Tag Archives: Old Testament

The lesson of waiting and faith

Posted on October 1, 2012 by | Comments Off on The lesson of waiting and faith

Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me (Micah 7:7).

During our pastor’s sermon last night, my wife and I shared a laugh as Pastor Ramsey talked about his own impatience.  What we found funny was not that my pastor was talking about his impatience, but he actually described my impatience perfectly!  As he began his sermon, he mentioned waiting at busy intersections, waiting in line at Walmart, and other common situations where we are forced to abandon our own self-imposed time lines and just wait.  One of the most difficult things to do is just to wait; it can be made even more difficult when we are faced with a situation where we see no visible way out!

Yesterday’s services, from Sunday school to the evening service, were filled with references and reminders that at times, it is important for us to wait and to do so in a spirit of thankfulness and  continued prayer.  Through the prophet Isaiah, God reminds both Jew and Christian alike that they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint (Isaiah 40:31). When we wait and accept what God has planned for us we will be rewarded by an overjoyed heart and will not be filled with dread or fear, but instead will excel in what God has put before us.  Have you   ever have a job or project that you enjoyed doing so much that it didn’t seem like work?  Did you ever get excited the more you became involved in it?  Did you notice that even when things didn’t go exactly as planned that they were never as bad as they could have been?  Then you totally understand what Isaiah is speaking about in this verse.

Our adult Sunday school class teacher, Eddy Owens, shared with our class how in his life that there are times he has felt that God has shut all the doors and windows and left him in a hallway to just wait.  What an accurate description of what God will do to get our attention; the prophet Isaiah must have also felt the same way when he wrote And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him (Isaiah 30:18). David, whom God called a man after his own heart, wrote He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake (Psalms 23:2-3).  There’s an important lesson we can apply here – there will come times in our lives where God puts us in a situation where all we can do is to wait upon him and we are to rest ourselves – spiritually, physically, and mentally – while we wait.

There are times in our lives that we simply do need the opportunity for rest.  The psalmist and king, David, understood this quite well when he wrote Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass(Psalms 37:7). Right now, my wife and I am in the middle of one of these “rest, wait, and fret not…” times in our lives.  There are times where it’s easy, at least for me, to take my eyes off the Lord and begin to worry about everything else that’s going on around me.  Bills, finances, car repairs, and a whole host of things begin to preoccupy my mind.  Instead, what God wants for us is not to worry but to use the time waiting to rest.  There are times when we look back at things that have happened in our lives and we have what I refer to as a “Job moment,” For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest (Job 3:13).  Too many times when we should have rested, we worry instead.  We find ourselves spiritually tired to the point that it can delay or keep us from enjoying God’s rich blessings that he has planned for us.

Additionally, while we are waiting on God’s direction we should not be ashamed.  David, a man that found himself waiting a lot for God’s timing, wrote O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me. Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause (Psalms 25:2-3). We are not to be ashamed for our faith in God nor are we to be ashamed when we are placed in a position when all we can do is wait upon God’s timing. It is amazing how when Christians find themselves in situations where waiting is the only thing we can do Satan begins to taunt us with the ever so effective  “so where is your God now?”  It is important that we remember what God gently reminds us through the writing of the psalmist, David: Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth (Psalms 46:10).  I have learned that there are blessings for obedience.  When God tells us to wait on him, and we do, not only do we demonstrate our faith in him, but we also exercise and strengthen our faith in him.

Comments Off on The lesson of waiting and faith

Posted in Increasing Faith, Our relationship with God

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Off the cuff: the Evansville “Lighthouse”

Posted on September 17, 2012 by | Comments Off on Off the cuff: the Evansville “Lighthouse”

The Evansville “Lighthouse”

Our first winter season married, Michelle and I would often take early evening walks along the downtown Evansville river walk along Riverside Drive.  One evening after Wednesday night church, we decided to go take a nighttime walk during a light snow shower.  We were joking as I took the picture of what we called the “Evansville Lighthouse” – one of the many small lights along the scenic riverside walking path.

The picture isn’t anything remarkable from a photography perspective.  The background is blurry and the picture has a slight haze to it; however, from the right perspective, it actually does resemble a lighthouse.  For someone that may not be familiar with Evansville or where its located might actually believe that Evansville, indeed, does have a lighthouse.  After all, there’s a picture of it!  It would be easy to claim and promote this picture as being of something that it is not.

Just as this picture, we also have the potential to represent things not as they actually are but how we think others want to see them.  A good Bible example is demonstrated in the Old Testament when the prophet Micaiah has been asked by the King of Israel, Ahab, about the outcome of an upcoming battle:  So he came to the king. And the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall we forbear? And he answered him, Go, and prosper: for the LORD shall deliver it into the hand of the king.  And the king said unto him, How many times shall I adjure thee that thou tell me nothing but that which is true in the name of the LORD? And he said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep that have not a shepherd: and the LORD said, These have no master: let them return every man to his house in peace (I Kings 15-17).

Even God’s chosen man – the prophet of God Micaiah – chose to tell Ahab what he thought Ahab wanted to hear rather than what had been shown to Micaiah by God.  As Christians, we must be aware of this spiritual battle and the temptation to promote the picture we think others want to see.  Paul even writes that as Christians, we need to Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee (Hebrews 13:5).  Even in my own life, when I have had burdens, or been in the middle of trials, and even while standing in the church building, I have been asked by others how things are going – and my response has always been “I’m doing fine, and you?”

For whatever the reason – our stubborn pride that doesn’t want anyone to know that we have trials or are living an imperfect life; our inability to admit we have our own shortcomings or failures; or maybe even we feel that our problems are not as bad as others we know – we all have a tendency to be guarded about the truth of how we really are.  Instead, we tell people what we think they want us to hear – how our lives are all sunshine and roses – when in reality, we are hurting, suffering, and crying on the inside.  Without any sort of thought to it, we have created a “conversation with covetousness” instead of allowing our conversation to be honest.  How is it being covetousness?  Simply by portraying ourselves or our circumstances as we desire them to be seen and not as they really are.

James wrote that as Christians, above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation (James 5:12).  Simply put, when we tell others, especially our church family, that things are fine when they are not, we are not only deceiving ourselves and them, but we are robbing them of the opportunity to Bear ye one another’s burdens as the Lord Jesus Christ and the apostles have taught within the New Testament (Galatians 6:2).  With an honest conscious, how can we help another with their burdens if we are unwilling to let others see us as we really are and not how we want to be perceived?

The “Evansville Lighthouse” will always be a moment and laugh that Michelle and I share.  It will also remain a lesson on perception.  The designers of and workers who placed the light fixture along the river walk never imagined that anyone would mistake it for a “lighthouse.”  It was never meant to be seen as a lighthouse; it was meant to be a source of light – to illuminate the path along the river walk at night.  As Christians, we still fight with the flesh; we will never know of perfection as long as we live this mortal life on Earth.  We are not intended to be perfect; with all our imperfections we are intended to show God’s love and grace to others while bringing them to His saving grace.

Comments Off on Off the cuff: the Evansville “Lighthouse”

Posted in Off the cuff

Tagged , , , , , ,

Preparing the path of a young person

Posted on August 29, 2012 by | Comments Off on Preparing the path of a young person

Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me (Ezekiel 3:17).

I am not in any way comparing myself or my spiritual calling to that of the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel.  And as a further observation, I am far from the perfect parent; I have made my share of mistakes as a father and as a Christian.  With that said, a combination of my own life experiences while growing up and the past nine years as an adjunct at various community colleges and four-year universities has let me to understand how important it is that Christian parents “get it right” when preparing their children for adulthood.

Earlier this morning I was checking my email and found that a former student of mine had sent an email asking me for some academic and personal advice.  As an adjunct, I cannot formally advise students about their academic career but do offer advice on how to make the most of even the most difficult class.  As far as the personal advice, I do offer it with the understanding that I am coming from a Christian perspective and for the most part, when I tell a student that, it opens the door for them to ask more questions about my faith.  Almost all the students that ask me either for personal advice or to discuss issues of faith were not prepared by their parents to face adulthood; some come from homes a lot like what I grew up in while others come from what they described as a “Christian” home.

One of the most important things that parents do for their children is to Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it, as written by Solomon (Proverbs 22:6).  Nearly ten years ago and while attending a church revival meeting at a small country Baptist church in southeastern Missouri, I heard a preacher twho opened my eyes to the extent it has changed forever my understanding of this verse.  he discussed how parents have given this responsibility – without any reservation – to the lost world!  Unfortunately, he is right.

As Solomon put it, training up a child is about preparing the child for adulthood. It is about teaching them to not only how to work and to be productive, but know themselves, know their relationship with God, and to understand their relationship with others.  Yes, traditional education, which is geared for  productivity and work has been yielded to public institutions to the extent that a majority of parents no longer feel obligated to have an active role in preparing their child for adulthood.  No longer are parents teaching their children a work ethic, occupational skills, religious teachings, or even reaffirmation of academic teachings – it has all been left to the realm of “public education.”

We see the results of this after nearly thirty years of abandonment of this important parental responsibility.  We have families that no longer resemble what God had planned, one in two marriages ending in divorce and children in homes with one parent or even  being raised by grandparents, churches across our nation closing their doors for the last time, and souls not being reached for Jesus.  I can tell you that although many of my 18 to 25 year old college students have been raised in a spiritual vacuum, a few are asking questions about God, faith, and how to fit the belief in God into a “science driven” world.  Yes, there are a few who are hungry to learn about God so they can be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you [them] a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear (I Peter 3:15).

Pages: 1 2

Comments Off on Preparing the path of a young person

Posted in Discipleship, Our relationship with our children

Tagged , , , , , ,