June 27, 2023

 

Focus On Jesus

 

Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. – James 3:1

 

I respected him. He seemed called by God and someone who would always follow Jesus. Then he stumbled and became the human he always was. It was I who had placed him on an impossible pedestal.

 

Perhaps the truth is that he hadn’t changed. I just didn’t want to see him as he is and chose to view him as I desperately wanted him to be. Isn’t that how it works with our religious leaders? We need them to live righteous lives of truth and integrity. And when they don’t, it’s as though we ourselves have stumbled.

 

Recent months have been filled with disappointment. A pastor who vowed to remain United Methodist suddenly changing course and taking the big payday and, in his mind, the guaranteed job. The pastor who said he supported one thing and yet took the easy road of job security. The church leader who lied to sway votes. The council president who used political talking points to whip those who never check facts into a frenzy. And those who said none of it really mattered.

 

Hatred and failure to love everyone equally is alive and well in God’s church. We’re so busy using the Bible as a weapon that we neglect Jesus’ words about love. We’re so focused on winning the day that we ignore Paul’s warning not to cause conflict within the body of Christ.

 

James tells us that those of us who lead and teach in the church will be held to a higher standard. I understand why. We should know better. We should be well acquainted with God’s Words so that we don’t sin in our own words and actions. We don’t get a pass caused by ignorance.

 

I condemn myself for judging what’s not mine to judge. God will repay because He alone knows the heart. Selfish ambition and greed are sins. His wrath is bound to come. My heart cries for mercy, for conviction, for outward change of behavior. I don’t want people I once cared for to suffer greatly. I am thankful that God handles all of that – for them and for me.

 

My heart still struggles to grasp what I have witnessed. Some moments in time are directors for where we have been and where our course now heads. We are different. Maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe it’s a warning for us all.

 

Be very careful of those who appear on a higher religious plane. Everyone stumbles. Stay focused on Jesus, who alone is perfect. He will never lie, never stumble, never cast His church aside for a bigger payday or a more powerful position. Hold tightly to Him. Worship Him. All praise and glory to Jesus Christ, our Lord!

March 21, 2018

God Determines Our Path

The heart of a man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.

– Proverbs 16:9

We’re a lot alike, she and I. We’ve known each other more years than either of us publicly admits. In our 20s, we had dreams. Oh, the plans we made. Neither of us have the life we imagined.

Both of us remained single, without children. I never expected that to happen. Neither did she. How does time pass so quickly? What happened to the person we always thought we’d be?

It hasn’t been a bad life. Well, except for the hard times that is. Everyone has those. Illness doesn’t excuse anyone from her tirade. Broken hearts and bad choices abound. But mostly I think we just got busy and assumed we had plenty of time.

I never expected to be nearing the end of my life without a husband and children by my side. God had a different plan.

A dear friend still mourns his much-younger wife. She was the love of his life. They raised a son and created memories and were enjoying the grandchildren they adored. He always assumed he’d be the first to go. Age is supposed to determine those things. ALS is a cruel disease. She was gone way too soon.

Another friend expected to grow old with her husband. She was so in love. They’d created what she thought was a perfect family, complete with two young children. Until the day he told her he wanted out of their marriage. He just didn’t love her anymore.

We hold tightly to jobs we think we’ll have forever, to bank accounts we think give us security, to people who can be fickle and unkind, to a lifestyle we believe gives us status and worth. Then one day it is all gone. Our plans lay shredded all around us. We are numb with the shock, uncertain of the next step. We had such plans!

I’ve come to understand that God truly is the only One is trustworthy in all things at all times. Oh, I have some wonderful friends and family who have stood beside me in both devastating and joyful seasons of life. But nobody can be everything to someone else. It is God alone who has carried me through the dark nights and celebrated the seemingly small successes of my days.

He knows best. I’m so thankful for His protection. I’m thankful He didn’t always say yes. I’m even thankful He led me into the storm because it drew me closer to His side. God made a way when I never saw it coming. I am just so grateful for His Presence and protection.

A sweet friend talked about the plans she’d had for her life. Business. She wanted to be in business. She’s an elementary school teacher. She loves it! Her students are so blessed. She has the right amount of toughness mingled with a quick smile and genuine love for “her” kids. God knew where she needed to be, where she would make the most difference by touching the lives of young children.

Another friend got her call to teaching while she labored away in the medical field. She refused the first offer. The second time she was ready. Scared, I might add, but ready. Her high school students win awards all over the state. They gravitate toward her honesty and kindness. She doesn’t put up with any bad behavior but she is quick to forgive, quick to help, quick to defend those she calls her own. She never saw this career coming but she is so very thankful that it did.

God knows where we need to be to make the most difference in this world. God knows what has been and what is to come. He sees deep inside our hearts. My friend from so many years ago? Because she didn’t have her own family, she was able to spend 8 years caring for her invalid father. She also helped raise her brother’s children after their mother abandoned them. She has had a full life, filled with love. Just not the life she imagined.

As for me, well, I’m back where I belong, telling stories and teaching people about Jesus and caring for those who have no one else. It isn’t the life I would have chosen but it sure is the right life for me.

March 14, 2018

Teachers Help Their Students

My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to your word!

– Psalm 119:28

She had called DHR. For those who don’t know, that’s the Department of Human Resources. It’s who you call to report suspected child abuse or neglect. It was her first time.

She didn’t give specifics. There was no need. She admitted she’d probably never know what the social workers found. She’d likely never see if anything really changed for the child. For some reason, teachers aren’t deemed worthy to know such things.

Years before I had consoled a friend as she navigated the first years of teaching second grade. “They (college professors) don’t tell you how to handle it all,” she said. “They train you to teach the children how to read and write, how to do math and learn about history. But what about all the other stuff? Young children can’t just leave it at the door and get on with their education.”

How true. No one explains what to do when a little girl shows up for class in a summer dress and no coat even though its freezing outside. No one trains you how to help a little boy who is now living with his grandmother because his daddy killed his mama.

The easy answer is to report it to the proper authorities and trust they will handle it. Social workers are supposed to make sure children get the counseling they need. They’re supposed to make sure children are properly cared for, getting the food, medical care, clothing and housing they deserve. Except that doesn’t always happen.

In our world, the focus is on keeping the family together even when it’s obviously not in the best interest of the child. Parents have rights, you know. There’s a long process. The children live life in limbo, unsettled and traded around like playing cards. Is shared blood really worth the cost?

Are there any better options? Foster care can be wonderful or a nightmare. How can anyone ever tell what is best for a broken child? Can love ever remove the scars of rejection and neglect that linger long into a life that goes on?

Another teacher told about finding out on social media that one of her students had been prostituted out by her own mother. She was able to connect court appearance dates with behavior issues with the child. Suddenly, it all made sense. That knowledge helped the teacher as she helped the child.

Teachers spend five days each week with their students. They are the first line of defense. Yet they are usually the last to know what’s going on with their students. Why is that? Aren’t they trustworthy? We trust them to teach our children. Why can’t we trust them to help those same children cope with horrible life circumstances?

There is a bond that develops between a teacher and her students. Their hearts break for those who are hurting, those who aren’t being nurtured and provided with proper care. God alone can open all our eyes to see the children who need help and to grant us the strength and courage to make the call. Maybe one day we’ll see the value of including teachers in the process.

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Blessings Come From Rejection

Not until halfway through the Feast did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. The Jews were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having studied?” -- John 7:14-15

They were desperate for Sunday school teachers. They said so. The nominating committee just couldn’t find enough volunteers for all the classes. So I volunteered. That is what we’re supposed to do, isn’t it? That was what they wanted, wasn’t it?

Well, as it turned out, not exactly.

See, I wasn’t raised in church. I didn’t grow up learning all the little songs and books of the Bible. I was baptized at age 18 and attended different churches over the years. I loved to read the Bible but I didn’t develop a deep desire to study it until later in life. And that all meant I didn’t qualify to teach at their church.

Oh, they never said it out loud. This is the Deep South and that wouldn’t have been polite. But the only class they had available for me -- despite their comments of desperation -- was for the three-year-olds. I guess they figured I couldn’t mess that up. We’ll never know because I just said no.

It worked out for the best just as, I’m sure, God planned it. A year or so later I ended up in a different church that welcomed outsiders into their fold. Two years later I was teaching an adult Sunday school class and leading a women’s Bible study. I never really expected it. I simply wanted to learn and God opened doors I thought were closed forever.

Last Sunday at this church a young man gave an emotional testimony of heartache and faith. He spoke of falling away from Christ, of drugs and jail and hurt. And redemption. Because this was truly a story of how God can take a broken life and use it for good if we’ll only trust Him.

This young man now teaches Sunday school at a small church in a neighboring town. I think I’d like that church. What wisdom to take a broken vessel and put it where others can see and learn and grow from its lesson. This young man is an inspiration to us all. “I was lost but now I’m found,” echoes through my mind.

Many of us don’t have pretty stories of faith and stellar lives. We are broken people who cling to Christ as our anchor in a stormy life. But God can use us if we’ll open up and let Him. We can show others who are lost, hurting, different, that it’s okay to meet God where you are. The altar is open. The living water is free.

I sometimes wonder what my life would have been like without the rejection I faced. It likely would have been somewhat normal but not nearly as rich and rewarding. God had a plan that led me to where He wanted me to be. There’s a rightness to it. A blessing that has emerged from a painful time.