Category: By grace alone

When you feel lost

We hiked a lot when I was a child. Mostly in Jasper. I am no stranger to wandering around in the bush and I know how easy it is to get disoriented.

Several years ago, we were in the Nakusp region. We were wandering around in a very dense section of bush. I was completely overwhelmed. The forest I was used to had some undergrowth, but nothing major. The high altitudes and extreme temperatures worked against dense flora and fauna in the Jasper region. But this was not the case in Nakusp. The trees were even taller too.

I had a general idea that we were headed in the right direction, but I wasn’t sure if we were angling off. As I looked up, I saw a bit more sky off to my right. I remembered there was a clearing that we passed through. With my eyes high I wandered towards this light spot. In time and a few scrapes and bashes we came to the clearing. I heaved a sigh of relief. My instincts had proven correct.

It is not a nice feeling to be lost. It’s even worse when we feel emotionally or spiritually lost. But take heart you don’t have to find the way out yourself. You need to look up and wait. The great shepherd is looking for you. He promised he’d come for you.

Matthew 18: 12 – 14 “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.

The danger of platitudes

We want to encourage others who are struggling. We want to give them hope, a kind word or gesture. There is a danger in this. Sometimes when we can’t think of anything to say we resort to platitudes like, ‘God never gives anyone more than they can handle.’

I understand why people say this, but it isn’t true. Sometimes people are faced with situations that are by definition way more than they can handle. This is the point. We need to turn these problems over to God. What we can’t do, he can. It isn’t our toughness that gets us through struggles, it is reliance on God. Sometimes his ways are a mystery to us, and the pain of the journey can be extreme. But we are safer in His care than we are managing it on our own.

2 Corinthians 1: 8-11 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.

Important reminder

Most of what is evil in the world right now boils down to money. The pursuit of money, the love of money. Even in my own heart money plays a larger role than I like. I worry, fret and stumble over the need for money. My heart is saddened by the restrictions that lack of money puts on our family. I can let it consume my mind in an unhealthy way.

Maybe you are also left gasping and concerned after filling up your car at the gas station. This is natural and human.

I must turn my mind to God. Pray for his wisdom and guidance. I must lean on His plan not my own. I must trust.

He sees and knows my story in its fullness. I must rely on that and take his hand. My security needs to be in God, not in my bank account. He is my foundation.

1 Timothy 6: 6-8 But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing,
we will be content with that.

Alone. Together.

You’ve likely heard the line, “We are all in this together.” But we aren’t. We’ve been distanced from community. We’ve been isolated and shut down. We are alone. Maybe together we are all alone, but that is just word trickery.

No one I know is doing ok. Everyone is struggling. For different reasons, yes, but we are all experiencing trauma. I used to wonder what it was like for my Grandmother, at home with her kids while the war raged across the channel. It has filled my imagination for years.

While I wouldn’t presume to understand her exact feeling, I do feel closer to her now than ever. All we can do is wait and survive.

What we do need is courage. The courage to sit in the sun. The courage to sing. The courage to make a nice meal. The courage to love. The courage to love people, even if they aren’t loving in return.

Claim the freedom to love.

2 Timothy 1: 7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power,
of love and of self-discipline.

Draw on His strength

I love words. I like to discover the meaning or root of the word. This is something that has always interested me. Not spelling, I’m a dreadful speller, but words I love.

Lately I have described my feelings as discouraged. Meaning that I have been feeling defeated or down. I listened to a presenter discuss this word ‘discouraged.’ And I realized, for the first time (shocked at myself for not realizing this earlier) that discouraged is actually to lack courage. Wow! Mind blown. This isn’t how we use this word in our world.

I am not discouraged. I may be down, I may be out but I’m still fighting. Being frustrated and depressed is not the same as lacking courage.

Maybe you are facing troubles too. Maybe you are feeling isolated and alone. The good news is, our courage and our strength doesn’t come from within us. We don’t have to be discouraged as we can draw on the power of the Almighty! We can be like David when he faced Goliath. He wasn’t sure because of his own strength, he was sure because God was with him.

Psalm 42: 11 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

He is righteous

We are conditioned from an early age to perform to a list of expectations. Schools use tools like curriculum and grading to help students understand how well they are doing. In our jobs we have to fulfill the job description and criteria. Often we have yearly reviews to evaluate our performance.

When I had my first child all of this was pulled away. I didn’t have any external way of evaluating my success… until I had the first visit with the health nurse. I was then introduced to all the physical and mental markers that my child should be hitting by certain ages. We even set standards for that.

Given this training, how do we cope with religion? I’m afraid we do the same thing. We set standards of morality and markers, so we can differentiate ourselves from those who don’t believe. This is a human instinct that the biblical writers warned against it. Learning we can’t earn our way to God.

The way it works in the world is that the harder you work the more likely you are to succeed. Therefor, those who are successful can be proud of their wealth and position because they have indeed earned it. This may be true – here. But the grace that God offers is unattainable, even to the most determined and perfect of humans. We can’t be proud of our own righteousness, but we need to rely on His.

It goes against the grain. If we are doing it right it should change the measure stick with which we judge ourselves and others. We should not be envious of those who have more stuff or position. We should not yearn for the ease of life and lack of trouble in our world. We should indeed embrace the path that leads us to acknowledge our own inadequacy.

It isn’t an easy task. It means changing how we see the world and how we see ourselves in it. It means trying to view things in the way God does. No small task.

Romans 4: 1-3 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according
to the flesh, discovered in this matter? If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works,
he had something to boast about—but not before God. What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”