What’s Fair?
All guilty of saying: ‘that’s not fair’, raise your hand.
Seems like we start with that in our preschool years and keep on indefinitely. And often things aren’t fair. But how do we measure misdeeds to determine what is fair? Laws, politics, rules, ethics, morality, tradition? And what does Jesus say to ‘fair’?
“When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly.” (1Peter 2:23 NIV)
Ouch – that stings when I think of my actions in the face of unjust treatment. You? Even if I may not insult back I still want to make my case about the accusation, treatment, abuse, lie, threat, etc. So what does it look like to entrust ourselves to God?
Perhaps a lifelong pursuit – of triumphs and failures as we learn not to repay or make our case, but to let God’s wisdom and providence make things better than we ever could.
There’s an account of two women who gave birth and one of the women’s babies died. The grieving mother traded her dead child in the middle of the night for the other infant. The other mother realized what had happened. Upon taking their case to the king, he said ‘take a sword and divide the child and give each mother half’ – the real mother cried out ‘please, no give her the baby’ – and the thief said ‘go ahead’. The king knew who the baby belonged to. (2Kings 3:16-28)
Only God has the wisdom to see the big picture, knows what is very best for us, will right all wrongs – if not today, then in eternity. And that’s where trust comes in.
Do we trust God? Is the God we say we trust the One True God? Has He always been and will He always be? These are hard to wrap our heads around – that’s where faith comes in. Even faith is a gift from Him – there’s nothing He requires of us on our own. Why? Because He knows our weaknesses and He provides all we need – even our faith. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV)
Now that’s fair!
Transforming…
Want to make a difference?
To who, for who – what difference? We’re conditioned that life is all about making our mark, being remembered. That’s a lot of pressure. Remembered how long, and for what? More questions than answers when the questions are all about self.
What if the difference we could make wasn’t about anything we can do? What if the mark made didn’t have anything to do with our abilities? And what if it wasn’t us who was remembered? The pressure is no longer there. This is our true calling: The difference we can make in this life is making Jesus known. The mark left behind is that of a soul changed for eternity. And the One remembered is God.
I fail at this. I struggle with too much self. Do you? So while I have the answer – I don’t always live it. You and me, we are on a journey. The forks in the road we’ll face will lead to shining our light or holding out the true Light.
“Don’t let the world make you conform to its way of thinking when you can be transformed to God’s.” (Stormie Omartian) That is the beginning of a journey that leaves a legacy, but not ours, God’s. His legacy transcends time because it leads right into forever.
“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Romans 12:2a NIV)
Notice God’s words: ‘any longer’. He knows us so well, He knows where we are right now, but He also knows where we could be. The pattern of this world will weigh us with anxiety, the renewing He can do in our minds will set us free. “Now the Lord is Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” (2Corinthians 3:17 NIV)
Free – to live without the burden of making our mark on the world. He will work through us if we ask. How? “All of us, then, reflect the glory of the Lord with uncovered faces; and that same glory, coming from the Lord, who is the Spirit, transforms us into His likeness in an ever greater degree of glory.” (2Corinthians 3:18 GNT)
Where are your keys?
Sometimes I find my keys in my hand when I’m tearing through my purse or the house for the tenth time.
We’re such a busy society that what is plainly in our hands is often missed. A good reminder of how oblivious we are to the oh so quick passing of time – and how we often miss the important. The important – what is it? It’s knowing the Jesus who holds the keys to life and death – and it’s also about the little things: tiny toes, windy walks, friend lunches, hand holding.
Must be a way to make days less about beating the traffic and making the dollar – and more about the Key Holder and moments held in hearts. “Take hold of My instructions; don’t let them go. Guard them, for they are the key to life.” (Proverbs 4:13 NLT)
Yay, there are instructions. All in one Book – and in our hearts if His Spirit resides there. And so many of them are about loving others – which takes us back to slowing down. One more hug, one more stroll, one more ice tea topped with laughter.
We’re heading into autumn – a changing of seasons signaling growth slowing down. Life has seasons as well and sometimes the autumn of life trumpets to our hearts: ‘slow down, you’re missing so much.’ Hearts may feel it, but souls have to live it. The faithfulness of God shows us the way: He’s never too busy for us – can’t wrap our head around His ever constant presence, but that doesn’t diminish it any.
“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1 NIV)
God not only holds the key to life, but also to death. But death will not always be. For now, it comes to those on earth – for some an instant passage into the presence of Jesus. For some a fearsome journey of utter darkness. But now isn’t always – and someday, for God’s children, death is done away with. There will be no more separation of loved ones – no more languishing in hospitals, no more dread.
“I am the living one. I died, but look–I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave.” (Revelation 1:18 NLT) Time for us to slow down and love others into His forever.
Hope Challenge…
Lots of things are contagious – mostly stuff we don’t want to catch. Like the flu or the common cold.
My husband used to have a poster in his office that said ‘Attitudes are Contagious – Is Yours Worth Catching?’ I think the same can be said of Hope. For the last five weeks I’ve pondered and written about that four letter word and what it really is. I’ve gone to the most reliable source (the Bible) and I’ve tried to get a whole lot more of h-o-p-e down in my soul.
Are you a little short on supply? “Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment.” (1Timothy 6:17 NLT)
Ours for the asking – and the sharing. Need a little peace, ask the Giver. Need rest, find it in your Shelter. Need h-o-p-e, find it in the only Source.
We forget, that though we may feel empty, inept, unable, wandering, weak – God doesn’t, isn’t. He richly supplies us – because His storehouse of all we need never runs out. With that truth in mind I think He’s calling us not to gather only what we need, but to let the abundance flow out of us. Because, let’s face it, we’re not the only ones who need refueling. A world is dying without hope – and we have the answer to the emptiness.
“May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else…May He strengthen your hearts” (1Thessalonians 3:12a, 13a NIV)
Even loving others is something we need Jesus for. He makes our love overflow. Jesus proved that the more of Himself He gave away, the more the good news reached souls. Care to give a little hope away today? The work God will do in our hearts as we expand them to give away our endless Resource, will far outweigh the effort.
It’s a Hope Challenge. To take it means we have to be sold out mind, body, and soul that eternity is ours – and then we have to make it known. “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” (1Peter 3:15 NIV)
Hope Ends…
Know that saying ‘all good things must come to an end’? Like a really good book, wonderful day, reliable product, good paying job, cherished life.
There will be many happy endings in this life, and many soul draining ones as well. I miss my children’s childhood days, miss my mother desperately. Watching grandchildren slip from baby days, I long for time to stop. All these separations, endings, make us long for permanence. Will hurt and longings cease? Jesus said on the cross: “It is finished” – and He meant a lot more than His work here on earth. He meant sin’s grip on us, death’s separation from eternity, all sorrow and fear.
“If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.” (1Corinthians 15:19 NIV)
Is that where our hope lies? In this life only? “The suicide rate in America has increased 24 percent since 1999…If a disease saw such a spike, we would deem it an epidemic.” (Max Lucado) Max goes on to point out that we live in times where we are more educated, have more technology, more entertainment and recreation, more of everything – so why the epidemic? I agree with his answer: “People are dying for lack of hope.”
For the bridge jumper, overdoser, trigger puller this life seems to be it. Before another life succumbs, hear this good news: for those who claim Jesus as Lord and Savior, there is so much more! Eternity – without all that causes pain and dread. “From eternity to eternity I am God. No one can snatch anyone out of my hand.” (Isaiah 43:13a NLT)
Yes, someday hope will end. Why? Because someday we will no longer have to hope for what hasn’t yet been fulfilled. Right now we hope for an end to the messes. We hope for peace and rest and security. That day will come – and on the other side of eternity hope will turn into the promise kept. And all our longings – yes, all – will be fulfilled.
For now, this is what we hold on to: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13 NIV) Hope for today, promise for ever and ever.
Hope Grows…
Ever go to bed one night thinking: ‘I can do this’, and wake up the next morning doubting…everything?
Those mornings when what you least expected was a melt down – but there you are right in the middle of it? And all I could do as I tried to spread peanut butter on toast through the blur of tears was just tell God ‘This stinks’. This whole hard mess of life and the briefness of it – and the no do overs.
Later, as I watered violets that seemed to lift up arms and beauty to the sky, it reminded me: we are frail. But in all the trying and failing, He sees beauty in our soul redeemed by His Son.
“In His great mercy He has given us new birth, into a living hope…” (1Peter 1:3a NIV)
Oh and mercy is what we need when we slam into the face of all our failures. New birth – a new start. Living hope – not empty, not static, not one time. Hope that swirls and encompasses us – wells up when we are flat out spent.
Creation itself shows how it works. Drenching rains bring forth green – but swallowing fires dry up and leave only dust. Feed on our what ifs and let guilt or worries be the focus and we are ashes. Turn to God again – and again – listen for, read deep, seek out the drenching power of His promises, and we can make it one more day.
“through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade – kept in heaven for you…” (1Peter 3:4 NIV)
And here it is again – H O P E. Those regrets don’t define us, Jesus does. Those failures may break our hearts, but they can’t break His promises. There is an inheritance waiting for us that will wipe away every tear. Nobody will be able to steal it. It won’t run out – ever. And far from fading, it will shine brighter – for always.
And so, hope grows. Because God is real – His promises are absolute – and when we can’t do ‘this’, He will. “who through faith are shielded by God’s power…” (1Peter 3:5a NIV)
Hope Happens…
Any given day the headlines are scary reading – suicide, shooting, missing. And hope seems lost.
And yet…the widow clings, the terrified students grasp, the mother and father print posters. It’s a soul thing – we know hope is real. We know, but how? Is it because the alternative isn’t acceptable? Because our money, influence, wishful thinking will make it so? Or is there something more sure, a true anchor in the storm?
“This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary.” (Hebrews 6:19 NLT)
If not today, there will be days where we are going to need strong, need trustworthy. We’re going to need something to hold us firmly, like an anchor. That is life in a world turned upside down and controlled by the selfish nature of mankind. Strong is Jesus. Trustworthy is Jesus. Able to keep us secure, only Jesus.
Put yourself here: your son has been wrongly accused and found guilty of crime. The judge has said execution. You are now watching as life drains out of him. That was Mary a little over two thousand years ago. And this wasn’t quick and painless, this was brutal and ugly and agonizing. But Mary had in her very soul the promises of God. The prophets words hundreds of years before had promised Jesus and also foretold His death. But Jesus had told her and all His followers: ‘this isn’t it’!
“And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life.” (1John 2:25 ESV)
This is why we have the Bible. Reminding us we’re not the only ones who’ve had to keep our head above the waves. The truths of God’s Word buried deep in us – so familiar but always new – will remind us.
Love Keith Bjorklund’s prayer: “Lord, I ask for the confidence to cease worrying and enjoy the journey. I ask for enjoyment to dispel the weariness I sometimes feel. Remind me that much of what I worry about will cease to matter. Remind me that You are my hope! Amen.”
And He reminds us with His faithfulness, with His Word, and with His Holy Spirit speaking to our soul. This is how hope happens.
5 Tuesdays to…Hope
Why hope? Hope is so hard to define, yet it’s what we cling to. So maybe it’s time to not only say it but believe, know it, count on it.
Today is my birthday – I hope I don’t look my age, I hope I’m wiser than I was ten years ago, I hope I continue to have good health. But these things are so surfacey. I obsess about age while I have friends who enjoy the milestones. Wiser is not something that just happens but is gained. And health, even in the best circumstances, can still fail. Hope has no effect on these things.
Hope placed in the right thing – or wrong thing – has an everlasting effect. “Then they will have the hope of eternal life God promised long ago. And God never tells a lie!” (Titus 1:2 CEV)
In today’s dictionary hope is defined as a ‘feeling of expectation or desire for something to happen’. Can’t get any fluffier than that. The ‘archaic’ definition – meaning what the word originally meant in our language is: trust that something will happen.
“Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.” (Hebrews 11:1 NLT)
So if hope is all about trust, then our hope is no more certain than who or what we trust in. And yet, maybe like me, you find your trust is genuine but doubt is a close neighbor. Something like this: I absolutely trust God is real, that Jesus lived, died and rose again, that eternity with God awaits all who believe in Jesus. But…my doubts make me wonder about things that just aren’t in my control.
If that’s you, then we’re in for a journey together over the next few weeks – an adventure. Along the way it is my prayer that trust increases, hope looms large, and that elusive light at the end of the tunnel begins to envelope us. “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen” (Epheisans 3:20-21NIV)
Still Believe…
Running toddlers are breath holding sights. Right on the heels of the one year old in my life, I can’t always save him from tripping over his own feet or some unforeseen obstacle.
Sometimes he gets right up and keeps on going, other times he needs a grammy arm up and lots of hugs and kisses. Same with you? It is with me. I trip over myself daily and life’s obstacles come rapid fire.
And then come those words – true and sure and timeless: “Jesus stood up and commanded the wind, “Be quiet!” and he said to the waves, “Be still!” The wind died down, and there was a great calm.” (Mark 4:39 GNT) And He does the same for us – in the middle of the night, in the face of evil, in our own doubts – the whisper ‘Be still’ – and calm is ours.
Great calm – just imagine with me what that even is. Maybe a little different for each of us. Maybe not in the here and now. But there are glimpses of it. And there is a forever promise that our hearts will someday live it – always.
Calm comes when this little one cuddles with me and sighs contentment. It comes when something on my heart is confirmed over and over – through a song, the words of a friend, the answer I was seeking. “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, O LORD, will keep me safe.” (Psalm 4:8 NLT)
So the question is: will we still believe even if, even when, whatever comes?
For in this life there will be much that will make us doubt. Our answer will depend on who we depend on. Self has to move over. The world has to lose its charm. Fear has to know its Master. Only one way: to know this God who enables our next breath, who smiles over us in delight, who longs to have us in forever.
“Mightier than the thunder of the great waters, mightier than the breakers of the sea – the Lord on high is mighty.“ (Psalm 93:4 NIV) (Get to know Him: Psalm 92:12-15, Psalm 139:17-18, Psalm 37:5-7, Psalm 27) Be still and believe.
Even More…
Just came back from a ‘best friends’ trip. The Biltmore Estate was one destination. Do you know it has 250 rooms? Forget the square footage, it has 4 acres of floor space – 35 bathrooms.
As we wandered the spectacular grounds, and climbed up and down the many stairs, peering into various rooms the thought came to me: “In my Father’s house are many rooms” (John 14:2a NIV)
For a second let go of the hold this life has on you and daydream about the place God has in store for His children. Nothing on earth compares.
When our someday comes where we say goodbye here – our hello there will take our breath away. It won’t be a work in progress, it’s all ready for us. “if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.” (John 14:2b NIV)
A place just for me, just for you. The One who knows us more intimately than we know ourselves, the One who loves us more than we love ourselves (think about that) – He has our homecoming all ready.
We’ll need a GPS for our trip – a God Positioning System. There’s a book with road maps: the Bible. There’s route guidance: the Holy Spirit. Best of all there’s Someone who will, in the end, take us there. “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:3 NIV)
So in the uncertainties of daily life – when we make wrong turns, when roadblocks come out of nowhere, when potholes jolt us – hold on. Remember Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life – real life. Not this temporary earth suit, not this pain and sorrow stricken world – but the forever abundant life.
It will take eternity to see all God has, because there will always be more. In our Father’s house there are many rooms, even more than the Biltmore.
parisrenae 