I think that one of my biggest struggles with finding peace is when I see it as a dichotomy between troubled circumstances on one side and peace on the other. If complete external security is what we need in order to have internal calm, then the peace of Christ isn't worth much. I often think of a story that I read many years ago about a painter who was competing with many other great artists to create a work that conveyed true peace. The winning work of art would be chosen by the king. The other artists created beautiful pastoral scenes, still waters, gorgeous sunsets. However, this particular man's artwork was unlike any of the rest. He drew a turbulent waterfall in the midst of stormy woods. The wind and rain in the scene could almost give the observer a chill. However in the focal point of the painting, there was a picture of true peace: A mother bird sat on her nest, covering her young with her wings. They were completely safe, even in the midst of a torrential storm.
I think that this is more the image that we should have in mind as we consider the peace of God. He gives us peace despite our circumstances, and in the midst of them. He protected His disciples in the midst of another storm where they thought that their boat would capsize (Matt.8). Jesus' words to the waves were "peace, be still." Though He may not change our circumstances every time, Christ remains fully trustworthy, and we may be at peace knowing that we are protected under His wings (Ps. 91:4)
Thursday, December 24, 2015
Peace With Others
Once we have embraced Christ as our true peace with God, we are in a position to really be at peace with others. The Bible tells us that as far as it depends on us, we are to live at peace with all. Granted, "it takes two to tango", and there are some people who will refuse to live in peace. There are some who will find the very Gospel that we proclaim to be offensive and will therefore hate us as a result. While we must do our best to live in peace and love, we are not responsible for people's responses toward us.
May I also say that this is, by no means, meant to be a treatise on how to live at peace with others! Whole books have been written about that! This post will merely highlight one great way to pursue peace with others: love.
True love is not just about having good vibes for someone or an attraction to them. It's not about being generically "nice" to people. 1 Corinthians 13 describes what love is and isn't. If we could truly put this definition into practice with those around us, we would be going a long way towards living at peace with others.
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
May I also say that this is, by no means, meant to be a treatise on how to live at peace with others! Whole books have been written about that! This post will merely highlight one great way to pursue peace with others: love.
True love is not just about having good vibes for someone or an attraction to them. It's not about being generically "nice" to people. 1 Corinthians 13 describes what love is and isn't. If we could truly put this definition into practice with those around us, we would be going a long way towards living at peace with others.
1 Corinthians 13
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Monday, December 14, 2015
Depending on God
When we trust God to provide, we are also submitting to His choice of
what’s important. It’s like trusting our
parents with our money. When we have to
ask them for money, we also are placing ourselves under their judgment of what is
important. If we have a separate bank
account, we don’t have to run our purchases by them, because it’s our money to
do with it what we will. They don’t have
to give their blessing or even their approval.
I think that the same thing can be said of our dependence on God. When we can say “I earned this,” we feel that
we have the right to tell God, you can’t stop me from buying this house/this
car/this TV/this coffee. It’s our money
and we can spend it how we like. From a
missionary perspective, it is very clear how everything I have is “from God’s
hand,” and in light of that, I feel like I have a real responsibility before
God and before my supporters to spend it wisely. I truly believe that is one of the roadblocks
to people who are considering missions.
I can even say that personally. I
have thought before that it would just be really nice to have a job where I
could get a paycheck for the work that I do, then tithe and feel like I have
done all that I should in regards to my finances … without worrying about
whether it or not I it is legitimate to spend the remaining money on a new
shirt. Or to have to pray that God would
provide me with money for a plane ticket to visit my friends. Those are the requests that you feel a little
foolish about when you take them to God.
Maybe this is shallow, but I don’t have the resources to bypass the God
component.
It’s like asking your parents if they can buy you a pair of
earrings. You don’t really need them…
but if you had the money you would just buy them for yourself… but you don’t
have the money and you kind of want them.
That being said, I have noticed that it is my good parents’ pleasure to provide
for me not only what I most need, but also what I want. They are wise, but they are also
generous. So, no, they wouldn’t give me
something that would jeopardize me, but they are willing to give me things that
seems silly, just because I asked.
As I wrestle through this personally, I wonder what you think of our
dependence on God. Is it something that
you think about often? Do you see God as
your provider or yourself? Or your
employer? Food for thought. J
Thursday, December 3, 2015
Remember
The first step towards thankfulness is to remember what God has done. Too often, the busyness of life, and our own weak memories keep us from reflecting on all of the good things that God has given to us and all of the ways that He has worked in our lives. Indeed, we often have an "easier" time remembering hurts done to us than remembering the blessings that God has given us, directly, or through other people.
The holiday season, from roughly Thanksgiving through New Years tends to be one of the busiest and most flustered times of the year for so many. Hence, it is easy to forget God's graces even from one day to the next! Yet, if we are intentional, this same time can provide unique opportunities for us to remember God's goodness. Thanksgiving is a day set aside for thanking God for the sweet gifts that He constantly gives us. Advent and Christmas are times of wonder as we reflect on the incredible mystery of God made man to redeem us. Meditating on this unfathomable gift could not help but result in praise and thanksgiving to God. And the turn of the year is a perfect time to reflect on God's faithfulness over the past 365 days, and to intentionally remember all that He has done.
So in this time of busyness, make time to stop and consider all that God has done for you. May we cultivate hearts of thankfulness to the One who is infinitely worthy of thanks!
The holiday season, from roughly Thanksgiving through New Years tends to be one of the busiest and most flustered times of the year for so many. Hence, it is easy to forget God's graces even from one day to the next! Yet, if we are intentional, this same time can provide unique opportunities for us to remember God's goodness. Thanksgiving is a day set aside for thanking God for the sweet gifts that He constantly gives us. Advent and Christmas are times of wonder as we reflect on the incredible mystery of God made man to redeem us. Meditating on this unfathomable gift could not help but result in praise and thanksgiving to God. And the turn of the year is a perfect time to reflect on God's faithfulness over the past 365 days, and to intentionally remember all that He has done.
So in this time of busyness, make time to stop and consider all that God has done for you. May we cultivate hearts of thankfulness to the One who is infinitely worthy of thanks!
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Scars and Thankfulness
I had an emergency abdominal surgery this past August and that led me into the hardest time of my life physically, to date. After a few weeks of unremitting pain and exhaustion following the surgery, I had begun to wonder if I would ever feel normal again. But, then, about five or six weeks into the recovery progress, I started to really feel much better. By two months after the surgery, I felt basically normal again.
It is now three months after the surgery, and all of my usual activities have resumed. I am able to play Frisbee, drive a car, clean houses, dance, and even do crunches! Most days it feels surreal to even think that three months ago, I was in debilitating pain and unable to leave the couch for even a couple of minutes.
But then I see my scars.
My scars are a reminder to stop and be thankful. To remember where I had been, and to thank the Lord for His healing in my life. I know that we often think of scars as painful reminders of difficult experiences that we have faced. However, I think that it is equally necessary to see the hope in the scars: they are reminders of difficult times, yes ... but they are difficult times that God brought us through!
And the most important scars for which I am thankful are those that I never had to suffer. On the cross, Jesus paid the physical as well as the spiritual penalty for my sin. His body was beaten instead of mine, and His relationship with the Father was severed, as He received the wrath of God so that I wouldn't have to. Now He is resurrected and glorified with the Father in Heaven. However, even now, in His perfect body, He still bears scars that tell of His great obedience to His Father, and His great love for His people.
Thank you, Lord, for scars!
It is now three months after the surgery, and all of my usual activities have resumed. I am able to play Frisbee, drive a car, clean houses, dance, and even do crunches! Most days it feels surreal to even think that three months ago, I was in debilitating pain and unable to leave the couch for even a couple of minutes.
But then I see my scars.
My scars are a reminder to stop and be thankful. To remember where I had been, and to thank the Lord for His healing in my life. I know that we often think of scars as painful reminders of difficult experiences that we have faced. However, I think that it is equally necessary to see the hope in the scars: they are reminders of difficult times, yes ... but they are difficult times that God brought us through!
And the most important scars for which I am thankful are those that I never had to suffer. On the cross, Jesus paid the physical as well as the spiritual penalty for my sin. His body was beaten instead of mine, and His relationship with the Father was severed, as He received the wrath of God so that I wouldn't have to. Now He is resurrected and glorified with the Father in Heaven. However, even now, in His perfect body, He still bears scars that tell of His great obedience to His Father, and His great love for His people.
Thank you, Lord, for scars!
Monday, November 16, 2015
1 Corinthians 12:12-31
12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell?
18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But earnestly desire the higher gifts.
And I will show you a still more excellent way.
14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell?
18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But earnestly desire the higher gifts.
And I will show you a still more excellent way.
Monday, November 2, 2015
He Carries Me While I Walk
The popular poem “Footprints in the Sand” speaks of how sometimes in life we walk
with God, and other times, He carries us. While I appreciate the sentiment, I would say that in my life, God has carried me every step that I have walked! My two years in Mexico were anything but the way that I had planned it. In fact, I went to Mexico as a missionary, without even planning to be a missionary! I just saw it as good ministry training for when I returned to the States.
But God had other plans.
My one-summer commitment turned into a year, which turned into two years. All the while, I was feebly and fearfully trying to follow God. All the while, He was sovereignly leading me. Then came the advice of one of my leaders to return to the States and pursue further Biblical and counseling training which would serve me in future missions work. I had no idea what awaited me, or even whether I would return to the mission field after the end of three years’ schooling. I felt flighty and unsure of what my future would look like, so I just focused on being faithful in the present. And God continued to lead me.
This past May, I graduated from seminary with a Master’s of Theological Studies and an emphasis in Biblical counseling. I plan to be using that degree on the mission field in Mexico City as soon as I can finish fundraising and training for the position. I’m going under long-term status, with no idea what that is going to look like. I tell people that “long-term” just means “no fixed end date. Could be two years. Could be sixty!” Even though there is a huge degree of uncertainty as I stand here on the brink, I also am so excited. It is an incredible feeling to be so close to heading back to a country that I love so much. And I am thrilled to know that the same God who has carried me all of my life will also carry me in these next steps.
with God, and other times, He carries us. While I appreciate the sentiment, I would say that in my life, God has carried me every step that I have walked! My two years in Mexico were anything but the way that I had planned it. In fact, I went to Mexico as a missionary, without even planning to be a missionary! I just saw it as good ministry training for when I returned to the States.
But God had other plans.
My one-summer commitment turned into a year, which turned into two years. All the while, I was feebly and fearfully trying to follow God. All the while, He was sovereignly leading me. Then came the advice of one of my leaders to return to the States and pursue further Biblical and counseling training which would serve me in future missions work. I had no idea what awaited me, or even whether I would return to the mission field after the end of three years’ schooling. I felt flighty and unsure of what my future would look like, so I just focused on being faithful in the present. And God continued to lead me.
This past May, I graduated from seminary with a Master’s of Theological Studies and an emphasis in Biblical counseling. I plan to be using that degree on the mission field in Mexico City as soon as I can finish fundraising and training for the position. I’m going under long-term status, with no idea what that is going to look like. I tell people that “long-term” just means “no fixed end date. Could be two years. Could be sixty!” Even though there is a huge degree of uncertainty as I stand here on the brink, I also am so excited. It is an incredible feeling to be so close to heading back to a country that I love so much. And I am thrilled to know that the same God who has carried me all of my life will also carry me in these next steps.
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