The Case for Vulnerability - Pt. 2 (Vulnerable As A Child)

About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?”

Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them.  Then he said,“I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven.”  Matthew 18:1-3

My pastor talked about some of the ugliness in our lives that we would not want others to see.  God sees all this, and yet, we will still play naïve thinking we can somehow justify this to Him.  For me, I know that I should be honest with God and look to Him saying, “Lord, I am so weak.  I do not know why you love me, but help me in my weakness.”  That is the epitome of being vulnerable; being at the point where you are so desolate and helpless that you can only go to Him and admit your faults.  It sounds sad, but here is the most amazing thing about this point.  That is exactly where God wants us!  He wants us to acknowledge our dependency on Him, and in spite of our flaws, we are perfected through Jesus Christ.  We are wonderful, amazing, and beautiful both through Him and to Him.

If we are to realize that being vulnerable to God is a good thing, then we must also acknowledge that we are both weak to the world and cannot survive without Him.  Jesus clearly spells out where our dependency on God should be at the beginning of Matthew 18.  I often asked myself, “Why would Jesus want us to be like little children?  Doesn’t He want us to grow spiritually to become mature?”  The answer to this is of course yes, but the point Jesus is trying to make is not for us to act like little children that are naïve to the ways of the world and indulgent to it like not knowing when to stop eating cookies from the cookie jar.  It is to understand that little children are both incredibly vulnerable and dependent.  They need nurturing and love from their parents to be taught right from wrong.  Similar to this, we are susceptible to the ways of the world, and thus incredibly vulnerable.  However, we have an all knowing Heavenly Father who we can depend on, and He provides us with both love and protection should we reach out to Him.  Furthermore, His word teaches us how to live a fulfilling and righteous life.

Surrendering all to God is our goal as Christians, and we simply cannot do so without admitting to our own vulnerability and weakness.  Paul took pleasure in His vulnerability in last week’s verse, and this week, Jesus says we all must acknowledge that without Him, we are spiritually weak and vulnerable to attack from the world.  It is only through this admission that we gain access to God’s Kingdom.

Over the next few weeks, I will cover a lot of ground on how God uses our vulnerability to make us strong.  In the meantime, ask yourself these questions.  How can you like Paul find God’s strength in your vulnerabilities?  What parts of your life can you display a child-like dependency on God more?  My prayer is that we spiritually mature into vulnerable children serving an awesome loving and forgiving God.  Amen.

True Grit

Because the Sovereign Lord helps me,
    I will not be disgraced.
Therefore, I have set my face like a stone,
    determined to do his will.
    And I know that I will not be put to shame.
He who gives me justice is near.
    Who will dare to bring charges against me now?
Where are my accusers?
    Let them appear!
See, the Sovereign Lord is on my side!
    Who will declare me guilty?
All my enemies will be destroyed
    like old clothes that have been eaten by moths!  Isaiah 50:7-9

You ever go through a daunting task or situation where at one point you could either fail to overcome or seem too tough?  I had a task like that where it just never seemed to be where I wanted it to be, and the mounting pressure built as the deadline approached.  For a bit, it seemed it would never get done, but I remembered something I had heard at a conference talking about how sometimes you have to use feeling that is hard to define but necessary to just get it done.  Some describe it as toughness, but the word they used was grittiness.  So rather than resign myself to just dealing with my potential failure, I dug my heels in and fought with grittiness never giving in to the voice that it could not be done on time.  Low and behold, I had completed my task when I needed it to be done and ahead of schedule.

Being a servant of God sometimes will require us to fight through some tough situations.  A question was asked in my bible study about when to let go of something.  Is God testing us to be vigilant and ‘gritty’ or does He want us to go another way?  Only through prayer can that be answered, but when it comes to being faithful servants as Ephesians 6:11 would suggest (Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes), we must always stand for Him.  This is what Isaiah conveys in today’s verse.  Because we confess Jesus Christ as our Lord and savior, we have God on our side.  Thus, we should be comfortable embracing this choice.  When times might seem tough and the pressure seems to mount, we must show our own ‘grit’ to stand for God and His will for our lives.

No one said serving God is easy.  Jesus said, “But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (Matthew 7:14 - NIV)  When you are weary from the struggles in your life and following God feels more like a burden than a blessing, remember to find strength in Him, who can carry you through anything.  Do not give in.  Dig your heels in, and find that something in you that is God inspired and keep fighting.  What challenge are you facing today that needs God’s inspired strength?  What situation can you handle better knowing God has your back?  My prayer is that when challenged with worldly suffering and conflict, we respond with God inspired true grit.  Amen.

No Never Alone

Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.  Matthew 28:19-10

While there is so much going on in the world today, I want to speak of something more personal as it has relevancy to much of what is going on.  This past weekend, I lost a friend, and while all indications was that he was a believer, I could not help but feel the sadness of a life gone too soon.  It also brought me to realize one of the worldly devices that is creating greater stress in the world.  It is called loneliness.  I listen to experts, and see the data that points to a declining church and that people feel a disconnect with it.  With that disconnect, there is this empty space where loneliness takes its place.  It is not easy for me to ignore because I have such a connection with an awesome God, but many will say I just need to worry about myself.  But I can’t.  So I ask myself how can I not feel suffering when others feel they have no one to turn to.  What can I do to be accountable to making God’s presence in the world more known?

There is a reason Jesus commissioned us to teach others of God.  Many will disagree, but I believe much of what has gone awry in the world deals directly with the void of God in those places.  People who are alone are much more susceptible to evil, violence, and deception.  Our job as followers of Christ is to stay connected not only with God but also those who do not know of Him.  They are the ones who need to know of a God who loves them deeply, and must realize that whether they don’t have someone or do but sense no one cares about them, God is always watching, listening, loving, and protecting them.  There is no depth of loneliness or despair that God cannot touch, heal, and make one feel anew!

God is the only answer to save others.  The world is a ruthless tool of the devil for as 1 Peter 5:8 says, “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”  Armed with the truth, we have joy everlasting through Jesus Christ.  We have been given true victory, and with it, we know He is with us always for God has said. “Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.” (Deuteronomy 31:8)  Anyone who knows this will never ever be alone.  Who do you know that may be feeling alone?  Who in pain needs a reminder of God’s faithful promises?  My prayer is that when others feel abandoned, we are able to sing to them the old spiritual hymnal, ‘No Never Alone.’  Amen.

Encouraged and Motivated

For God chose to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to pour out his anger on us.  Christ died for us so that, whether we are dead or alive when he returns, we can live with him forever.  So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.  1 Thessalonians 5:9-11

Yesterday, my wife tells me that I do not want to spend time with her.  I look incredulous.  This is the woman I have spent over thirty years my life getting to know, and I absolutely have so much fun talking and being with her.  But I must have done something wrong that I need to address, right?  Then, my daughter decides she does not want to talk to me about school.  Parents, you might know this drill very well.  Kent asks, “How was school today?”  Daughter answers, “Fine.”  Kent asks, “What happened?”  Daughter responds, “Nothing.”  Great!  She is in ‘one word answer’ mode.  This sounds like fun!  So I am now coming home to a wife who feels unloved and a daughter who looks at me like I’m Hannah Montana now converted into Miley Cyrus.  And now I’m supposed to write a devotional?  What could I possibly write about?  Let’s try . . . encouragement and motivation?

We are to be both encouraged and motivated always knowing that we have been given this most precious gift of eternal life.  Some of us might ask ourselves why life is not fair or why we are dealing with such anguish and strife.  However as Paul points out, it could be far worse.  God did not choose to pour out His wrath on us like the burning of Sodom and Gomorrah, the floods of Noah’s time, the fall of Israel at the hands of Babylon, or other possibilities.  In fact, he chose to offer His son so that we might be able to live up to the hope that He has for each and every one of us; that our faith and love might be on fire like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego for Him sharing the message of Christ and encouraging others.  So while we may lament in the troubles of this world, we serve a most awesome and almighty God, who would look at each of us and say, “I believe in you even if you might not yet believe in yourself.”  How can one not be encouraged knowing this?

It is incredibly difficult to be enthusiastic when there are so many things working against us, but we should not be discouraged.  Jesus said, “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows, But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33b).  So while you may have trials and sorrows, I would encourage you saying God is with you every step of the way.  He is true to His word, and will never either leave or forsake you.  Furthermore as Paul says, be encouraging to others for God may be prompting you for His purpose.  How can God’s undying love and faith in you be of encouragement today?  Who can you encourage with the message of Good News?  My prayer is that God’s faithfulness be of both encouragement to you and motivation for you.  Amen.

Thurs Devo: Response to Opposition

Being involved in church work can be messy. I can think of two different instances when I felt attacked by someone at church after doing what I thought was the right thing. One time was when I represented the pastor search committee and announced to the congregation that we were rescinding our nomination of a potential pastor. One person in our congregation immediately stood up and made some angry and critical remarks in front of the whole church because he had liked the guy. I tried to be diplomatic without giving all the details (since we discovered some apparent character flaws while checking references). Of course, inside, I wanted to defend myself and the rest of the committee and share all the dirty details.  

This was a very tiny attack compared to what Moses and Aaron experienced in our reading last week. Plus, this wasn’t the only time Moses had been opposed for doing what God had commanded him to do. Pharaoh, the Israelite elders, his own siblings, and the Israelite people (many times) had all opposed him. In fact, the time before this, the whole assembly talked about stoning Moses, Aaron, Caleb and Joshua (Numbers 14:10)!

So, how does Moses respond?

Numbers 16:4-7          ⁴ When Moses heard this, he fell facedown. ⁵ Then he said to Korah and all his followers: “In the morning the Lord will show who belongs to him and who is holy, and he will have that person come near him. The man he chooses he will cause to come near him. ⁶ You, Korah, and all your followers are to do this: Take censers ⁷ and tomorrow put burning coals and incense in them before the Lord. The man the Lord chooses will be the one who is holy. You Levites have gone too far!”           

Moses responds with humility. He doesn’t lash back with a list of all their failures. He doesn’t defend himself or try to explain his position. In fact, he puts the responsibility on God, where it belongs. God called him to this job and upheld him time and time again in the past. So, Moses could confidently trust that He would do the same again.

How do you and I respond when we are attacked?

Do we attack back? Do we make excuses?

Do we try and explain our position? Do we give up or run away?

Or, do we humbly go to God first before responding to ask Him exactly how He wants us to respond?

If we are doing what God has asked us to do, then we can leave it to God to defend our actions and position.

Alice