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Pray that our Lord will make us strong and give us peace. Psalm 29:11 (CEV)
Psalm 29 speaks to us, to remind us that storms will come into our lives. Sometimes those storms are the result of our own sin and rebellion. Sometimes the winds of the hurricanes that block our paths are the evil actions of abusive people. Whatever their cause we are assured that it’s not a question of ‘if’ storms come, but ‘when’ and how often.
Storms can be physical such as illness, financial ruin, and destruction of our homes, careers or relationships. Perhaps the toughest, scariest storms are the storms within. Those flashes of lightning that remind us of our failures. Those life-shaking claps of thunder that make us question our ability to go on; that make us question our faith. These are the storms that can make us suffer in silence, or force us away from those who love us most.
Read back through Psalm 29 once more. Take time to reflect on the words of power seen in the words of the Psalmist. Your heavenly Father is pictured as being the most powerful storm ‘nature’ can muster. He shakes the foundation of the world; no one can escape or deny his mighty works.
Then, remember his great love for you today. There will be storms. Ask him to give you strength and courage to weather them. There will be times when life seems to jostle you about like a small boat on a great and windy see. Pray that in the very midst of the storm he will give you peace.
The great preacher/author Charles Spurgeon writes: Dear reader, is not this a noble Psalm to be sung in stormy weather? Can you sing amid the thunder? Will you be able to sing when the last thunders are let loose, and Jesus judges quick and dead? If you are a believer, the last verse is your heritage, and surely that will set you singing.
You oftentimes have no choice as to the storms that will enter your life, but because of Jesus you can choose how they will affect who you are and how you come out on the other side. Jesus Christ came, not only to give you forgiveness and eternal life; he came so that when the storms come you can rely on him to see you through.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, I thank you for your grace. I praise you for your forgiveness. But most of all, right now I pray for us as your children. I ask that during this present stormy time of our lives you would grant us the strength and peace we need to endure. In your name, Amen.
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, and it is not proud. 1 Corinthians 13:4 (NCV)
I like the way the KJV words this verse, “Charity [love] suffereth long”.
We don’t like to think of love and suffering in the same sentence. We’re taught when we are young that love is signified by a smile and a hug; a kind soft voice; warm chocolate cookies and milk.
Reality can set in far too early about love though. More and more of our children learn that love can end and sometimes, harshly. Mommy and Daddy used to say “I love you all the time…before the divorce.”
“My mommy says she loves me but she is never there when I call her and her boyfriend hits me all the time.”
“Friday he said he loved me, but it’s Monday and he says he doesn’t want me around anymore.”
Reality is, from a human perspective anyway, love isn’t the warm, fuzzy, eternally blissful thing we always dream of. Fairy tales end at the gates of Disney World and real live sets in harshly and quickly.
Too often we confuse love with passion rather than suffering; with comfort rather than conflict; with happiness rather than hardship. But love doesn’t have to be that way. True love, Godly love isn’t measured by fireworks and party hats.
Godly love determines, before you leave the house that the guy that cuts you off on the interstate isn’t invading your spot, you were saving it for him. Godly loves means that before you lash out at your child for forgetting an assignment AGAIN, you listen to their own pain and help them learn to make good choices. Godly love means that when the food comes to your table cold and late you notice the red eyes of the server and ask how her day is going.
Godly love isn’t easy love. Godly love gets taken advantage of; is unappreciated; suffers…long. Godly love endures constant disappointment, patiently works through rebellion and always puts the needs of the other person before your own.
People have had enough of the love the world offers. That person in the pew behind you at church, you know the one who never keeps her kids quiet, just may be at the end of her rope and needs understanding rather than judgment. That teenager with long hair and scruffy clothes may be making a statement that says ‘All I really want is to be noticed.’
How can you show Godly love today? Who will irritate you for the umpteenth time that may just need a smile rather than a rebuke? Before you act, measure your love for others according to God’s love for you. His love for you ‘suffers long’ and he asks the same from you.
PRAYER: Lord, thank you for the way you love me. Thank you for the patience you’ve shown when I rebel, struggle or get impatient. Empower me with your Spirit to show others the great love you have shown me. In the loving name of Jesus I pray, Amen.
How long must I be confused and miserable all day? How long will my enemies keep beating me down? Psalm 13:2 (CEV)
It’s a question we all ask. It comes in a variety of ways, for a variety of reasons. But its meaning and source are the same.
How long will my loved one have to suffer from this cancer? How long will I have to endure a marriage that isn’t fulfilling for me or the kids? How long will this job hunt last? How long will I have to wait for that doctor’s report? How long will this addiction keep me enslaved? How long…?
We can try to find things to take our focus off the question. Some of our activities to try to take our focus off the question are noble. We volunteer. We go to church. We enter some ministry to help others. But when we go home at night, in the silence of our own minds the question lurks.
Sometimes we try other things that aren’t quite so noble. We have an affair. We turn to drugs or alcohol. We blame God. We worry. Wait, worry? Is it fair to list worry in the same paragraph as affairs, drugs or blaming God? Sadly, yes. For worry is just another way we say (unintentionally perhaps) that God can’t or won’t take care of you for whatever the reason.
The question hounds us relentlessly. Day and night it lurks in the shadows waiting for an opportune time to attack. A time when our minds, weary from trying to avoid the question lets its guard down. That’s when the enemy attacks.
The enemy, of course, is Satan and we must never lose sight of the fact that celebrates those times when he can keep us subdued. He and is wicked cohorts give each other high fives when we focus so much on the question that we lose sight of the only one who can give the answer.
He’s ruthless too. He not only uses his own mind-bending tactics to attack your soul and mind, he uses people. Sometimes he coerces good church-going people who kick you when you are down in the name of Jesus. Other times he uses evil people intent on causing you harm. Physical harm is bad enough, but those bruises will heal. Emotional bruises on the other hand are hidden from view and take years to heal, if ever.
How long? The answer is two-fold. First of all, our deliverance will come in a time that is best for us. Secondly, the answer will only come from a vibrant faith in God that says, regardless of how long I suffer, I put my trust in thee.
PRAYER: Father, in the midst of my despair, confusion and frustration I confess I’ve lost my focus. I’m focusing so much on the question that I’m crippled from finding you, or the answer for that matter. I thank you that you see my very soul and that you are with me even when I can’t find you. Amen.
If we live, it’s to honor the Lord. And if we die, it’s to honor the Lord. So whether we I live or die, we belong to the Lord. Romans 14:8 (NLT)
I attended a Suicide Prevention Seminar recently. The presenter was a well-known ‘expert’ in researching why people commit suicide. His hour long presentation showed the physiological, emotional and mental similarities with suicide. It was an incredible learning experience for me.
The one thing that has stuck with me since that session was his statement that most suicide victims don’t want to die; they just want to escape the pain. Their actions aren’t meant to hurt anyone or themselves. In their minds the only way to escape the pain they are in is to die.
He told a story of a young man who had decided to commit suicide. He had it all planned out. The day. The process. Everything. On the morning of his impending death he began to have second thoughts. He decided that if, in the process of his day, just one person would ask him how he was, if he was okay, etc. he’d tell them his plan and ask for help.
He was either crying or near tears all day. He came in contact with several people he knew and a few he didn’t know. In spite of his tears and obvious emotional state, not one person asked him what was wrong.
Fortunately, when he finally attempted to take his life, he was unsuccessful. He ended up in a hospital as a result of the attempt, and is now living with the scars of his attempt, but with freedom from pain.
All of us can feel, at times, like we are all alone, like no one really cares, like the things we do in life are futile and unappreciated. We bear the pain of past neglect or abuse. The question each of us must answer isn’t “Will I encounter pain in life?” but “How will I handle the pain I encounter.
People handle their wounds in different ways. Some turn to drugs and alcohol. Some turn to sex, lust and a variety of relationships. Others rely on anger, power, strength and violence, or take part in being the abuser rather than the abused. I’m convinced that most people don’t ‘sin’ to hurt others, or reject God. Sin is a symptom of deeper pain and an attempt to relieve that pain.
Pain, be it physical, spiritual or emotional, is inevitable. How we handle the pain in our lives can depend largely on the support system we have in place. People struggling with life need to know someone cares.
We can say to others that Jesus cares, but until they see that care manifested in our Lord’s tools, (his people) they will never fully understand what his care really means for them. You may think you can’t make a difference in people’s lives. That’s simply not true.
Just watching for signs of pain in the lives of others and asking ‘how is it going’ or ‘what’s wrong?’ may be the very thing they need to work through the pain. We don’t get involved in peoples lives because we are special; we get involved in people’s lives because they are special.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, you have put me here for a reason. I ask for you help in dealing with my own pain. Help me use what you have given me to help others live free from their pain as well. Amen.
He did this so that we could be the kind of people the law correctly wants us to be. Now we do not live following our sinful selves, but we live following the Spirit. Romans 8:4 (NCV)
I don’t understand genetics. I’m not sure any of us do, but some understand far more than I do about what makes a person the way he/she is. For example, how is it that two people, born of the same parents can be different as night and day in personality, looks, and body shape/size? Or, how is it that a child, separated from parents at birth will have many of the same traits, likes and dislikes at their parents even though they have never ever seen them? These are just a few of the amazing things about how we are put together as human beings.
What’s even more amazing is how we can be ‘put together’ in Christ. We are born into a human body. We are influenced by our surroundings in more ways than we can imagine. The older we get, the more the effects of our past can dictate who we are and how we react to things in our environment.
Jesus came to give each of us a new start in life. Because of his grace and forgiveness we no longer need to be imprisoned by the things that happened along the journey of life.
“But,” you may say, “You don’t understand. I was abused as a child.”
“I know but” you may say, “my parents divorced [died, abandoned me, were drug addicts, are in prison,]. So that’s why I am the way I am.”
I won’t minimize the fact that life experiences have a huge impact on us. We are wounded, bruised and scarred by a whole variety of things. With Jesus in our lives those things that once were destructive influences on our ability to live free can be used for the glory of God. Because of Jesus we don’t need to walk as wounded any longer. That’s what grace is about. That’s what mercy is about. That’s what forgiveness is about.
Jesus Christ is well aware of your past. He sees the scars. He saw the abuse. He knows the feeling of being rejected. He came to free you from the effects of all the bad stuff that’s happened in your past. We no longer need to live the way we once did. God’s Spirit in us gives us new life through Christ. God’s Holy Spirit in us allows us to use the struggles of our past to strengthen those who are hurting.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, my past continues to haunt me. I see myself becoming the very type of person I don’t want to be. I relive the abuse of my past on a daily basis. Forgive me once and for all for the mistakes I’ve made. Free me through your grace to leave the old life behind and live the new life you have prepared for me. Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 