Change

I have heard it said that change is the only constant in life, and sometimes that seems oh-so-true. I've also heard it said that change is good, and sure, sometimes that's true as well. But not always. Oh, no sir. Not always.

Let's be blunt. I lost my dad 9 years ago. That change hurt, and it still does. Maybe not as much as it did, but if I could go back and undo it--change the change, if you will--would I? In a heartbeat.

Given the chance, I'd change a lot of change in my life. I'd bring back busload of people who have moved away. I'd reverse a whole slew of decisions that rocked my world, and eliminate a sea of waves that have rocked my boat.

But that chance will never come. I cannot rewind the clock. I cannot make that river of time flow back. No one can.

So what's to be done? Do I live life in constant agony over the changes that have come, and dread the ones yet to be?

No. I can't live like that. There's no peace in such a life, no life in such an existence.

So do I embrace change, no matter what change may bring?

No. I can't. If change could be trusted, were it always docile and benign, then sure. Come what may. But heartless monster that change can be, I may not be able to stop it, but I'll not willingly give it carte blanche in my life.

What is left? What options do I have?

Acceptance? Sure. I guess. I mean, what choice do I have?

But I believe there's a better way yet.

Hope.

Yes, hope.

Not as in wishful thinking, but as in blessed assurance. Hope as in God has a plan for me, a plan for my good, not my harm, a plan for a future and a hope, as God said to Jeremiah. Hope as in being strong and courageous, knowing that God will never leave me nor forsake me, just as He told Joshua. Hope as in those who trust in the Lord will find new strength, they will fly like eagles, they will run and not be weary, they will walk and not be tired, as said by Isaiah.

That's what I mean by hope. Because I know change is coming that's going to hurt. What it will be, I do not not know. But that it will be, of that I am certain. And to face that without hope--honestly, I'd rather die. Truly.

Because I cannot bear the thought of change without hope. Of a world without reason or purpose, which is what I see in change without hope. If every change is simply by chance, if there is no plan, if no one has my back, then I'm done. I'll cash in my chips right now, thank you very much.

But I have hope. I have hope in God who never changes. I have hope in Jesus Christ who is the same yesterday and today and tomorrow. I have hope in the One who works all things out for the good of those who love Him. I have hope, and change can never take that away.

So I face tomorrow, full of changes and a change unto itself, with hope.

That is a better way.

 

When Life Gets Tough, The Tough Go To God

It's true.

All too often we are faced with decisions we don't want to make, don't know how to make, have never made before--seemingly without any direction on what we should decide. Life is full of conundrums, riddles, impossible situations, and times when no answer is a good one.

In short, sometimes life throws a curve ball that seems impossible to hit, or spins us around till we are too dizzy to see straight.

It's true. Life is hard.

You are not alone.

You're not alone in that everyone, at one time or another, feels the same. Some decisions are weightier and have greater ramifications than others, but it is all a matter of perspective. The pressing problem of today may be nothing compared to what I face tomorrow. And that may be nothing compared to the dilemma of my neighbor, my friend, my coworker.

We all, every one of us, enter those halls where every door of decision looks the same, and is as likely to lead us to the precipice of despair as it is to offer deliverance.

You also are not alone in that you do not have to make these choices in isolation. We have friends. We have family. We have the church and pastors, we have spouses and children, we even have professionals of all kinds available to us to provide insight and knowledge.

Yet even those, as great as they are, sadly fall short. All that support, while of some comfort, all too often doesn't provide us what we want, what we so desperately desire.

An answer.

The answer. The right choice. The perfect decision. The one response that would make everything right and good. For all their insight and experience, all of mankind cannot tell us what we should do. We have to make the choice.


In that, it seems, we are very much alone.

But we are not.

Neither father nor mother, sister nor brother, friends, spouses, consultants, advisers, doctors, lawyers, or even pastors or priests can tell us exactly what we should do in these toughest of times. They can help, but they cannot provide that one perfect answer, that one straight and clear path.

Only God can do that.

Oh yes, God knows. And, probably, we all know that. We say it often enough: Only God knows what I should do. We say it, and we might even believe it. But do we act on it? Do we really tap into that one perfect resource who really can answer all questions, make all paths straight, and provide light where there is only darkness?

The reality is, God wants to help. He's waiting to help. He's standing at the door awaiting our call. All we have to do is knock, and He will answer.

Proverbs 3:5-6 reads: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight (NIV).

That's exactly what we're looking for, isn't it? I mean, isn't it! We want someone to show us the way, to give us a path that leads straight to the answer we need. A straight path--no curves, no hills or valleys, no side-trips or rabbit-trails. Just the straight up true and right answer.

That's what I'm looking for when life gets hard.

And God's willing to give it.

All we have to do is . . . 

Trust God instead of ourselves. Trust Him and what He knows, not what we think we know. To trust Him to know the way, and then follow it. Submit. Even when the path He shows us looks completely wrong. Even if the door He points out is warped, misshapen, caked with cracked and peeling paint, and half-hidden by vines and weeds. Trust Him, and lean not on our own understanding.

It's easy to say. It's so hard to do. God's answers--because He is perfect in knowledge and understanding--sometimes just don't make sense to us. What it seems He is telling us all to often is not what we want, what we think we should do. It doesn't seem possible to follow that path, to open that door, and find the right way. It just doesn't make sense.

But it does. Because God is always right. Because God works all things for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28). Those who love Him, trust Him, and lean not on their own understanding.

We have to have child-like faith. And well we should, for indeed we are His children.

Life's full of tough choices. 

Jobs. Relationships. Parents. Children. Even life and death, mortal and spiritual. Those long passages of life need not be walked alone. Those doors of decision need not be opened without guidance, without a comforting hand upon our shoulder. Truly, we need not even trod a single step in fear or trepidation.

For no decision is tougher, greater, or more fearsome than our Almighty God.

Trust Him, and lean not on your own understanding, and He will make your paths straight.

Amen.

Seek What Is Good

What do you see?

I bet we would be amazed by what some people first notice in this picture. For some, it will be a sunrise, for others, a sunset. Someone will notice the clouds, someone else the blue sky. One person will key in on the birds on the right, another will pick out the people standing on the hill to the left. You may perceive an empty road, or a path to unknown opportunities. The guardrail, the town in the background, the bare rock, the vegetation . . . There's much to see here.

What's amazing is that we all see the same thing, but many of use will focus on different aspects. That's the difference between what we see and what we perceive, and much of that depends on what we're looking for.

You may not even know, consciously, what you're looking for. Your perceptions are influenced by a myriad of factors. For example, how you feel is often going to dictate what you see. In a good mood, you'll probably see the sun. Day not going so well? Those clouds could be bringing in a storm. Where the road ends might be a cliff, or perhaps a gentle descent into a glorious villa lit by the sun.

Each of us can look at the same picture and see something different. And believe it or not, we can choose to see what we want.

Life is the same way.

We could each have the same experience, and perceive it a different way. It happens every day. I could have one person say something negative and ruin my whole day. On the other hand, you might brush off that comment as no big deal and instead focus on 10 other things that person or someone else said, and call it a great day. It depends, in large part, on what we're looking for.

That is a choice. We cannot always choose what we see or what we experience, but we can choose how we perceive it. We can choose what we focus on. We can decide what's really important to us.

Here's what the Bible says.

Philippians 4:8 reads, Finally, brothers, 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.

Read that again. Paul says that we should think about the good things in life. That's all about picking through everything we see and experience and focusing on the positive. Whatever is true. Whatever is honorable. Whatever is pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, worthy of praise. These are the things we are to look for in life. These are the things we are to focus on. These are the things we are to see.

There is a conscious effort involved here. Paul is telling us to choose. In this life, we will see good and bad. He tells us to choose to dwell on what is good. And the bad? It's not worth thinking about. Let. It. Go.

Paul tells us that as we go through our days we shouldn't focus on the negative. Don't fret about things which are not true. Don't stew over what is dishonorable. Don't mull over injustice, or obsess over impurity. Do not let what is unlovely block out what is lovely, nor allow the contemptible to push aside the commendable. Never allow the inferior to outweigh the excellent, or permit something unworthy of praise to occupy your mind. Do not waste your energy on these things. Let them go. They're not worth your time.

Seek what is good.

Choose to see beauty rather than ugliness. Focus on what is positive, not the downside. Live your life thinking about those things which are worth thinking about, and leave the rest to rot like the garbage it is. Life is full of those things which are true and honorable and just and pure and lovely and so on. All you have to do is look, and you will find them.

Today, seek what is good. In the verse that follows the one above, Paul says, Do what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

Seek what is good, and the God of peace will be with you. That's sure to change your day.

That's worth remembering!

 

Perspective Matters

What is perspective?

Imagine you look out the window and everything is a blur. Objects move by so quickly they become indistinct blobs. Your eyes don't have time to focus, to pick out one object distinctly before it is gone, replaced by another. From your point of view, the world is rushing by at breakneck speed.

Now imagine standing by a train track as a train races past. Again, your eyes don't have time to focus on one object distinctly before it is gone, replaced by another. Your point of view tells you, once again, that the world is rushing by at breakneck speed.

From both points of view, your immediate environment is still as the world rushes past. Whether seated on the train or standing on the road, you don't seem to be moving, but are you? Your perspective tells you that you're still in both, but in reality in one case you're moving through the world, in the other the world is moving by you.

Our perspective doesn't always give us the whole picture.

Everything we experience, we experience from the perspective of who and where we are. Our perspective is influenced by our life experiences, our understanding of our environment, our biases, our preferences, our mood, our health, our . . . In short, my perspective of the world is my point of view, how I see things. And just like the example above, my point of view doesn't always give me the full picture.

Just think about the many conflicts going on in the world around us. From the perspective of one group, they see the situation clearly. But the group on the other side feels the same. In most cases, both groups cannot be right, and in many cases, neither are completely right. Their perspective is skewed by who and where they are.

On an individual level, the same is true. When I disagree with my wife, she is right. (Just kidding). In reality, we both think we are right. We both have reasons for believing what we believe, for wanting what we want, for saying what we say. Our perspective tells us both we are right, even if we have come to completely opposite conclusions. From my point of view, I am right, and from hers, she is.

What to do?

I don't want to write a blog on conflict resolution. That's not my forte. It'd be easier if everyone just agreed with me, and I bet most of you feel the same (the "me" being you). The problem is, I, and you, are not always right.  

Gasp!

In truth, none of us see the world clearly. Paul says it this way in I Corinthians 13:12:  For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. In our humanness, in our selfish mortal state, we really cannot see clearly. It is, in part, a problem of perspective.

We all wear glasses, whether rose-tinted or otherwise. We all see the world from the perspective of "me." We have no other choice. If I'm on the train, that's my perspective. If I'm standing by the tracks, that's my perspective. I can't change it. It is what it is.

What I can do is be aware of my perspective. I can know whether I am on the train or standing by the tracks. I can know if I'm seeing something a certain way because I want a certain outcome. I can know that I'm particularly quarrelsome or irritable today, that I'm biased by my past experiences, that I tend to see certain situations in a certain light. I can understand my perspective, and that will help me to interpret what I am experiencing.

Our perspective matters. It influences not only what we perceive, but how we perceive it. That's huge. Knowing why we see things the way we see them is one step closer to seeing things for how they truly are. And once we see more clearly, we can act more appropriately.

And that is worth thinking about!

With Him--Anything. Without Him-Nothing

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13

What an empowering verse. I can do all things--anything, everything--through the power of Christ. The God of the universe enables me to achieve the impossible. Nothing in His will is beyond my reach. No mountain too high, no valley too low. No challenge too hard, no burden too heavy. Anything. Through Christ.

Sometimes we do, and should, wield that verse like a sword in battle. It is truly the power of God in our hands, at our disposal. It is the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:18). It is the sword with which Christ slays His enemies (Revelation 20:15). It is the word of God, living and active, sharper than any double edged sword (Hebrews 4:12).

And it is, itself, double edged.

Apart from me, you can do nothing. John 15:5

This is the double-edge of God's word, the edge we sometimes seem to forget. We can do all things, but not of ourselves. According to Christ in the verse above, on our own we can do nothing. Not a single thing. Not of value at least.

Sure, on our own we can accomplish much. Much sin. Much hurt. Much damage. But we cannot do a solitary act worthy of God's glory without His help. Isaiah says in 64:6 that all our righteous acts are like filthy rags when done apart from God. On our own, that's the best we can do.

With Him I can do anything. Without Him I can do nothing.

I like the first part of that. I grasp onto that promise when times are hard, when the battle is fierce, when the path is steep. When my confidence wanes, I remember. When my strength fails, I recall. When I don't know, I pray. And He answers.


That's the part I like.

The other side of the sword though? Not so much. You see, I like to accomplish. I like to overcome. I like to do. I love the thought of being able to do anything God wills me to do. I thrill at the prospect of defeating the impossible. I rejoice in victory over "you can't."

My problem, often, is too many "I's." I like. I love. I thrill. I rejoice. I do. I can. I will . . . You get the point. "I" gets in my way of I can do all things because I forget the most important part of that verse--through Christ who strengthens me. I remember that Christ said with Me you will bear much fruit. I far too often skip over the part about without me you can do nothing. I get in the way, and nothing of any good consequence comes of it.

Whatever you face today or in the days to come, remember that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you, but without Him, you can do nothing. With Him, anything is possible. Without Him, your best efforts will come to nothing.

That's worth remembering.

 

How Great Is Our God!

I have been doing some studying lately on something called the incommunicable attributes of God getting ready for a sermon series I have the opportunity to participate in. To understand that word incommunicable, it helps to to think about things I know. Being in the healthcare field, I know that a communicable disease is one that can be passed on, or is contagious--like the flu. An incommunicable (really non-communicable) disease is not contagious--like diabetes. In the same way, the incommunicable attributes of God are those things which are unique to Himself, which cannot be passed on or shared with anyone or anything else.

For example, God is infinite--no beginning and no end. We (our souls) are immortal, but that is not the same as infinite. God's infinity is not only outside time, but outside space as well. God cannot be measured in any way. That is an incommunicable attribute of God. It is impossible for us to be like Him, for we are finite, or limited, in that we all had a beginning, even if we will never know an end, and we are limited to one place at one time.  Make sense?

God does have attributes which are communicable, or can be passed on. For example, God is merciful. We, also, can be merciful through the grace of God. God is Holy. We, also, can share in God's holiness through Christ Jesus. God shares those attributes of Himself with us.

What I want us to consider are some of these attributes of God which make Him so great.

I already mentioned one: infinitude. God is not limited by time or space. God exists outside of time. God was not. God is. God is present today. God is present tomorrow. God is present yesterday. Simultaneously. Right now, God is present at Creation, at the Cross, and at the Second Coming of Christ. Make your head spin? Me too. But here is why it matters.

That God exists outside of time should provide us great comfort. We say that God is with us, but I don't know that we think about God being with us--already--in the future. We are going to get some bad news. That doctor's report. That letter from a lawyer. That statement from the bank. A phone call. A visit. A grade report. Whatever. We're going to hit rough times.

God is not only ready to deal with it, He already is dealing with it. God is already there, at our side, even though we, in our time-limited existence, aren't there yet. God is there, providing for us, sheltering us, strengthening us, and He is also already on the other side of it. Whatever the outcome, God knows. He knows, because He is there, and He is beyond it, and He is with us preparing us for what is coming. That's amazing. That's empowering. That's how great our God is.

Then there is the infinitude of God in relation to space. God cannot be confined to a spatial limitation. God is omnipresent, meaning He is present everywhere. He is in heaven and on earth, right now. He is at my house, and yours, right now. He is in your car, at your work, at school, in the prisons, in the bars--He is everywhere, at the same time, equally. There is no place you can go or be taken where you are hidden from Him. He will never leave you, for you cannot go anywhere where He is not. That's pretty cool.

Now, let's go a little bigger. Our Solar System extends out about 2 light years from the sun. That's about 12 trillion miles. Want to know how much 12 trillion is? Think of the pictures of Houston after the recent Hurricane Harvey. It is estimated that 9 trillion gallons of rain fell on Houston/Harris County, Texas (33 trillion gallons storm total Texas and Louisiana). That's how much a trillion is. My point? God fills that entire space. He is not just present--He fills it.

That's just our solar system. Our galaxy is about 100,000 light years across, or about six hundred thousand trillion miles, and our galaxy isn't a big one. Some are more than a million light years across. God fills that space. Completely. Our universe is thought to contain around 100 billion galaxies. God fills them all.

Speaking of our universe, current science says that our universe is expanding outward at an unbelievable rate. That area beyond where our universe currently is? God is there. He has been since the beginning. Our God is great!

I've only scratched the surface of God's infinitude. Then there is His immutability (God never changes), His immanence (power, sovereignty), His independence (God needs no-thing and no-one to exist), and His immensity, which encompasses all the others.

What I want to realize, and hope that you realize with me, is that our God is great. He is greater than we can possibly fathom. His power, His presence, His being have no limits. He is immeasurable and indefinable.

And yet.

And yet He chooses to care about me. And you. Not just generally, but specifically. So special are you that He keeps track of the hairs on your head. And that's just the beginning. He numbers each one of the 20-30 trillion red blood cells circulating through your body right now. They are renewed about every 100 days, or 2.4 million every second. He keeps track. For 7 billion people.

And just as our solar system is only the beginning of God's immensity, so tracking every physical detail of our existence is just the beginning of how much God cares about you. This infinite, limitless being cares even more about your inner self, and so He listens to you. Not just to what you say, but those silent thoughts, the ones you cannot even formulate into coherent words. He listens, and He cares. No thought escapes Him, no matter how great or insignificant it may be to you. Your hopes. Your dreams. Your fears. Your victories. Your defeats. He cares. He cares with the fullness of His infinite existence, and is prepared to act on your behalf with the fullness of His infinite power.

Now, how big are those problems of yesterday, today, tomorrow?

How great is our God? So great that it's not even a question we can ask. It's a statement. A praise. An awe-inspired, fear-filled, wondrous gasp from the depth of our soul. Our God is great. Our God is great!

Holier Than Thou

It's an insult now-a-days to be told you have a "holier than thou" attitude. If that means you go around acting like you're better than everyone else, looking down your nose at everyone around you like your stuff doesn't stink, then yea, it's an insult. A fitting one. Because that's not holiness. That's acting like the rest of the world. Kind of ironic.

A lot of people don't even know what the word holy means. A common definition of the word holy is set apart. It has the connotation of being distinct, sacred, special. Something reserved for special, not common, purposes. To be holy means to be different.

And guess what--we as Christians are supposed to be just that. We are supposed to be set apart from the rest of the world. We are supposed to be distinct, sacred, special in what we do, how we act, what we say. God has reserved us for special, not common, purposes. We are supposed to be different. In comparison to the world, we are supposed to be holier than thou.

Peter tells us this in I Peter 1:15, 16 when he says, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written,"You shall be holy, for I am holy." The reference Peter uses is from Leviticus 11:44.

Paul tells us in Romans 12:2 to no longer be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind . . ." That's another way of saying, "be holy." Be distinct. Be set apart. Be different.

That's not easy in the world today. Being different in this age may earn you the title of being a radical, a zealot, intolerant, or even--the shame!--holier than thou. You know what? That's what the world said (and still says) about Jesus. If the unbelieving world sees you in the same light as they see our Lord and Savior, I'd say you're doing something right.

When Jesus told us that we are salt and light (Matthew 5:13, 14), and in 5:16, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven, that was a call to be different. To be holy. In those same verses, Jesus said that if salt loses it's taste, or a light is placed under a basket, they are of no good use. If we are not set apart, if we are no different from the rest of the world, if we indeed are not holier than thou, of what good use are we?

Holiness is not haughtiness, arrogance, pride, condescension. To be holy does not mean to consider yourself better than others. To be holy means to strive to be different from the sinful world and similar to our holy God and His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus is God, reflects God in all He does, says, and is, and Jesus had some pretty strong opinions and ways of interacting with others. Jesus was most certainly different, and in the end it cost Him. It cost Him popularity. It cost Him comfort. It cost Him acceptance, friends, and even family. In the end it cost Him His life. Being holy isn't easy, and it comes with a price.

But it also comes with a reward. Over and over in the Bible, God rewards those who are different, who strive to be holy. Think of Joseph. Think of Daniel, Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego. Think of Noah, Ruth, Mary Magdalene. The Apostles. Paul. Zaccheus. They dared to be different, they dared to be holier than thou and each was rewarded--some in this life but, more importantly, all received their reward for eternity, even if it cost them temporary loss.

Here's the point: We are supposed to be holy. This is more than a calling, it is a command. We are supposed to be different from the world, to stand out, be noticed not because we think we are better, but because we reflect the One who is better than all.

 But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written,"You shall be holy, for I am holy."