Thursday, August 29, 2013

Hasn't Your Faith Been Shaken?

 As I meet people from all walks of life, especially those facing their own huge mountains, there is a question that seems to come up relatively frequently. This leads me to believe that this is perhaps a good topic to share about.
The question "Hasn't your faith been shaken?" ,or something quite similar, has come up often enough that it has caused me to step back and really examine the answer. In all honesty, I have to say that in the years since Ladd's career ending incident, rehab, recovery, re-injury and all that has gone with it; my faith has actually grown exponentially. This is not to say I never asked God why or got frustrated and overwhelmed. I have found; however, that when the crisis is SO big, it is somehow easier to turn it all over to God than when facing the small, every day crisis' that come with just living life.
Somehow, when there is no possible way for me to shoulder a huge burden on my own, I more easily ask for help than when I think I can handle it on my own. Truth is, God doesn't want me to just hand him the big stuff. He does want me to ask for His help though.
I have watched Him, felt Him, pick up the big stuff, and in so doing He touches so many little details that He proves beyond a doubt that He truly cares about me, my family and all of the details of our lives. When I spend regular time with Him, ask Him for help, and listen for answers, He picks me up, dusts me off, and sends me back into the game stronger and ready to play my best.
I suspect that is the same feeling that Ruth had when she and Naomi set out on their own, or that David had when he faced Goliath. With confidence that God has my back, I can face each day/giant without being consumed with worry and weighed down by burdens.
This is not to say I never find myself feeling overwhelmed or worried, but when I do it is most likely because I have let the world take up my time with God. When this happens, it's time for a good sit down, heart-to-heart, often tear filled, talk with God. It's amazing how that can be just the thing to renew my faith and restore my strength.


 
 

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

If All of Your Friends Were Going to Jump Off A Cliff...

We've all heard it and every parent has thought it... especially through those teenage years "If all of your friends were going to jump off a cliff, would you follow them?"
These aren't just your mother's words, or some tired cliché. They're actually good, sound biblical advice. Check out 1 Thessalonians 5:6 "So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled."
God is calling us, His children, to pay attention... to not blindly follow the lost/sleeping over the cliff... to think about our words and actions through His context and filter, not the world, not the media, not the popular crowd or latest trend.
As His children, we are "awake" to Satan's lies and deception, and through Him we have the self-control to step back from the edge and say "not me," "not now," not happening." Maybe - just maybe - when we step away from the cliff, a friend who is sleep walking will step away with us!
So, next time this cliché runs through your mind, think about it in this context... it's not just for teenagers!
 

Friday, March 8, 2013

Spiritual Warfare


How far have we come from the ability to see the big picture? Just like in the days of Elisha in 2 Kings 6:17, there is a very real battle going on all around us, every minute of the day and night. The battle is between God and His angles, and Satan and his demons. God is stronger and more powerful, and will eventually win the war. He's just giving us a chance to choose sides first.

Every time we ask God to step out of the battle, it is not so simple as Him merely stepping out. Satan moves in, just as an earthly enemy takes over and conquers ground not occupied by their foe. We should not be fooled into thinking we can ask God to back off and get out of the battle, and have that be the only result. When we ask God to move out, Satan moves in.

Would you join me in asking God to come back in and conquer the ground we have surrendered to Satan? God will conquer, whether we ask or not, when all have chosen their allegiance. I'm choosing to stand with God's army and would love to stand on the winning side with you.

Sunday, February 10, 2013

When the Miracle is Letting Go

This is an awkward topic, but one that I have wrestled with frequently over the course of the last decade. It seems to be one that others have wrestled with as well, so I'm going out on a limb and writing about it. I do not mean to offend anyone. I only want to put it out there for thought, discussion and prayer... please know that my heart is with those who also wrestle with this issue... from either side of the issue, as I believe there is no clear answer this side of heaven... just perhaps different ways to look at a story that only a sovereign God who knows the entire story can possibly know.

We have found ourselves in hospitals, particularly ICU rooms, on numerous occasions throughout the last 10.5 years. During the course of these stays, our family has been blessed with some pretty incredible miracles. We have also sat in waiting rooms with amazing families who have lost a loved one at the very time when our loved one made a miraculous recovery. How do you cry with one family, yet rejoice for your own at the same time? How do you not feel burdened with guilt while bubbling over with excitement?

These questions have weighed heavy on my heart and bounced around in my head so often. I have prayed over them and desperately sought reason. The thing I keep coming back to is that God knows... and I can't possibly know, because I don't have the big picture.

Two truths give insight into this big picture though...

1) None of us are here forever, and we are all here for a time... some a long time, others a short time. We each have a calling and a purpose, and we will all eventually spend eternity in heaven or hell based on where we choose to put our faith here in this life. It is up to us to choose eternity in heaven with Jesus by accepting his loving gift of salvation through his death and resurrection; or to reject him, and reject heaven.

2) This world is full of sin, and bad things happen every day. We can cling to hope in spite of this, or we can get mired down in despair because of this.

With these truths in mind, and after seeing much suffering in those who have overcome one bad thing or another, I wonder... could it be possible that sometimes the miracle is in fact not that a person lives in spite of the odds, but that the person is carried home to rest with the Father instead of continuing to struggle on here on earth? Is it perhaps just as much a miracle that a good and faithful servant is allowed to move on to heaven as when they are restored to health? Is letting go sometimes the very miracle that we seek?

Since miracles are God's department, and there is nothing that is not in his control, who am I to say one miracle is better or more fitting than another, let alone define what is a miracle?

For the time at hand, I will take comfort in what I know, for I know that there is far more that I do not know or understand. I know that my days are numbered. I know that should today bring the need for a miracle, I'm leaving it up to God to know just what miracle I am in need of. I know, that should my miracle be that it is finally my time to move on to heaven, I'm ready. I know that God will take care of those left behind with miracles custom made for them... in the right place, at the right time, and for the right purpose.