Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Pray For Those Who Are Hurting

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ -- to the glory and praise of God.

-- Philippians 1:9-11

It was not a good day. Nothing spectacularly bad, just a day filled with aggravation. I had a plan for the day. That seems laughable now.

Guilt haunts my soul. My day was filled with little things. Things that don’t matter when the day is done. My life goes on as before. Who am I to get upset because my selfish plans didn’t come to fruition?

Sunday afternoon my cousin was badly injured in a farm accident. God was with him, along with his two young sons. His uncle lived nearby. A wonderful surgeon operated quickly. If the skin reattaches to the bone and he doesn’t get an infection, he should regain full use of his arm. It wasn’t the day he planned. And he still faces months of painful recovery.

A dear friend cares for her father who has Alzheimer’s. He’s in a nearby nursing home but lately he’s been extra confused. She is called at all hours of the day and night to rush to the nursing home and help the nurses calm him down. Her heart breaks a little more each day as she watches the man she adores slowly dying.

Another couple care for their adult daughter. She became a paraplegic when she drove too fast and ended up rolling her car off a mountainside. She was just a teenager back then. Now, one failed marriage and numerous health problems later she is a demanding young woman. She’s spending 90 days in a special treatment facility. Unfortunately, her parents have to keep going to the facility again and again to take care of needs the staff can’t or won’t take care of. There never seems to be any relief from the escalating demands.

I have no right to complain about anything. My life is wonderful. Really, it is. Small headaches and momentary aggravations are nothing to get upset about. And it upsets me that I let insignificant things bring me down.

I want to love those who are hurting a little more each day. I want to see in the hearts around me and really understand the pain of those without hope. I want to shine the light of Jesus on those who need it most.

Oftentimes there is nothing we can do. Not really. We can walk beside those in need and care for them. We can offer practical help with meals and childcare and visits. And we can pray. First and often, we can pray. Because God knows our hearts. He can focus our minds and our actions to best reflect His love. And that is how we should spend our days.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

What Will You Do Differently?

"Because of the chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly."  -- Philippians 1:14

Most remember the Miracle on the Hudson. Ever wonderful how that event changed the pilots, flight attendants and passengers who survived a moment that should have ended in death? The people on that plane were part of a miracle and it changed their lives forever. They expected to die as they prepared for the plane to crash. And they lived. They were given a second chance to live life differently.

Some people face their moment after a car wreck, an illness, a job loss. Whatever it is for you, it is that instant when life changes immediately and forever. You aren't the same person you were before. Your priorities aren't the same. Life isn't the same.

It is in that moment that you realize we aren't guaranteed even another breath. We take that for granted sometimes. Okay. Most of the time. We assume good health, prosperity, happiness, are present or just around the corner. Maybe. Maybe not. We don't have any guarantees and that is what a life-changing moment really highlights. It makes us re-prioritize what is important.

Paul was in prison. He hadn't done anything wrong. He was spreading the message of hope in Jesus Christ. Still, people felt threatened and he ended up in chains. The Christians in Philippi could have faded away, fearful that they, too, would end up in prison. That would have been the easy choice. Instead, they stepped up, speaking God's Word "courageously and fearlessly."

In other words, that opened themselves to God for Him to use them as He saw fit. They did what was important. Not what was safe. Not what was normal. Not what was expected even. They stepped up and they stepped out for Christ.

What about you? How are you living your life? Are you going through the motions, so caught up in daily life that you don't see beyond the here and now? Or have you had a moment when life changed forever? Have you walked through deep grief, fear and change and emerged with Jesus on the other side? Or did you let life swallow you up?

Everyone crashes at some point in their lives. We have a choice. We can keep going and try to pretend it didn't matter. Or we can face our own mortality and realize that the only thing that does matter is Jesus and how we reflect Him to the world. Your choice. What will it be?

Monday, July 26, 2010

God Keeps Working In Us

"being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." -- Philippians 1:6

 I want it now. I want to be patient and kind. I want to be generous and giving. I want to reflect God's glory back to everyone around me.

In other words, I want to be perfect today. I want to stop making the same mistakes again and again. I frustrate myself. How much more must I frustrate God?

But He is patient and kind. He is generous and giving. His Goodness reflects on all of us, including me and all my imperfections. God never gives up on me. He sees me for the work in progress that I am.

One day I will truly be the person God created me to be. In the meantime, I'll keep working on myself as He continues to work in me.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

"I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." -- Philippians 1:3-5

This was the passage Susannah Pittman quoted as she began her last sermon at our church. It was appropriate. Paul certainly understood leaving those he'd taught and worshiped with and moving on as he followed God's call. That's what Susannah is doing. She and her husband are following God's call to North Carolina.

Susannah was one of the first people I spoke with at this church. She was teaching a small group Bible study every Monday morning. It sounded good and I asked if I could go. She welcomed me enthusiastically. I was impressed with her knowledge. I was most impressed with who she is and the kindness and compassion she carries inside her.

I know that change is inevitable. And I'm sure the new pastors that are heading our way will be wonderful. But that knowledge doesn't ease the ache inside me when I consider that I may never hear Susannah preach again or discuss a Bible passage with her. She has a special way of getting past the rhetoric and on to the point. She makes the scripture come alive.

One member of our Sunday school class suggested it would be wonderful to have Susannah return to us in, oh, 15 to 20 years. We all know she will continue to grow spiritually as God uses her and works within her. Just as we have all grown spiritually through knowing her. That sounds like a wonderful idea to me. It never hurts to put a request in early though I'm sure God is having a good laugh about now.

Whatever path Susannah and Lonnie follow, I know it will be a path set forth by God. And I know that my life will forever be richer because of the brief time I spent knowing Susannah. And, yes, I will "thank my God every time I remember" her.