Getting out of the Pool

I am sure every parent knows the drill.  If you have ever taken your children to the swimming pool for a day of fun in the sun, you understand what it is to be misunderstood and under appreciated.  I don't mean your kids don't love the fact that you took them to the pool, but at some point you have to tell them "It's time to get out of the pool."  This is rarely very well received.

Picture it with me.  The day started fine and fun.  As the afternoon has moved on you have seen the growing clouds in the distance.  You have felt a few small drops of rain and the breeze growing ever so slightly stiffer and then it happens.  You see the distant flashes of lightning.  The time has come.  You say to the kids "It's time to get out if the water, dry off, and get in the car."

The children come to the edge of the pool with a great deal of disappointment because fun time has drawn to an end.  In their little minds it seems so arbitrary, you are the reason fun has stopped.  If they were upset at the edge of the pool wait until they get out and feel that "ever so slight" stiff breeze.  Now they are freezing cold and shivering and very unhappy.  They had been playing hard which had distracted them from the knowing hunger in their stomachs and now their misery only draws attention to the fact that they need immediate nourishment.  They are not having fun, they are cold, they are hungry, they are tired and you did this to them.  You can try to help them understand the reasoning behind your decision, but they are way past making any sense of it.  It's time for the noisy ride home.

In the Bible we read the words of a "now much wiser" king Nebuchadnezzar in Dan 4:34-35  "At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation;  (35)  all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, "What have you done?""


The rest of the Bible agrees with Nebuchadnezzar that God is providentially in control of all things.  The Bible is not unclear on this doctrine, but I think the implications of this truth make it hard for us to want to believe.  One of those difficulties is the suffering that comes into our lives.  It is hard for us to imagine that God could stop the hardship if he wanted to but he allows it to happen.  This feels arbitrary.  It feels unloving.  And yet the Scriptures remind us Rom 8:28  "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."  Not everything that happens to us is good, but God is working all these things for good.  Even what other men "mean for evil" God "intends for good."


Let me encourage you to recognize that God is good and loves you.  He is wise.  He is powerful.  He may take you intentionally through a season of life that feels like the kids getting out of the pool.  You get hungry, cold, tired, and your not having fun any more.  Trust God.  Trust him whose eyes are on the distant lightning that he is taking you through this season for your good.  He is accomplishing something!  Trust that he is not arbitrary or unloving or powerless.  He is blessing you in the midst of hard things.  If you can trust God through suffering you may say with Job in Job 42:5  "I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you..."

Me On My Best Day

God often reveals things to me through my children.  I am sure I am not alone in that reality.  As I strive to teach my children about their perfect heavenly Father through their relationship with their flawed earthly father God takes the opportunity to teach me about my relationship with Him as well.  I experienced a great and humbling example of this last night.

After returning from church and getting the kids through the routine of snack, brushing teeth, putting on pajamas (which are only going to come off within minutes of getting sent to bed anyway), praying together, and getting in bed I heard a tremendous commotion.  My four year old daughter had sneaked into my medicine cabinet somewhere in the process and helped herself to a cough drop.   This is obviously a big no no in our house.  I had no idea however.  But as she was making her bed her older brother smelled the cough drop and asked her if she had taken one.  She immediately burst into tears. Down the stairs she came with all the melodrama of an over tired four year old.  She was sobbing deeply as she crawled into my lap and I could barely make out her confession through the chest heaving sobs and tears.  I was trying to decide how to react, she had offended one of our big no no's and yet hear she is obviously broken about it.  As I was thinking she laid hold of my face pulled me to look square in her eyes and said, "Dad please forgive me, please do you forgive me?"  I hugged her close and said "Yes darling, I forgive you."  After a few words of caution about the danger of getting in that cabinet she went up the stairs laughing.  The laughter betrayed the fact that she actually knew our relationship was unhindered.  Nothing remained between us.

I looked at my wife across the room who had been watching all of this in silent amusement.  Then it hit  me.  That encounter is my relationship with God on my best day.  I want to live a sinless day, but I know that I do not.  I am plagued with inner pride, lust, desires, selfishness, and this list would get very long to be exhaustive... Even as God grants me growth in all of these areas I still have them in my life on a daily basis.  On my best day I am really broken about them.  On my best day I come confessing and weeping before the Lord and seeking forgiveness in Jesus Christ.  On my best day he looks me square in the eyes and says "yes darling, I forgive you."  On my best day I rise from the encounter filled with laughter because I know Jesus did everything required to deal with my sin.  Nothing hinders my relationship with God.  This is my best day!

I hope that you know God this way.  I hope you have the confidence when you cry out to Him that in Jesus Christ you are forgiven all your sin.  I hope you are walking in the joy of that relationship!  

Blessed to be home.

So I am picking up on the blog again after weeks away.  There was the time away in India, which was awesome ministry.  In addition there was the time away recovering from the food poisoning or bad stomach issue I contracted while in India.  Then there was the time away from blogging as I caught up on the rest of life from the first two times away.  At any rate I am blessed to be home and back blogging. God has been very good to me.  I am thankful to be home and eager to return to Mumbai if God will grant me that privilege.

You can check out the ministry we worked with at their website http://www.sevambs.org/ and I hope you will.  These are men and women who are ministering a midst tremendous needs.  It is incredible to see Jesus moving in the middle of incredible spiritual darkness and intense poverty.  In the middle of all of this Jesus shines brightly.  I am again reminded that there are not political or ideological solutions for this level of need, but it is the gospel that is "the power of God for salvation to all who believe."

I hope to share more posts in the days and weeks to come.  I hope to share more boldly.  I hope to share more humbly.  Thanks for reading.

Here I come Mumbai

This is the last post I will make before I leave for a mission trip to India.  I would appreciate any prayers that might be lifted for the people of Mumbai and for the small team going from our church.

We plan to do some prayer walking in the slums as well as to preach the gospel at services in the slum churches in the evenings.  We plan to a day of training and encouraging local pastors and church leaders. Good Lord willing, we will also have the opportunity to visit a boys home, future Bible school,  and some of the aids and prostitution ministries.

May the Lord be greatly glorified!

-posts should resume middle of October, 2011

Not Just Passing By

When Moses wanted to see the Lord he placed him in the cleft of the rock and hid him there with his hand as he passed by.  Exo 33:22  and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by.

Similarly, after Elijah fled he did not experience God in the strong wind or earthquake or fire, but in the low whisper. 1Ki 19:11-13  And he said, "Go out and stand on the mount before the LORD." And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake.  (12)  And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.  (13)  And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

God was revealing Himself when he passed by.  His glory was on display.  At times he refused to pass by in judgement of his disobedient people.  Amo 7:8  And the LORD said to me, "Amos, what do you see?" And I said, "A plumb line." Then the Lord said, "Behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass by them;

I heard a sermon on the radio this morning that made this application when it is said of Jesus Mar 6:48-50  And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them,  (49)  but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out,  (50)  for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid."

May the Lord pass by you as you make headway in the storm of this day.  May you be blessed to see Him in his glory.  2Co 4:6  For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Trusting God, Not Making Excuses for Him

It is always difficult to counsel with someone who is struggling with grief.  They have experienced deep pain and loss and it is still so raw that the tenderness of the moment makes communication limited.  I have found that often times people struggling with grief either blame God or they make excuses for God.

The person who blames God may be someone who does not know God and may not even believe in Him.  Yes, I have actually heard it said, "I don't believe God exists and I hate Him for killing my grandmother."  Sometimes the God blamer is someone who claims to walk with God but at the end of the day, this loss reveals they have been seeking after God to see what good they can get from him.  If we do not understand that everything exists for God and His glory; if we instead make ourselves and our desires paramount; we will never make any sense of the suffering in our lives.

Then there are Christians who genuinely love the Lord and want to honor Him.  They may struggle to understand why this has all happened and they begin to make excuses for God.  They say things like "God is mad at me," or "God didn't do this, He gives us free will."  They may question His love and goodness or his power to stop the tragedy from happening.

In "Trusting God" Jerry Bridges nails it.  He reminds us that we will find no comfort in an unloving, powerless, distant God.  I encourage the grief stricken to avoid the question "Why" and ask "Who."  Who is God.  He is loving and wants what is best for us.  He is wise and knows what is best for us.  He is powerful and nothing can keep Him from bringing what his love and wisdom have determined are good for us.  This truth has been an anchor for me in the storms of life.

I have to acknowledge though that it must be in place before the tragedy usually, if any help is to be gained from thinking this way.  It is like trying to nail down a piece of plywood over the windows in the middle of a hurricane.  It must be in place before the wind picks up, because this doctrine will be unmanageable in the midst of the storm.  

I'm a Believ-ah!

In Christian circles we often think in terms of believers and unbelievers.  Believers are those people who believe in Jesus, not just that he exists, but that he is the one to uphold us and carry us through.  Unbelievers then, are the ones who have rejected the message of salvation through Jesus.  I was challenged recently (as I continue to work my way slowly through Tim Chesters' "You Can Change") to consider that all sin is a matter of unbelief.  The sin I still struggle with,  after believing in Jesus, is still an expression of unbelief.

I may cry out in bitterness during hardship in my life, because I am listening to the lie that "God is not there or he doesn't love me."  I may be tempted to look at pornography or seek the affections of another woman, if I believe the lie "the forbidden woman will be good and sweet and better." My lack of trust in God will lead to all kinds of lying, cheating, stealing, covetousness, on and on it goes.

Satan always tries to question the truthfulness of God.  As Jesus was baptized he heard the words from the Father "This is my son in whom I am well pleased."  He walked from that place into the wilderness where he fasted for 40 days.  Then Satan came to him and begins his assault.  Satan's first attack as he came upon hungry tired Jesus is "Can you really believe God?"  He said "If you are the son of God..."  The last thing Jesus heard before the temptation was God speaking from heaven "you are my son."  Now Satan was challenging it.  That is not only the case with Jesus temptation, but with every temptation.  Can you believe God?

I want to strive to be a believing believer.  I believe in Jesus in such a way as to rely upon him for salvation.  I keep believing him day after day.