The Prompting of Discomfort

Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.  Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.  Joshua 1:8-9

No one likes to feel uncomfortable. There are words and phrases such as ‘Pro-Life,’ ‘Gay Marriage,’ ‘Black Lives Matter,’ or ‘Homeless’ that would immediately evoke feelings or emotions that would make many of us uncomfortable. These are parts of the social war that we as Christians encounter each and every day. However, many of us will choose to live with this discomfort by doing what God would not charge us to do; ignore it. The arguments would range from the reality of it being incredibly difficult to navigate to the very callous ‘it is not my problem’ approach. If you are navigating through these very difficult waters, the answer to this discomfort is quite simple. You need to start dealing with it.

God asks us to stand firm in our faith to deal with the many issues that come up in our lives.  In the beginning reign of Joshua as the leader of Israel, the Lord spoke directly to him as encouragement for the many trials he would soon face.  God knew of the discomfort that would come from his leading the Israelites across Jordan River to ‘The Promised Land.’  There would be many battles to be fought, and many a betrayals to be addressed.  But Joshua stayed faithful dealing with each challenge trusting in God.  As a result, Joshua was favored in all of those situations because he remembered to keep following God’s law and His commanding of him to ‘be strong and courageous.’  Many times, we feel discomfort in situations because they are messy or challenge us to deal with feeling and emotions we struggle with.  However if we direct our struggles and challenges of the situation to God and trust in His word, we will find clarity and direction.  In other words, are feelings of discomfort are signs that we need to reach out to God, and then trust in the direction He sets forth for us because His word is true and we ‘will be prosperous and successful’ should we follow His instruction.

God wants us to be active participants in the world but not of this world. The intro to Romans 12 says we are to offer ourselves as a sacrifice to God transformed to being born again to test and approve what God’s will is for us. Thus, our discomfort is an opportunity to understand God’s will for our lives. It may not feel good to start, but to embrace it brings us closer to God. Ultimately, isn’t that where we want to be? What issues of discomfort are you challenged with today? What is God prompting you to get involved in something you are not comfortable with? How can you respond prayerfully to them? My prayer is that we are responsive to God’s prompting through discomfort. Amen. 

Selfless Fulfillment

Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.  Philippians 2:3-4

This year, my department did some volunteering for Habitat for Humanity.  It was a lot of lifting, hammering, and performing of laborious work, and after each day, you felt physically spent.  Not a typical day for someone who works in a call center.  However, there was something else that I felt after it was all was done; fulfilled.  It was not because of what I or the team of us had accomplished.  Rather, it was what we were doing in service to someone else.  In this case, it is another family.  What could be better than that?  The spirit within me was awakening, and yes, I felt humbled because I had an opportunity to spend a day out of work giving freely to someone where many do not have such liberties.

Giving of ourselves to God and to others is what we must do as Christians.  It is easy to see ourselves as focused on others.  However when we are caught up in our own lives, do we turn a blind eye to a person in need in lieu of our own ‘stuff?’  Reading Philippians 2, you get an idea of Paul’s heart for new followers of Christ becoming selfless, and he speaks of Christ’s example.  In verses 6-7, he says:

Though (Christ) was God,
he did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.
Instead, he gave up his divine privileges
he took the humble position of a slave
and was born as a human being.

He describes one of Christ’s many perfect selfless acts, which is what the life of Jesus should represent to us.  He could have just stayed in Heaven as God, but He chose to serve others as a sacrifice for all sins.  For this, we cannot ignore our own obligation to serve others.  It is woven into us, and is a fruit of the Holy Spirit that dwells within us.

There is a reason for the saying ‘It is better to give than receive.’  While a worldly view obsesses over the ‘me’ or ‘selfie,’ we know of the righteous path taught by Jesus Christ, the master himself.  After washing the feet of the disciples, Jesus said, “And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.” (John 13:14-15)  So the next time you feel down or depressed, do not fall into the trap of self-doubt and isolation.  Instead, find a way to give to another as Christ has given to us.  How will you respond when conflicted with the needs of you and another?  How can you challenge yourself to give more of yourself to others?  My prayer is that we selflessly give more of ourselves knowing in the end we will find the fulfillment that only a Christ centered life can give.  Amen.

It's Not About You

Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.  Matthew 6:10 (NKJV)

There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.  John 15:13

“Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”  Mark 14:36

(This is Pt 4 of 8 – Turning the Tide – Representing God to a World that Misrepresents Him)

It is hard to believe that I have written devotions for over a decade now.  The one thing that I have realized is it never mattered whether I felt like it was a good devotion or not because writing them is never about me.  Sure, they are inspired by things I have seen and my own life experiences.  However, my writing is not to advance my cause.  It’s to show what God has taught me and its relevance to society today, and more importantly, that God uses me through my words to inspire others toward serving Him better.  One of the greatest accusations against us as Christians is that while we talk about a God we serve, we do not give of ourselves to either Him or others.  We focus on frankly other Christians or worse, ourselves.  In a world that is driven by self (you deserve this, ‘selfies,’ It’s all about me), how can we show a better life focused on serving God above all other things?

As Christians we should be selfless examples by removing ourselves from the equation and placing God before us.  Whether it is about the greater love of laying down your life for your friend or the Lord’s Prayer focusing on God’s Kingdom, Jesus is a shining example of selflessness.  However, nothing exemplifies more and drives how selfless Jesus was than Him dying on the cross for our sins.  Prior to it, He went to God as listed in today’s last verse (also in Matthew 26:39 and Luke 22:42), and note that He chose not to ask for His wishes or wants prior to His crucifixion.  Instead, He focused on God’s first.  My pastor this past Sunday noted a quote from Howard Hendricks saying, “Lord, here I am.  I want to be Your suit of clothes today.  I want you to take me and use me.  Lord, just walk around in me today.”  We should always start any action with a simple question, “Is this what God would want?”  When speaking, we should ask God to use us so that our words become His words.  These represent what selflessness sounds like.

God wants to use us in extraordinary ways.  Football coach Glenn ‘Bo’ Schembechler in one of his most famous speeches outlined how fulfilling a life focused on something greater than yourself (i.e. the team) is.  He said, “No man is more important than the team.  No coach is more important than the team.  The team.  The team.  The team!”  As Christians, we too are at our best when we first realize that nothing we say and no action we do is about us.  How can you remove your motives and replace them with God’s?  How can you best prepare yourself to be used by God?  My prayer is that we embraces selflessness remembering in the words of Rick Warren, “It’s not about you.”  Amen.