August 30, 2021

 

Walk Away

 

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. – Colossians 2:8

 

What do you believe? Why? It’s easy to throw out Jesus’ name. It isn’t so easy to truly believe what He says.

 

Jesus looked around and saw the good in people who perhaps hadn’t live an exemplary life. And He saw the evil among the religious elite who were so busy following their own manmade rules that they missed the Messiah.

 

A major topic nowadays involves all the available jobs and the mistaken belief that people simply won’t work. Yeah. I know. Some people truly are lazy and refuse to work. But that’s not true of everyone. In fact, it’s not true of anyone that I personally know. How about you?

 

I know people who can’t work right now because of illness. Cancer is a horrible disease. So is Covid. Should those people be condemned for not being able to work right now? What about the widow struggling to care for a sick child? Is she a deadbeat because she refuses to place her disease-ridden child in a daycare?

 

Where do we draw the line between laziness and despair? How do we fairly judge between the worthy and unworthy? We don’t. It’s not our job or our place. Jesus said to love everyone. He flatly stated to do good to the poor. He never once said to hoard your earthly treasures and condemn people who aren’t exactly like you. But we do it anyway.

 

I expect that from people who don’t know Jesus. How could they possibly understand Jesus’ love for the poor and downtrodden? They don’t realize the need to do good to others. But people of faith? People who proclaim Jesus as LORD and Savior? Those putdowns sting because they reveal a heart distanced from God.

 

None of us get it all right or all wrong. We don’t. We’re all guilty of derogatory comments we shouldn’t make, of judgements we have no place pronouncing. The challenge for us is to walk away when someone says something that doesn’t come from Jesus – especially when it’s something we really want to believe.

November 2, 2018

Trust God

The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands. – Psalm 138:8

It was a normal day. He was up early, dropped the kids off at school, and headed to work. He had no idea it would be his last day at work. He had no warning of what was to come.

Another man talks about receiving the best evaluation he’d ever gotten at his job. That was in the morning. In the afternoon, he was let go.

A woman reminiscences about her days as a successful sales rep. She recounts the travel, the time away from her family, the cost of it all. And then the day came when her position was eliminated. She looked around to find all she had left was a severance package and a few memories.

We live in a world where we are defined by success in the workplace. Right or wrong, it’s just how it is. The question becomes do we buy into that? Do we believe how wonderful others say we are? Do we believe the sales figures make us better people? Do we think the sacrifices are worth it for the paycheck?

Whether we realize it or not, we’ve made an idol of our job. There’s certainly nothing wrong with enjoying your job and wanting to be good at it. The trouble comes when your job consumes your time, your energy, your everything.

It’s easy to slip into that mode. We sometimes spend more time with our co-workers than with our families. They become our reality, our priority. We tell ourselves we love our families more but, still, we sacrifice them for a job that demands no other mistress.

We’ve got our life out of order. That’s something that becomes abundantly clear when our job, our career, our livelihood, suddenly goes away.

The Bible is clear about priorities. Put God first. Put God above family and friends. Put God before job and church. Put God first. Love Him. Worship Him.

You might be asking why. I know. God says to do this but have you ever considered why? When we love God first, that helps us keep our priorities in the correct order. It helps us remember what’s important in life. It helps us remember that people, especially the ones we love, are more important than things.

Nothing in this life stays the same. We can pour ourselves into a career, only to have it snatched away at a moments notice. We can dedicate ourselves to a particular church, only to have it splinter over a disagreement. There are divorces, family feuds, broken friendships.

But there is One who stays the same. God. He never changes. He is our constant in a sometimes tumultuous world. He is our steady guide. God is the One who loves us no matter what because it’s not about us. It’s about Him.

God has a plan for your life and it’s a good plan. Trust Him. When things aren’t turning out the way you thought they would, trust God. Put Him first and trust that He will see you through whatever you are facing today.

May 2, 2016

Safety Comes With Jesus

So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

-- Isaiah 41:10

There’s a lot to fear in this world. I know. We’re not supposed to be afraid. It shows a lack of trust in God. Yet fear remains.

I think the reason we are told not to be afraid -- like 365 times -- is because God understood we would have a problem with fear. He wanted to reassure us that He is near and in control.

Fear can be about so many different things. Every day I pray for a baby I do not know, a tiny little guy fighting for his life in Boston. He’s only five months old and has already dealt with so many health issues. I can’t imagine the fear his parents feel, fear that they will lose him, fear that there won’t be enough money to sustain them as they stand vigil so far from home.

So I pray, as do countless others. Because I know that God is there with them. I know that God will carry them through this unknown journey.

An elderly couple in a neighboring county were recently targeted, assaulted, robbed. Finally, the men have been arrested. But where is our sense of security? When did things like that begin happening in rural areas where most everybody knows everybody else?

Maybe these things have always happened. It’s just that now, because of instant news access and social media, we just know so much more. Sometimes that it good. Sometimes it isn’t.

Another sweet couple struggled after both of them lost their jobs. They were within one payment of losing their home. Their kids were afraid, asking their parents where they would live. Finally, one of them got a job and their home was saved.

The fear remains deep inside. They’ve learned that you can do everything right -- no credit card bills, no debt beyond a mortgage, savings to last a few months -- and still have your financial world fall apart. They never expected both of them to be laid off at the same time. They never expected to have so much trouble getting another job. They know it could happen again.

And, yet, God is ever present. The couple with the baby? An anonymous donor paid the $25,000 cost to fly their son -- on life support at the time -- to the special hospital he needed for surgery.

A reason to smile, to hope, to believe, in the midst of a fallen world. God is with us. Yahweh. Lord. Savior. King. Jesus wins. We’re safe because we rest in His arms.