Thy will be done - Devotion for 7/31/07

Thy will be done – Devotion for 7/31/07

Even though it is a part of the prayer that Jesus himself taught us to pray, I’m not sure too many of us really incorporate “thy will be done” in our own personal prayers. Sure, we may actually say it, but I’m not sure how many of us really mean it. Our prayers and prayer requests are often filled with listing our problems, and then giving God the solution we deem best, or at least a multiple choice of which solutions would be acceptable to us. “Lord, this would all be better if You would just . . .” But that is not the way Jesus taught us to pray, is it? Jesus taught us to pray and accept that the Lord’s will will be done, whether we think it is a good idea or not. If we pray “thy will be done,” that is our letting go of whatever ails us and accepting whatever God’s plans are for us. Since God is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent, why would we not always be willing to accept God’s will? Why do we continue to tell God what we believe the best solution would be?

As a father, if one of my sons was to come to me and present a problem, I would hope that they would allow me to provide the solution that I believe to be best. When they bring a problem to me, I don’t see that as an opportunity to make things worse for them, although it may seem that way to them. For instance when one of them falls and gets a bad cut or scrape and they come to me bleeding. The first thing I am going to do is actually the last thing that they want me to do – I clean it. Cleaning out the scrape or cut can be painful – after all, it is a fresh wound and blood is still pouring out. Washing over the scrape with soap and water, my sons will cry out as if I am torturing them (which I only do when they won’t clean their room). Eventually we’ll get some antibiotic ointment and a band-aid on the boo-boo, and things are better – but we have to go through the crying and screaming first so that the wound can heal properly. Now that they know the routine, they are a little more reluctant to come to me when they have a scrape or cut, because they know it is going to hurt if I do what I deem best – to first clean the wound. When they do come to me, they may through the sobs and tears tell me about their “injury,” and then just ask me to put a band-aid on it. They present the solution they want instead of giving me the opportunity to do what I know they need, and it frustrates me. It frustrates me because I don’t want them to think that my cleaning out the wound causes unnecessary suffering – I would never want to cause unnecessary suffering on the children that I helped bring into this world. It frustrates me because I would hope that they know that I only want the best for them, and I only want to do what is right for them.

Today, and this week, as problems and situations arise in your life, simply say to God “Thy will be done.” If I as an earthly father would only want the best for my children, then surely our heavenly Father would only want the best for each one of us. If we trust that “Father knows best,” then although we may be led through painful circumstances, we will be led with a greater purpose and vision than we could ever have on our own. Today in your prayers, instead of lifting up the prayer concerns and solutions you would deem acceptable, trust God that His will would be done.

Why ask "why"? - Deovtion for 7/30/07

Why ask “why”? – Devotion for 7/30/07

Recently someone sent me a list called “why ask why,” and this list included a bunch of silly questions. I know some of the things on the list come from Seinfeld, but here are a few examples:

• Why are they called apartments, when they're all stuck together?
• Why do banks charge you a "non-sufficient funds fee" on money they already know you don't have?
• Why do people go to Burger King and Order a Double Whopper with a Large French Fry and insist on getting a Diet Coke?
• If the universe is everything, and scientists say that the universe is expanding, what is it expanding into?
• How do "Keep off the grass" signs get where they are?
• What's another word for thesaurus?
• If a book about failures doesn't sell, is it a success?
• If the funeral procession is at night, do folks drive with their lights off?
• When companies ship styrofoam, what do they pack it in?

And one of my personal favorites:

• Why do they clean a felon's arm with alcohol when preparing for a lethal injection? They don’t want him to get an infection?!?

Some questions just aren’t meant to be answered. Deuteronomy 7:6 speaks about why God chose the people of Israel. “For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.” The passage goes on to say that they were not selected because of their numbers, for when God chose Abram he didn’t have one descendant. He simply chose them to be His possession.

We truly can not see things as God sees them, but we still try. When things happen in the world, especially bad things, we tend to look for a reason or a purpose and ask “Why?” Part of the faithfulness that God desires from us is the willingness to just try Him without having to have the answers to the “why.” I give my 2 sons vitamins to take each day as a way of making sure that they are receiving the proper nutrients and essential minerals, and I want them to take them without me having to explain that to them every day. When I set a bedtime for them, I want them to go to bed without fighting me or asking “why do I have to go to bed now?” Today, let us place our full faith and trust in God, and not necessarily need to have all the answers to everything.

Confidence Man - Devotion for 7/23/07

Confidence Man – Devotion for 7/23/07

What gives you confidence? I’ve read that clothes can give you confidence, that if you are dressed nicely that you will actually feel better about yourself. I’ve heard that having positive people around you can also help establish your confidence. And I’ve experienced people who like to tear down everyone around them to give themselves confidence. So where do we find confidence?

I read Psalm 44:1-8 this morning, and I am reminded of where our confidence should come from. Verses 4-7 state, “You are my King, O God; Command victories for Jacob. Through You we will push back our adversaries; through your name we will trample down those who rise up against us.. For I will not trust in my bow, Nor will my sword save me. But You have saved us from our adversaries, and You havfe put to shame those who hate us.” I love that part “I will not trust my bow, nor will my sword save me.” It reminds me of many different passages where the Lord’s hand brought the victory. I think of 2 Samuel 17:8, where we are told that fierce forest “devoured more people that day than the sword devoured” as the army of Israel was coming after David following his son Absalom’s revolt. I think of Joshua 10:11 where we are told that “there were more who died from the hailstones than those whom the sons of Israel killed with the sword.” I think of Exodus 14 and the Egyptian army being swallowed up by the Red Sea. I am reminded that we may place confidence that we want in the things of this world, but God is truly that from which our true confidence must come. Proclaim to Him today that He is your King – command victories for Jacob!

"Bear" Necessities - Devotion for 7/19/07

“Bear” Necessities – Devotion for 7/19/07

Most of us have had someone at some point in our lives bear false witness against us. Maybe it was Timmy telling the teacher that you hit him on the playground, when you know for a fact that you did not hit him – you kicked him. Maybe it was your sister Amy telling your mom and dad that you called her a %@#**, when you know for a fact that you did not call her that – you actually called her a *^&(+ <. Or maybe as an adult a coworker accusing you of doing something that you shouldn’t have done, or not doing something that you should have done – when in actuality they are actually trying to cover their own tail-end because they did the wrong thing. Whatever it is, at some point in time in your life, I believe that it would be safe to say that we all have had someone bear false witness against us.

How do you react in those situations? Many times it is easy to become defensive immediately, and try to correct the false witness. Some times we set out to exact vengeance by bearing a false witness of our own against the accuser. Or other times we might just live up to that false witness - I remember once as a kid being accused of doing something that I knew I hadn’t done, so I decided if I was going to get in trouble for it, I might as well do the thing I’m going to get in trouble for. In this day and time very rarely is our first inclination to bear with and forgive the individual who has told a lie about us. However, that is exactly what we are called to do (I know you know that – we all know what we are supposed to do – we just need to be reminded what is expected of us from time to time). This morning I was reading about some of the characteristics of the Christian life as according to the letter to the Colossians 3:12-17. Verse 13 states, “bearing with one another, forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.” That verse really is a convicting verse. It’s one thing to be told what we should do, but to follow it up with the whole “just as the Lord forgave you” really hits home. I once read that if you cannot forgive someone else then you better not pray the Lord’s prayer – “forgive us our debts as we forgive others.” In other words, do you really want to be held to the same standard by God that you hold for others? No matter the false witness, the truth will set you free. No matter the offense, we still must bear with one another, and offer forgiveness.

Expecting Bad Service - Devotion for 7/18/07

Expecting Bad Service – Devotion for 7/18/07

Do you ever find yourself going to get something to eat somewhere, and before you even order you just know that you are going to get bad service? Many times I know before I even go to certain places that although I like the food, I know that the service is going to be bad. It is such a revelation, however, when you expect bad service but instead you receive excellent service. Which means, you actually got the kind of service that you should be getting, but rarely do. You know, no matter how good the food is, the service will make or break whether or not we will ever eat there again. We may have bad food, but if the service was excellent it is easier to pass it off as we just picked the wrong items, so maybe we should try it again. If the food is excellent, but the service is short, rude, and with a demeanor that serving me is the last thing on earth that he or she wants to be doing, then I rarely will give that place a second shot. However, in this day and time, it seems that anywhere I go now I am expecting bad service – and that should not be the norm.

Sometimes I think we approach our prayer life in the same way we do our dining options – expecting bad service. We may go to God in prayer and lifting up specific things to Him, but I don’t think we usually expect God to answer those prayers. Isn’t it funny how surprised we get when we finally understand God’s answer to our prayers? Why is that? Shouldn’t we expect the best kind of service from a God who gave His Son so that we might have life? This morning I read from Micah 7, and Micah 7:7 reads, “But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.” Today when you lift up your prayers to the Lord, don’t expect that you might get an answer. Today when you lift up your prayers to the Lord, expect that He will hear you – expect that He will answer. A Christian should never be surprised when God answers our prayers.

Why and Because - Devotion for 7/17/07

Why and Because – Devotion for 7/17/07

From the time that I spent as a youth minister, I learned a lot of little games that can be played or activities that can be done with a group. One particular activity that was entertaining was something called “Why and Because.” Everyone in the group would be handed 2 slips of paper, and on one slip was the word “Why?” and the second slip was the word “Because . . .” The participants were then instructed to write a “why” question on the “why” sheet (don’t ask why), and then they were to answer their “why” question on the “because” sheet. For example, they may write “Why do I have to eat vegetables?” with the answer being “Because it is good for me.” Once everyone is finished, all the “why” slips would be collected, as would the “because” slips, and then they would be redistributed around the room randomly so that each participant would receive someone’s “why” and someone else’s “because.” Hilarity ensued as we would go around the room and read out loud each slip, and would often end up with things such as: “Why do I have to eat vegetables? Because I was driving too fast.” Ok – so that one isn’t so funny, but trust me, if you try this with a group, you will really get some messed up answers.

Sometimes in life it seems like God gives us messed up answers to the questions we ask. Doesn’t it seem sometimes as if we cry out to God with questions, only to receive some of the strangest responses? Technically God’s answers are correct answers, they just don’t always seem to match up with the questions we have in mind. Recently I met someone who had been experiencing a difficult period in their life, and this individual explained that he just couldn’t understand why God wouldn’t help him. As we talked, I inquired about his prayer life and his walk with God, and he told me that he quit praying because he got tired of not getting an answer. That discussion really reminded me that many times if we don’t get the answer from God that we want, we treat it is as if we’ve not actually gotten an answer at all.

This morning as I prayed over Psalm 37, I was struck the comparisons that David lays out between the righteous and the wicked – what God will do for the righteous; what God will do to the wicked. He constantly holds on to the hope of the redemption of the righteous. He closes the psalm with these verses: “But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; He is their strength in time of trouble. The Lord helps them and delivers them; He delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in Him” (Psalm 37:39-40). As I read that passage, a “why” and “because” comes to mind. Why does the Lord help and deliver the righteous? Because they take refuge in Him. When we find ourselves in those times of trials and questioning of God, when we find those times where none of the answers seem to make sense if we receive any at all, remember that the Lord will help and deliver you because you take refuge in Him.

Soul lifting - Devotion for 7/16/07

Soul lifting – Devotion for 7/16/07

Each morning I sit down to do my personal time of devotion, and in my devotion time I utilize a book called A Guide to Prayer, which gives me a theme for the week, a Psalm for the week, daily scripture assignments, and assorted writings to read. Many times the theme for the week really is on target with where I am at that week, and that is truly the case this week, as the theme for this week is “Patience.”

Yesterday was a very difficult day for me. Yesterday we took our sons Jacob and Aaron to camp for the first time. The boys have both talked about how excited they were about camp, and I was out at the camp with them last Thursday night as I preached at the camp worship service that night – and that service made the boys even more excited about going. When we got to the camp yesterday, both guys seemed great, and Jacob quickly was off and running making friends (I’m not sure he even knew we were still there). Aaron, however, was a different story. Granted, Aaron is a couple of years younger than Jacob, but he was much more concerned about staying at camp. He was very reluctant to stay, and more than once said to us that he wanted to just go home with us. Eventually I was able to get Aaron playing with a couple of other little boys, and eventually he began to act like he was having fun. I walked over to him to speak to him about us leaving, and he grabbed hold again and expressed his desire to go home. It really was heart-breaking for us, but Jenn and I knew that for many reasons it was best for Aaron if he stayed. We said our goodbyes, and he went off and played some more while we stood off in the distance watching him to make sure he was going to be OK. By the time we left, we could see Aaron was beginning to be himself and was starting to have fun as he goofed around with the others, and Jacob even came over and was playing with him some.

Last night Jenn and I both felt extremely melancholy. We both just kept worrying about Aaron. Is he going to eat? Is he going to sleep? A thunderstorm came up, and is he going to be OK? The camp had asked me to come out and preach Tuesday night and Thursday night, but Tuesday is our 14^th wedding anniversary, so I had told them “no” for Tuesday night – would they now let me come on Tuesday? I told Jenn that this was going to be the longest week of our lives as we are filled with worry over our boys. And now I come in to my devotion time and read about patience.

Isn’t it amazing the way God comes to you at just the right time? Today, the first passage of scripture that I read began, “To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, in You I trust” (Psalm 25:1-2a). That meets me exactly where I am at – I am in a point where I just need to lift up my soul to God. I am finding such peace this morning in just being reminded that God can lift us up just as He lifts the sun every morning. I am finding such peace in being reminded that God will use this week to shape and form Jacob and Aaron, and they will receive so many valuable life lessons this week. And I take great joy in knowing that God ordained it to be such a time for me to reminded that I can trust Him, and that I should have patience in His time. As Carlos Carretto says in The God Who Comes, “God comes like the sun in the morning – when it is time. We must assume an attitude of waiting, accepting the fact that we are creatures and not the creator.”