Spelunking

When I was a young boy scout, my Assistant Scoutmaster was really into spelunking. That is the fancy term for cave dwelling by the way. I absolutely loved climbing in and exploring the different caves within our area and we even drove to different states to visit some of the most famous caves in the areas.

One of my favorite caves was the corkscrew cave in Virginia; you climb on your belly from one end to another. Just enough room for a large adult to squeeze through….what a thrill that was. No places to stand or turn around, once you committed to the climb…you were in it to the end. So your probably wondering what I am getting at here, why am I talking about caves.

Caves are where people find themselves when all of their life supports, all of the things they relied on, all of their dreams, are stripped away! Caves are where people find themselves when they had thought to do great things, to have a wonderful family, to go "boldly where no man or, woman has gone before," only to realize or discover that things simply were not going to work out as planned! Caves appear to be the place of choice for those of us who would engage in having major "pity parties”.

King David found himself in a cave. 1 Samuel 22:1 – 5 When David got to this cave he had lost his wife; lost his friends; lost his job; lost his prestige and self-worth; lost his income; lost his dreams; lost his income; lost his dreams and lost his confidence. David was at an all-time low and probably the furthest he has ever been from God.

Can you relate to any of his “being lost”, I am sure you have been in one or two of those situations yourself and climbed into your own caves. I lived in my “man cave” for almost 2 years before I finally realized what I was doing and climbed out. So….how do we get out of the caves we have crawled into? I’m glad you asked.

Psalms 142:1 – 7 I cry aloud with my voice to the LORD; I make supplication with my voice to the LORD. I pour out my complaint before Him; I declare my trouble before Him. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, Thou didst know my path. In the way where I walk they have hidden a trap for me. Look to the right and see; for there is no one who regards me; there is no escape for me; No one cares for my soul. I cried out to Thee, O LORD; I said, "Thou art my refuge, my portion in the land of the living. “Give heed to my cry, for I am brought very low; Deliver me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me. "Bring my soul out of prison, So that I may give thanks to Thy name; the righteous will surround me, For Thou wilt deal bountifully with me."

Here David prayed…You can cry at the Lord, or to the Lord. Make it about God’s name. Spread out your complaint before Him, not complain to Him. God will make us to see what we have, and to stop focusing on what we don’t.

You remember the show, “Beverly Hillbillies”? {Singing}…Come and listen to a story about a man named Jed A poor mountaineer, barely kept his family fed, Then one day he was shootin’ at some food, And up through the ground came a bubblin’ crude…Oil that is…Black gold…Texas tea. First thing you know old Jed’s a millionaire...

It is the story of poor hillbilly who had millions of dollars right under his feet, yet lived in poverty, until one day by accident he discovered it. In like manner David needed to see what he had, not to focus on what he didn’t have. Since David had no work he concentrated on the spiritual part of his life. He wrote and sang Psalms.  David wrote three Psalms while in the cave. Paul wrote numerous epistles while in prison. Make down time financially work for you as up time spiritually. What defines you and your destiny is not your circumstances, it is not your past, but God’s promises. 

David did 4 things to get out of that cave: He prayed; he focused on what he did have; he left the cave of sulking and he humbled himself. When David left the cave he was still smarting from what happened to him, especially the situation with his wife, there is evidence he carried that pain for a very long time. The important thing is that he didn't let it stop him. We all have had difficult things happen, should we let them stop us?

My future is not determined by the troubles of my past, but by God’s promises of my future.

Pray for the Cave Dwellers, it’s time to stand up - right!

A Wave of Life

Psalm 42:7, 8 Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me. By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me-a prayer to the God of my life.

This is an interesting verse, speaking specifically of the “waves and breakers have swept over me” section. When we view waves, the typical interpretation is of violent and heavy cascades of water sweeping down and removing and destroying most things it touches. This reference that David gives is not referring to the destruction but to the refreshing, purifying and strengthening aspects of the waves. This is the cleansing of the “Spirit of God” washing over him and we can view this as a renewing of ourselves in God. God wants to pour out waves of powerful healthy refreshing power over his children – not the destructive or threatening waves of despair or turmoil!

A wave starts somewhere…we will never physically see the power of a forming wave. All we see is the calm before the storm. In this calmness, as the wave is building, is where we prefer to be but not where God wants us to be. There appears to be no activity in this calmness, life is good or at least on the surface it is. Even in this calmness… underwater, powerful action is taking place. The storm is brewing!

As the wave starts to build, a lifting up and a depressing down occurs. We see the uplift but not the downward depression. Personally, the depression is normally never seen until someone else shows it to us or even sometimes when it is too late. On top of the wave, life still seems very good and calm but there are indications that things are not as they should be. As the wave begins to form an uneasiness or sea sickness begins to form within.

Now we can see the full wave as it begins to crest. Again, life is still okay but we can also see where it will easily spill over if we don’t get a handle on it now. We either need to make preparations to ride the wave (Prayer and reading the will of God) or get knocked over by the spilling wave (think we can do it ourselves). We are now in the midst of the decision making process, trust in God or trust in ourselves.

For those of you who “ride the wave”, God is working in you through outreach and expanding your horizons. You are enjoying the ride and you’re growing/changing with the environment. You can see further than most because at the height of the wave the visibility gets much better. Your goals and vision have clarity; God’s has revealed more of his plan for you.  Even if the wave breaks to the shore you can easily step off safely and turn back to ride another wave.

If you choose to ride the wave but doubt in its midst, you get caught in the tunnel or possibly spill into the wave. You can no longer see what direction you are heading, the closeness of the water can make you fearful. Your only desire is to get out. Fear can overcome you and you can be enslaved by the churning water around you. You no longer have control; every current pushes you in the direction of its choice.  Your fear intensifies as you realize how close the reef really is. If you don’t get back to riding the wave (trusting in God) you could be tore apart by the reef. It can inflict wounds that only God can heal.

As the wave eventually touches the shore you can and most likely will be swept back into the ocean. It’s a choice again, be swept back into the other thundering and violent spilling waves or allow God to guide you over the tops and bring you back to the calmness…at least until you’re ready to ride the wave again.

By the way, there’s no avoiding the waves of life, God is making these waves.  That’s the good news though and there is even better news. Through riding the waves you gain experience; you gain understanding on how the waves work; through prayer and insight God gives you waves to ride; and this is the Christian ‘wave’ of life.

Just like surfers who let the waves do most of the work. In the waves that God gives us, let God do most of the work!

Are you ready to catch a wave?

 

 

 

 

It’s ok to laugh.

Back when I was attending the Episcopal Church, I heard a sermon that probably changed my views on religion and possibly also sparked my sense of comedy. I'm not sure of the title of the sermon but it dealt with how Christians are to be serious folk. The pulpit was no place for humor; it was a place where we battle heaven and hell together. I think he even used the verse in the Gospel were Jesus wept… then stated nowhere in the bible does it say Jesus laughed!

Now we always sat in the very back with my parents, on the wooden pews commonly found in these type churches. During the middle of this sermon, someone up front broke wind…..um, Farted! Wooden pews have a tendency to amplify this naturally occurring phenomenon. It got me and my brothers giggling as well as a few others of the not so dignified (and some of the dignified) members of the congregation.

Thus I made it a personal vendetta to find humor in God’s word. I did find some accounts of the Laughter of God and even some situations in the bible that were pretty whimsical. But the one account that gets me is Sarah. In Genesis 18, Sarah laughed. Hold on a second though, it’s not as funny as you may think… picture this Sarah was ease dropping on the Lord and Abraham’s conversation. The Lord told Abraham, in one years’ time, Sarah will have a baby!”  

Why would she laugh at this? This should be a joyous announcement from the Lord except that she is 90 years old. She describes herself in this chapter of Genesis as ‘worn-out’ old lady! So why did she laugh?

You ever laugh because you weren’t happy? You ever laugh because you were bitter about life or feeling cynical? Kind of like the old expression, “If you didn’t laugh, you’d cry?” It’s my opinion this is why Sarah was laughing.

Then God, in his loving way goes to Sarah and says, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” Is anything impossible for God? How do you answer a question like that? If you say yes, you’re denying the very power of God! Of course nothing is impossible for God but that brings me to the next question. Why did he wait so long and make Sarah suffer with her infertility? And for us, why does he allow suffering and pain?

God didn’t even save Jesus the pain and the suffering yet Jesus believed there was nothing impossible with God. Jesus suffering was not in vain….God was working out his plan. Sarah was as unaware of the final outworking of God’s plans as we are, she would be long dead before her ancestors would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. We don’t know God’s plans, but we do know his character, that he works for good for those who love him.

Have you ever found it funny God called people like us to spread his word, to tell those around us of the Good News of Jesus Christ? Have you ever worried that you were not good enough to witness to people, to tell them about the Gospel? Have you ever had someone tell you that you are a hypocrite for calling yourself a Christian after all the things that you have done?

He chose Abraham and Sarah, who laughed because they could not understand the power of God. Instead of picking the great intellectuals of his day to spread the word Jesus chose some fishermen, a terrorist, a man whose previous job involved extorting money from people by force and a bunch of other unlikely characters.

God did not pick us for this job because of any great skill or talent that we might have but he chose us because he wanted to demonstrate that it is purely by his grace that we become Christians, not through any ability or good works of our own and once we have become a Christian we do not live by our own strength, we don’t work for God in our own strength but we should rely 100% on him.

Yes, there may be pain and suffering in our lives and we may not understand it now. It’s not funny but sometimes it’s easier to laugh than cry. Laugh because even though life can be tough God is tougher and we are his kids.

In the end it is God who will have the last laugh!

50

50

So, a few months ago I turned 50. For fifty years I sought after life, joy and happiness… well, I pursued it with great energy. Let me say that again, I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off.  Yet once I turned 50, I get the impression that someone or something wants me to slow down. Instead of running after things in life, I get this message in my brain that I need to let things start coming to me. I’m not afraid of getting older but maybe a little afraid of the change that it involves.

Thinking deep down, I’m afraid of making the same mistakes as I get older or maybe making new ones. The experience and wisdom I’ve gained so far is good….but the mistakes I’m talking about are denial and complacency.

In other words, we try to deny or disguise the fact that we’re getting older. So we use anti-wrinkle cream, tummy tucks, face lifts and use oil of delay – all in an effort to disguise that we’re getting older. Remember, the authority on popularity states, “Life begins at 40” and/or “Those really aren’t wrinkles, they’re expression lines!”

We also tend to think that when we get older we’ll be relieved of all responsibility… you know, we can just kick back; do nothing and drift off into the sunset. When I was younger with the stress and demands of life…I looked forward to vacation I stayed up as late as I wanted and did anything I wanted to do (yeah, right). It was life in the fast lane, right?

As I think on this, I also remember fantasizing about retirement and relaxing for the rest of my life. Wouldn’t that get boring after a while? Thinking about retirement… I’d get up, read the bible, dust off my brain, grab the paper, read the obituaries, eat breakfast and go back to bed. Boring…

Philippians 3:12 – 21 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained.  Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

When Paul (The Apostle Paul that is) wrote these words he had some major burdens going on. First, he was in prison, awaiting trial and possibly…death. He was also an old man; life was starting to wind down. He states, “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

He says, “Forget the past” and Paul was a man with a lot of past. He was Hebrew and a strict Pharisee. His Jewish credentials were faultless but still he says, “When I compare all that to knowing Christ, those things are trash!” Paul was once a blasphemer; a persecutor and a very violent man! Yet the grace of our Lord was poured out on him abundantly…

Jesus Christ came into the world for one reason, to save sinners and Paul says, “I’m right there at the top of the list. I’m the worst!’

There’s a bumper sticker that say, “If Satan reminds you of your past, you remind him of his future.” I like that. He’s going to hell. But if your sin is covered by the blood of Jesus, you’re headed in a different direction.

Moving on Paul then states, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on…” Then he says, “All of us who are mature should take such a view of things.” Yesterday is the past. Tomorrow is the future. And today is a gift. That’s why we call it ‘the present. Each day is a present from God.

In Psalms it states, “This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

In the 16^th verse Paul states,   “Let us live up to what we have already attained.” He is talking about personal growth, he’s saying, “Even though I’m older I want to continue growing.” There is no retirement from doing what is right in God’s Word. We are to do right until we die or the Lord returns.

So what about my statement of letting life come to me for once? Life always comes to us; it took me 50 years to realize this. Yes, we are still to pursue our faith; love and service to the Lord but God doesn’t want us stressed; tired; or weakened by conditions. He wants us to accept the daily events in our lives with faith.

So here’s even better news…We’re going to get new bodies someday. No more wrinkles. Nor more aches. No more pains. No surgery required. Everything will be new!

We have a choice: We can either eagerly await the Savior’s coming, or fearfully wait the grim reaper. That’s our choice. We can live out the last days of life fearful of growing old, fearful of being helpless, fearful of being a burden on somebody else or we can live in great expectation of our Savior’s return.

It’s my decision to not be a “Hyper-Christian” anymore, but I don’t want to “go with the flow” either. Yes, we all have burdens but thinking back on our lives…didn’t the burdens make us stronger? I think this next 50 years I’m going to let life come to me and save my energy in the pursuit of God’s will and not my own.