Jesus gets me out of my tizzy . . .

Last night I went to sleep thinking of Mary and Martha. Both were friends of Jesus and both eagerly showed hospitality to Him and His disciples. When Martha was making lunch, Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesus listening to what He said. Martha was anxious about lunch and irritated with her sister but when she told Jesus to rebuke her, she was lovingly told that Mary choose the best thing. Serving Him was okay but being in a tizzy about it was not.

This week, after discussing and praying for a need expressed by others, I was in a tizzy. I felt pressured to do something about that need and came home wound up and upset. Jesus bid me to pray and as I did, His Spirit and His Word made clear to me that my role right now is to be more like Mary. Others can do the work that will fill that need. My assignment and work right now is to pray. Immediately the tizzy whirled away as assurance filled my heart.

Yesterday and this morning’s readings confirm that I’m not to be anxious that I must meet that need but instead to pray. These verses give instructions for the direction of my prayers:

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:9–14)

Unceasing: Don’t quit. As God puts this need and others and the names of people on my heart, I am to pray about the needs and for the people. Listen for His leading as I pray.

Filled: Pray that people will know His will with wisdom and understanding. Sometimes we do the will of God without realizing it. This prayer is that we know what it is and are actively and wisely engaged. This prayer is for me too. I could pray, “God bless the missionaries” but God would rather I pray, “Lord, give grace to  . . . as he handles this tough decision . . . .” and “Jesus,  . . . is having a problem with the authorities in  . . . grant her wisdom as she meets with them today.” The Holy Spirit gives specifics when I’m yielded to Him.

Reason: My prayers are requests that His people please God in the way we live. He wants us to be fruitful (think love, joy, peace, etc.as well as our actions) and actively involved in things that will last for eternity, and things that help us know Him better. Actions are useless without the right attitudes motivating them.

Power: I’m to pray for power, not the power normally associated with success but the power that is like the power of God. This is about enduring under pressure, being patient in tough situations yet at the same time joyful. This is power that rises above human ability and points to the God who gives us above and beyond what we expect.

Thankful: I’m also to pray that all of us who serve the Lord know where our goodness comes from and know what we are doing and why — and out of this we are full of gratitude for the privilege of being His children. We didn’t earn any of what He gives us which means no pride, no sense of being ‘better’ than others, only humble gratitude that is always and fully aware that He delivered us. It was nothing we did to earn this amazing redemption and forgiveness and it is in that attitude that I must pray with the request that all of us walk with Jesus showing the wonder of His love and how it changes lives.

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Lord God, as I think about this example of how to pray and compare it to the other activities that yank at my heart saying ‘do this’ or ‘look at this need’ or ‘you could help with this’ or even ‘you could change the world if you did this’ I realize that You are not calling me with words like that. Others might be asked to serve You in those ways, but You are clear on this: prayer is my calling. Grant me the grace to pray without ceasing and remember the key things that need to be on my prayer list.

Today’s thankful list . . .

Hot baths.

Cool breezes.

Enough time each day for the day’s demands.

Good neighbors.

Tomatoes off the vine and warmed by the sun.

Homemade bread.

Summer’s bountiful fresh vegetables.

Keeping at it?

One of the most difficult challenges I face is persevering. I’m interested in everything with a mind easily distracted. I easily become bored. I’m also somewhat lazy. Short-term tasks are not a problem. Even breaking down a larger one is helpful as long as the steps are clear with a beginning and an end. But give me a task that will last for weeks, months, years and I struggle to finish it.

Tozer says small deeds of love are not forgotten by God, so those little things are good too, but the focus is single-hearted obedience to Christ and a deep desire to glorify Him. For this, there is great reward, no matter how long it takes.

“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:7–9)

Eternal life is not earned by my sowing and reaping but it is demonstrated and enhanced by doing good and not giving up. How does God teach this? Certainly the Holy Spirit is part of it for in my humanness I am like a baby who wants what I want when I want it — as in right now! I’m impatient and if things do not happen or get done ‘on time’ I become more impatient.

Yet God persists and in His persistence,  I’ve learned something about perseverance. For one thing, God never gives up on me. If He were not a persevering God, my pillar-to-post drifting would have annoyed Him to quitting a long time ago. When I read the Old Testament prophets spelling out the way His people pushed Him away and tested His patience to the limit, I wonder. He finally exiled them to Babylon where they would learn to hate idolatry, but even that was persistence. He would not give up on them, and He will not give up on me.

How does this translate into everyday life? I tell others that God has taught me persistence in several ways. Right now, the most prominent is through quilting, specifically one quilt. It is a king-size commissioned by a family member. It is huge, difficult (I had no pattern) and physically hard to manipulate. I’ve felt like quitting several times, have procrastinated and strayed off to other projects, but finally told myself that if this keeps up, I’ll die before it is done. All that kept me going is that I love this guy who wants it and I’m hoping God will be glorified in the doing.

Persist. The word runs through my head, followed by ‘but I don’t want to’ and the wrestling match begins. This happens with other things, the most important being prayer, particularly the prayer for which I don’t see answers. God tells me to keep at it for in due season there will be results if I don’t give up.

This week, we had a visitor — someone on that prayer list, someone whose attitude and values were far from God’s will. We have prayed years for this person — another way of learning perseverance. In our visit, we saw changes both in attitude and values, changes that brought tears of gratitude and gave us hope and determination to continue to pray.

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Lord Jesus, sticking to Your plan and doing what You say is seldom easy, even with the Holy Spirit giving me the heart to do it and the will to hang in there. Thank You so much for this glimpse of what You are doing in answer to our years of praying for this person. It gives me encouragement to keep praying, to keep on interceding for all others too. It also encourages me to get that quilt squared up and the binding in place, to finish well. Keep me relying on You for the motivation, the results and Your promised eternal rewards.

Oh Lord, increase my faith . . .

Before his death, Paul is writing to a young pastor. Many who read this letter are not pastors, and may not be young. However, Timothy seems one of those people who need continual encouragement, and most of us can identify with that need. Here is what Paul says to him:

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. (2 Timothy 4:1–6)

I can relate to these verses even though the only ‘preaching’ I do is reading the Bible and making exhortation to myself, plus the occasional word in conversation with someone who needs to hear what God says. Rather than ‘preaching’ this could be a mild rebuke, cheerful exhortation, or a bit of teaching. Paul’s warning about a time when people will not endure sound teaching has already come. Many relatives and friends turn away from Jesus and follow stuff that sounds good, but is neither biblical nor a blessing to their spiritual lives.

Paul told Timothy to be sober-minded. This could be ‘not drunk’ but more likely is about thinking with self-control, not giving in to excesses or emotional outbursts. He is talking about being level-headed without inordinate passions. I need to hear that too.

Paul also told this young pastor to endure suffering. This can mean physical or emotional pain, and in this context, to keep on doing the will of God no matter how others might be treating you.

Finally, Paul told Timothy to do his job. In his case, it was evangelism. He was to fully perform his role in in ministry to others. No matter what our role is, this also applies to any Christian. God gives each of us something to do. No matter any resistance or emotions it causes, or any suffering it might incur, I am to fully obey God – even as it might mean being poured out like the blood of Christ, a life literally poured out to serve others.

Chambers talks about this as a challenge, a decision of the will to trust God and to yield to Him as He does this work in me, the process of destroying “every affinity that God has not started and of every attachment that is not an attachment in God.” He says that I do not destroy it, God does, and that I simply bind the sacrifice to the horns of the altar and do not give way to self-pity when His cleansing fire begins.

I know this. God has used remarkable events to deal with “affinities” that did not come from Him. He has used situations, people, events that I would never have chosen or even thought of to bring me to a place of greater willingness. He knows how to fill me with the desire for a sober mind. He knows how to give me an attitude that will endure pain and loss and simply to do what He places before me. I’m not a pastor or an evangelist like Timothy, but I have a role and that role includes being poured out to serve others.

Like Timothy, I need to watch out for self-pity, but also pride. I also need encouragement. For these needs, I must trust my Savior to save me from the first two, and to provide the third one as He sees fit.

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Family news: Hubby is getting stronger. He actually lost 20 lbs, not 15, so I’m feeding him lots of protein – and pie. He went for a short drive today, just to get outside.

Another person in our family just had surgery. It was a best case scenario – no cancer. We rejoice at the merciful goodness of the Lord.