Discouragement

Discouragement can be a part of life. Let's face it. Life on this planet has always been difficult and there are no promises that it will ever get better this side of heaven. Life can be unfair, challenging, frustrating, overwhelming, too fast-paced...feeling encouraged yet?

One of the biggest reasons we get discouraged is due to something that is completely under our control. It's perspective. A temporary loss of perspective can throw our lives out of kilter. I thought about that as I re-read this part of the story of the Hebrew people in Numbers 11:

The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, "If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost--also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. but now, we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna. Numbers 11:4-5 NIV

I shake my head in disbelief every time I read this passage. Talk about a loss of perspective. "Fish at no cost?" Are you kidding me? You guys were slaves...lower than the animals in the eyes of your masters. The Israelites had gotten their perspective so out of whack that they forgot God's provisions--deliverance from slavery, parted seas, water from rocks, manna in the middle of a desert.

But you and I can get the same attitude about our lives. Sometimes I'll start to feel sorry about my "sad lot in life" then God sends someone or something to jerk me back into line. I have plenty to eat, clothes on my back, relatively good health for a 43 year old, an amazing wife, very good kids...I could go on and on. How can I get discouraged about my life when I read of those who go to bed hungry at night or the ones who wake up day-after-day to face the same terminal illness that has plagued them for months?

It may seem old-fashioned but the best remedy for discouragement is the regular practice of--wait for it--thankfulness. That's right. Just simply acknowledging all you have been blessed with by God can take the gloomies and turn them into a right attitude. Your heart becomes full of the right thoughts and, unlike our Hebrew friends above, you develop an appetite for God. Otherwise, our cravings turn to things in this world that bring nothing but more frustration, more discouragement. And, if we aren't careful, we find ourselves longing for enslavement yet again. Now, who in the world would want that?

Dandelions

DISCLAIMER: Over the last several months, I have been encouraged to write regularly about the accident from 2004. I am working my way through writing a book about the incident. So, every Tuesday, I've taken the opportunity to write, remember and share snapshots of that tragic event.

Walter Wink, professor at Auburn Theological Seminary, once said, "Killing Jesus was like trying to destroy a dandelion seed-head by blowing on it." Obviously, Dr. Wink was saying that Jesus' death played right into the hands of God's plan, spreading the Gospel message far and wide. Jesus' resurrection did more to spur the teachings of God than any single event before or since. Why? Because the power that Christ displayed over death that fateful day changed the lives of His followers in radical ways. Guys who had denied Him just a few days before were encouraged to stand boldly in the streets of Jerusalem and proclaim that He was the Son of God. Men who had fled from the fear of being arrested would later face death by stoning, the sword or crucifixion because they understood the "power that raised Christ from the dead."

It was my belief in that same power that gave me strength in the days after the wreck. When I was asked by my church's leadership who would preach on Easter Sunday (two days after the wreck) I told them I would. I honestly wasn't sure if I could do it. Nor was I completely sure that I wanted to. Something inside just told me that, if I couldn't stand and preach on the resurrection after what my family had been through, no one else could.

Without the resurrection, Christ-followers are the most pitiful of all subjects. We waste our lives in worship of an impotent God if Jesus wasn't raised from the dead. While doubt and fear would enter my mind over the next several months, I would come back time-and-time again to this one, life-changing truth: the tomb is empty. Always has been!

Just as in the first century, Jesus' death was still empowering believers to lead others to the truth. I was afraid. No doubt. I was mourning the loss of my best friend that Easter Sunday morning (Josh would die three days later). But the promise that Sarah was in Heaven, the hope that I would some day see her again, compelled me to preach...continues to this day to compel me again and again.

"For His returning we watch and we pray

We will be ready the dawn of that day

We'll join in singing with all the redeemed

Satan is vanquished and Jesus is King."

I get asked a lot about how I was able to carry on in the aftermath of April 9, 2004. Here is the answer that Paul gave...that I give:

18I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms... Ephesians 1:18-20 NLT

I have a dream...

You mention the word "vision" in most settings and you won't get much of a reaction. In fact, the word carries a positive feel. Everyone loves to follow a leader who has vision. We love to read or hear the stories of visionary leaders from history who changed the status quo by their willingness to share a vision. But you mention the word "vision" in a lot of church settings and you get an uncomfortable look from most. It's most often associated with fringe churches or over the top leaders (most of which follow the word "vision" with the phrase "pull out your checkbook").

But vision is very much a part of who we are to be in Christ. The Scriptures talk about the importance of vision.

Where there is no revelation (vision), the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law. Proverbs 29:18 NIV

It's important, as Christ followers, that we have visions or dreams. They can range from individual achievement (a vision for how you want to live your life) to your family (how you want to raise your children); from your career (where you want to be five years from now) to your country (Martin Luther King had a dream that has left an awesome impact on our nation). Dreams and visions are essential to who we are. But here is the catch: a dream that doesn't line up with God's purpose leads to chaos. In fact, it's a practice in frustration. Your dreams for your life and those of your family rest in the hands of an all-knowing and infinitely compassionate God. He alone knows what is best for you. So it's always best when our dreams for our lives are aligned with His.

No one can doubt the power of what Dr. King "dreamed" that day on the mall in Washington, D.C. The dream of white children and black children standing together regardless of the color of their skin. It was a dream birthed in the heart of God and lived out through one, very powerful life.

Your dreams and visions can be equally powerful. But they must be first found in the heart of God. To find what's in the heart of God, you and I must seek to know the heart of God. That begins with searching His Word and talking with Him daily (dare I say minute-by-minute?)

Our society is in desperate need of more people to stand before the world and say, "I have a dream..."

Here's to seeking the heart of God...and being willing to dream the God-sized dreams He has for all of us.

Justice

"It's not fair!"

If you've got kids of your own, you've heard these words on many occasions. In fact, if you're capable of remembering back to your own childhood, you probably mumbled them yourself a time or two. I know that might kids have become quite proficient in declaring injustice, able to do it in at least four different languages (with or without eye rolling).

Let's face it, none of us likes injustice. We believe that good should conquer evil. It is right for the good guy to win. There are some things that just should not happen or it's considered "unfair."

But justice is not limited to childhood fantasies. As adults, we all have had times when we wanted to scream "unfair" at the world we live in. When the younger guy gets the raise you had been promised, it's unfair. When the dishonest neighbor always seems to get away with everything, it's unfair. When a politician cheats his constituents and betrays their trust, it's unfair (fairly common these days but still...unfair).

A word of caution. As we scream injustice at a world run amok with unfair events, let me remind you that justice isn't always what we're seeking. Sometimes, it's our special interests we're really looking out for. But while we are screaming for justice from everyone else, we must remember that God desires justice too...from us.

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8 NIV

However, living justly and demanding justice from others should always be coupled with mercy. Don't agree? Then wait for the day you have to stand before God and say, "God, give me what I deserve. I want you to be fair."

No, fairness isn't what we seek. It's mercy. And if we seek it for ourselves we should be willing to offer it to others. To do that, you and I must learn to walk humbly with God. Justice is good. Always will be. But, as believers, we must learn to offer mercy to those who have experienced the unfair nature of the world we live in...even if they are the cause.

Being "The man"

I was reading this passage a few days ago from the Old Testament story of Abraham:

For Abraham will become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him. I have singled him out so that he will direct his sons and their families to keep the way of the Lord and do what is right and just. Then I will do for him all that I have promised. Genesis 18:18-19 NLT

Read it again...carefully, especially the bold parts. God had singled Abraham out to be a leader. He was going to be the father of many nations...the grand patriarch of Israel...the one through which the whole world would be blessed. In that process, Abraham would become wealthy, prosperous, widely known in the Middle East and respected by royalty. In modern terms, he would be "the man."

But notice where his responsibility began, where it all hinged. The great leader of nations must first become a leader for his family...and their families as well. Then--and only then--would God carry out His promise to bless Abraham and make him a man among men.

God was setting a precedent of expectation for all men, from that day to this. He was saying "your first and greatest priority in your life is your family." It is your role as the leader of your family to teach them justice, demonstrate love, grant mercy and lead them into righteous acts. And this is best done, not by telling them how to do it, but by showing them with your own life.

No wonder so many of our homes are in a mess. Most dads--if they are even in the home at all--have abdicated the role that God deemed most significant.

Hear me, men. If you want to know the full promises of God as reality in your life, you better start making a priority out of the things God says are important. Your career doesn't matter. Your hobbies are way down the totem pole. Your popularity is irrelevant. What God cares most about is the legacy you are building with your wife and kids. Mess that all up and you've blown the whole deal.

Make time to love your wife and kids the way they deserve and God demands. I guarantee you that all other things fall into place when you put God's plan first in your life.