Sometimes we think of "worry" as an acceptable sin. After all, if we are worried about something it just means we care deeply about that thing, right? But Jesus sheds a different light on worry. He said, "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" (Matthew 6:27).
When you think about it, what good comes from worrying? All it does is work us up emotionally or tear us down spiritually. Worry either paralyzes us with inaction or leads to unhelpful reactions. But faith leads to proactive action. All of this is "self-talk" because I can worry with the best of them!
This week I was driving away from a hospital feeling racked with worry. I was focused on all the potential downsides for the person I'd gone to see. Then...no kidding...as I was talking out loud to God about all this person was facing, a little bird fell out of the sky to the road right in front of me! It was almost comical to see this dead bird, about the size of a sparrow, falling motionless and upside down from the sky above. It was like God dropped a fake bird from Heaven right in front of me with impeccable timing.
The words of Jesus about worry took wing in my heart. "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?" (Matthew 6:26-27).
Ben Franklin's reference to Jesus' words in 1787 when he called for prayer during the Constitional Convention, also jumped to mind and put this experience in context for me. He said, "The longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth- that God Governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid?"
The sparrow-sized bird that fell to the ground in front of my car this week was a great reminder that God still governs in our affairs. He provides all that we need. The person I was worried about is more valuable to God than I could ever imagine! He will take care of her. He will take care of you!
Today I'm going to do with worry what the Apostle Peter encourages us to do with it - "Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7). I feel bad for that little bird, but I'm really glad it had a dying message for my life.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Friday, January 15, 2010
REFUGE!
When the poor, who are already tremendously vulnerable, experience a natural disaster on the scale of the earthquake in Haiti, it's hard to imagine how these precious people survive.
God's grace and the immediate response of His church, caring benevolent organizations, and compassionate nations like the U.S. certainly offer hope. And these take nothing away from the will to survive and strength of spirit that the Haitian people possess. They've survived so much devastation through the years, much of it man-made by his lust for power and his greed.
May God dispatch all the power of Heaven to Haiti to bring hope and healing, provision and peace, renewed strength and faith to all those who are suffering. I wonder in His dispatching the power of Heaven how God will dispatch His church to these people in need.
Already, many believers from the U.S. are on the ground. Wow, as hard as this must be for them, can you image what a high honor this is - God chose them to be there to represent His love to Haitians during such a crisis as this!
I wonder how it will affect others who've been preparing to serve in Haiti. Our high school students at First Church have been planning a mission trip to serve Haiti this April. Will they be able to go? All we know for now is that God wants us to pray, give, and serve those in need now...however we can.
The Psalm that hit me this week regarding the earthquake in Haiti, also captures God's power and promise to rescue those who love Him. It's a reminder this HE is our refuge and the Haitian refuge in ever-present trouble.
Psalm 42:1-3: God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.
God's grace and the immediate response of His church, caring benevolent organizations, and compassionate nations like the U.S. certainly offer hope. And these take nothing away from the will to survive and strength of spirit that the Haitian people possess. They've survived so much devastation through the years, much of it man-made by his lust for power and his greed.
May God dispatch all the power of Heaven to Haiti to bring hope and healing, provision and peace, renewed strength and faith to all those who are suffering. I wonder in His dispatching the power of Heaven how God will dispatch His church to these people in need.
Already, many believers from the U.S. are on the ground. Wow, as hard as this must be for them, can you image what a high honor this is - God chose them to be there to represent His love to Haitians during such a crisis as this!
I wonder how it will affect others who've been preparing to serve in Haiti. Our high school students at First Church have been planning a mission trip to serve Haiti this April. Will they be able to go? All we know for now is that God wants us to pray, give, and serve those in need now...however we can.
The Psalm that hit me this week regarding the earthquake in Haiti, also captures God's power and promise to rescue those who love Him. It's a reminder this HE is our refuge and the Haitian refuge in ever-present trouble.
Psalm 42:1-3: God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.
Friday, January 1, 2010
The Mother of All Terrorists
One unexpected result of the foiled Christmas Day bombing attack for me was genuinely missing Tom Ridge and Michael Chertoff! I mean, does our current Homeland Security Director, Janet Napolitano, instill more or less confidence in you regarding the defense of American lives against acts of terror? She seems well "in over her head!" Niether her statements nor her image tend to project the kind of "security" one might expect from this post.
My point is not to blast our Homeland Security Director. My disappointment with her did catch me by surprise, but it led me to much deeper reflection on our "security." For those who follow Jesus Christ, today's Muslim extremist is just one in a long line of "terrorists" we've faced through the years. Some of our Christian brothers and sisters live in daily terror of their own state governments, which censor their persecution of the saints. Such "terrorists" have always been around, unknowingly taking their cues from the Master Terrorist.
The Bible describes the Mother of all Terrorists like this, "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8). That is the reality of our lives, fellow believers! We have an enemy who seeks to destroy us...on a daily basis. But rather than living in fear of this Terrorist, with all of his minions and ploys, how should we live?
God says we should live "self-controlled and alert" lives. There is no need to panic as we head into yet another year of war on terror. We keep our lives under control. The call to be alert would remain whether or not radical Muslim terrorists were out there. As believers we know that the most cunning Terrorist of all still exists, so we stay alert to his weapons and wiles. The hero on the Northwest flight to Detroit from Amsterdam was a man named Jasper Schuringa. When Jasper saw the terrorist setting fire to his explosive, he alertly responded and subdued him. That kind of keen awareness should characterize our lives as Christians.
Peter goes on to write in the following verse, "Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of suffering. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen." (1 Peter 5:9-11)
In 2010 we will undoubtedly face more acts of terror. But in Christ we are fit with courage to "resist" the enemy; with the joy that comes from real "faith;" with the love that compels us to support our "brothers throughout the world undergoing the same kind of suffering;" and with the hope of "eternal glory in Christ" that sustains us.
So, really, who needs Janet when you've got Jesus?
My point is not to blast our Homeland Security Director. My disappointment with her did catch me by surprise, but it led me to much deeper reflection on our "security." For those who follow Jesus Christ, today's Muslim extremist is just one in a long line of "terrorists" we've faced through the years. Some of our Christian brothers and sisters live in daily terror of their own state governments, which censor their persecution of the saints. Such "terrorists" have always been around, unknowingly taking their cues from the Master Terrorist.
The Bible describes the Mother of all Terrorists like this, "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8). That is the reality of our lives, fellow believers! We have an enemy who seeks to destroy us...on a daily basis. But rather than living in fear of this Terrorist, with all of his minions and ploys, how should we live?
God says we should live "self-controlled and alert" lives. There is no need to panic as we head into yet another year of war on terror. We keep our lives under control. The call to be alert would remain whether or not radical Muslim terrorists were out there. As believers we know that the most cunning Terrorist of all still exists, so we stay alert to his weapons and wiles. The hero on the Northwest flight to Detroit from Amsterdam was a man named Jasper Schuringa. When Jasper saw the terrorist setting fire to his explosive, he alertly responded and subdued him. That kind of keen awareness should characterize our lives as Christians.
Peter goes on to write in the following verse, "Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of suffering. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen." (1 Peter 5:9-11)
In 2010 we will undoubtedly face more acts of terror. But in Christ we are fit with courage to "resist" the enemy; with the joy that comes from real "faith;" with the love that compels us to support our "brothers throughout the world undergoing the same kind of suffering;" and with the hope of "eternal glory in Christ" that sustains us.
So, really, who needs Janet when you've got Jesus?
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