It is ok to be weak

(1 Corinthians 2:1-5 NLT) When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn't use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God's secret plan. For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the One who was crucified. I came to you in weakness—timid and trembling. And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God.

For some strength comes easy, others hope to be stronger but what if our human weakness is instead a blessing from God? Have you ever been around a person that knows just what to say, without hesitation? They leave the impression that surely they are wise and it is true they have practiced and trained their whole lives. From grade school, through high school and college, and they have been encouraged by people’s responses, especially now that they are adults in the work place. For their efforts has rewarded them well but in all of that you have to wonder did they ever stop to ask what God’s plan is?

Those who wish they were like the group I just mentioned but can’t quite pull off the quick responses should stop striving and think about this. Maybe, just maybe God is holding their tongue and maybe God has a better way for their lives then those who are considered wise by the world. With me wisdom seems to come the next morning, by then everyone has said their part and conclusions have been drawn and the group is ready to move on to the next subject. What I have failed to see in these situations is that God definitely is providing His direction for my life but it seems as if He has no interest in entering this type of debate. I have even prayed for quicker responses because this “morning wisdom” I reason, would benefit everyone or am I more concerned about making myself look more important, sometimes it is a toss-up. Debates I don’t enjoy but writing I do and I think this is the reason... it gives me time to listen – something that is difficult to do when your mouth is always open.

(Matthew 7:6 NLT) "Don't waste what is holy on people who are unholy. Don't throw your pearls to pigs! They will trample the pearls, then turn and attack you.”

I am left feeling as if these nuggets of wisdom are meant for those who purposely slow down to listen. The ones with quick responses don’t really listen beyond what is required for their rebuttal. There are however, two occasions when I surprise myself by speaking my mind, one I regret to say is when I am angry but the other is when I am filled with passion. These times happen in degrees depending on how far I’ve been pushed or how passionate I am about a particular subject. I have had times when indignation came over me and drove me as if I had no other choice but to speak out but those times are almost always with another individual or small group that shows they know how to listen and are interested in learning and can usually be described as a God moment. The times I speak out in anger almost always turns into an argument and I usually end up regretting the things that I felt just had to be said, even if truth is spoken the delivery of it diffuses the message and it desensitizes that person’s ability to receive truth in the future, especially from me. These are the times I need to do more listening than speaking and tread lightly, remembering who’s I am. I do not need to speak in defense of myself for it is much better if God defends me and leads me on what to do next. When I speak for my own defense I not only wish I hadn’t but I also lose God’s direction, leaving me lost and looking for hope. Over the years I have learned to be thankful that wisdom comes slowly, many times I’ve learned the best response is, “I need to pray and think about it and get back to you.” This way the pressure is taken off of me and the credit goes to God – I have learned that it is ok to let my weakness show because those are the best times to hear God’s direction and the times I have done this I have never walked away wishing I would have had a quick response.

The power of God as foolishness

(1Co 1:18-21) The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. As the Scriptures say, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent." So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world's brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. Since God in His wisdom saw to it that the world would never know Him through human wisdom, He has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe.

To those who think they are clever, to those who feel they know the way, one day you will look back at all your life, the struggles, striving, and even what the world would call successes, only to realize that you have missed the mark. Then what will you do? Your life will have been spent all for not and in the end you will realize the things you have spent your time and resources on will one day fade away but to those who have centered their lives on Christ Jesus they will have great joy in the end because their lives were spent on the things God has said was eternal. Though their success is not recognized now and is not seen by this world one day God will honor them before all men as He acknowledges them as His children.

(1Co 1:25-29) This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God's weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength. Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world's eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And He chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.

So those who look at their success and wonder why others can’t be more like they are be warned! For it is not I that condemns you but you condemn yourselves. Do you have pride in your own abilities or do you credit your success to God’s leading? Do you have power over others? What will it take for you to recognize the warning signs God has given you? Do you really know God or do you use his name as a label you put on your accomplishments only to gain the respect of others? You will know by this – what does your prayer life look like? Do you spend time in God’s Word daily? Have you faced hardships that have guided you back to the Master or do you not receive His correction believing your easy life is blessing from God? Be careful you don’t deceive yourself as you strive to look good before others. Why does it matter what others think? Are they able to save you? If you were able to do all that they recommended would it put you in better standing with God on that terrible day?

(Heb 12:6) For the LORD disciplines those He loves, and He punishes each one He accepts as His child.

You see a child does not live out his or her young life without correction from the parents, so why do you being as a child in God’s eyes think you know the way? The parents correct the child because they love them, how much more will God correct us when we disobey and how will we know if we are being disobedient if we don’t know what God has told us? A Godly person once said, “Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to McDonalds makes you a hamburger.” And it’s true so many people today believe they are in God’s will simply because they go to church but they have no personal connection with God. They put fourth no efforts on their own to seek God through prayer or study of His Word, yet they think they have the mind of Christ. This person fools themselves into a false sense of security, they may have built a successful life and if you ask them they will give partial credit to Christ but again only to gain the respect of a broader group of people – acceptance is a powerful drug. Do you find yourself reasoning that you don’t need to spend time with God because He somehow leads your steps as if by osmosis? Get this, the closer you get to God the more time you want to spend with Him. If you are finding reasons not to be alone with Him then you don’t know Him. Does the world love you for your accomplishments? If you fail then what? I know God’s love is unconditional and He is less concerned about our comfort than He is our obedience. So am I foolish to turn my back on man’s idea of success so that I may live in a way that is pleasing to my Creator? It depends on what you believe, if this life is all there is you better take what you can while you are here but if your soul is eternal and you have violated God’s law to gain something that you can’t hold on to then you have paid the ultimate price and once you cross that river your choice cannot be undone.

For I have been bought with a price

Many times my mind wonders, many times my eyes are pulled away but to you Oh, Lord does my heart return time and again. I have walked with you now longer than I have walked on my own yet You are still here. For You have seen my short comings and my failures, You have seen how my efforts get in the way yet You have not turned away. When David was running for his life often he made wrong choices but You remained his shelter through it all and I know it is true because You do the same for me, even today. For the depths of David’s heart cried out when he said, “I can never escape from Your Spirit! I can never get away from Your presence! If I go up to heaven, You are there; if I go down to the grave, You are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there Your hand will guide me, and Your strength will support me.” (Psa. 139:7-10). When You sent your Son You tore your heart in two because you loved me so much and now I stand before You without words to say but in the silence your love washes over me and I am amazed. My eyes are filled with tears because I will never understand your heart. All I know is that I have been purchased at a great price and in your presence I can neither turn to the left or the right, my eyes are fixed on You and my heart surrenders… I am yours, Oh Lord, I am yours.

Courage

While going through a difficult situation I felt led to watch Christian movies because of a message I might receive, knowing that movies, like dreams God sometimes uses to speak messages to His people. Sunday night I watched a movie called Courage with Andrea Roth and Jason Priestley in it. I watched it because of the troubled teen hoping to understand Isaac a little better but it was the mother that spoke to me. She was very smart and seemed to have many answers but when tragedy struck her answers led her in the wrong direction, even into danger. First she was guiding the cabin cruiser in a storm but because she could not see it struck a rocky shore throwing her husband off the boat and breaking his leg. Her husband unable to move and their teenaged daughter scared she was in charge. A couple days went by and the husband’s leg had infection, she was going to leave to look for help until her daughter, gathering firewood ran into a bear. The mother found the daughter and the escaped the grizzly, they headed back to camp and the decision was made that all three would leave. Once in the woods they struggled moving and once being chased by this grizzly the mother made a decision that almost drowned her husband. Meanwhile a rescue team did find the wrecked boat on shore but of course the family was nowhere to be found, proving once again the mother’s wisdom was misguided. Because of the difficulty moving the mother makes another decision to leave on her own and look for help. Fortunately, the bear tracks her instead of going after the father and daughter. She does not find help but gets lost in the forest, realizing the bear is following her she runs and gets hurt, laying helpless on the forest floor. The rescue team that finds the boat does find the daughter and she leads them back to her father but the wife is now missing. Eventually, she is found and all is good but what was clear to me the efforts of the mother, even though she was intelligent were exactly the wrong thing to do and it only led to more trouble.

Lord, help me to remain still for I know your rescue is coming. Change me so more of Jesus shows in my life, I have seen the me without You and I don’t like him. You have conditioned me for this hour and You have made a way through this but it is not by my intelligence or my ability to endure hardship but by You alone shall I see salvation. I don’t know the answer to the questions when, why, or how but I don’t need to know. I also am not concerned about the label man places on me as long as I am pleasing You. Lord, have mercy for you alone know my heart and my desire to do what is right. Give me courage as I wait for You, oh Lord. Amen.

Every man's prayer

Lord, thank you for trusting me with the care of my wife and my children which are in turn your daughters and sons. If it be pleasing to my King lead me and instruct me so that your principles and precepts may not only be known by me but by them through me. Father you never promised this course I’m on would be easy but I know you have promised not to leave me alone and speaking of promises I have made some to you as well, such as promising not to leave or forsake my wife, in sickness or in health, for better or for worse and my children I’ve promised to raise them in such a way that they would know what you have done to deliver us from the snare of the enemy. Somehow the busyness of life can cause us to lose sight of these things and result in existing without purpose but you have awaken me so that I may not be led astray and therefore I pray you give me the strength I need to follow you for your glory and your honor I lay my life down, knowing that which I would seek after if left to my own devices I willingly lay at your feet so that the crown you have waiting for me maybe held by you oh, King until that day I hear you say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”

His Vessel

I have come to realize even when doing the right thing if you are doing it for the wrong reason you are bound for change. Christian and world leaders alike have been heard telling their constituents “just do it” for they know the biggest hurdle is going from stand still to a forward momentum and once those who were not invested before take ownership their hearts and minds will change, hopefully for the better but that’s not always the case. I believe God’s view is a little different, Jesus said this. (Luke 16:10 KJV) “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.” I have seen this principle, both for the faithful and unfaithful take place with people I have worked for so I know it to be true and if that is the case it would seem leaders today with the “just do it” attitude may be missing the mark or at least not telling the whole story.

I would like to tell you a story about a vessel made by the master for his purpose but this vessel, like the others, did not understand the master’s will until a change was introduced. Once there was a master craftsman who made clay vessels for many different purposes, many different shapes and sizes and many different colors too. Some were made to display his handiwork and sat in places of honor while others were made to carry water from the well or hold things, still others were used for incense and the fragrance that came from inside them filled the room. While they were all different they had many similarities and among them there were beliefs that the master made them certain ways for certain reasons, while this was true there were also thoughts and ideals among them that were not true, evidence of an enemy.

One day as the master was working at the potter’s wheel his work, like always, captured the attention of all the vessels in the room. Anticipating the arrival of the newest creation they watched and waited to see what the master was up to. As the lump of clay began to take shape it looked much like the others but as the master went on differences was noticed. The master took his time carving and sculpting, painting, glazing, and baking much like before but all the vessels felt the new vase was different but could not yet explain it. When the master finished he placed it among the others on a table that was holding all the other newly formed vessels and on the rim of this vase was a name, it read “Messenger” but the newest vessel did not know what it meant. As time passed Messenger’s differences became more noticeable, some called him a loner for he did not talk or cut up as much as the others, he didn’t seem to enjoy himself as he should have, for the others were always laughing and having fun and when he did talk his point of view was different for it seemed the master had set him apart from the others for a reason still unknown. Regardless, there was plenty of work to be done and each one had expectations to meet for it was not a good thing to be considered one who did not pull their weight. Messenger had many duties to choose from as each new vessel did and as he put him whole self into it his options became better but as each one knew he or she was made for one certain purpose and it was up to them to figure out what it was, some were able to obtain this revelation while others never did. The vessels that discovered this special purpose for their lives are vessels that have the respect of all the master’s vessels everywhere and it did not matter what they did only that they had a closeness to the master for only he could reveal what they were created for.

Now Messenger worked hard at whatever he did but his daydreams were filled serving the master, unfortunately these dreams lacked clarity and left him without direction. In the meantime he too began to recognize differences between himself and the others. Messenger didn’t understand that these “differences” would one day provide the direction he had been looking for but instead he began to wish the master had made him more like the others so that way he could at least enjoy the same things the others enjoyed. Messenger was a good worker and he was selected many times because of his abilities and willingness to work but to Messenger everything seemed to be an effort while others appeared to be rewarded while putting forth very little effort, almost as if it were handed to them for some unknown reason. All of this left him with more questions than answers and the more he thought about it the more he grew weary from the burden he carried with him everywhere he went. It was one thing to be different and be surrounded by celibacy but to be separated in a sea of others unlike one’s self, alike but different somehow almost seems cruel. The question “why” became an undercurrent in the life of this vessel until it began to direct him but it was not where he was meant to go. Everything he did only shadowed the feeling that he was made to bear a hardship others were not required to carry.

Now Messenger loved the master and somehow he knew the master had a plan but many times he wondered what good was a plan if he became so wore out and broken down from the burden he was carrying before he was able to find out what the master’s plan was. The longing to be with the master became stronger almost daily, for the master understood and therefore held the keys to all the questions why but the reality was that he was made to exist among the other vessels the master made, apart from his creator. Over time Messenger took the master’s absence as further indication that the differences were not only obscurities but flaws as the others so many times reminded him, these flaws only served as evidence that he did not belong. Without realizing it resentment got a foothold in Messenger’s thoughts and way of living. Though he still did the work given to him he no longer did it with a joyful heart, he had nothing to live for. This went on for a while until one day his ability to hear and follow the master’s direction was crippled beyond his own ability to repair. You see Messenger did not realize that he had something the others didn’t – his daily relationship with the master. Even though the master was nowhere to be seen many times Messenger would hear his voice, providing the direction he so longed for.

One day tragedy struck, seemingly from out of the blue but it was really the result of wrong thinking and wrong motives. On this day Messenger was sitting on a shelf holding some flowers the master picked from his morning walk, the day seemed to be better than usual until all of a sudden the shelf shook and everything on it came crashing to the floor, including him. When Messenger awoke he realized what happened but couldn’t move. He was now exposed for all to see but he was powerless to do anything about it. Knowing the master kept a watchful eye over all his possessions Messenger wondered what possible good could come of this and why the master would allow this to happen, as if his life wasn’t hard enough already. Lying there for what seemed like eternity, knowing others were watching and making comments as to the extent of what he deserved based on yet again his differences Messenger worked up the strength to protect what little value was left, while his heart cried out for help but those around only ridiculed. The more he struggled, the more he was exposed until it ended in the total destruction of all he had known but then he remembered, “I am not in control, my job is only to do that which the master asks of me. Whether I am broken of fully functional I need only listen and obey and I know the master will not ask more of me than I am capable of giving.” He said to himself, “If this is the end so be it, for I know ultimately I will be with my master and on that day all my questions “why” will be answered.” As he lay still there on the floor thinking about all of these things he heard something he had not heard in quite a long time, the master’s voice or was he simply imagining it? This soft compassionate voice reminded him of a story he had not heard since he was young and full of dreams. He remembered it was a story that he heard over and over again but somehow forgot it as he became loaded down with responsibilities. The story which almost sounded like a fairy-tale now sounded a lot like his own… the main character was different from the others, separated from the one he loved most, crowded by others who did not understand him, and ultimately, like him, broken for all to see. This story the master told was the story of his own life and the book he read it from often sat on the shelf next to Messenger but always within view for as long as he could remember but somehow recently he had forgot all about it. Again, Messenger’s thoughts came back to his current state of being but no longer was his concerns on himself or what others thought of him but instead the things his loving master went through for the purposes not understood in his youth but now abundantly clear – it was so the master might purchase the old dried out lump of clay he used to be. It was from this same lump that the master made him and did it lovingly and uniquely, unlike any other. Now that which was a thorn in his side was the ultimate place of joy in Messenger’s heart.

Now this broken vessel still had many questions but the resentment had melted away and his “differences” now gave him strength because all of his life seemed to be especially designed to know how the master must have felt on his journey. Because of this Messenger felt closer to the master than he ever had, even in his youth, even though the master was nowhere in sight. Somehow he knew the master would once again make something unique out of nothing and all the unanswered questions didn’t seem so important any more. Yes the other vases, jars, and pots would still talk and misunderstand but that could not change the closeness he now had with the master. Messenger knew in his heart one day when the master restores his life this time the work he had would be done for the right reasons and though it took a disaster for his heart to change and much pain had been known it was all worth it because of the master’s touch, for that was Messenger’s reward and it was that day that Messenger came to know the meaning of his name and his true purpose. For his words were no longer his own but he was to tell the world about his master’s amazing love and ability to heal that which was broken.