What Drives You?

Readings for today: 2 Kings 20-22, Psalms 107

I’ve often wondered what drives the kings of Israel and Judah. What drives some like Hezekiah and Josiah to be faithful to the Lord and what drives others like Manasseh and Amon to be unfaithful? What drives some to tear down the high places and what drives some to rebuild them? What drives some to love and serve Yahweh with all their heart and what drives others to chase after other gods? Frankly, we probably will never know but at the same time, human beings are human beings. We are creatures driven by desire who react in all sorts of ways to the feelings our circumstances engender.

In our reading today, it’s clear the kingdom of Judah is surrounded by enemies. The nations surrounding them are ascending while they are descending. They are slowly but surely encroaching on their borders. Picking off one town after the next. Even invading as we saw with the Assyrians. This creates all kinds of political and social pressure to which the kings must respond. I imagine that’s at least one factor in why some kings responded with faith and others with fear. There was no such thing as separation of church in state in the ancient near east. Kings and emperors, tribes and nations, all believed their gods were intimately involved in their daily lives. When the nation experienced blessing, it must mean their god was pleased and exercising his power on their behalf. When the nation was struggling, it must mean their god was angry and withholding his power from them. Not only that but when nations came into conflict, the battle wasn’t just waged on earth. The gods clashed in the heavens as well. This is why Sennacherib boasted about defeating the gods and not just the nations. Israel, however, was different or at least they were supposed to be. They knew Yahweh was Lord of heaven and earth and had no rival among the gods. The nations around them worshipped empty idols so when those same pagan nations defeated them, it wasn’t because Yahweh was weak or defeated, it was because they had sinned. Typically their sin involved treating Yahweh as if he were just another pagan god. This is what “doing evil in the sight of the Lord” was all about.

You and I are often tempted to treat God the same way. Every time we try to bargain with Him or make some kind of deal with Him. Every time we try to be “good enough” to earn His blessing and favor. Every time we treat Him like a first responder, only to be called upon in case of emergency. We are treating Him like a pagan god. God wants to be involved in every moment of every day. God wants to be part of your day to day life. God wants a relationship with you. He wants you to trust Him. Believe in Him. Submit to Him because He knows what’s best for you. So what drives you? Is it faith or fear? Is it belief or doubt? Is it trust or anxiety? And how do you respond to the ever-changing circumstances of your life? Do you respond like Hezekiah and Josiah or do you respond like Manasseh and Amon? Place your trust in the Lord. The Maker of heaven and earth. The One who holds all authority in heaven and on earth in His hands.

Readings for tomorrow: 2 Kings 23-25, Psalms 108

Spiritual Journey

Readings for today: Genesis 12-15, Psalm 4

One of the things I’ve learned as I’ve traveled the world and interacted with Christians from different cultures is to integrate rather than segregate my life. The physical is not separate from the mental. The mental is not separate from the emotional. The emotional is not separate from the spiritual. Our lives are not like lunchables. We are not made up of hermetically sealed compartments. No, our lives are fully integrated so what happens to us emotionally impacts us physically, mentally, spiritually and so on. I cannot tell you how freeing this perspective has been for me. For years, I believed the lie that I could segment out my life. I ignored the warning signs in my physical body when I would bottle up my emotions. I dismissed concerns over how the things I was exposing my mind to impacted my soul and heart. I found myself striving so hard to compartmentalize a life that was meant to be integrated. That’s when God stepped in. He reminded me that His great desire is that I would love Him with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. In other words, love Him in a fully integrated way. As I began to embrace this new perspective, my life changed pretty radically. I felt a freedom I had never experienced before. My life got a lot more healthy and whole and I found myself growing in all sorts of ways.

As I read Abraham’s story for the umpteenth time, what struck me this year was the number of times Abraham encounters God or hears from God or builds an altar to God or calls on God as he makes this journey from Haran to the Promised Land. Genesis 12 begins with the call to Abram while he’s living with his family in Haran. Abram obeys God’s call and starts out on his journey. God shows up again at the oak of Moreh outside of Shechem so he builds an altar. He keeps walking through the hillside and comes to Bethel where he builds another altar and calls on the name of the Lord. Because of famine, Abram disobeys God, leaves the Promised Land, and enters Egypt. Notice he doesn’t meet God there. Doesn’t call on God there. Doesn’t build an altar there. Instead, he trusts in his own wisdom and almost train wrecks his family. So he leaves Egypt with his family and heads back to Bethel where he again calls on the name of the Lord. Abram and Lot separate and after Lot departs, God visits him yet again after which he moves to Hebron where he builds yet another altar to the Lord. Finally, he returns from winning a great victory in battle, receiving a special blessing from Melchizedek, and once again God meets him in a vision to give him the promise of a child. Make no mistake, the physical journey Abram has undertaken to get to this point reflects a deeper spiritual journey his soul is making as well. Abram is growing in every facet of his life. Every step represents a concrete act of faith in the God who first called him out of Ur and renewed that call when he lived in Haran. Abram has left everything to follow God. His home. His family. His clan. His business. His safety and security. He did it based on a promise that God would make him into a great nation and give him a great name and use him to bless the people of the earth. Abram believed God and the rest is history.

What about you? As you think back over the course of your life, can you see how your physical journey is tied up with your spiritual journey? Can you see the connection between emotional maturity and mental health? Do you seek an integrated life under the Lordship of Christ or are you striving to keep your life segmented and segregated? Let me encourage you to believe as Abram did. Trust God with everything. Hold nothing back. Lay it all down at His feet. Believe me when I say He’ll never let you down.

Readings for tomorrow: Genesis 16-18, Psalm 5

The Example of Children

Readings for today: Matthew 17-18, Mark 9:2-50, Luke 9:28-56

I love children. Always have, always will. I love them at every age from baby to teenager. I’ve loved being a dad to all four of my children. In fact, I still send them texts about once or twice a week just to let them know what an awesome privilege it is to be their father. My son recently told me it’s like receiving a note in his lunchbox. Ha! Love it. I love teaching the children at church. It might be during Kid’s Time in the worship service or during Kid’s Ministry on those Sundays when I’m off the platform and get to serve. There’s simply nothing better than being around kids and talking about Jesus.

Jesus loved children. He often used them to illustrate faith. Their simple trust and wide-eyed wonder at the world served as examples for all who followed Him. When His disciples argued over who was the greatest, Jesus pointed to a child. He challenged His disciples to seek to a simple faith. A humble faith. A generous and trusting and accepting faith. When His disciples wanted to correct a man for using the name of Jesus to set people free because he wasn’t part of their group and perhaps didn’t have his theology quite dialed in, Jesus once again challenged them to take a childlike posture. “If you give one of these simple, childlike believers a hard time, bullying or taking advantage of their simple trust, you’ll soon wish you hadn’t. You’d be better off dropped in the middle of the lake with a millstone around your neck.” (Mark‬ ‭9‬:‭42‬ ‭MSG‬‬) When His disciples lost focus and started talking about fame and fortune and power and authority, Jesus once again used a child to bring them back in line. “Whoever accepts this child as if the child were me, accepts me,” he said. “And whoever accepts me, accepts the One who sent me. You become great by accepting, not asserting. Your spirit, not your size, makes the difference.” (Luke‬ ‭9‬:‭47-‭48‬ ‭MSG‬‬)

I love that last line from the Message version. “Your spirit, not your size, makes the difference.” Greatness in the Kingdom of God is not determined by influence, power, wealth, success, achievement, possessions, the number of books sold, the number of downloads on Spotify, or the number of followers on Instagram. Greatness in the Kingdom of God is not determined by the social circles you run in or the famous people you may know. It is your condition of your soul that matters most. It is your spiritual maturity that makes the difference. And the key mark of spiritual maturity is not age or station in life. It’s not how long you’ve been attending church or how many leadership positions you’ve held in your life. It’s not connected to a title or a degree or some ordination credential. It’s marked by humility. Grace. Peace. Love. Sacrifice. Submission. Trust. All things that mark most children. In fact, one of the best spiritual disciplines you can put into practice is to spend time with a child. Not to teach so much as to learn. Not to discipline so much as to play. Not to guide and correct so much as to simply enjoy the wonder and joy of their life.

Readings for tomorrow: None

Hopelessness

Readings for today: Job 10-13

Ever felt hopeless in your life? Ever get to a place where no matter what you did, things turned out worse? Ever find yourself in a position where the walls were closing in and you had no escape? No safety net? No one to catch you when you fall? This is what Job felt like in the face of all he suffered. Hopelessness is a terrible thing. The loss of hope is one of the worst things that can happen to a human being. If we don’t have hope, we lose any motivation to keep on living. We lose any desire to keep on striving. The results are often tragic. Either we give up or we find a way to end it all or we shuffle through the rest of life like a zombie with no sense of purpose or direction.

I think of the many people I have counseled over the years who found themselves on the verge of hopelessness. Some of them were fighting terrible, wasting diseases like ALS or Alzheimer’s and they wondered what value their life could possibly hold as their physical bodies failed. Some were fighting terrible addictions and they wondered how life could be worth living under such oppressive, compulsive, and seemingly irresistible self-destructive desires. Some were fighting mental health conditions like schizophrenia or anorexia or clinical depression and they wondered what the point of life might be when so much of what they experienced was darkness. Still others suffered from deep emotional and relational pain. Still others had seen everything they had built come crashing down around them. There is so much pain and heartbreak in our world that leads to hopelessness and despair and we wonder where God is in the midst of it all.

Listen to how Job describes his own feelings of hopelessness, “If I’m truly guilty, I’m doomed. But if I’m innocent, it’s no better - I’m still doomed. My belly is full of bitterness. I’m up to my ears in a swamp of affliction. I try to make the best of it, try to brave it out, but you’re too much for me, relentless like a lion on the prowl.” (Job 10:15-16) There is nothing worse than feeling like life has no point. Nothing worse than feeling like no matter what we do, we are all still doomed to suffer. Nothing worse than thinking it doesn’t matter if one is good or evil because we all end up in the same place. This is where Job finds himself in our reading today and yet he refuses to give up hope. He stubbornly clings to faith. He continues to cry out to God. Demanding an audience. Demanding an answer. Somewhere deep down, he knows what he’s experiencing is not right so he throws himself on God’s mercy. “Yes, I’ve seen all this with my own eyes, heard and understood it with my own very ears. Everything you know, I know, so I’m not taking a backseat to any of you. I’m taking my case straight to God Almighty; I’ve had it with you - I’m going directly to God.” (Job 13:1-4)

Some believe the Book of Job is about the loss of faith. Some believe it is about deconstructing faith. I beg to differ. Job is a book that plumbs the depth of faith. It presents faith in it’s most real, most raw form. It shows us what faith looks like under immense pressure. It shows us how faith endures under the most difficult of circumstances. Job is a faithful man precisely because he continues to cry out to God. He refuses to let go. He is like Jacob wrestling with God down by the river. He is broken. He is beaten. He is wounded terribly, perhaps even mortally, and still he will not let go until God answers him. His friends all want him to compromise. His counselors all want him to exchange his deep and profound faith for superficial, theologically correct answers. His own wife wants him to renounce his faith, curse God, and die. But Job perseveres. He endures. He only tightens his grip on his faith. He refuses to give into hopelessness. Refuses to let despair have the final word.

What about you? Where do you find yourself today? Where are you struggling with hopelessness? Where are you struggling with despair? Maybe you’re like some of the people I mentioned above, battling chronic illness, addiction, or mental health issues. Maybe you’ve had a relationship go south or an estrangement with someone you love. Maybe your job or career has stalled or even failed and all your dreams for the future have gone up in smoke. Follow Job’s example. Cry out to God. Hold nothing back. Bring it all to Him. It’s only when we have nothing left that we discover faith in God is more than enough.

Readings for tomorrow: Job 14-17

By Faith

Readings for today: Ezekiel 13-15, Hebrews 11:17-40

Some say faith is blind. Some say faith is foolish. Some say faith is an opiate of sorts for the masses. A delusion we are indoctrinated into by religious institutions. That’s not how the Bible defines faith. It is a fundamental belief. A conviction that what remains unseen is nonetheless very real. It is an assurance for the future where all our hopes and dreams for eternity will come to pass. It is ultimately a deep and abiding trust in God and His plan for our lives and for our world.

Hebrews 11 is rightly called the “Hall of Fame” of faith. It lists the many heroes and heroines who walked by faith. Abel offered a better sacrifice than Cain. Why? Because he offered it in faith. Enoch did not taste death. Why? Because he walked with God. Noah risked it all to build an ark. Why? Because he loved God more than he loved the things of this world. Abraham left home, kindred, and country. He left behind all that was familiar. All that was safe. All that was secure. Why? Because he had his eyes fixed on a better country. A heavenly one. Sarah embraced a miraculous pregnancy in her old age. She carried Isaac to term though the toll on her body must have been enormous. She risked her life to bring the child of promise into the world. Why? Because she knew God was faithful. The list goes on and on. And it’s not meant to be exhaustive. It’s meant to be illustrative. To encourage those of us who are still fighting the good fight of faith in this world. Who are still sojourning on this earth that is not our home. It’s written to encourage those of us who are still seeking a homeland, eternal in the heavens. The place where God dwells.

What does walking by faith look like for you today? In what areas of your life are you being called to trust God? How are you placing your life, your future, your hopes and your dreams into His hands? Are you intentionally seeking to live by faith? Remember, “without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” (Hebrews‬ ‭11:6‬) Living by faith requires intentionality. Walking by faith requires self-discipline. It means dying to self every moment of every day. Laying aside the desires of the flesh in favor of the fruit of the Spirit. It means trusting God to reveal His will in His time. It means taking all that we are and all that we have and placing it at God’s disposal to use as He sees fit. It means walking with open hands before the Lord, allowing Him to guide and direct our steps.

I can tell you from personal experience there is nothing more exciting and nothing more daunting than following Christ. You end up on these amazing journeys you never thought possible. You have this experiences you never would have imagined. You get taken to the end of your own wisdom and strength and resources again and again as God teaches you to rely on Him. It’s not easy. It’s often scary. But God is faithful and He delivers on His promises. Make your decision right now to live this day by faith!

Readings for tomorrow: None