Category: God is great

A Rainbow

I was driving home from taking my oldest daughter to work. It had been a dreary rainy day the previous day and at that hour there were still some sprinkles. After leaving her at work I made my way home. The sun was starting to peak over the horizon. Before me, in the middle of the gray clouds was a faint, but large rainbow.

I began musing about the promise God made to Noah and how we still see evidence of this today. It struck me as odd that God did this. He could have sent an angel or some other method to share this promise with Noah. But he didn’t. He made it permanent a part of our natural world. And yet a rainbow while being real in a scientific sense is also extremely ephemeral and mysterious. If you try to track the rainbow you will never catch it. It disappears before your eyes.

The rainbow comes on the heels of the a storm. Without the storm there is no rainbow. He doesn’t promise us there will be smooth sailing. He never said a trouble free life is a sign of his hand in our lives. No. He promises us hope in the storm. He reminds us of his presence and greatness even while the rain falls.

He gives us hope to face what we need to face. His rainbow is a reminder of him and his great love for man.

Hebrews 11:1 – Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

The parable of the talents

I was thinking of the idea of how glorious it will be to meet Jesus and have him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” I couldn’t remember where this came from in the scriptures. I thought it was from a parable, but I couldn’t remember which one. I looked it up and lo and behold it was from one of the hardest to understand parables.

The parable of the talents, as it’s known, is a tough bit of scripture. We like to focus on God’s grace and his forgiveness and yet here the master is shown as unmerciful and punitive in his dealing with his servant. It always seemed to me to be a threat; do well with what God gives you or else. I believed it was the results of the servant’s actions that cause the master’s ire. I focused solely on the fairness of the actions and thoughts of the master

But this time when I read it there was something new (to me). Perhaps it was more in the servants behaviour. Not only did the servant do nothing with the money, but rather his reasoning was also very telling. The bad servant focused on the master’s negative qualities (of which we are not told the validity), he insisted that his actions were caused by fear and distrust. He took an opportunity, one that other servants used to great advantage, and treated it as a curse. He decided his safest bet, to avoid angering what he saw as a ‘hard man’ was to do nothing.

This is what our world does with God. His morality and goodness is judged and found wanting. People refuse to worship a mean and judgmental God who is harsh and vindictive. And yet the god they persist that they can’t believe in, is nothing like the God I serve. They have built their own version of God’s character and then decide he is not worthy of respect. It would be better to get to know God before assessing his nature.

But there is a reminder in this parable for Christians too. Am I living a life afraid of punishment? Am I living freely in the grace of God? Or am I attributing the negative in my life to ‘correction’ or persecution? God does correct us. But he is also the author of all the good in the world. We mustn’t live our lives afraid to fail. It wasn’t failure that ailed this servant, it was fear of trying.

This is probably not new to you. But I was taken aback by this new insight. May God bless you as you go forward and give you the bravery you need to trust in His care and love.

Matthew 24: 14 – 30 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

“The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

“Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

“‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

A snowball fight broke out

I just took my dog for a walk through the late April snow. It is sticky and heavy snow. Not the normal snow for our climate. But pretty typical of a very early or late snow, when the temperatures are higher.

Willis was toddling along through the snow, stopping to smell and explore as he wished. His tail upright and a swing in his hips. He exuded happiness. As we walked I watched a young man clearing the heavy snow with a shovel from his driveway. I had just done my walk before heading out with Willis, so I felt a kinship with this young stranger.

Suddenly he stopped and I heard a light thud. I followed his glance and saw another man crouched down behind a car closer to the house. Immediately this young man dropped his shovel and bent over. He crouched down and smoothly shaped a ball with the snow. He waited until the other man peeped over the car and then he threw it with careful aim. Soon there was a volley of snow balls and laughter.

This brought me so much joy. There is something universally fun about a snow ball fight. It brings out the child in us, even if we are just an observer.

We forget to play. In the seriousness and darkness and struggle in life we forget to play. I have been very guilty of this. I allowed the struggles of life to choke out the joy. But the joy is there, we just have to watch for it and be willing to participate. Whether in watching a spontaneous snowball fight or walking with my ridiculous little dog, God is in the details. Joy can be found in the moment.

Philippians 4:4  Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Renewal

We had our first bible study of the year the other night. I was not prepared to continue with the material we have been studying. Just a bit slow getting back into the swing of things, I guess.

Instead, I asked the group to reflect on the idea of renewal.

Many people look at the start of the new year as a blank slate. A time to make resolutions and redouble their self-improvement efforts.

Resolutions are different than renewal. Resolutions are based on our own efforts to change. We ‘resolve’ to create a new habit or quit an old one. Renewal is less about what we can do. We can’t create ourselves over. We can’t cleanse our lives of all our iniquities. We have to lean on God for renewal.

Psalm 51: 10 – 12 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

The Power of Truth

The days are dark. The battle looks insurmountable. The visual that comes to my mind is from the movie The Two Towers. The creators of this film catch the essence of this so beautifully and so clearly. Galdalf appears shining and white then leads an army down the hill to the rescue.

We can get so embroiled in the battle before us that we forget to keep our eyes on the light.

The forces of evil hide in lies. They cloak their deception in perceived virtue. But the truth cuts through this blackness and cannot be denied. Don’t get mesmerized by the evil or fascinated by the lies, keep your eyes on the light.

Mark 4: 21 – 23 He said to them, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed?
Instead, don’t you put it on its stand? For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.”

Thinking out loud

I​f a tree falls in the forest does anyone hear? The old question. A physicist might answer that this involves the necessity of a hearing to register the sound. A philosopher may question whether humanity is necessary to nature. But if you are thinking of this question spiritually you may ask “Why does it matter?”

W​hat is the point of nature, it’s wonder and beauty, if no one can appreciate and process it? God made us with the ability to enjoy His creation. We are part of the created world, but He gave us the added gift not only sight, but discernment. He not only gave us ears to hear, but the ability to be moved by the sounds. We have the gift of creativity too. The ability to turn that fallen tree into a home, or a sculpture, or a flute. We share fully in God’s creation because He designed us that way.

A​ll nature sings His praise. And we as His people were given the ability to understand this. The question is more, “Why does the tree exist if humanity can’t see and appreciate it?”

P​salm 66: 1 – 4 Shout for joy to God, all the earth!
Sing the glory of his name make his praise glorious.
Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!
So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you.
All the earth bows down to you;
they sing praise to you, they sing the praises of your name.”

Hope in the darkness

I​t can be surprising that in places that seem the most oppressive, with the worst governments, Christianity grows. Some modern examples are China and Iran.

I​t would be natural to assume that Christianity grows the best in free and open societies, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Throughout history Christianity has grown in the darkness created by men.

W​hen all else fails Christ can give hope to the hopeless. He offers abundance and life to those with nothing. Like a small slit of light, Christ shows what is possible beyond the veil. He is the Light.

John 12: 46 I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes
in me should stay in darkness.

(​It is ‘bring your kid to work’ day, so Mari helped me write this.)

Who can we trust?

I don’t remember a time, in my half century of life, with more chaos and confusion. It is hard to know what to believe or who to trust. It can feel like I am struggling to find footing.

If I focus closer to home, I feel less dizzy. The world may be crazy, but I am constantly amazed by the maturity of my children. I’m thankful for my husband and his consistent positive attitude. We have food and we have shelter. God is providing for us.

Several years ago, I was talking with a friend who was distressed that we are watching the implosion of the Western world. She was particularly concerned that like Rome, and other empires before, the American empire seems to be crumbling.

It was during this discussion that I realized that even though the Roman empire fell, Rome and Italy still exist. The people carried on and life moved forward. While the affairs of the powerful ebb and flow the life of the average person continues on.

It helps us carry on and find hope if we remember that we are part of a great Kingdom, greater than any earthly empire. The God we worship does not change or evolve or disappear – we can count on Him. In a world of whirling deceit, He is the truth.

We can hold on to the unchanging God and his son. His son who died for us.

Hebrews 13: 8  Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

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.

Pursue truth

These are confusing times. Nothing seems right. Families are fractured. Information abounds and so does pure propaganda. As Churchill said, “In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.”

What we are dealing with is a war of worldview. Issues of a worldly nature have occupied the part of our thinking that was devoted, in the past, to religious thinking. Theology has been supplanted by politics, philosophy, environmental and health concerns. When this happens it doesn’t elevate these issues to the status of the spiritual part of our minds, but rather it removes our measuring stick. We no longer have a moral compass by which to judge all other issues of life.

I see two reactions to this right now; rabid support of the new progressive thinking or violent reaction against. One pushes harder and faster. The other is looking wildly for answers.

We need to be careful. We need to step back from both sides and reclaim our measuring stick. READ YOUR BIBLE. Focus on the bible. Don’t tell the bible what to say. Don’t come to the bible to prove your side or disprove your enemy. Be open. Be humble before God. Recognize that truth lives outside you, that it is owned entirely by God.

Jeremiah 23: 16 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes.
They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord.
They keep saying to those who despise me, ‘The Lord says: You will have peace.’
And to all who follow the stubbornness of their hearts they say,
‘No harm will come to you.’
But which of them has stood in the council of the Lord to see or to hear his word? Who has listened and heard his word?
See, the storm of the Lord will burst out in wrath, a whirlwind swirling down on the heads of the wicked. The anger of the Lord will not turn back until he fully accomplishes the purposes of his heart.
In days to come you will understand it clearly.
I did not send these prophets, yet they have run with their message; I did not speak to them, yet they have prophesied.
But if they had stood in my council, they would have proclaimed my words to my people and would have turned them from their evil ways and from their evil deeds.
“Am I only a God nearby,” declares the Lord, “and not a God far away?
Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them?” declares the Lord.
“Do not I fill heaven and earth?” declares the Lord.