Is there good news in bad news?

When Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger was kindled. And he sent messengers to Abimelech secretly, saying, “Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his relatives have come to Shechem, and they are stirring up the city against you. Now therefore, go by night, you and the people who are with you, and set an ambush in the field. Then in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, rise early and rush upon the city. And when he and the people who are with him come out against you, you may do to them as your hand finds to do.” (Judges 9:30–33)

When a leader becomes evil and angers God, there are usually others who support them anyway. Just reading the world news shows this is still true. Zebul gave Abimelech what he thought was good advice. It was followed and with ‘success’ in that this man destroyed many people. However. God used his decisions to destroy him.

Then Abimelech went to Thebez and encamped against Thebez and captured it. But there was a strong tower within the city, and all the men and women and all the leaders of the city fled to it and shut themselves in, and they went up to the roof of the tower. And Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it and drew near to the door of the tower to burn it with fire. And a certain woman threw an upper millstone on Abimelech’s head and crushed his skull. Then he called quickly to the young man his armor-bearer and said to him, “Draw your sword and kill me, lest they say of me, ‘A woman killed him.’ ” And his young man thrust him through, and he died. And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, everyone departed to his home. Thus God returned the evil of Abimelech, which he committed against his father in killing his seventy brothers. And God also made all the evil of the men of Shechem return on their heads, and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal. (Judges 9:50–57)

As I read and listen to current events, this OT story helps me to pray. I do not know the will of God but I do realize that many ‘leaders’ are making decisions that destroy people and the places where they live. Will God turn their own decisions against them? It is possible, and stories like this one give me confidence that God can use anything to serve His purposes. Even in the deaths of many, is He turning people to faith in Him? We hear those things, but not in mainline news. 

Sadly, even Christian news websites focus mainly on bad news rather than the greatest good news of all. Instead of glorifying the Lord, many of the stories are about the failures of humanity and of Christians to live for Christ, or about liberal groups that do not promote the gospel at all. Could these mean that His return is near? I don’t know, but all of it burdens my heart to pray more.

Yet You know, Jesus, the difficulties I’m having with prayer. It seems the hardest work of all, especially because I’d rather do just about anything else. Keep at me and block the discouragement and distractions. Help me see that the size of the needs are nothing compared to the power and grace of You.

Hope in the Lord

We moved the last week of October, about four and a half months ago. I’m still waiting for a day that does not have some chores in it that do not involve “settling in” — not that these are big things. We did move furniture and have purged and carted away a lot of unneeded items. We hung a couple wall quilts yesterday. “Normal” is not in our vocabulary. Yet “grace” is.

We have items on the calendar that call for more than the usual, and surprises that pop up with a frequency that always seem to require more than what we have — more energy, more ideas, more of God’s supply, causing us to rely on Him more often and more deeply than ever. And this is a good thing. It shows the reality of these words:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” (Lamentations 3:22-24)

Last night we prayed with another couple who has concerns for the spiritual life of their large family. This has been happening for about twenty years without seeing answers, but last night they read an email from one son who praised God for His provisions, and his parents for their faithful prayers. God’s timing might seem slow, but His steadfast love and mercy is great and He rewards those who hope in Him.

I only know a few who read these devotions yet realize many could be in the same situation — praying for years and not seeing answers. It is easy to give up, to go on to other things or to think that God is not listening or not ever going to do anything toward the prayed-for changes. My heart is saying ‘don’t give up.’ His timing is not our timing, but He hears our prayers.

This I also read with joy from Charnock’s book, “The Existence and Attributes of God”…

Since God is not only so good that he cannot will anything but what is good; so wise that he cannot err or mistake; but also so able that he cannot be defeated or mated; he hath every way a full ability to govern the world: where those three (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) are infinite, the right and fitness resulting from thence is unquestionable and indeed, to deny God this active part of his power, is to render him weak, foolish, cruel, or all three.

The four of us who have been praying for this son and other family members agree that in those many years, God has definitely changed us. This is His goodness. We now pray for different things, less for the comfort and well-being of our family members and more that God will use all things to draw them into a deep relationship with Himself. We first prayed for things that would give us comfort and joy, but now pray more for God’s glory — because when He is glorified, the joy we receive is much greater than having any answers that suit our wishes.

PRAY: Lord, after sleeping in and looking at the demands of the day, how good of You to remind me again that Your love never ends and is new every morning. It does not depend on my performance, nor having check marks on my to-do list. It does not depend on answered prayer even though You do that more often than ever before. The joy You give is in You, in Your faithfulness and mercy. When it comes to that, none of Your goodness is earned or deserved, but by grace we are saved. . . .  and blessed. . . .  and blessed. . . .  and blessed. My heart overflows with praise and thanksgiving for all that You do, therefore I continue to hope in You.

More Spiritual Battles

 

This week has been filled with spiritual battles. Certain prayers of faith brought both deep assurance and attacks from the enemy who does not want me to pray with such confidence. Add to that, hubby and I have considered a move to something away from where we are, leading us to a near offer and an actual offer on two places, but our hearts were unsettled and distracted from almost everything else. My biggest struggle was not knowing what was an I-want vs. what God wants. I was filled with positive and negatives from both sides, or so it seemed. We did agree that we wanted the will of God, but went to bed last night very uncertain what His will might be.

This morning, my hubby told of his wrestling during the night and that God gave him the clear answer to withdraw the offer, to not buy that house. It has some hidden and dangerous flaws, and we noticed three of them when doing a walk-through to figure out what needed to go where. God made His will clear. Besides, His will is not that we be distressed like we had been. (Matthew 11:30)

Today’s reading says this: “God is love, and His will can be nothing but love. He is full of wisdom, and His will must always be wise. He is omnipotent, and His will is baffled by nothing that can oppose…. The idea that our Father who loves us can want anything but our truest happiness is inconceivable. His will for us must be all that is best and most satisfying. Surely we can trust ourselves to it without a single shrinking or fearing thought….”

The reading adds that when we submit to His will we find “… this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.” (1 John 5:3)

While that house had some features that were extremely attractive, knowing His answer to our struggle was NO brought instant relief and rest, not burdensome at all, and for both of us. Our deposit is still on our desk and while our realtor may wonder about our sanity, we are at peace with not pursuing this change in our lives at this time.

All we do know for certain, besides not buying that house, is that we are supposed to keep purging this one, getting rid of all that we do not need or use, and keep simplifying our lives. These next verses are not about our home, yet the principle applies to simplicity and focus:

But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:3)

Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God. (2 Corinthians 7:1)

Therefore, if someone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work. (2 Timothy 2:21)

This house search had become a huge distraction from what we do know is God’s will: to know and love Jesus, to walk with Him, and to share Him with others.

PRAY: Lord, the burden to pray for others almost got swept away by the burden to find ‘just the right place’ to live. But leaving that up to You erased our concerns and refocused us on the matters at hand, the things we know that You want from us. Praying in Your will is so powerful that our enemy stacked us with such huge distractions that praying became difficult. Thank You for Your saving power that has brought us to see what has been happening and be able to say YES to You with clarity.

Not sure how to be a peacemaker…

 

A paragraph in today’s reading again reminds me of the importance of being filled with God’s Spirit  and living by His power. It says:

A cross Christian; an anxious Christian; a discouraged, gloomy Christian; a doubting Christian; a complaining Christian; an exacting Christian; a selfish Christian; a cruel, hard-hearted Christian; a self-indulgent Christian; a Christian with a sharp tongue or bitter spirit—all these may be very earnest in their work and have honorable places in the church, but they are not Christlike Christians.

I’m not to do my own thing. Being like Jesus is being joyful, at peace, confident in God’s care, thankful, careful, unselfish, soft-hearted, unconcerned for myself, thoughtful in speech, prayerful, understanding others, meeting needs… a long list of virtue and grace. It is not just serving others but loving from the heart, both my God and His people, and having a heart of mercy toward those still in darkness and bound in sin.

This week we experienced some time with people who do much for the Lord in public but in private they were disagreeable and not like Jesus in their attitude toward some of the people they serve. It was an awkward place to be. I wanted to defend those criticized and rebuke those doing the complaining, yet the complainers need mercy and grace too. Those they attacked have a deep faith in the Lord that was being misinterpreted. I thought of this verse:

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. (Matthew 5:9)

How do I do that? How can those who justify their frustrations with their history of service be shown that good works do not make up for unkind accusations? How can I, who am also a sinner, tell others that their heart attitude is far more valuable to God than all that they do in His name? Besides that, these are people who name Jesus as their Savior and are not outsiders who know nothing about grace. For this You warn me:

Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. (Romans 14:4)

Tread lightly. Pray with compassion. Allow the Holy Spirit to do what needs to be done — and speak only if He tells me to speak. But most importantly, learn from this to be filled with God’s Spirit all the time, living by His grace and power for I don’t know who will ring the doorbell next, or who will phone or text, or who will ask me blunt questions. Life is not predictable. Surprises happen. The only way to be ready for anything is to keep focus:

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock. (Isaiah 26:3–4)

This passage from the NT says the same thing, adding that a focus on Jesus also reminds me that my problems are nothing like what He endured. Focusing on Him keeps me from feeling sorry for myself…

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. (Hebrews 12:1–4)

PRAY: Jesus, right now You are not compelling me to “do something” but to pray and trust You to be the heart-changer. While being a peace-maker is appealing and the stuff of Christlike servants, it could easily take my focus off You and be an ego-builder for me. I wait on You for direction, yet hope for a lovely surprise. Those who seem to be walking in the flesh are Your children and You are able to make them stand. That also includes me.

Come on, blood on the door posts?

 

When God says to pray without ceasing or pray about everything, it could seem trivial to pray for parking places and other conveniences for life. Yet He shows me that He cares. Also, any ‘trivia’ that happens could be His will for me, so why not pray about it?

Our Monday night’s Bible study often leaves me awake thinking about our conversations and prayers, so I asked God that I would instantly go to sleep and wake up at 7:30. Trivia — in a world of far more important needs and situations requiring prayer. However, I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow, and woke up at 7:30.

God is in the details. He often does unusual things in answer to prayer. When the Israelites were in slavery in Egypt, the people wanted out. Moses prayed for what seemed impossible. Pharaoh wasn’t about to let two or three million slaves just pack up and leave. His army was ready to stop them, but when God does something, He cannot be stopped. Yet, when His answer came, it seemed very odd.

First, He sent ten terrifying plagues. In hindsight, we can see that these were designed to change Pharaoh’s mind. Yet at the time, how odd they must have seemed, so odd that how could this be part of the answer? Not only that, each one effected Pharaoh, but only for a brief time and he persisted in saying no way to Moses’ requests. The tenth and worst plague was the death of all the first-born.

Moses said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt, and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle. (Exodus 11:4–5)

Since this applied to all, the Israelites needed protection. God told them to sprinkle the blood of a lamb on the doorposts and lintels of their homes. Then, when the angel of death saw the blood, he passed over that house. This instituted the Passover, but did the people of that time wonder how blood smeared on their doors could have power to stave off the death angel? Nonetheless, its presence demonstrated faith and obedience. It also symbolizing the future sacrifice of Christ and His power to remove sin and give life. The NT begins His story with:

The next day (John the Baptist) saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)

Pharaoh got the message as his people wailed over all that death. Then he allowed the  Israelites to leave, but he changed his mind again and sent his army after them. But God intervened:

By faith (Moses) kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them. By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. (Hebrews 11:28–29)

Think of what the people of God were thinking during all this. Plagues that affected them too? Blood on their doors? This was God’s answer to their prayers? How odd, at least at first. Sometimes our prayers are odd, but God’s answers are hardly ever what we expect. When I prayed last night, part of me laughed at myself because I expected to be awake wondering about the Bible study conversations, not sleeping well or long, and being awake far too early, or oversleeping because I was so tired.

The Passover demonstrates that God’s provisions are always just right, even though they may seem foolish to the human intellect. The NT says that “The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18) yet He teaches us that we can accept and rejoice in His provisions, no matter how pointless some of them may seem and even when our requests seem too trivial to bring before the Almighty God of the universe.

PRAY: Jesus, all of this is humbling. I really don’t know Your will, yet You are showing me that Your heart is for me, that You want the best for me. Sometimes my requests are simply selfish. Many times, they are from physical needs for health or strength or even sleep. You know what is best for my situations and are showing me that I can trust You with all of them, little or huge. You care and You have the power to do anything. Again, I am in awe of You. (More examples) 

PONDER: Think about the way God took me from slavery to sin and how He used negatives to bring me home to His heart, negatives I would never have picked for myself. May I rejoice in trials knowing that God is using them to have His will done in my life. What a wonder — and a delight!