Control

I don't want the kind of peace that comes from feeling like I have everything under control. I want the peace that comes from knowing God is sovereign, even though I'm not in control.

Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

Philippians 4:6-8 (The Message)

Losing Heart

I struggle, today, with the disappointment of unanswered prayer. Why does it seem, so often, as if my prayers make no difference? Does prayer really change things, as the plaque on the wall in my bedroom states?

I know the answer to that question with my mind. God often says “wait” when we ask for something, and His timing is perfect. And when He says “no,” it's always so He can give us something better instead. But in the moment it's heart-breaking to feel the door shut in my face.

So what do I do in the midst of my disappointment?

Do I give up on God and decide my walk with Him is all a waste of time? I can't do that. There's too much richness in that walk—too much truth and grace. I can't deny His faithfulness in the past.

Do I wallow in self-pity and self-doubt, wondering if I've done something that keeps God from answering my prayers? It's not a bad idea to ask God to examine my attitude and my motivations, but if nothing comes to mind, I can't stay in that place. It's depressing and counterproductive.

Do I quit asking God for things, or at least quit expecting He will answer if I do? I could just say “Thy will be done,” and leave it at that—no specifics. That way I will avoid the hurt of disappointment. But then why pray at all? Why ask God for something He will do anyway? Where is the intimacy of communion, or even the delight of communication in that kind of prayer?

No, I have to avoid all those solutions. They're not solutions. They're coping mechanisms, and coping mechanisms don't belong in healthy relationships. I want a healthy relationship with my God.

So I go to the Word.

I read about people like Joseph, who spent years in prison for something he didn't do, only to be released at the right time to fulfill God's purposes of salvation, for Egypt, and Israel, and ultimately the whole world. People like Moses, who labored for years in the wilderness tending his father-in-law's sheep before God sent him to deliver the children of Israel from bondage in Egypt. Daniel, the captured slave of a pagan king, who remained faithful to God and so influenced the history of the world during two great secular empires.

I hear Job say, Though he slay me, yet will I trust him, and Habakkuk declare, Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.

I read Paul's words in 2 Corinthians: We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned, struck down, but not destroyed.

Why was Paul not defeated by his disappointments? Because we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Cor 4:18.

My vision is so incomplete. I cannot afford to lose heart just because I can't see far enough ahead. I will not harden my heart. I will keep pressing into His side. I will keep presenting my requests to Him and allowing the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, to guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:4-7. I will not lose my heart.

Surrender

Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20

"Our Lord makes a disciple His own possession, He becomes responsible for him. 'Ye shall be witnesses unto Me.' The spirit that comes in is not that of doing anything for Jesus, but of being a perfect delight to Him. The secret of the missionary is--I am His, and He is carrying out His enterprises through me. Be entirely His." Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, September 4 reading.

God calls for complete surrender of our lives to Him.

Some things we lay on the altar He will burn up, because they aren't good for us and never will be.

Other things He will purify, and sanctify, and give back to us. But we have to let go of everything.

God is good and He is sovereign. We have to trust Him, and we can trust Him.

Shift

in my thinking. .

About things—not what I can get, but how simply I can live.

About leisure—not escape from something, but entering into something.

About food—not what I have to give up, but what is good for my health.

About tithe—not what I lose, but what God's Kingdom gains.

About vacation—not doing whatever I want, but changing my pace.

About time—not immediate and urgent, but restful and trusting.

About God—not far away, but up close; not condemning, but loving; not emotionally distant, but relational.

About salvation—not my doing, but His.

About being loved—not getting hugs, but giving them.

About church—not what I get out of it, but what I put into it.

About life—not down here and short, but up there and eternal.

Something Went Terribly Wrong Here

The view from below:

Mark 15:1-15 (around 30 AD)

Early the next morning the chief priests, the nation's leaders, and the teachers of the Law of Moses met together with the whole Jewish council. They tied up Jesus and led him off to Pilate.

He asked Jesus, "Are you the king of the Jews?"

"Those are your words," Jesus answered.

The chief priests brought many charges against Jesus. Then Pilate questioned him again, "Don't you have anything to say? Don't you hear what crimes they say you have done?" But Jesus did not answer, and Pilate was amazed.

During Passover, Pilate always freed one prisoner chosen by the people. And at that time there was a prisoner named Barabbas. He and some others had been arrested for murder during a riot. The crowd now came and asked Pilate to set a prisoner free, just as he usually did.

Pilate asked them, "Do you want me to free the king of the Jews?"

Pilate knew that the chief priests had brought Jesus to him because they were jealous.

But the chief priests told the crowd to ask Pilate to free Barabbas.

Then Pilate asked the crowd, "What do you want me to do with this man you say is the king of the Jews?"

They yelled, "Nail him to a cross!"

Pilate asked, "But what crime has he done?"

"Nail him to a cross!" they yelled even louder.

Pilate wanted to please the crowd. So he set Barabbas free. Then he ordered his soldiers to beat Jesus with a whip and nail him to a cross.


Something went terribly wrong here.


The view from above:

Isaiah 53:5-12 (800 years before Christ was born)

He was wounded and crushed because of our sins; by taking our punishment, he made us completely well.

All of us were like sheep that had wandered off. We had each gone our own way, but the LORD gave him the punishment we deserved.

He was painfully abused, but he did not complain. He was silent like a lamb being led to the butcher, as quiet as a sheep having its wool cut off.

He was condemned to death without a fair trial. Who could have imagined what would happen to him? His life was taken away because of the sinful things my people had done.

He wasn't dishonest or violent, but he was buried in a tomb of cruel and rich people.

The LORD decided his servant would suffer as a sacrifice to take away the sin and guilt of others. Now the servant will live to see his own descendants. He did everything the LORD had planned. By suffering, the servant will learn the true meaning of obeying the LORD.

Although he is innocent, he will take the punishment for the sins of others, so that many of them will no longer be guilty.

The LORD will reward him with honor and power for sacrificing his life. Others thought he was a sinner, but he suffered for our sins and asked God to forgive us.

Lord, remind me, when things go terribly wrong in my life, to ask for the view from above.

Scriptures taken from the Contemporary English Version of the Bible

Always Temporary

Belonging to Jesus doesn't mean nothing terrible will ever happen to you. It just means terrible things are temporary.

That's enough.

Revelation 21:4

Not Jonathan Livingston

All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment. Isaiah 64:6

I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. Romans 7:18

You were washed. . .you were sanctified. . .you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God. I Corinthians 6:11

Perfect because of My splendor which I bestowed on you, declares the Lord God. Ezekiel 16:14


I'm so proud of this photo, even if it was an accident. I just wanted a picture of a sea gull, and I grabbed it, not knowing if the bird was even in my sights at the time.

I love what was caught by my camera lens in that fraction of a second.

Yes, it is just a seagull. That unimpressive, annoying bird who struts awkwardly up and down the beach, looking at you out of the corner of his eye with that half defiant, half apologetic expression, as if he knows you don't like him and are about to shoo him away.

The one who scuttles up to steal from your chip bag when you aren't looking, then scurries off, leaving his dirty germs behind.

But in the air, soaring toward the light, against the blue, blue sky, he's beautiful.

I think it's a metaphor.

Disclaimer: This bird is not related to Jonathan Livingston Seagull, who was created to explain (and does so very aptly) the christological doctrine of the Mormon faith.