Trumped
Filed under: Being me, Personal Value, Relationship with The Father
Over 20 years ago I sat in the counseling office with David Brown. We were talking about my desire to play sports that started when I was a young boy. He proceeded to tell me a story of a world-class athlete who came to know the Lord and went into the church ready to embrace the new life with Christ. One of the first things they told him was He needed to give up his sport to fully follow Jesus. In response, I was feeling anger, grief, frustration and shame. All emotions I had felt most of my life.
As he continued, he used the story to let me know that my love for sports and the desire to play was a gift from God. I wept uncontrollably for 15 to 20 minutes. I literally could not stop myself. I can feel that tug again as I write this. I spent my life wrestling with the desire of my heart (that God had put there) and was now being told that I was wronged. I felt my life had been trumped.
The trump card in games such as Spades or Rook is the card that always wins the hand. The only card that can beat a trump is a higher trump. It doesn’t matter how good a card you play, if the other person can play their trump card—you lose. I was ecstatic when I made the baseball team (my favorite sport growing up). Not only was I a starter but I was one of the stars of the team. I had a great “hand” to play. My dad planted a church in the next city over and we moved away before the first game.
All my desire, joy and excitement were trumped. Not just trumped but trumped by the “God” card. What my father did was service for God. How do you refute that? Up until the time I entered counseling in my late thirties I felt like my desires were always trumped by what life demanded of me. I came to believe that what I wanted wasn’t as valuable as what the others around me needed. That day in the counseling office I was told that what I believed was a lie and what had happened was not God’s intent. What an incredible loss in my life….
My life and view of my Father God changed during the time of counseling and training I received at Elijah House. I learned how much He loved me and wanted to be involved in my life. I started spending time with a Father Who deeply values and loves me. He values every part of me—even my athletic ability and joy. God taught me that He gave me those gifts and desires and my life had been incomplete without them. I now have a relationship I can’t live without.
I turn 60 today. I know that has to be hard for you to believe (smile). I spend a lot of time with my Father every day and I love it. I hike and run and work out. I golf as much as I can afford (time and money-wise.) My knees no longer allow me to play the sports I love like softball and basketball. I miss that but am a big fan of my favorite teams. The Lord has blessed me physically with a very healthy body.
I occasionally look back and grieve over the losses in my life. I also look at all the gains which now far outweigh the losses. As you might be able to guess from my blogs, sharing what I have learned about God’s heart for me (and You) has become my greatest passion and what He has put on my heart for the body of Christ. Besides the obvious healing people receive in counseling, my greatest desire is to see people come into an incredible relationship with the Father and to become who God created them to be.
Be ready for some more. I’m going to keep talking about my passion: Let Him love you today.
Learn the Heart of the Master
I have said that I believe one of our biggest losses is that very few believers function in the gift we are given, even before we were born, by God. (Jeremiah 1:5) I believe it is the predominant reason so many of us find it hard to be content and at rest. I believe these gifts were meant to first feed our spirit and then to be used in and to bless the family of God. I say again, “If this were happening in our lives and the church, it would change the world. Not just the Body itself but literally the world.”
Being who we are supposed to be
I want to repeat that becoming who we are meant to be will come out of our relationship with the Father and His son. As I was talking to Julie the other day (I have her permission to tell this story) we say the part about being who we are supposed to be in a different way. Here’s how we remembered it.
Julie was grieving and upset with the fact that one of the deepest cries in her heart has always been to sing and play music. She seldom has the time or takes the time to pursue this part of her life. What I have seen her do in this area has been very good. She has even written some of her own stuff which has also been very good. She is currently in her mid-forties and has teenagers of her own as well as other young people that can demand a lot of her time for mentoring, ministry and friendship.
She grew up in a pretty abusive home with a very shaming and demeaning mother. Her biological father left the family when she was very young. She also had some very abusive, demeaning stepfathers. She would seek to sing in the choir or pursue music when she was growing up. She was belittled and even told she could not participate. It grieves me deeply, even now, as I tell this story. It also makes me angry at times. I’ve had to forgive the parents of many people I see in the counseling office. I know it also really grieves our heavenly Father.
Julie and I have spent a lot of time working on and healing the wounds of her childhood. We have walked through many really hard moments together and every one of those times the Father was also walking with us. The Father held her hand and comforted her every time she forgave. He sat there with His arm around her every time she cried and poured her heart out. There were times when Jesus actually went back into some pretty horrendous places and healed her. She spent a lot of time working on these things. That was good and a tremendous honor for me to be a part of it.
Over the years we counseled she gained a lot of trust for me and she became a friend as well. But more importantly, during that whole time she was building a deep intimate, trusting relationship with the Father and Son. When she would bare her heart to the Father and He walked through all this with her this formed an incredible special bond with Him. He never shamed or criticized her or turned from her because it was too much for Him to look at. His goal all along was to build the relationship between the two of them. I was a catalyst in the middle which helped build my relationship with Him as well, but this was about what the Father of the universe wanted to give and establish with Julie personally.
As we talked the other day, she was lamenting over still not being able to get into her music. I asked her about what she was doing with the teenagers she was working with. She now has a group of kids that meet in her house every week. Some who are living with her have come from horrendous homes or had no home at all. They actually seemed to be flocking around her longing to be with her. She is a safe person.
I asked her what she thought the kids thought of her. After a few minutes she started listing off these things: she is kind, caring, gentle yet straight with them. She listens, affirms, comforts, and walks through their problems with them without judging. As much as possible she is always there for them, but also holds them accountable. She prays with them and teaches them about the Father and Son, mostly through her own actions.
She had been learning the heart of the Master and it is flowing out of her in her interactions with others. She is becoming who God made her to be. It was happening by her walking and sharing her life with the Father.
Many times Julie could have stopped that healing process. Many times it was incredibly hard to continue going through the pain. She would never have made it as far as she has without a Father walking through it with her. But God knew and part of the reason she didn’t stop was because He didn’t stop.
When I hear Julie talk about the kids she works with there is much joy and empathy at the same time. Her face lights up and there is accomplishment and fulfillment in her voice. The music she loves to do will happen. I don’t know if it will ever be her main pursuit in life. But the relationship she has with the Father will certainly enhance whatever she does.
After we talked the other day, she was able to stop and receive what has happened in her life. She has not only gotten on the other side of really hard life, but now she gets to be who she was made to be: a daughter living life with her Father and sharing that with others who desperately need it also.
Passion and Power
Two words: passion and power. They seem to almost contradict yet I believe they are two words that describe our Father God. Power is often associated with control and can seem pretty negative. Many times I think we see God this way—someone who is controlling or wanting to control us. Passion, on the other hand, can be a very strong emotion but is perceived as softer and more loving. It’s usually related more to Jesus than the Father.
Tim Tebow has become the craze in Denver now. People see him as the salvation of the Broncos. Christians around the country, not just in Denver, are excited that there is this gifted athlete that is so outspoken for the Lord. One of the things you keep hearing in interviews with him is about his passion for the game of football—his passion to win. He gets the people around him “fired-up.” It’s exciting to watch someone give his all in a day of overpaid cocky athletes. That’s not a judgment is it?
Football is also one of those games associated with power and domination. So in this case we can see the correlation between passion and power. But scripture says, “God is Love.” We watch movies like The Passion of the Christ and we see the emotion and agony Jesus suffers through. But do we see how powerful it was? The Father gave up the life of His son to have us in His life. That is powerful—that is Love!
From the beginning, He also planned to give us a book to guide us through life. He inspired men to write the things He wanted us to know and have for our life on earth. I think He gave us a book that was designed to show us who He is and the passion He has for us—a book that shows us His heart.
This book was designed so that following it would draw us closer into relationship with Him. Not to control us and keep us in line but a way to fully be with Him—and a way to be free and content as followers of Jesus. Take the topic of Forgiveness. One of the most talked about topics in scripture and in church. One of the reasons Jesus died is so we could be free of our sin. I think it is one of the most powerful and passionate gifts the Father gave to us.
He knows how damaging unforgiveness is to us. We’ve heard that forgiveness is for US. Yet I know from working with people that it is one of the hardest things to do and is rarely joyfully embraced. I don’t say that to get on anyone but it makes me wonder why?
Forgiveness is not about just doing what is right. Forgiveness is about relationship. The Father wants us to feed on forgiveness like it was food or nourishment for our body. It’s also, maybe more importantly, a way that we let Him into our lives. When we forgive we are sharing with God what is going on in our life. We trust Him with what is weighing on our hearts, sometimes things that have been there most of our lives. Running to our Father to share with Him and get free. How powerful and passionate is that?
Whenever we have a lot of pain or grief or sadness or loneliness is great time to have our Father hold and comfort us. A safe place to be…to cry…to rest with a passionate and powerful Father.
Walking Among Us
66After this, many of His disciples drew back (returned to their old associations) and no longer accompanied Him.67Jesus said to the Twelve, Will you also go away? [And do you too desire to leave Me?]68Simon Peter answered, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words (the message) of eternal life.69And we have learned to believe and trust, and [more] we have come to know [surely] that You are the Holy One of God, the Christ (the Anointed One), the Son of the living God. John 6:66-69 (AMP)
Even though Jesus knew that many didn’t really believe in Him and who He was; it had to hurt that this great following had left. As soon as there was something really hard to deal with they walked away. They had seen the many incredible miracles and listen to profound teachings while being fed. But they didn’t know Him.
The twelve had been walking with Him. They had been called out by Him and they had also seen the awesome miracles yet they had nowhere else to go. While walking with Him they had developed a relationship with the Son of God. It wasn’t from reading the scriptures or study or because they went to the synagogue everyday and prayed. No, it was from spending hours of their time with their Master. They had grown to really know Him. They had grown to know His heart. I’m suddenly becoming very envious of them.
Peter says, “Lord where shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” I don’t think Peter is just talking about a conversion experience; he’s talking about life now and forever. Jesus is life and they had experienced and learned this first hand IN RELATIONSHIP and they never wanted to let it go, never!
Jesus says a couple of times here in John that He came to show us the Father. When we look at the way Jesus lived and dealt with life here on earth, He was showing us the heart of the Father. In fact in chapter 20 verse 21 Jesus tells the twelve that, “…as the Father sent Him, so He sends them.” Part of the whole plan was for them to spend their time with Jesus thereby getting to know the heart of the Father God. The foundation of their ministry and life was to be based on this relationship—this knowledge of the Father’s heart.
I believe this is also what He intends for our lives. How we live and interact in life with the world is to be out of this personal relationship that we have with our Father. I think it should be very similar to what Jesus did walking with the disciples. He wants to be here in our lives walking among us. Being in our lives, sharing our lives, whatever that entails. Even when we sin, when we might be fighting an addiction or problem in our life—He wants to be part of it. Driving in traffic and getting frustrated with the guy (never a gal) that just cut you off—He is there with you.
When Jesus taught the disciples He didn’t jump on them, turn away from them or shame them. No He taught them by His living example (hence, the word “disciple” as opposed to “student.”) When He talked about forgiveness He taught them in the middle of life circumstance what it was all about. (We’ll look at this in more depth later). Our Father wants to walk in our lives this way. He doesn’t want us to run when we mess up, He wants to be there with us. Yes, we fear or are in awe of who He is, but He doesn’t want us to be afraid of Him.
Can you envision inviting Him in to just hang… to run to Him instead of from Him… to unload those problems instead of carrying them? Try just sitting with Him today. Not seeing how much you can read and study, or pray and so forth. Let Him come to you.
Who Are We
I will say this again and will not stop saying this, “We were created to have relationship with our Father God.” I believe this is the most important thing for all believers in Jesus to know. It is not to serve Him or others—that comes later—it is first to be in relationship with our Father and His son, Jesus, to make our home and life with Them. If this is not done first everything about the journey of the believer—God’s children—will be skewed.
I first heard Charlie Finck, a good friend and counselor, use this verse many times and I have since used it and quoted it to many. It is from Ephesians 1:4-14 “We are holy and blameless children of God.” The passage talks about us as chosen, forgiven, and redeemed through His blood. We’ve been lavished on with wisdom and insight. Those who believe are sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit, and much, much more. (Click on the Bible Gateway button to read the complete passage). Basically this verse says we are God’s children and therefore now we have complete access to Him. We have accepted and believe in Jesus. This is the incredible gift we get in return. We are in The Family.
I looked up the definition of “family” and got a really long definition but took out this part: a group of people united by certain convictions or a common affiliation: fellowship. We all have different defining thoughts related to family. Most of the time it is strongly related to what father or mother did as a career. In my family, my father was a seminary professor and pastor. I’m sure some of the first few words I learned were “God,” “Jesus” and the “Holy Spirit.” I could say the books of the Bible by the time I was 5 or so. I had a really good idea what I believed about God from a very early age. I knew a lot about the main doctrines in our denomination. I was taught these things with fervor—this was right.
Relationship with God—not with a father—was what I was to know and do. I was to read my Bible daily, pray, witness to all my friends, give (tithe) of all I got. Obey my parents, care about others more than myself—meaning essentially give up who I was for the good of God. I learned a lot of good lessons and morals about how to live life. I also learned that God was a long way away most of the time and it was my job or duty in life to please Him. Looking back on that now I would never describe any of it as relational.
I think I was hungry for most of my life to know this God of love that I read so much about. Yet for the most part He was a God I couldn’t do enough for or please. I think, like a lot of us, I gave up on really having an intimate relationship and settled on what I could get at church in worship and fellowship. After all, we belonged to the family of God. We were united in what we believed (or knew) and that was good. Not enough, but good.
If that’s not relationship then what is? The Father walking among us—letting Him come to us. When I heard John and Loren Sanford teach on letting God love us it changed my life. I spent a lot of time in the last blogs trying to paint a picture of “Father” God. What does a father whose is truly involved in and wants to be in our life like? I encourage you to read them if you haven’t or refresh your memory by reading them again. Our relationship is not one-sided…like an e-mail where I get to say what I want, but have no control over if you read it or respond to it. God is always waiting to interact with us.
The changes I am talking about won’t happen overnight. It takes time to build a relationship with God, the Father, or anyone else. This includes changing some of our views of God. A great deal of the time this includes healing the relationship with Him, even though it can be hard to admit that we might have a problem. Most of all, I think we must want that relationship with everything in us. It’s what He wants.
One last statement for you to think about: “Everything we do as believers should come from our relationship with Him in knowing and developing His heart in you.”
More coming, this is the start of a New Year and life with Him…
Contextual Love
Because I grew up with a father who was a seminary professor, pastor and Bible teacher, when I hear the word “context” I think of how I was taught to study scripture. “You must look at the context if you really want to know true interpretation.” I agree that this is very important and aids greatly in understanding much of what is given to us in this treasured gift-life-book from our Father.
I contend—as you heard me say before—that we have often missed when reading and studying these inspired words from our Father…His Heart. I believe when we miss His heart we tend to see His words as just commandments or they way we’re supposed to do things. Consequently our life with the Father tends to become very behavioral and somewhat rigid.
This can make most of what we do in our daily walk with God and in our relationships with others simply a “To Do list.” Loving our spouse and our friends becomes only what we’re supposed to do because of our perception of His Word. We keep the rules. We stay in the safe zone. Spending time with our kids is right and good and so we do it, even if we spend much of that time on our cell. A lot of us grew up in a setting where our parents were very absent physically, emotionally or overly involved in their own lives. Many times our reactions made us determined to be different with our kids and some things might be better, but it is still hard to give out of that empty void we never filled. Leaving us again with a “To do list” for raising our kids.
One of my favorite actors is Tom Selleck. He seems to have a look of concern and awareness about him that is intriguing. When the new series, Blue Bloods, came out Glee and I were all over wanting to watch it. It has turned out to be one of the hits of the season. I think one of the reasons for its popularity is the strength of Reagan family. But more importantly it is the presence of strong, caring, loving, wise fathers. Yet not just this wisdom but it’s a father in the context of their daily lives. The fathers are not meddlers that interfere and try to fix everything for their children, although they are in a position (especially the Police Commissioner) where they could.
He does know what’s going on in their lives—getting reports from lots of people, many who are meddlers trying to fix every predicament. You can see that he has taught his children strong moral values. He’s taught them to care for others and respect others. He’s instructed them how to think and use common sense. How to hold to what they believe is right and not get swayed by circumstances. When they sit down at family dinner with everyone, they get into discussions on the issues in which they are involved. The opinions might vary and usually do from person to person. It is safe for everyone to have their say because each person is respected and their perspectives are valued.
But most of all they know that whatever the circumstances they can go to their father without fear of rejection or fear of being shamed. He will be there for them and listen. He will give them sound, fair fatherly advice. He won’t gloss over what is wrong and try and fix it, but will listen, affirm and give affection without hesitation.
Hear me here, I know that spending time with our kids, others and God does take discipline. But true love requires our heart to be there. This is why it is so important to see God’s heart in scripture. His love and what He gives us is because He wants to be involved in our lives. He wants to be here with us all the time. HE wants to be in the context of our lives. He wants His Words to be in the context of our lives.
If we read that He loves us; that is powerful and great. But if we’re sitting in His presence and He falls on us and tells us He loves us—we weep and laugh and feel real joy. Then we begin to really know He loves us. When we do this every day it becomes cemented in our hearts. As it gets cemented in our hearts we want more and more and more and more… we can’t get enough. When read His word, it comes to life.
Now we understand His words, “We love because He first loved us.” I John 4: 19. This is contextual love. We learned to love in relationship with Our Father.
From here we love others because it just flows out of us. Not only do we love others but it comes from the love of the Father. I believe this was His plan from the get-go. He created us to be in relationship with Him.
More on how this affects our lives tomorrow.
More Honor
It wasn’t until I heard John and Paula Sandford teach on honoring father and mother that I ever gave it much thought. I can’t even remember anyone else ever teaching on it. There were so many more important commandments, like not killing or not committing adultery and, of course, not putting any other gods before our God. While these are without a doubt important, honoring father and mother was dwarfed and many times not even mentioned.
I also always looked at the 10 commandments as a bunch of rules that we must follow. I don’t think I ever thought of why God picked these 10 or of their relevance to our daily lives. They were just looming “thou shalts.” What a difference it made in my life when I heard John Sandford say, “These are about the way life works.” Listen to this summary from Exodus 20 “Have no other gods before me. Do not worship idols. Do not misuse the name of the LORD your God. Keep the Sabbath day. Honor your father and your mother. Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not lie. Do not covet.”
These are not just commands but this is our God telling us what to do to get along with people and have a great life on this earth. I’m going to say it in a different way
“These are the laws of Honor and Respect.”
If you’ve been around me or listened to me you’ve heard me talk about the importance of respecting and honoring yourself—ALWAYS. The first thing God says here in the first 3 commandments, “ALWAYS respect and honor me before all else.” He says emphatically, “I’m God and no one else is, don’t forget that.” It is important that children learn to respect parents. This is God’s first example.
The 4th one is about respecting self. God did not make this commandment for Him but for us. Jesus is contending with the Pharisees and their legalistic Sabbath practices. He says this in Mark 2, 27Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” There is probably no one out there who doesn’t know the importance of having a day off. Couple that with spending the day with the Father—what could be better? He knew we needed this. I believe it is what He desires—to spend that time with us.
Then comes honoring father and mother. Why? So that you may live a great life here on this earth. Sounds like a pretty good reason to me.
So first we learn to respect and honor our Heavenly Father, then our earthly parents and ourselves—then a natural outworking of that will be respect and honor for others. So how do we do this? Don’t kill them, respect their life and who they are…don’t commit adultery, respect and honor your spouse and the sacredness of the marriage…don’t steal, respect others property…don’t lie, there is nothing that destroys trust and relationships quicker than lying—this relates to self-respect…and then don’t covet others possessions, which destroys relationships and self-respect.
Wow! It sounds like we have a Father who had a great plan for us from the beginning. In following these guidelines, we have a great relationship with Him and others. We learn to respect, honor, and love ourselves and live a wonderful life here on this earth.
Honoring Father
When I think of honor what I first think of is respect. Both honor and respect carry with its meaning “to esteem and give special regard” to another person. I would say that it also could be synonymous with the word value. To value another person and cherish who they are. It’s interesting to me that the word honor would be used in one of the 10 commandments that God gave to Moses. It is then stated again in Ephesians 6: 2 by Paul; “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise.” Not only does he make this statement but he follows it with the promise in verse 3, saying, “That it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”
The apostle Paul didn’t just make a statement in passing but he is telling us that honoring your father and mother will affect your whole life! If you want your life to go well and enjoy your days on this earth you must honor your parents! This being one of the main issues I work with in counseling, I know that for most of us it didn’t work out that well. We didn’t really know we were supposed to do this or we didn’t really know how. In fact a lot of us didn’t have parents that were honoring to us.
So, if that’s true that we didn’t know and understand and our parents may not have been honoring—then it must somehow negate this particular commandment—NOT! Whether we want to admit it or not our reactions and the consequences of this commandment have deeply, deeply affected our lives. Now, I want to say that this is not a counseling day and that’s not the intent of today’s blog. You’re free to ask me more about it though.
If you look at the 2 verses before and after, it gets kind of interesting. The first one says, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right.” Then Paul ends this section with, “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” Paul just got done talking to the parents about their relationship in chapter 5. I don’t think he has quit talking to them. I think this is all being written to the parents.
I think the Heavenly Father is telling parents how to raise children. Yes, children are supposed to obey us—this is right and necessary. Then He tells us about the importance of honor and respect. How important it is for the life of our children. “Don’t exasperate them, (enrage, annoy or aggravate) but bring them up in the training of the Lord,” which I believe means first to honor and respect them. How important then is honor? We teach honor and respect through example and they learn to respect and honor their parents and others. It’s not necessarily about the parental honoring as just learning to honor. They way Paul says this can mean a life of blessing or, dare I say, a cursed life.
We have a heavenly Father who always honors and respects us. He disciplines us because He loves us (Hebrews 12) but His discipline never includes shame or criticism. I believe the main way He disciplines us is by letting us reap from what we sow (Galatians 6:7). At the same time, He respects the decisions we make whether they are good for us or not. He lets us choose in our relationship with Him. He knows what’s best for us and He gives us answers in scripture—but still lets us choose to receive them. Did God create boundaries?
I believe He is like a grieving Father many times as He watches us choose the wrong way or as He watches us do something He knows we will regret. Yet He still has His arms open when we come to Him with all of our wounds, anger, sadness—in whatever state we are in.
(more on this tomorrow)
Prodigality
I stated in my last blog that I believe it is part of God’s plan for the church to be fulfilled through the gifts He gave each of us. It is also part of His plan for us to be fulfilled personally in our spirit and life through these gifts also. This may sound a bit strong but I also believe this is one of the greatest losses to the church and to mankind as a whole. It is an incredible loss personally if we are not functioning as we were intended.
The musician not playing their music…the teacher working in the factory…the artist with nothing to draw…the mother (yes, some are definitely called to be a mother) working full-time outside the home…the preacher that has no one to listen…the athlete relegated to a desk job…the writer who’s day is filled with work just to survive. The prophet who has been shut down…the apostle who is just a flake or unimportant and unnecessary. On and on we can go—but so many have not been taught or encouraged in their gifts or even valued for what burns inside them. The church is filled with believers who are wandering and lost inside the church. Society is rife with people who are living day to day to survive, looking for something to enhance their existence.
I was reading through a commentary on the book of Jonah and the author described the people of Israel as living in prodigality. The word jumped off the page at me and stuck in my mind. I knew the root word prodigal but I had to look up Webster’s definition. The first thing it says is: characterized by profuse or wasteful expenditure. Some of the related words were: squandering, thriftless, unthrifty, and wasteful.
First of all I was humbled and convicted because I think this describes parts of my life. I have actually been doing some repenting since then. The people of Israel were squandering away their inheritance of being God’s chosen people. They had a Father who was protecting, providing and giving them what they needed and much more. Now this blog isn’t about the children of Israel, but I think it does describe the church and society as a whole.
PLEASE do not hear any of this with criticism or condemnation. That is not my intent. I think the word prodigality describes very well what has happened to so many of us. Our Father wants so much more for our lives. All of us have done a lot and our life is valuable even if we feel unfulfilled.
But what would happen if we valued our own gifts and went after them—in a big way or even in a small way? What if the people in the churched really valued each other in what they had to offer? If we as parents sought to really bring out of our children who the Father made them to be? To help them discover and develop their gifts and the deep desires of their hearts? It would change the church and ultimately the world.
Many of our lives are set with jobs, bills, families and so forth, but the Father still has a desire to bring to life what He put inside of you. He gave you unique gifts to feed your spirit and help bring joy and contentment to your life.
As Phil Keaggy said so powerfully, “right is never wrong and wrong is never right.” If our Father took the time to give us these gifts it must be right to use them.
The Plan
The Lord gave me these two things to write about today; “The Plan” and “contentment.” I pondered for awhile and sought to discern what He was saying to me. I did a word search from scripture on the words “content” and “contentment.” Every verse I found was related to being content with what we have. Being content in our circumstances and not seeking after money or riches, “He will provide.” My first thoughts were that He was just speaking to me because I have to admit I’ve been grumbling a lot lately because money has been so tight.
I’ve been writing about the Father and what He has for us, His children. When I asked Him about what to write next, I got the words, “The Plan.” This made immediate sense to me because I believe He is a father that has a plan for our lives. I believe He put into us who we are to be—from even before we were born. He gave us gifts and talents that are uniquely for us. He is a father with a plan for each one of us—a plan that I think few of us are living. I think our emptiness grieves Him because He intended us to be blessed through His plans.
Contentment is now beginning to rear its head—or maybe I should say the lack thereof. When I’ve thought about the loss of contentment, I haven’t thought about our reactions to our discontent. Contentment seems to be the operative for life. If we’re not content, one way or another we will try to find something to fill that void.
If you look at society as a whole—and the church is no exception—we have tried to fill the void of discontent with money and possessions. It seems to be the easiest thing to pursue. It can provide us with all kinds of fun and entertainment, comfortable homes, and an easier life style. The more you get, the more of the “good life” you can have. Of course this is an endless cycle; the more you get, the more you want, the harder you work, the less content you are with what you have because you are too tired to enjoy it and on and on and on……
We also have a world that is rife with addictions from alcoholism, drugs, and eating disorders to workaholism. Our attempt to fill the void with material things doesn’t work, so we have to fill it with something else. If we can’t buy contentment, maybe we can experience it by a short-lived “rush” of well-being induced by our drug of choice. Space here doesn’t allow me to fully develop this, but I think we live in a world of discontent and our reactions to it make the world go round, so to speak.
If Paul was writing today to this society, he might say it more like this, “Going after money and possessions is going to get you nowhere. It will not take the place of what you are missing in life and it is futile. The drink and drugs and stuff only work for a short while and will eventually destroy your life.” Maybe that’s just the way I would write it. (I think I just did!)
Our Father had a certain plan for us and part of that plan was for us to be contented in our lives. Do you sense yourself striving…working too hard with no satisfaction…feeling overloaded and boxed in with too much stuff? Take a moment to find something to be thankful for, a place of contentment in yourself. Maybe His plan isn’t quite as complex as we make it.
It was also His plan for the church to be fulfilled through the use of our gifts—each and every one of us. If you feel like what you have to offer is not of value to the church or this world, you’re absolutely wrong. If you feel like your gift is not as important as the pastor or some other leader again you are wrong. You are important.
(I think I’ll have to write more on this).