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The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him. Lamentations 3:25
One of the hardest times in life, is when people that we trust and rely on, fail us. It happens all the time.
Sometimes people fail us because we have failed to meet their expectations.
Sometimes people leave our relationship with them because we just aren’t that important.
Sometimes, while we rely on them, they are far too involved in their own lives to realize the impact they’ve had in our lives. As a result, they leave us with a huge hole in our hearts.
God isn’t like that. Earlier, Jeremiah says that God’s love and mercy is new every day. He reminds us that when others fail us, God never will.
Sometimes we think God fails us because he doesn’t do what we would like him to do. When that happens, in reality, the god that has failed us has been a god of our own creation, not the God of creation.
In the dark times of life, when it seems everyone else has abandoned us, keep searching for God.
Keep searching for the one who has promised to love us new every day.
Yesterday‘s failures are lessons learned.
Tomorrow’s dreams are hopes yet to come.
But today? Today is the day God has for us to accomplish what he calls us to do.
Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true wisdom. All who obey his commandments will grow in wisdom. Praise him forever! Psalms 111:10
I’m not a builder, but my limited knowledge of knowing the process of building tells me that the foundation is, perhaps the most important part of the building. Without a proper foundation, the rest of the building will not withstand the rigors of the environment in which it exists.
The stronger the foundation, the stronger the building. The deeper the foundation, the taller the building. That’s why builders are very meticulous and making sure the foundation is laid well.
In our spiritual lives, our foundation begins with the growing knowledge of God. When we begin the process of relationships here on earth, we don’t reveal everything about ourselves to the other person. There are things we may want to hold back out of fear, shame, or guilt.
That’s not how God operates. From the very beginning, he reveals himself. Little by little, he shows us his greatness, his power, his love, and his forgiveness. The more we grow our relationship with God, the more he grant us wisdom. The deeper we grow in relationship to God the more we grow to understand his heart.
The more we obey him in the tough times, the more he gives us strength to endure. Everything in a successful life, begins with a foundation built on faith and trust in the power and love of God.
The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything. Luke 15:16
When you are at your lowest, even the most repulsive things look good. A Jewish boy would never think of being in the presence of a pig. They were repulsive in the Jewish religion and one would be defiled being in the presence of one.
Jesus tells the story of a good Jewish family. The dad had worked hard to build a good lifestyle for his family.
We aren’t told about the spiritual upbringing of the family, but it’s safe to assume that like any Jewish boys, his two sons went to synagogue school every week and learned the importance of following the law.
But families back then, like some families now, weren’t always as squeaky clean as we’d like to think they are. What we see on the outside isn’t necessarily what is going on behind closed doors, or in the hearts of those within the household.
The older son was hardworking, responsible and outwardly loyal to his dad. The younger son had an edge to him no doubt. He may have been a bit rebellious and fed up with the rules and regulations of home life. Why else would he decide to pack his bags, take his inheritance and head off to a life of fun?
The younger son learned the hard way that some friendships last as long as the money holds out. His money was spent. His pseudo friends were gone. But his pride was still intact.
So in an effort to get back on his feet he looked for a job. There was no way, that he would return home and admit he was wrong.
The only job available was at a hog farm where he learned how to feed and care for pigs. I wonder how long it took him to reach bottom? Hog farmers will tell you that hog manure is perhaps the worst smelling manure of all the farm animals and the younger son was living in it!
One day, he was so hungry the hog feed started to look pretty good to him. Did he take just a little taste to solve his curiosity or was the mere thought of it coupled with the stench of his job and the memories of mom’s home cooking what brought him to the end?
When we reach the bottom even though most repulsive things seem good.
You know the rest of the story. The forming and practicing of the speech. The walking home rehearsing it in his mind. Each step closer to home one of excitement and fear (will he take me back?)
He never had a chance to finish his speech. His dad cut him off. There was a celebration to plan, a feast to prepare, guests to invite.
Some think it was the hog food that pushed the boy home, I think it was the prayers of a loving father that pulled the boy home.
Wherever you are, whatever struggles you are enduring, whatever failures you are working through, your father is praying for you to come home.
When we are at our lowest, He is at His strongest to woo us back home into His arms.
The son thought it was hunger that drew his thoughts towards home but I’m guessing it was the moving of God as a result of the prayers of his father.
The same is true for you, you know. Whatever struggle you may be working through is the result of someone who is praying for you and the desire of your father for you to come home.
Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world. 1 Peter 2:12
Years ago I had two girls that attended the youth group I led. One of the girls came from a great Christian home and the other came from a home was full of hate and anger. The girl from the stable home, I’ll call her Jill, was best friends with Mary (also not her real name).
Jill’s parents shared with me their concern with this friendship. Mary had a temper and quite often, in a fit of rage would say things hurtful to Jill and, on a couple occasions, actually hit her. Mom & dad wanted this friendship to end for the safety of their daughter and came to me to see if I could help.
I agreed to talk with Jill. What she said to me has stuck with me all these years, Jill said, “Mary doesn’t have a single friend in the whole school. If I’m not her friend she has no body. Jesus was the friend of many who hated him. I need to be a friend to Mary.”
The story has a positive ending thankfully. Through Jill’s patient endurance and the prayer of many, eventually Mary found Jesus. She’s been married for many years in a Christ-filled home thanks to the patient and positive influence of one person who refused to give up on her.
We can’t always choose whose life God calls us to be a positive influence in. We are never called to put ourselves in danger. Yet through wisdom, patience and prayer we can see even the hardest heart softened by the Holy Spirit.
Be careful not to get sucked into the negativity of a toxic relationship. Yet, at the same time, don’t be afraid to trust the Holy Spirit to change lives through you!
The godly give good advice to their friends; the wicked lead them astray. Proverbs 12:26
In his book “When to Walk Away: Finding Freedom from Toxic People”, Gary Thomas talks about the power and danger of toxic relationships. Toxic people can destroy relationships and steal our freedom to be all we could be.
Toxic people can be found in the church and sometimes spread their toxicity ‘in the name of Jesus’ love’. Stories abound of people who stray from God because of toxic people who came into their lives and drew them away to a life totally foreign to what their upbringing taught them.
I have a friend who nearly lost his family because of his drinking. He was on the way to being an alcoholic when his wife walked out with his two daughters.
As we spent time talking about the situation he shared with me that he’d go into a bar with his friends with no intention of drinking, but once there, he was coerced by his friends to have ‘just one’, which unfortunately led to many.
Thankfully, he made the choices he needed to save his family. He chose to avoid the bar crowd and focus on more wholesome friendships. He and his wife are back together and are in the process of healing.
Am I saying we should only have ‘Christian friends’? Of course not! Jesus hung out with the socially outcast more than the ‘spiritually secure’. Yet, through the power of the Holy Spirit we need to be open to sharing our faith in a gentle way and get our strength from relationships that celebrate Jesus.
Influencers can be negative or positive. Choose to follow the positive, Christ centered influencers!
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 