Tag: God is in control

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.

Please God

We struggle with defining success. The usual markers are; money, stuff, friends, popularity, prestige… the list goes on.

We judge ourselves by what we don’t have and what we can’t do. But God doesn’t use the same metrics to judge that humanity does. He sees the emancipator of a nation off hiding in a foreign land. He sees the ruler of nation tucked away in the fields with his sheep. He sees the greatest prophet waiting by the river being fed by ravens. He sees the messenger heralding the arrival of the messiah in the wilderness eating locust and honey. He sees the foundation of his church in a simple fisherman.

He sees us. He sees the heart. He knows the struggle we face and the wounds we incur as we journey.

Don’t let the world badger you with its values and criticism, rather worry about pleasing God.

Matthew 20: 16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

The wilderness

Moses ran to the wilderness. It was in this self-imposed exile that he prepared for his great work. He then led the people of Israel through the wilderness for many years on their journey to their promised land and the work of building a nation.

Elijah also prepared in the dessert for his great mission. After the great triumph over the prophets of Baal he ran back to the wilderness; afraid, alone and seeking comfort from God.

Even Nebuchadnezzar was sent out into the wilderness to live like a beast. Learning in his madness of his place before God.

John the baptist was a man of the fields. Living off of honey and locusts, staying in the wilderness and speaking to all that would seek him out.

Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness where he also prepared for the great work of his life. Fasting, praying and facing temptations, when he emerged he was fully ready to start the great work of returning God’s people to His care.

It feels to me like we are currently in the wilderness. I am not sure how long it will last, I am not sure what will happen next. Even the best guesses are at this point just guesses, time will tell what occurs next. But I do feel deep in my bones that we are being prepared for a great change.

We need to look at this wilderness and remember that we are being prepared for what comes next. Let us spend less time (and I’m looking squarely at myself here) worrying about what is to come, and focus on what we can gain and learn from this period. Accept the wilderness and grow. We need it to face tomorrow.

The banquet will go on

The great man planned a feast. The food was ordered and prepared. The tables and chairs assembled. The hall rented. The invitations sent. Everything ready to go.

But, the people invited chose not to come. The great feast looked to be failure. Did the banquet get canceled? No.

The reason for the feast was not the people who had been invited. The great man sent his servants out to bring people in. The feast will go on.

God’s plan is supreme. His celebrations will be had, even if those offered invitations refuse. He will go find others. Blessed are those who hear his call and come to his banquet. Be ready. Be willing. Come when God calls you.

Luke 14: 23-24 “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. I tell you,
not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’”

Letting God lead

I was listening to a Scottish preacher that I enjoy, and he started his sermon with what he called an “old Anglican prayer.” I had never heard it before. I am staggered by its profound simplicity.

It went, “Father, what we know not, teach us. What we have not, give us. What we are not, make us. For your Son’s sake. Amen.”

What I like most about these poignant thoughts is that they have the correct order. Much of the praying I do is God, if it’s your will, help me do this, or that. I am specifying what I think needs to be done. In fairness, I am open to His guidance, but I am the one doing the thinking.

This little prayer puts the ball in God’s court. It recognizes that he understands the bigger picture and will have a view that I don’t have. By petitioning him in this manner I allow him to guide my life. He is in charge of what I need to learn, or have or be. Not me. My vision for the future is subservient to His.

This is one of life’s hardest lessons. For me this is a daily struggle. I see what others around me are doing, I see the successes they have, the direction, the sureness and then I look at my own life (which is a complete mess). I have no idea what to do next, but I feel the weight of action. I have no idea how to fix my problems, but I feel the guilt of inactivity. I have no idea how to relate to the world but I feel the judgment of all around me.

This prayer helps me, in a very practical way, hand it all to God.

Trust in the Lord

We are built to see the negative. We can have 100 positive things happen and one negative. This one will toss our world and cause us to fall apart. The negative occurrences occupy our memories, affect our moods and even impact our outlook.

Some of these negatives are bad and indeed should impact our world. But sometimes, we give them more head space than they deserve. How do we combat this propensity to see the negative?

We need to look for the positive. We need to look for God’s hand.

Late Saturday evening our boiler stopped working. We were frustrated, unsure of what to do. It was late so we turned it off. We have radiant heat, so it meant no hot water and no heat in the house. I was crushed. Another expense. Another problem. I was reflecting on the advice I read earlier in the day, to hand our troubles to God. I thought, “Well God I’ve handed you a stack, here is another.” Wondering if he’d ever help with any of the that pile.

Then I started to think, “Well at least it happened now and not mid-January.” And then, “If there is a problem it would be great to get it fixed before winter.” Somehow the problem took a different turn. Was it a pain? Yes. Was it frustrating? Yes. But, there was still so much for which to be thankful.

Jeremiah 17:7 “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.”

His sheep

I heard an analogy this weekend that was thought-provoking. I was watching a program about people who have left the Amish faith. This particular family did so as they studied the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. They came to the conclusion that the principals of Jesus were more important than the rules of their faith.

A friend came to her and explained that the rules were there as a fence to keep the sheep safe within the confines of the pasture. The fence protected them from the dangerous world. This woman’s response was so beautiful. She said, “If you are with the Shepard and following where he leads, then no harm can befall you.” Or something of that nature – it’s a rough paraphrase.

The hardest thing to do is live by principles. We favour rules and laws. They give us security. We feel less afraid when we have a physical barrier or fence. The problem is that we are limiting our influence. We are limiting our experiences and our knowledge. As scary as it may be to leave the safety of the pasture, if we are following Jesus, then we can do so with confidence.

Read about Jesus. Know about Jesus. Give your life to Jesus and see where he leads.

Fear has no place in our hearts. Is it there? YES. We are human. But we must fight fear. Jesus overcame evil. The biggest battle the world has ever known has already been fought and won. We may struggle and suffer, but Jesus has already paid the price for our sin.

Our Shepard will not lead us astray. He has gone before and fought the fight. We must keep our eyes on him.

1 Peter 2: 21 – 25 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you,
leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. “He committed no sin,
and no deceit was found in his mouth.” When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to Him who judges justly. “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”
For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd
and Overseer of your souls.

Turning a page

I am fifty today. I’m half way to one hundred. I always intended to have a big party today to celebrate this great achievement. But, frankly it doesn’t feel any different than any other day and I actually have no interest in celebrating. Why? Oh who knows. These days are so strange that, well, it’s hard to think of celebrating over something so arbitrary as a date!

It has caused me to reflect on my life. I’m shocked at how little I have accomplished. I’m dismayed by the mistakes I have made and the people I’ve hurt. My list of sins is pretty long.

Why do we remember the negative things so clearly?

Maybe it’s because the “good” things we do are often cumulative. We get up every day and slog out the house and provide for our families. We work every moment to teach and help our children to grow and learn. There is nothing glamorous in this. And yet, when taken at a distance it can be truly heroic. The bad stuff tends to happen in capsules, moments of time that we can quickly pull out and remember.

So today, I’m determined to continue to show my husband respect. I will continue to try give my children wise council. I hope to find a way to love my neighbour. And most of all I will remember whom I serve.

Colossians 3: 23-24  Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working
for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

God’s wisdom

I matured in the era of the self-help book. I was a young adult, learning and charting my course, surrounded by a culture of instruction. It was everywhere, daytime television, books, classes, businesses… everywhere you ran into a basic formula. Do A,B,C and you will have a happy marriage. Do A,B,C and you will be successful in business. Do A,B,C your children will turn out and be wondeful. Do A,B,C and you will find inner peace.

Even churches did this. They abandoned generations of culture and learning to adopt the new step by step guide to getting to your desired destination. Correct doctrine – check. Appropriate levels of faith – check. Trust God – check. Be as prefect as you can be – check. Attend all the right services – check. Offer the right services in the community – check. Of course not every church was like this, but many were.

I am not suggesting for even a moment, that any of these ideas on their own are bad. It is the concept that we can live our lives by rote, by list, by ticking off all the boxes, that I strongly object to. As a young adult I stressed over every single decision, sure that every move I made would propel me on the right path or would take me off onto the wrong path. This belief was in the air I breathed.

Life is far more complex than that. Wisdom can’t be distilled into a list of dos and donts. No amount of planning can predict the future or prevent the chaos caused by our past. Life is messy. Humans are messy.

The best I can do is build my foundation on belief in God. When I do that I am anchoring myself to the Creator. I am drawing on His wisdom. I lean on His strength and guidance.

1 Corinthians 3: 18-19 Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness.”