act, we will get no where. We're not fulfilling the mandate given to us by God.
Let's stop worrying about how many ministries we have which serve the people within our membership rosters. Let's move those members into action. Imagine how a community would be served if the church knew its actions were serving people and honoring God. The churches place is to serve, not to sit around in holy huddles talking about how God blesses. We can stop talking about God's love to each other and start discussing how we're going to show it to those who don't already know and experience it.
Rise up, people. We're not only to act like we love people. We're to love them.
Do something! Do something that matters. And do it now.
Yep, I bought my first Christmas present. It is, after all, April 2. This is later than I usually begin. And actually, I bought three. On sale.
I have a little book in which I write down all of the money I spend on gifts. I want to make sure everyone is kept fairly equal; by fairly equal I mean within two dollars of each other.
With an ever-growing family, I need to be fair. I need to count the cost before I go nuts with buying things I really like. Especially for those cute little grandkids.
I know what things I want to buy. I just have to keep watching them until they're marked down. Everything gets marked down. You just need to be ready for it when it happens.
I like to purchase gifts for everyone, but I really like to go to Toy Heaven (i.e. Toys R' Us) and get the kids some special things. I like to get good gifts.
Wouldn't it be great if every gift grandma could buy would be the absolutely perfect gift? It isn't always so. Something I think Rachel will swoon over turns out to be something to which she responds with "meh." Ben is sure to be pleased by anything "Thomas & Friends." Noah is a little hard to determine... he's still a baby.
I try and try, but I fall short sometimes. And it's really disappointing to me when the box the gift came in is more exciting than the gift. Hey, it happens. Especially with little children.
If only I could give gifts like God gives. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:17.
I know I have used this verse before in this blog. That's ok. It's worth repeating. God gives us the best gifts. Every good thing. Every blessing. Every gift worth having comes from God.
Today I was just thinking about some of the wonderful things that have happened to me lately. And I thought I would give Him the credit.
This is annoying. I heard something today that I thought was really profound. I wanted to remember it the rest of my life. Have it done in needlepoint, frame it and hang it somewhere in my house. Maybe put it on a pillow.
And now I cannot remember what it was.
I should have written it down right away, but I was so sure I would remember it forever that I didn't write it at all. Arrgh.
What I do remember about it is that I wanted to make sure I told Ray. He would have thought it was profound, too.
I was even going to blog about it. It was that good.
And now here I am.... wracking my brain trying to remember all of the things I heard today. Surely if I remember everything, then this, too, will come to mind.
Nope. It's not going to happen. I'm forgetful.
I walk from the living room to the kitchen to get something. By the time I get there, I have forgotten what it is I wanted.
I walk from the kitchen to the bedroom to get an item. You guessed it. I forgot what it was that I went to get.
I'm in the grocery store and get in line to check out. I think of an item I still need to put in my cart so I leave the check out line, walk to another aisle and... forgetfulness has taken its toll.
Do you see a common denominator here? Walking.
Walking makes you forget, apparently. I did walk around church today and I know I was here when I heard the profound statement about.... something. And now I have forgotten it.
The problem is that I had a Beth Moore bible study today. She's really interesting so it might have been there... or the teaching on Kingdom Theology I have been listening to. I did listen to almost three hours of that teaching. It might have been there. And I read from the book of Luke. Although that's all really good stuff, I know I heard it... I didn't read it.
Now, what was it?
The Bible tells us we are to "forget not all His benefits." (Psalm 103:2) I am to recount those over and over again, as though they were implanted in my brain in concrete. Present there forever. Always able to remember all of God's blessings. All of His provision. All of His safekeeping and care.
With that I have no problem.
God has been so good to me I wouldn't be able to forget His care for even a little while. He has blessed my life over and over again with the things I need, even before I know I need them. His grace, mercy and protection are always obvious. I am fully aware of God's presence in my life.
Ray has told me I should write all of these things down so that we are able to pass them on to our kids and grandkids. We want them to know the story of God's grace and goodness as it pertains specifically to us. I need to do that. Before I forget any of it.
I am going to walk to another office and get a new pad of paper. Did you catch that? I'm going to walk there. I'm not worried.
This isn't something I'm likely to forget.
There is some guy in a car in the parking lot across the street from my office who must be made of money. I say this because he is sitting in his car revving the engine for who knows what reason. Over and over. And over. Huh, you would think a guy with money to burn like that would have a nicer car...
At the price of gas, he's really running up quite a tally. Six dollars... seven... eight...
He doesn't really seem to pay much heed to the fact that the gas station down the street posts the premium fare of $3.79 a gallon for this golden liquid. And I believe "golden" might be an accurate word here.
Nine dollars... ten... eleven...
Again and again he races the engine. Blue smoke is coming from his tailpipe. Well, not his tailpipe ... the car's. The tachometer in his dashboard must be all the way to the "red-line-o'-danger" ... twelve... thirteen... fourteen.
What a waste.
In my job I am developing something for Kids Church (my job is what I do when I'm not rambling on incessantly here) and it had to do with being a good steward. You don't know what that is? Let me 'splain it to you.
Every good thing we have comes from God. The Book of James says so. My money would fall under the category of "good thing." We were given these things to have dominion over them ... to use them for the best things. Perhaps even to make it grow, as in a bank investment, CD or the like.
Matthew 25 is about the man who went away and gave his property to three different people to care for it. The parable of the talents. One was given ten talents, the next five and the last one was given one talent. Two of them were really good at making a profit. One was not. He wasted what the owner had given him by burying it in the ground.
Waste. It's not how God wants us to spend what He has entrusted to us. We are not to waste our time, our energies, our gifts, our abilities... nothing. It is all to be spent wisely. To be used for a greater purpose than just on us.
Do we waste the abilities God has given us? Do we throw away the good gifts with which we have been blessed? Bury our talents so no one knows which ones we possess? Possibly.
Why would we do that? Maybe it's so no one asks anything of us. So we aren't asked to step up to the plate.
Ahhh... but here's something you probably don't remember. We were all given whatever talents, gifts, abilities, our desires yes, even our experiences to make us who we uniquely are. You are unique, just like everyone else. And God has a plan for you (Jeremiah 29:11). That plan includes all of those gifts, talents.... you get the idea.
You were designed to be someone God could use for His specific purposes. Don't waste that good thing He has given you.
Don't be like the guy across the street (seventeen... eighteen... nineteen dollars) working on his car. And yet the engine is revving as it has been all the while I have been typing away on this white screen.
Trying to fill... and not waste... this space.
Last night I was working in the Children's Ministry room while an adult Bible study was going on in the fellowship hall. I had the television on to watch old Veggie Tales videos as the kids were tired of playing and just wanted to rest a bit. It was late. They were tired.
One of the children wanted to watch "Larry Boy" so I found the video tape, that's right, I said tape, as in VHS. I popped it into the video player, but alas, the tape had not be rewound by the last viewer. Probably in 1999.
One of the little boys became quite impatient waiting for the video tape to rewind. He wanted to watch. He wanted to watch now. DVDs have taught our kids we just push a button and the magic of television comes to life. Videos make us wait.
The four-year old boy doesn't understand videos. I don't know if he thought I didn't know what I was doing.... what on earth was taking so long? He wanted to watch and he let me know as only a young child can (by saying it over and over and over) that he didn't want to wait. Watch Larry Boy, watch Larry Boy....
I get it. You want to watch Larry Boy.
Finally, after what seemed to be a good twenty minutes, the video had rewound and we were able to push the play button. The television screen was fuzzy for a moment, but finally the Veggie Tales theme song came to life. The boys danced and sang along. All was well with the world. The boys and I were all thankful the tape was ready to play.
Change. The world of videos has long gone except for the few homes which still have a video player. In our home we have videos which tout the advent of movies coming in the summer of 1995. Movies I have long forgotten are still in promo trailers on these relics. I also have a DVD player and two blue-rays at home.... because they're just better than a VHS player. And VHS tapes are a little hard to come by lately.
Time marches on. Things change.
But not everything changes. God is the same today as He was thousands of years ago. His faithfulness, His caring, His love and protection... all exactly the same as they were at the time of Moses. Abraham. Adam and Eve.
His rules haven't changed much either. Love God the most and love everyone else the way you love yourself. Loosely paraphrased.
Although I appreciate change with the advancement of things like Blue-Ray over VHS, I also love the fact that God's love for me never changes. I cannot do anything that would keep Him from loving me. It's impossible. No matter how impatient I become, or how I might tend to ignore Him because I'm swamped at home.... He remains the same.
I can do absolutely nothing that will put me outside of His ability to love, care and guide me.
There's a lot of comfort found in that. He is unchangeable. And not only that, God is unable to change. His love never ceases. His mercy endures from generaton to generation. His faithfulness... the same yesterday, today and always.
And for that I am very thankful.
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the
heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17.
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