More coming soon...

This summer has been a wonderful time, and I look forward to reflecting on the experiences further. However, it has not given me much opportunity to continue writing here, but I plan to pick it up again soon!

Neglected Vows

"When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it." (Ecclesiastes 5:4a; read the surrounding verses too)

The topic of this passage in Ecclesiastes has struck me recently. In the Psalms we also see language of praying for God’s rescue, and then the author responding with praise. In Psalm 51 David writes of his intention to teach others (sinners) of God—with the result that they will return to God—once God has mercy on David for his own sin. Throughout the Psalms, we see a rhythm of prayer for rescue, and praising God for His acts of salvation and His faithfulness. Prayer and praise, prayer and praise.

And yet we so easily neglect the praise, neglect our intention to thank God and tell others of His work in our lives. I am good at the asking, but don’t do so well at fulfilling my promises to God. Perhaps the first step in this is simply taking time to reflect back, to praise God for His faithfulness, and then to unashamedly begin to share with others the ways God has been active and gracious in our lives and our communities. And when we begin to dwell more on praising and thanking God, perhaps our eyes will begin to see more clearly the many ways He is present in our lives. Let’s not cut that cycle short by discarding praise.

The Truth that Takes a Lifetime

Today, when talking with a friend, I was reminded by him of the simple truth that God is greater than I am.

What a straightforward truth - one that we (of course) learn in Sunday School, and then can move beyond...right?

Maybe not. This is one of those truths that is so simple, and yet which seems to take a lifetime to learn and live. We probably each have those moments when we catch a glimpse of both God's greatness and our relative smallness (seeing the night sky, and having a small sense of the relative sizes and distances does it for me), and perhaps also those moments of conviction and guilt when we see how we have ordered our life around the illusory belief that we - not God - are the ones of ultimate importance. My comfort, my success, my fulfillment are the things I chase after and concern myself with. All my experiences must be bent towards these end goals.

But what a prison we create for ourselves when we are the only ones we pursue! We were intended to be in relationship with the only One of ultimate worth - God - and yet we would turn from His beauty to frantically try to magnify ourselves? We all do it, we all have done it, but by the grace of God in Christ, we have been raised with Christ in order to live a new life. May God in His grace put to death our sin and suffocating self-idolization, and move our hearts to value and praise and glorify the One who is worthy! And what freedom then, as we trust Him to provide for us by His perfect and never-ending grace, in ways we can never provide for ourselves.

LORD, be glorified. (and we can be confident of the fulfillment of this prayer!)

We Belong To...

Whose are we?

We often live and operate with the implicit assumption that we belong to ourselves. Our time, our emotions, our entitlement to feeling fulfilled or pursuing our passions...we cling to these rights. We may acknowledge that God wants all of us, but we want to keep something back.

Why?

Is this hesitancy to surrender to God perhaps due to our desire to cling to autonomy, security, and safety? In surrender, we give up the right to choose based solely on our own desires, and this can be a terrifying thought.

But let’s reflect on this...

If we claim to believe in the God who formed, who created both the world we live in, as well as our very being and identity, and if we profess that He is good, are we not contradicting our very reasons for autonomy?

We were created to be in a life-giving relationship with God. But when we try to separate ourselves, and to protect some of what we see as “ourselves”—that portion of ourselves we don’t want God to mess with—aren’t we also claiming that God is either not fully good or not fully knowledgeable and powerful? We are claiming that we (part of his own creation, who have been given our faculties by Him) can ultimately care for ourselves better than the One who knit us together, and knows every thought of ours. This makes no sense, and though we are called to use those faculties and abilities to work, we ultimately look to Him for care.

And to expand on this: Is, perhaps, this autonomy we hold to so tightly perhaps ultimately a grand illusion? Like God’s Lordship (He is Lord whether or not we acknowledge Him as such!), isn’t our dependence on God the truth whether or not we acknowledge it as true? If so (and it surely seems to be the case when we follow our professed beliefs to their reasonable conclusions), then we must admit that we are dependent on God for all things whether or not we want to admit it. And it is a hard reality to accept, because it is sometimes hard to trust God even when we give mental assent to these truths.

Trust in God’s goodness—it seems so simple and elemental, but it can be so difficult. But remember that God has already provided us with profound evidence of His trustworthiness, among which are such convictions as His creation of all, and Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection. He is good (for why else would Jesus die for love of the world?) and He is able (for how else could Jesus have risen?).

Let us acknowledge that we are His, and lean on this good and able God!

Treasures - Evanescent and Permanent

This afternoon, I went to a memorial service for a wonderful, 102-year-old Christian woman. I had come to know her at the assisted living center at which I worked some time ago, and she was an encouragement to many of the staff there.

The memorial service was good. It was truly a time of celebration even amidst the loss, and her faith and love for Jesus was undoubtedly something to celebrate - both of which were deeply evident in her life.

It is said that, when you die, you can't take anything with you: treasures, possessions, knowledge, even talents ultimately seem evanescent when death comes. But she did retain the central treasure in her life - Jesus. Her life was especially full because of all the trust and time and love she had directed towards the one treasure she could keep (or rather, Who could keep her).

I want this too. I want my treasure in life to not be myself, or my possessions, or my abilities and resume, but to be Jesus Christ. May God help us treasure Him.

Deep Philosophical Musings In the Form of Images (or not)...

Time for a little bit less serious of a post...

These were from during a period of unemployment, hence too much time (and an old carrot) on my hands:

Give us today our daily bread (and more?)

“Give us today our daily bread.”

How do we understand this request, and how do we pray it?

Consider alongside it the following proverb:

Two things I ask of you, LORD; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.” (Proverbs 30:7-9a, NIV on biblegateway)

Think of the dangers of wealth or fame or gratification of all our perceived desires for money/recognition/food/pleasure (the lives of many superstars as a sad example of this); might we not wisely ask for just enough? When we are engaged in this prayer, do we sometimes find ourselves asking, “Give me today all my wants and ambitions” rather than asking for simply our “daily bread?”

God is rich in His blessings, and certainly bestows wealth on some (not a bad thing, I believe, if God grants it, but something in which there is also great responsibility, and something deeply dangerous to desire after and form one’s life around). There is wisdom in the proverb above, for earthly wealth can all too easily cause us to despise real wealth—the knowledge of God and right relationship with Him through Jesus.

Maybe, in praying this part of the Lord’s Prayer, we ought to be asking God not only to give us what we need, but to also withhold what would be harmful to us.