Hanging by a Thread

“With you here, baby, I am strong, no sign of weakness. With you gone, baby, I am hanging by a thread”

(Nickel Creek — This Side)

Have you ever felt stretched too thin? Ever felt like you’re about two seconds away from total emotional, mental and spiritual meltdown? How do we get there? More importantly, how do we come back from that edge? Often we’re in this situation due to the build-up of day-to-day stress and busyness which seems to engulf us. Other times, it’s just us. It’s you and me who make the decision to live outside of God’s parameters and live for ourselves for a while. And things get out of whack!

Let’s first address the latter situation. When we choose to go rogue — go on without God, even for a little while, we know it. We can sense the lack of His presence. I believe He’s made us that way. David felt it in Psalm 51, after his sin with Bathsheba: “Wash away my guilt…for I am conscious of my rebellion…create a clean heart for me…do not banish me from Your presence…” (Ps 51:3–11 HCSB).

The contemporary bluegrass band, Nickel Creek, penned the opening words of this article. It’s so true isn’t it?! With God dismissed from our lives, we’re hanging by a thread. When He’s with us, assured by our faith in His Word and our faithfulness to Him, there’s no sign of weakness. So, we cling to Him. David was also familiar with that aspect of his faith. In Ps 18:21 he says, “For I have kept the ways of the Lord and have not turned from my God to wickedness.”God doesn’t leave us. We leave Him.

Which brings us to the first of the two scenarios mentioned above: what do we do when life presses in and leaves us breathless, leaves us feeling, to steal from Bilbo Baggins, “like butter scraped over too much bread”? We haven’t left God — life has just turned on us! Truthfully, there are no easy answers. But, there’s One to whom we can turn. Paul, in Phil 4:7, makes it clear: “And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Does that mean life’s challenges just go away when we recall our relationship with God? No. But, it’s a comfort in difficult times, isn’t it? Knowing God loves us (John 3:16), wants our troubles (1 Pet 5:7), and wants the best for us (1 Tim 2:4) should be reassuring in the worst times. Scripture reminds us over and over…when He’s here, because of and through Him — not because of who we are — we can be strong…no sign of weakness.

Back to Family

BACK TO SCHOOL FAMILY

Let me just admit right up front: last year at this time I wrote a very similar article – not the exact same, but similar. (Yes, I’m admitting to plagiarizing myself!) But the same notions always hit me this time of year. Summer is so fondly anticipated…then it’s gone! Then, sadly for many 6 years old and up, school is back in session. It’s a bittersweet thing for me. I love summer, love my kids being out of school and home (for now), love the vacations and events of summer. However, I can’t deny the desire to get back to a “normal” schedule. What does that entail for you? Back to school means…what? Back to routine; back to homework; back to normal office hours – maybe all the above. Let me encourage you: make it also mean back to consistent times of worship with the Lord and your church family.

            In Mark 12:30 Jesus reminds us our devotion and love for God is to be with all our being – “…love the Lord your God with all your heart…soul…mind and with all your strength” (ESV). Jesus says we’re to love God with all our time, effort and energy. It’s easy to get distracted from our spiritual lives. It’s easy to forget to spend time in God’s word and to forget to devote some time to prayer. And it’s easy to get in the habit of missing worship assemblies. One who truly commits to loving God with their all, however, will embrace every opportunity to spend time with Him and with His people. We all know there’s no “have-to” command to assemble on every Sunday night and Wednesday night. But, the real question is: why wouldn’t you?! Why not take advantage of each chance to be fed from God’s word and to fellowship with your Christian family? I suppose you can say you don’t “have to” be in worship services every time we assemble (although, truthfully, I’m not sure then what Heb 10:24-25 means…). Regardless, brothers and sister, let me strongly encourage you: make this time of back to school and back to schedules also mean back to deeper devotion to God and to His family – to your church family. You may not need to be in your worship assembly every single time; but, I need you there. You’re my family.

Slipping and Falling

As I was driving in to work this morning I saw a sight we’ve probably all witnessed in some form or another lately. A young man was walking on his way to Sawtooth Middle School and slipped on the ice and went down. He was, of course, just wearing shorts and a hoodie in 24 degree weather, too – totally unprepared to be lying in snow and ice! When he hit the ground, he did what many of us would do. He tried to play it off like it was no big deal. But, you could tell from the way he hit the ground - it had to hurt! He was going to be bruised, I imagine. Fortunately he had a couple buddies with him and one of them, after a few seconds, reached down and helped the kid up. He limped for a few steps; then, the three of them were walking along as if nothing had happened.

What a metaphor for the Christian walk! How often do we found ourselves walking our walk and are unexpectedly tripped up by Satan’s temptations? For the most part, we don’t plan to slip. It just happens. What do we do to prepare? Peter tells us in 1 Pet 5:8, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” We have to be ready! In other words, no spiritual “shorts and hoodies” when you’re in the winter of temptation! We have to arm ourselves with the “sword of the Spirit” and realize temptations may come.

The truth is many of us will, at some point, find ourselves fallen into sin. What we cannot do is act like it’s no big deal. It hurts. It hurts us emotionally. It hurts spiritually. It can hurt our families and those closest to us. So, when we fall, realize the gravity of the situation – and do what the young man did next…accept help. When we fall into sin, we’re going to have our spiritual bruises. It may affect our walk as a whole for a while. But, take those hands that are offered to you and get up. Get up and start walking with your Christian companions again.

God has blessed us with the church. We’re a family. We’re walking partners. We’re there to help each other up when we slip and fall. And maybe we’re there to remind each other to prepare for the tasks and temptations at hand. (Hey – it’s 24 degrees…put on some jeans!!) Take the hand God offers you so you can be the hand to reach out to help a fallen brother or sister back up – and get back in the walk. 

The Life and Times of Jesus

I am currently reading Centennial by James Michener. Like most of Michener’s books, it’s a giant, sweeping historical fiction epic. It literally covers about 500 years in more or less detail. This particular novel is about the migration into the American West. What I find so interesting is the various characters’ interactions with real people from history. The reader encounters Daniel Boone, Lewis and Clark, Jim Bridger and many others. It’s thought-provoking to see how the fictional characters relate to the real ones. As I read Michener, he makes me feel like I’m in his character’s shoes.

          It makes me think what it would have been like to encounter Jesus as He walked throughout Judea, Galilee and surrounding areas. I know fictional accounts have been written which include meetings with Jesus. But, it makes me think, what if I were the character meeting this man Jesus? What would I think? What if Andrew would have come to me and said, “We have found the Messiah” (John 1:41 – NKJV)? How would I have reacted to Philip declaring, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote – Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph” (1:45)?

          We know many believed that. We know crowds of people followed Jesus for a while. Would I have been in that crowd? Would you? More importantly, would you, would I have been in the crowd – a much smaller crowd – when Jesus prayed in the Garden for His apostles and for you and me, “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word” (17:20).

The life Jesus lived on this earth was remarkable. He taught, He ministered, He healed and He amazed the multitudes. It would have been incredible to see. But, even Jesus would say His emphasis was not to astound and amaze. He did all He did to save us (Luke 19:10).

It would’ve been amazing to meet legendary mountain men or famous leaders of the past. But, none of them could really change your life – none could offer what Jesus offered.

Forgiveness. Hope.

Jesus came to this earth, walked among us, and changed the world…so He could change your life.

What’s Good With That?!

What’s Wrong Good With That?!

If you’re a parent, you’ve undoubtedly heard a child say, “We’re just watching (doing/listening to/playing) FILL IN THE BLANK! What’s wrong with that?!” What’s wrong with that? That’s a good, legitimate question. But, is it always the only question we should ask? Like it or not, no matter how old or young we are, we live in a world of instant communication, social media, and sometimes overwhelming availability of – just about everything! So, I would propose, as Christians, we had better be asking not just, “What’s wrong with this or that?” but, “What’s good with this or that?” There are many text messages we can send about someone or something which might not necessarily be wrong; but, what’s good with them? There are posts we can put on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram that might not be expressly immoral; but, what’s virtuous about them? There are even things we can “like” or “retweet” that may not be blatantly sinful; but, what’s holy about them? To bolster my point, let me allow my brother Paul to speak. From Romans 14:19: “Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another” (NKJV). And from 1 Cor 10:23: “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify.” What does it mean to “edify”? It means I’m building someone up. Get it – an “edifice” is a building? We should edify – build up – each other. (I know that’s probably poor grammar, but a biblical concept!) So, as Christians, please be those who really think before we hit “send” or “like” or “share” or whatever. Again from Paul: “…whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things” (Phil 4:8). Let’s make certain we’re not just avoiding what we all know is wrong, but that we’re proclaiming those thoughts and ideas which will provide for real edification!

CELEBRATION GRADUATION!!!!!

Saturday, kids all over the area graduated from high school. I watched my oldest walk across the stage to receive his diploma. What a proud moment! (I’m writing this Wednesday so I’m managing to not tear up.) Finished with high school! Finished with classes, unless you choose to pursue more education! It’s a big event in life. It’s a step into adulthood – a step into making personal decisions. It’s completing one stage of life and moving on to the next. Being a part of this has made me think. From what do we never graduate?

1) We never graduate from God’s love. Our culture seems to think of “religion” as an almost childish thing. It’s a good thing when you need it; but, when you grow up, it’s something to leave behind. But God tells us in Heb 13:5, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (NKJV). God’s love will always be available. We may make mistakes and possibly even wander off, but God’s forgiveness and grace will always be here for us.

2) We never graduate from needing each other. I know when I graduated high school, I lost track of many of my Christian friends. However, I was very blessed to re-connect with a few of them later in life. Now they’re some of the dearest people in the world to me. Eccl 4:12 reminds us, “Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” We will always need good, faithful friends to help us through tough times and to celebrate good times.

3) We never graduate from the need to assemble with God’s people. “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together…” That’s Heb 10:24-25 – the “you-have-to-go-to-church” verses. But look at the author’s point. It’s about considering one another. We’re reminded to assemble because God knows we need it. I need you. You need me. We need to worship together! And, we never outgrow that.

4) We never graduate from the love of our family. Families can be tough. We can rub each other the wrong way. But, in most situations, there’s a love there which goes beyond any other relationship in life.

So, graduates, graduation is a time of looking ahead…and looking back. But, never let it be a time of moving away from God. Move toward Him as you move into this next phase of life. Likewise, for all of us, may we always be growing in our relationship with each other and with our God.

The Silent Treatment

A man and his wife were having some problems and were giving each other the silent treatment. The husband realized he needed to be awakened early one morning to catch a flight, but he didn't want to be the first to break the silence. So he left a note on his wife’s side of the bed that read, “Please wake me at 5 A.M.” By the time bright sunshine woke him the next morning, it was 9 A.M. Furious, he threw back the covers and shouted to his wife (who was nowhere to be found), “Why didn't you wake me up like I asked you to?” That’s when he saw, stuck to the lamp on his bedside table, a note in her handwriting that read, “It is 5 A.M. Time to wake up.”*

There’s nothing worse than The Silent Treatment. And, as the above illustration shows, it’s also about the most pointless scenario any relationship can experience. Why? It accomplishes nothing! Zero! So, why do we do it? Sadly, the best answer simply is: We just don’t know what else to do. Our feelings have been hurt; we want to not say the wrong thing, so we clam up and deafen the other person with our silence.

Do we do this with God? As we spend this quarter talking about prayer in our “Talking Back to God” class, one thing I’ve read over and over is how proclaimed “Christians” openly admit dissatisfaction with their prayer life. Why? Same answer – we don’t know what to say. Yes, there are some folks who find themselves hurt with life and don’t want to talk to God about it. And yes, there are those who just don’t know God well enough to talk with Him.

But what about us? What about those of us who consider ourselves faithful? Do we ever give God The Silent Treatment? Sure, it can be accidental. We get busy and just forget to pray. Or, it can be a sin problem. We have a sin issue in our lives we know we need to take care of, but just don’t. So we try to avoid talking to God out of shame or flat-out stubbornness.

Psalm 139:4 tells us, “Before a word is on my tongue, You know all about it, Lord” (HCSB). What do we learn from this? The Silent Treatment is pointless with God! It’s even more pointless than it is between you and your spouse – He already knows what you want to or need to say! So don’t avoid God. Don’t withhold your communication from Him out of embarrassment or pride. If there’s a sin problem, He can help with it! If your relationship with Him needs work, ask Him for help with it. When it comes to our relationship with God, the old adage “silence is golden” is not only wrong, it’s spiritually unhealthy.

* Illustration borrowed from Dennis Rainey