Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Reach Out To Hurting People

Why are you downcast, O my soul?

Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God,

For I will yet praise him,

My Savior and my God.

-- Psalm 43:5

There’s an epidemic of suicides, he told me. It seems like it’s one after another after another. Why?

I thought about giving him statistics. I thought about telling him what he already knew. But, instead, I told him the truth as I see it: People are hurting all around us and we don’t see them.

Oh, we talk to them. We know their names. But we see only what we want to see. Or, at least, what they want us to see. Sometimes it seems that those who are hurting the most are the ones best able to tell us exactly what we want to hear.

And usually we don’t want to hear anything negative or bad. We don’t view anger or sarcasm as anything other than meanness or lack of respect. We refuse to see it as a cover for pain. Angry people are hurting people but it’s easier to just walk away.

Or ask inappropriate questions at inappropriate times. In high school I wrote a lot of poetry that was published in the school newspaper. Sad poetry. One teacher -- who was working on her master’s degree in counseling -- asked me why I was so sad. Not a bad question. And certainly the only adult who bothered to ask. But she asked in front of all my classmates and friends. I did what any teenager would do under the circumstances. I laughed it off. But without God’s intervention, I would have been one of those statistics.

I’m not trying to point fingers or assign blame. Ultimately we are all responsible for the decisions we make. And no one can keep someone else from suicide or other self-destructive behavior. We can help but they have to do it themselves.

So how can we help? We can give them a hope called Jesus. We can pray with them. We can reassure them that God sees them, that He hears them. Because isn’t that what we all want? To be seen and heard for who we really are.

Open your hearts and your eyes to those around you. Really look at them and hear what they’re saying and not just what you’d rather see and hear. Take time to actively care about the people in your life. Your words, your attention, your prayers, could have a life-changing impact on someone who is hurting deep inside.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Cling To Him

Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell.

-- Psalm 43:3

Where is God? Seriously. Where is He? Because some days I just don’t feel His Presence. I just don’t see Him. I don’t hear Him. I feel lost and alone. Have you ever been there? Probably you have because I think most of us go through this from time to time.

Some folks believe that unconfessed sin separates us from God. That’s why He goes silent, they say. Sometimes that might be true. Other times, well, I just don’t buy into it. I think God puts us some place so that we can learn and grow toward the person He wants us to be.

Still, knowing what you’re supposed to be learning isn’t easy. Maybe it’s because we instinctively resist change. Maybe it’s because the change is in a direction we never expected to go. Maybe we just don’t want to walk out on that ledge. Moving toward an unknown destination is scary, especially when you aren’t sure about the lighting.

When I know where God wants me to go, I pretty much go there. I’ve learned that lesson the hard way. More than once, I might add. I don’t always agree with Him -- I can be shortsighted that way -- but I do trust that He knows best and that He has a plan. I just wish sometimes that He would share that plan with me.

That’s when I get most frustrated. I don’t see His plan. I don’t see His light. It’s like He’s parked me in this place and said, “See you later.” Well, I’m still here and life seems to be spinning more and more out of control. I could use some guidance. I need help and strength and, well, I need Him to light the way. I cry out and the only response I get is more darkness.

When I was a small child, a small lamp lit my bedroom each night. That light was my security so that I could sleep. It wasn’t particularly bright and really wasn’t large at all. But it was just enough to show the way. That’s what I need from God. Don’t get me wrong. I would love a spotlight every now and then. But just a little glow would reassure me that He’s still there and He hasn’t forgotten that I’m waiting for Him to show me the way.

The Bible tells us that King David waited 15 years between the time Samuel anointed him as king and the time he actually became king of Judah. That’s enough to send me into fits of despair. We live in a world of instant gratification. While I know that sometimes we all must wait for God to reveal Himself, 15 years seems like such a very long time.

David probably felt that way too. When we’re in a valley, for whatever reason, time seems to pass so slowly. It doesn’t even have to be something major, like a death, divorce or illness. Sometimes it is simply the uncertainty of a place in time when everything seems to stand still and you wonder if where you’re at is all there is.

Believing in God isn’t just about feeling His glory on the mountaintop. It’s about clinging to His Presence even when we can’t see or hear Him. It’s about trusting Him when we really don’t have a clue where we’re going or how we’ll get there. It’s about knowing He’s there no matter what happens or what we’re going through. I’ve about clinging to Him in the darkness, knowing that His light is just a heartbeat

Monday, February 8. 2010

Christ Changes You

"See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland."

-- Psalm 43:19

Being saved changes people. It's that simple. By giving ourselves over to God, by accepting the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross for us, we are becoming new again. The Holy Spirit lives within us and we feel His presence.

I've never understood how someone can be what I've always called a "Sunday morning christian." We've all known folks like that. Most of us probably still know a few of them. They show up at church on Sundays, full of righteousness and ready to condemn the sins of everyone around them. Then they go home, take off their finery, and proceed to spend the next six days doing just as they please. It really makes me wonder if they have a clue. How can anyone who has truly invited Jesus into his/her heart ignore that fact in their daily life?

I worry, too, about those who profess to know Jesus but don't understand what I'm talking about when I mention the Holy Spirit. They don't get that accepting Jesus as Lord and Saviour is way more than something you do with your head. It's what you do with your heart. It's what happens when you hit your knees, in good times and bad.

Of course, I don't know that I help matters because the presence of the Holy Spirit isn't something I can explain. I can tell you the exact moment He entered me, the exact moment I went from knowing about Jesus to knowing Jesus personally. I can describe His comforting presence when I am troubled and alone. I can share the joy I feel when He blesses me with a new hope and His light shines down on my day.

I want that for everyone. I want all His children to feel His love, to know that His hands are reaching out to hold them and guide them and bless them. I want them to know that God isn't just about Sunday mornings. He's present every day of the week. He's present in the big deals of our lives. And He's present in the smallest details. He is with us always, if we'll only invite Him in.