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Your kingdom is built on what is right and fair. Love and truth are in all you do. Psalm 89:14 (NCV)
Do what is right! You have to be fair! No one would disagree with those two statements. We all want fairness. We all want the ‘right things’ to happen in life. But sometimes ‘fairness’ and ‘rightness’ are hard to define.
To the farmer who needs rain to refresh his crops a good shower is not only fair, but needed. Not so for the bride who planned an outdoor wedding in a beautiful park. To the child that desperately wants to attend a certain party it may seem unfair that mom and dad say no. On the other hand it never seems fair when someone is killed by a drunk driver.
So what is it that we can use for a standard to determine what is right and fair? The double edged sword of love and truth. Love without truth leads to enablement and a failure to see reality. Truth without love becomes legalistic and unbending. But love and truth together shows itself in loyalty and loyalty is the key ingredient in relationship.
Many times we demand something be fair or right when we really just want our own way. We may think God is unfair when the innocent die or ‘good people’ are devastated by illness, financial ruin or relational disaster. We may think it unfair when children endure starvation or abuse.
While we may not understand why God allows things to happen as they do, we need to always keep before us the fact that everything He does is done in love and truth. He sends things into our lives to draw us to himself. He allows things to happen so we keep our focus and dependence on him.
Because everything God does is tempered by his love and truth, there are times when he brings things we don’t like into our lives. His discipline isn’t like the punishment of an abusive parent or political tyrant. The pain he brings is meant to build us up and make us stronger. Doing what is right and fair may be painful at times, but it never squelches one’s spirit.
Going through some hard times? Afraid of the future? Angry at your past or at those who have hurt you in the past? Remember that God’s kingdom is not of this world. His kingdom is one of love and truth and, as such, we can know that nothing he does is done in anger and vindictiveness. It’s done to bring us to a place where we can love him more fully. He will never leave you or forsake you no matter what has happened in your life.
PRAYER: Father God, I struggle at times to know what is fair and what is the right thing to do. I’m pulled in so many directions politically, emotionally, relationally and spiritually. Empower me with your Spirit to be able to see things as you do and to act in love and truth in every situation so I can show others the grace you’ve shown me. In Jesus name, Amen.
The one thing I ask of the Lord—the thing I seek most—is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord’s perfections and meditating in his Temple. For he will conceal me there when troubles come; he will hide me in his sanctuary. He will place me out of reach on a high rock. Psalm 27:4-5
A sad story…
When I was growing up a family near the town I lived in had a young man in his early 20’s who was mentally handicapped. One night the family’s home started on fire in the middle of the night. The family searched frantically for their child but was forced from their home by smoke and flames. The home was far out in the country and well engulfed in flames by the time the fire department arrived. Even so, a couple firefighters risked their lives by climbing into the window where the young man had slept. They too were eventually forced from the burning building.
Once the fire was out they searched the ruins for the young man. They finally found him wrapped tightly in a blanket UNDER the bed where he slept. Apparently he heard the smoke alarm and became frightened. He wrapped himself in the only security he could find (his blanket) and hid from danger under his bed.
In a sad sort of irony, the very place he sought shelter became the place where this precious young man met death.
That story reminds me of the struggle each of us has on a daily basis. We are afraid. We worry. We are met with threats on one side or another. Sometimes those threats are physical ones from abusive parents, spouses or others. Sometimes those threats are emotional ones. Voices in our heads play the song over and over again. You won’t make it. It’s too much for you. You can’t go on this way. You are a failure, you’ve always been a failure, and you will always be a failure. Stop trying.
Other times the things we fear are of a spiritual or religious nature. Constant reminders of our sin. Continual references to our past. Demands that we try harder, have more faith, trust God more. They all weigh against us to the point where we simply don’t feel we can go another step or face another sunrise.
Then the words of the Psalmist ring clear. “He will conceal me when trouble comes.” Did you see that? Read it again. It doesn’t say he’ll keep us from troubles. He doesn’t promise we will be free of worry or fear. He does promise that the things that scare us, worry us or try to attack us will not be successful if we put our complete trust in Him.
Unlike the young lad in the story, we will be hidden in a safe place while the flames and smoke of life circle around us. That’s what grace is about. That’s what the Father’s love is about. Safety and hope in the midst of trials.
PRAYER: Father, in the midst of my fear and distress I ask that you would remind me that you will keep me safe. Hide me in your arms of mercy and grace. Envelop me in your love and keep me from fear of tomorrow or reminders of the past. In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen.
But we must each wait our turn. Christ was the first to be raised to life, and his people will be raised to life when he returns. 1 Cor. 15:23 (CEV)
You see it all the time on television. A person in the service comes home and surprises a young son or daughter. The return was unexpected. It was a ‘someday in the future’ kind of thing. We see the other end too. We see spouses and children and tears and good-bye’s. We get a glimpse of the anguish when news comes that our loved one isn’t coming home.
What we don’t see, unless we are personally involved, is the in-between times. The times when a child or a spouse needs a hug or when a parent longs for their child to walk through the door. We don’t see the bills that keep coming, the local news that keeps happening, and the doctor visits that bring bad news. The struggles and pain that come from everyday life keep happening. The pain of growing up or growing old continues its relentless course. Pain that should be shared, but now, must be handled alone.
No one, except for those personally involved, really knows the struggle of family when we miss a service-person. We know (or hope) they’ll be back. We aren’t always sure when or how they will have changed, or how life will be different from when they left. But for the Christ-follower we have an idea.
Those who go away to war promise they will return. Sometimes those promises are true, sometimes not. All of us as parents make promises that we have every intention of fulfilling, yet because of life are unable to hold to.
Not so with Jesus. I imagine when the disciples watched Jesus disappear into the clouds they were like the crowds on the tarmac as the plane full of loved ones (not just troops, loved ones) pulls away. They anxiously awaited his return. It didn’t come of course. Not yet anyway. But like a spouse or a child or some other loved one we anxiously await his return.
He’s coming back you know. He said he would. And unlike the promises of those who hope to come back, he will. We don’t know when he will return. We just know he will. Period.
He didn’t promise there wouldn’t be times of loneliness and trials. He didn’t promise we’d be free of heartache. Jesus’ promises mean something because everything he promised so far has come true. Just like he said it would. Parents can’t or don’t always keep their promises for a variety of reasons. Jesus will always keep his!
PRAYER: Jesus. There are so many times I wish I could just see you, hold you, and to look into your eyes when I share my heart. Like a lonely child who misses a parent I look forward to seeing you return. Until then, please help me cope with the fear and pain and loneliness I endure here on earth. I miss you. Amen.
Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir. Galatians 4:7 (NLT)
A slave has no decisions to make about daily schedules, what food to eat or where they will live. A child is given new choices every day.
A slave has no future other than that decided by the master. A child is groomed every day to believe that they can be anything they want to be.
A slave lives every day with the fear that they may be ripped up from where they are and taken from their family. A child is secure in the knowledge that they are loved and that they can always come home.
A slave lives knowing that all relationships are temporary, that those closest to him may be gone tomorrow. A child lives with the assurance that those who love him will always be at their side.
A slave lives with the presupposition that love is based on performance, that he is loved for what he does. A child lives with the foundational truth that he is loved for who he is, not for what he does.
A slave lives for today because tomorrow there is no hope for tomorrow. A child endures the struggles of growing up because he knows that his future is full of hope because someday he will receive the inheritance.
A slave knows that if he leaves, death is certain. A child knows that if he wanders he can always come home. Always.
A slave, even if he were to become ‘legally free’ still holds the DNA of slavery. A child will always bear the genetic marks of son-ship.
A slave sees a master. A child sees a loving father.
Brothers and sisters, if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you are a child of the living God. You no longer need to live as slaves. You are a child of the King. Regardless of where you are, or where you have been. You have hope based on the person of Jesus Christ, not of yourself.
PRAYER: Father God. Daddy. I’m in awe as I’m reminded once again of who I am. It’s so easy with life circumstances to be deceived into seeing myself as a failure rather than your child. Forgive me for my doubt. Empower me with your spirit to live as your child. Thank you again for Jesus. Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 