Life, Filled with Adversity or Opportunity?

The picture above is by famous artist M.C. Escher. His pictures are real mind-benders. By gazing at this picture, it does not take long to realize that one's perspective of what is up or down will change. For instance, imagining oneself in Escher's picture, going up a set of stairs, but suddenly one finds oneself going sideways and then down. Life can come at us in much the same way. We have a perspective that our lives are going in a certain direction, but then suddenly events occur in our lives and our perspective changes, sometimes drastically.

In the book of Ruth in the Bible, we see the power of perspective to prescribe whether or not we live a life of faith or frustration in response to the difficulties of life. At the onset of the book, two women are in a very similar situation. Their lives have been drastically changed and they feel quite vulnerable. One woman named, Naomi, had lost her husband and both her sons, and was living with her daughter in law, Ruth. Naomi characterized life as one of adversity, in which "God's hand had gone out against her."

Ruth, on the other hand, had lost her husband, her brother in law, her father in law, and was facing the prospect of a life as a widow, vulnerable and no where to go. However, Ruth did not characterize her life as one of adversity, but rather one of opportunity. Whereas, Naomi believed God's hand was against her, Ruth saw an opportunity to start believing in this God of Naomi.

What would your's and my perspective have been if we'd been in their situation? Naomi's perspective caused her to become bitter, but Ruth's perspective embraced an opportunity for life to get better. Naomi's perspective was causing her to lose faith in her God. However, Ruth's perspective was causing her to trust God.

In the Escher painting our perspective kept changing and this could cause us to feel frustrated or confused. In life our perspective will determine where we end up, either trusting God for things that are better, or not trusting in God and becoming bitter, frustrated and confused. But it all starts with our perspective on our current situation. When we respond to the difficulties of life with a perspective that is divorced from God's eventual goodness and faithfulness, we will wander aimlessly as though walking in an Escher painting. However, when we by faith, choose to trust in God's goodness and faithfulness, despite our challenges in life, we discover a straighter path and understand more fully what Jesus meant when he said, "I am the Way, and the Truth and the Life.

Often times our problems are not external, but rather internal. Our problems are internal because of how we choose to perceive our circumstances. How do you perceive your current struggles in life, as adversity or as an opportunity to trust God?

Beams Away!

Adversity and Opportunity Come Knocking Simultaneously

"When opportunity knocks..." We've heard all of the quotes related to when opportunity knocks. One I heard recently goes like this, "When opportunity knocks, you still have to answer the door." How true it is, but how often it seems that when opportunity knocks, it seems more like adversity than opportunity.

Take the example of the prostitute Rahab in the book of Joshua. She is living in Jericho just trying to get by in life and then gets a knock at the door and it turns out to be some spies from Israel. She probably thought is was the run-of-the-mill client, but instead she finds these spies are from Israel, whom she had heard much about the awesome power of their God. Is this opportunity or adversity? What would become of her, her town and family now that this awesome God is coming to destroy them just as He did the powerful Egyptians?

Rahab chooses to hide these spies, but then soon hears another knock on the door. This time the King of Jercho has sent a message to "Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house..." Things seem to have gone from bad to worse. Was this knock at the door a knock of opportunity or adversity? Rahab could have given up the spies and been in favor with the King of Jericho, or kept them hidden and trust that the God of Israel might protect her.

Rahab chose the latter by faith and found herself protected and provided for by the God of Israel. And so it is with us. Many times, adverstity and opportunity come knocking on our door simultaneously. How do we know what to fear? How do we know which is adversity and which is opportunity? As we continue to trust God, no matter what life experiences come to our door, we can see them as opportunity. Opportunity to trust God more fully and to subsequently realize God's protection, provision and love for us.

What is knocking on your door right now? Do you see it as opportunity or adversity?

Is it a lost job? A health scare? Inability to have children? Financial vulnerability? Emotional instability? Perhaps with the onset of the holidays, your adversity is in the form of family coming knocking on your door. Whatever it is, choose to view it as an opportunity rather than the invasion of adversity. Choose to see it as an opportunity to trust in God and realize God's protection and provision, just as Rahab did. Choose to be thankful this holiday season for the things you once saw as adversity, but now embrace by faith as an opportunity.

Also, to keep perspective, enjoy this hilarious video that captures the stress of the holidays and our continual opportunities that come knocking.

Beams Away!

If Only...

The word "if" is a tricky word, that can get us into trouble. Such a little word, that can cause so much worry and complaining in our lives. I once preached a sermon entitled, "What are the 'What ifs' in Our Lives?" This was directed at identifying how the "what ifs," can create a lot of worry in our lives and prevent us from faith in God.

The word, "if" speaks to conditional existence. In other words, it does not speak to our actual present tense experience in life, but speaks to a conditional and often preferred, yet unreal existence. In other words, the word "if" flies in the face of reality. What are the "If only" conditions you and I hold out for and how does that mitigate against faith and contentment in God? If only I had a better and bigger house, if only I could make a little more money, if only my spouse..., if only my family..., if only I weighed...then I'd be happy.

As we read about the Israelites in Numbers 11-14, we hear a lot of "If only..." types of complaints and grumblings. "If only we had some meat to eat, then we'd be happy." "If only we stayed in Egypt, then we would not die in this desert." Their "If only..." mantra mitigated against the true means of satisfaction and purpose in life, i.e. absolute, unequivical allegiance to Jesus Christ, the God of the universe, the Lord of one's life and the savior one's soul. In other words, they were putting conditions upon their contentment in life and their commitment to God. "If only we had....then we'd be happy or protected or satisfied in life and with this God."

What are the "If only..." conditions that you and I place upon God and hold out for in our own lives? How are you and I qualifying our commitments to God in the unspoken "If onlys" in our hearts? Here is an "If only..." that I think is most appropriate - "If only that little word 'If' could be eliminated from our commitment." Then, without the "if" we'd simply have the word "only" ruling in our hearts. No conditions, no qualifications, simply the word "only" which referes to the One and only who has our complete allegiance.

May God graciously, identify and eliminate the "Ifs" of our lives, so we might find our fullest satisfaction in God.

Beams Away!

Our Prayers Reflect Our Priorities

We may have heard the expression, "Be careful what you pray for, because you just might get it." I am realizing that I need to be careful what I pray for because it will reflect where my priorites and passions lie. Upon examining my prayers lately, I am realizing that I am prizing my life and comfort more than God's praise. For instance, I may pray that my life's challenges would be eased or erased altogther, rather than praying that my life's challenges would result in other people praising God. In essence, my prayers are more about me and what God can do for me rather than praying that my life's struggles would be used for God's fame.

As I talked about complaining last Sunday, I was struck by Moses' lack of complaining and how his prayers reflected a passion for God which took priority over himself. In the book of Numbers, chapter 14, verse 11, God is asking Moses, "How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me...?" God goes on to say that he will destroy these people but continue to elevate and reward Moses. Now I don't know about you, but if I were Moses, dealing with these people who constantly complained about me, falsely accused me and wanted to kill me, upon hearing God's decree to destroy them and still take care of me, I would have responded by saying "It's about time! I was wondering how long you were going to put up with them. I have had it with them!"

However, Moses' prayer reflected Moses' priority. Moses' prayer in response to God's decree showed that Moses' priority was God's glory. Moses pleads with God to not destroy the people. But Moses' motivation was not to save the people. Moses' motivation was to protect the fame of God's name among other nations. Moses responds to God by essentially saying, "Well if you wipe out these people, what will that do for your name's sake?" Moses was asserting to God that other nations would hear how God wiped out his own people and those other nations would draw wrong conclusions about God. Moses' prayer reflected that his priority and passion was God's glory. Moses could have gone along with God's plan which would have made Moses' own life much, much easier. However, Moses was not interested in a life of ease, he was interested in a life that would bring God glory, even if it meant his own life were to be marked by pain and suffering.

As I look at my own prayers to God, I realize I pray more for a life of ease than for a life that brings God glory. Is God's glory my top priority? Jesus said it so well and so succinctly when confronted with going to the cross and the temptation to avoid His own slaughter for our sin. Jesus simply and so profoundly prayed, "Not my will be done, but Thy will be done." By the grace of God, may will all recalibrate our prayers so that they reflect a greater priority than ourselves. In our prayer lives, rather than praying for better days, rather than praying for an improved phase, rather than praying for better days, may we simply pray for God's praise.

Beams Away!

Grumbling, Mumbling or Humbling?

In my sermon yesterday, I spoke about complaining. Specifically, how God is aware of our complaints, how God answers our complaints and how God awards those who are committed. I suggested that our complaining or grumbling can lead to mumbling and fumbling God's plan for our lives. But also how grumbling can lead to humbling ourselves under God's plan. Also, when we humble ourselves, our reward it God's protection, God's provision, but also God's praise. Not God's praise of oursevles, but rather our reward is the praise of God by others. The true story below captures how the difficult things of our lives, which we are tempted to complain about, may actually lead to the praise of God by others. Hopefully, it will provide a different perspective on the things we want to complain about. Beams Away!!

Brenda was almost halfway to the top of the tremendous granite cliff. She was standing on a ledge where she was taking a breather during this, her first rock climb. As she rested there, the safety rope snapped against her eye and knocked out her contact lens. "Great", she thought. "Here I am on a rock ledge and now I lose my sight." She felt panicked and began to pray that God may help her find her contact lens.

When she arrived at the top of the mountain, a friend examined here eye and clothing for the lens, but to no avail. Although she was calm after reaching the summit, she was saddened because she could barely see across the range of mountains. She was tempted to start grumbling.

Later, when they had hiked down the trail to the bottom of the cliff they met another party of climbers who were just starting up the face of the cliff. One of them shouted, "Hey, Anybody lose a contact lens?" This would have been startling enough, but even more remarkable was that this climber witnessed the contact lens as it was being carried along by an ant. A cartoon of this true story about the ant carrying the contact lens was devised and the caption read like this, "Lord, I don't know why you want me to cary this thing. I can't eat it, and it's awfully heavy. But if this is what you want me to do, I'll carry it for You." Little did that ant realize that his heavy and seemingly senseless burden lead to the praise of God by someone else.

What are the burdens you may be carrying today? As tempted as you may feel to complain and grumble about it, have faith that God is using it for a purpose, perhaps the most grand purpose of all...that God will be praised for whatever it is that you are carrying in life. This is tough teaching, but it relates to the very purpose of our existence. We exist for God, and not the other way around.

God's Goal is God

Yesterday I tried to explain God's jealousy as a virtue rather than a vice. This may have been easy to understand and appreciate because I related it to our interests, i.e. God is jealous for us and is in passionate pursuit of us. However, today I want to go a step further with God's jealousy and explain it's ultimate aim and affection. However, this may not sit very well with us, because God's ultimate aim and affection, the ultimate object of God's jealousy is God. In other words, God is jealous for God. God tells us repeatedly that God is jealous for His name's sake. (Isaiah 9:7; 37:2; Ezekiel 5:13) Just when I suggested that God did not need a Stuart Smalley support group for His insecurity, now I throw this out there and once again, God seems narcissistic and struggling with low self-esteem.

However, when we view God's jealousy for God as synonymous with self-absorbtion, we are assuming that it is wrong for God to want and to pursue such an end. Yet this is the most appropriate end for God to pursue. In fact, it would be infinitely wrong for God to pursue anything less than God's own glory. What other glory should God pursue? Your glory? My glory?

The wonderful members of my congregation, although misguided in their passion for the Minnesota Vikings, would love for me to jump ship from my passion for the first place Green Bay Packers and be a fan of the third place Vikings. Why in the world would I want to do that?! To put it another way, who would want to be passionate about the Dallas Cowboys? In the same way, God will not and cannot jump ship from God's passion for God. God will not share his glory with anyone else. (Isaiahb 42) Nor will God be passionate about anyone or anything else other than God, because everything else pales in comparison to this preeminent passion. It would be morally wrong for God to be more passionate about anything other than God.

So while it appears that God is struggling with a low self-esteem, perhaps the real issue is that I/we don't hold God in high enough esteem. I know this is certainly the case in my life, when things do not go the way I want them to go. Don't misunderstand me, I am all for God receiving glory...as long as it does not cost me too much, because deep down, I cherish and am passionate about me, more than I am about God. God forgive me.

Beams Away!

Stuart Smalley To Help God's Jealousy

The book of Exodus tells us that God is a jealous God. How can this be? Jealousy is supposed to be a vice not a virtue. When we encounter people who are jealous, we wonder "What's his problem?" And on the surface, it can appear that God does have a problem with His jealousy. God seems to frequently "Go off," when God's people blow it.

Is God insecure? Does God need to attend a Stuart Smalley support group to be reminded that despite creation's rejection of the Creator, that "Doggon it, God is still smart enough, good enough and that there are still some people who really like Him."

Actually, God's jealousy, when properly understood helps us understand ourselves and our creator much better. Jealousy is not always a vice. In fact, in a loving, marriage relationship, jealousy is good because it acts to protect and to preserve the love relationship. I remember going with my wife to her 8th grade class reunion. All night there was a guy blatantly staring at her and trying to get close to her. (I made sure that was not going to happen!) I was feeling intense jealousy. Not because my wife was interested in this guy, but because this guy's actions and motives existed as a threat to my most important relationship. In this case, as also seen in scripture, jealousy is applauded because it operates and is motivated by a desire to protect and provide for a loving relationship. God's jealousy reacts to any violation or threat to our relationship to God. Interstingly, we see God's jealousy often in response to His people's worship of idols, which serve as a threat to the intimate and awesome relationship His people can have wiht Him.

This is great news for so many of us. As I have counseled people for over fifteen years, I realize we need the Stuart Smalley support group; because so many of us still feel alienated and unworthy of God's love. So many of us work so hard to attain God's approval. We have no idea of God's grace. Some may correctly believe that God's grace saves us, but then subconsciously and erroneously live as though it is up to ourselves to maintain God's approval. However, God's jealousy is all about God's powerful and zealous pursuit of us. God's jealousy tells us that God wants to have a relationship with us, extraordinarily more than we want to have a relationship with God. God's jealousy for us actually lead God to die for us so that nothing could seperate us from God.

Deep down I still feel as though I am not good enough. But God's jealousy for me reminds me that although I am not good enough, God's goodness is more than enough.

Beams Away!

What is a Christian?

Yesterday, I communicated the essence of the book of Exodus in the Bible. In short, I mentioned that God has done everything to enable salvation to occur in our lives. God initiates salvation, (i.e. seen in choosing the Israelites) God enables salvation, (i.e. seen in the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt) and God ensures salvation (i.e. seen in the new life God gives to the Israelites) So if God does everything, what does it mean to be "saved?" What is our role? Where does our choice come in to play? What I said sounded good, simple and clear,
(I hope) but there are ramifications for how one becomes a Christian and lives as a Christian, especially if God does it all.

When I finished seminary, one professor asked me, "Are you ready for ministry?" I said, "Sure, just one question, 'What does it mean to be a Christian?" This is a prudent question, given the popular and diverse defiinitions in our culture today. This is also prudent given that Jesus' teachings may have lead more people out of the kingdom of God (who thought they were in) than his teachings may have lead people into the kingdom of God. (check out John 6:60-66 as an example)

I am eager to hear your thoughts on this matter? How does one become a Christian? Is it by walking down an aisle and saying a prayer? Is it through the sacraments? Is it by living for causes like social justice? How do you know if you are a Christian? If all we need to do is walk and aisle and say a prayer, how does that square up with Jesus' call to die for him? If living a life for social justice is the answer, how does that square up the Bible's teaching that we are saved by God's grace and it is not of ourselves, but a gift from God? If God does everything, why should we pray and share our faith with others?

Feel free to answer any of these questions, feel free to ask new ones, but please do not feel free to avoid thinking and do not feel free to avoid questioning things and do not feel free to give "Sunday School" answers. These questions are too significant to be cheapened by quick anicdotal answers. Perhaps our answers and questions may show us some of the beams in our eyes and cause us to seek God more fully.

Really hope to hear from you.

Beams Away!

Fear: The Fodder or Failure of Faith

Patrick Swayze starred in a movie called City of Joy. This is a fabulous, non-Swayze like movie that I highly recommend. He plays a young doctor running from fear of failure after losing a small boy on the operating table. He is fearful of failure and fearful of not living up to other's expectations. He finds himself running as far as India, where he ends up in a leper colony. At one point of the movie, the resident British nurse of the leper colony, confronts Swayze by asking Swayze, "Junior is there anything you believe in?" Swayze responds by affirming his believe in the Dallas Cowboys. (A tough belief system to hold onto today) She responds by suggesting that in life, each of us has one of three choices, to run, to commit or to spectate. Swayze confesses to her that he is a running spectator. In other words, given the opposition and potential for failure, he defaults to running away and watching passively as the world goes by.

How do you respond to adversity, opposition or the prospect of failure? Are you a running spectator or in the midst of adversity find yourself passionately committed to something? What is it that you are committed to and why? The book of Exodus gives an account of Hebrew women confronted by Pharaoh to kill all boys born to other Hebrew women. Their response is inspiring to us all.

In Chapter one of Exodus, verse seventeen, it says that the midwives "feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do..." Their response was one of fear and commitment. They had a choice to fear Pharaoh or fear God. But, don't miss this important point! Whatever they feared would be whatever they committed themselves to. Furthermore, whatever they chose not to fear would be the thing they ran from. They feared God and were committed to following God. They did not fear Pharaoh, and thus they ran from him.

The take away from this? Whatever we fear will end up controlling us? Also, we have a choice regarding what it is that we fear. Ultimately, we can fear God and live in obedience to God, or we can fear the stressors, the people, the possibilities, the past or the present and allow those things to control us.

What are the things dominating our thoughts today? Politics, career, finances, family, failure, children, etc? Or is it Jesus Christ, the God of the Universe? Too often I exchange the fear of God by fearing other things around me, most often a fear of failure. But ironically, when I fear God, I find peace and pupose, when I fear anything or anyone else, I only find more fear. God blessed the Hebrew midwives because they feared God. What is it for you?

"My faith is such, that I am as safe on the battle field, as I am at home in my own bed." General Stonewall Jackson

Beams Away!

Divine Dream Weaver

What do your dreams mean? It is difficult to know what our dreams mean. Many of mine are so senseless that they are comical. There are books about dream interpretation and they can be fascinating. The Bible records how God had spoken to people through dreams and visions. However, could this still occur today? If so, is it relevant for each of us?

Recently, my church had read the account of Joseph. We read the incredible dream that was given to him from God. He was gripped by that dream. It changed him, because the God of the Universe had spoken to him through that dream. But, does God still do this with us today? Absoutely!

I had a life-altering dream in college, and God had spoken to me. (I know you are skeptical and think I am weird; can't say I blame you.) But, I am not alone. In fact, in places of the Middle East, where some Muslims know very little about Jesus, people are experiencing dreams and vision from Jesus Christ. The dreams are compelling and credible. They are dreams which are so compelling that these people risk their lives by converting to following Jesus over Islam. A good friend, Rick Kronk has chronicled some of those dreams and found amazing similaries of the dreams, despite the geographical and personal differences of these people. Rick has compiled these stories in a book entilted, Dreams and Visions; Muslim's Miraculous Journey to Jesus.

I was privileged to be a reader for Rick's book as it was being developed. This is a fascinating and timely book. In it, you will learn, in lay-person terms, about Islam. You will develop a deepened understanding of Islam that may mitigate some of the militant positions against Islam as portrayed by our culture. You can discover how Jesus Christ, the God of the Universe, still speaks through dreams. Also, you will read in the Introduction, about my life-changing dream where Jesus had spoken to me. It is a read you will not regret.

To learn more or to purchase the book, go to http://nouvelleoptique.wordpress.com Perhaps, God's revelation to us is something we've relegated to the past but this book may open our eyes, minds and hearts to a God that is larger than our own conceptions. If you purchase the book, I welcome your feedback.

Beams Away!