Unveiling Hope

Location Location Location

Our city is exploding! Land that only ten years ago were fields and forests is now a booming housing industry. Beautiful homes have been built – always bigger and better with windows on every side and level. There’s no need to wait for the trees to grow and and the wonders of nature to be enjoyed - much of the natural wooded areas have been preserved. I can’t help but drive by and notice and yes …. of course … from time to time I picture myself living in one of them. Twenty-five years ago, the neighbourhood I live in today was no different from the new suburbs being constructed today. Many people love the convenience of living in the city, but who doesn’t love that country feel in your own backyard? The real estate business says it well when they say the number one selling feature of any home is: location, location, location.

I’m quite content where I am in the natural and I’m content where I am spiritually, but there are times where I can picture in my minds eye spiritually living in a new location – at a new level. My relationship with my Saviour is wonderful, but I’m always longing for more. I know that this is a want that He is only too pleased for me to desire. On the other hand however, I know that at every minute I am exactly where I should be spiritually; I also know that He loves me too much to leave me here. If you’re feeling like you too are ready for a move, wait, listen, and obey. He already has a new place in mind for you.

“If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us.” Numbers 14:8.

I Know

I know you’ve been weeping, and calling out, wondering if I hear you, wondering if I’ve ever heard you. I know.

I know you’re hurting. I know you’re feeling battle fatigued – weary – alone. I know you have many questions that haven’t been answered to your satisfaction. 

I count the times you’ve cried out to me, “I can’t handle this anymore.” I know you can – with me. I know what your made of – I created you. 

There is something you should know – something you should know and believe – six little words filled with truth, hope and promise:'

I am. I hear. I answer. 

“You will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you,” Jer. 29:12 NIV.

What Will You Plant?

If there exists a person who has never lived through turmoil or disappointment, fear or illness, rainy seasons or drought, I would like to meet that person.

I’ve noticed that during those types of seasons, I draw close to God. I draw close to God and my faith in His protection increases BUT in one way, my faith dissipates like the top layer of sand in a desert storm.

Drawing closer to God in fear is the best place to be – tucked away under His wing. The kind of faith I want however is the kind of faith that draws close to God and expects a manifestation of His power and glory to settle me, calm my fears, heal me, dry the rain or soak the land.

I watched a wonderful movie the other night: Faith Like Potatoes. Against all odds, science, common sense, Angus Buchan decided to plant potatoes during a drought because he believed God was calling him to sow his faith. After having been discouraged by his wife, pastor, brother, friends and his banker – his response was, “the condition for a miracle is difficulty; the condition for a great miracle is impossibility.” When things seem impossible, when life’s mountains seem insurmountable, do we move in faith or snuggle up under God’s wing and give Him glory for His protection? I’d rather give Him glory for His protection, His faithfulness, and His healing power and might.

Buchan made one more statement at the end of the movie, “Feel this potato, smell it. Your faith in God must be like that – must be real – you can feel it, you can smell it. Your faith in God has got to be …like potatoes.

What will you plant in this season?

“Nothing is impossible with God,” Luke 1:37.

Wants and Needs

I have a tendency to be selfish; I hate admitting that. This morning I was spending time on the patio – a time normally reserved for giving my thanks and praise to God and lifting up prayers for others. My mind began to wander and before I knew it, I was making a mental list of all the things I “need”. I kept physically shaking my head but my mind kept going back to it’s favourite subject ME. (Still shaking my head).

When the head shaking failed to accomplish what it was purposed for I decided to really analyze my list of needs. What I found, what I usually find, was a long list of wants. Every time I think about things I need they almost always turn out to simply be things I want but don’t really need.

In truth, I can honestly say that there is nothing I need. God always has a handle on those things. He’s always a step ahead of me and He always provides – often before the need becomes desperate, especially when I focus on the needs of others before my own desires.

Today, I just want to give thanks. Today I don’t want to feel that I need what I want. Today I want what I have and pray for what others need and don’t have.

“if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,  then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.” Isaiah 58:10-11.

Where Was He Then?

When my first born son was in primary school I used to pack him a lunch every morning. I  included a napkin on which I would write, “I love you!” and I’d draw little hearts on it. I wanted him to know that even if we weren’t together, I was always there with him. All he had to do was seek me. Those memories are engrained in his mind and he often recalls them with great joy.

Only days ago, a woman was recounted some of her childhood memories to me. Like too many people, some of those memories were not as pleasant as the one my son has stored away. After sharing her memories she asked, “Where was He then? What kind of god would allow these things to happen to a child?”

I don’t have those answers. I don’t think anyone of us does. I also think that to try and answer for Someone else is presumptuous and dangerous. All I could do was draw upon my own experiences of having asked those very same questions. The key to finding answers is asking them of the Right One.

In my case, over time, I had learn to trust and give the power of those memories to Him. Today, I can say with all assurance, that He was there. In seeking and finding God, His power reigned. The memories will never leave. The last thing we want to do is negate or diminish someone’s experiences and paint over them as if they never existed; choice is involved. Someone who is pushed off a precipice by a loved one will never forget that experience, but will they chose to remember the details surrounding who pushed them, why, and what more could have happened, or will they chose to remember that His mighty hand caught them and broke their fall?

The last thing I can comfortably say to a hurting soul is that God will not waste their pain, but that is something they need to find out in an intimate relationship with Him; that’s when those questions are answered. So what does a person respond to that question? All we can do is show His love, mercy and compassion until they are ready to receive it directly from the source. That is why we’re here.

Christ came as the expression of His Father’s love and when He returned to be with Him, He left that honourable task with us.

“You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart,” Jer. 29:13 ESV.

Do Not Despise New Beginnings

Winter is officially over in the Canada’s capital city. The remnants of winter are scarce; the occasional dirt and soot covered snow banks are sparsely scattered about the landscape among the budding trees and the tulips beginning to push their way through the earth. Welcome are the short rains that wash away the remainder of what is now past as they  prepare the way for new beginnings.

New beginnings can be a frightening thing to people. I know they are to me. I’m incredibly  adaptable for someone who doesn’t exactly welcome change. God has been changing me since I returned from Israel in December. He’s been pruning me – removing various things in my life that, in the past, were not only a great source of joy for me, but also a way in which I could serve and worship Him.

I’ve had to adapt to changes in situations before however they were usually bitter circumstances in which the terrifying and unknown prospects of the future could only be for the positive. When God gives you something wonderful like a friend, a particular gifting or ability, or He places you in service to a ministry or profession you enjoy, and then decides to let you know that it was only for a season – well – let’s just say that it can be difficult to let go with a healthy attitude.

Dr. Barry Boucher  often remarks, “if God gives you something you better not hold on to it too tightly.” He’s absolutely right. Serving God with all my heart means that whatever new beginning He has in store for me I had better acknowledge that it’s my love and worship of Him, and not necessarily what I have or what I’m doing, that is paramount.

“Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them,"  Isaiah 42:9.

So, Where's the Blessing?

On Sunday evening my eldest son was to swing by my place and pick up his brother and me; we were planning a dinner out together. He called 4 minutes before he was scheduled to pick us up and asked if we could meet him there half an hour later. I agreed, but I let my impatience get the best of me. So, I occupied myself for about twenty minutes before my youngest son and I left.

Dinner was good. The company was great. Just as the waitress was bringing the bill my eldest mentioned the word “egg”. I jumped out of my seat with immense panic building up. “Sweet Jesus! I left a pot of eggs boiling on the stove!” (Not just a ruse to get him to pay the bill). I darted off. I broke every speed limit on the way home, praying for help and praying for forgiveness for breaking the law. As I was approaching the turn off to the intersection nearest my home, I rolled my window down to see if there was a smell of fire in the air. As I rounded the corner I looked for a fire truck and saw none. I jumped out of my car, it may have still been moving for all I can recall, and I ran into the house. It was full of smoke, the stench of 8 eggs was glued to my walls, floors and ceiling, and the smell of burnt teflon permeated the house. There remained in the smouldering pot half an egg. Those eggs were hard boiled alright – to the tune of 2 hours!

My dog Buddy was no where to be seen. I ran to the patio door to let some air in and then ran to the front to open the door. Just as I opened the door Buddy appeared out of no where and darted out the front door and stood by my car. “How could you do this to me,” was the look on his face. “You know I’m afraid of the smoke detector!” I’m sure even he prayed during those two hours. Buddy ended up with egg all over his face and so did I. It took my son and I over an hour to clean up the mess.

So, where’s the blessing in all this? All the way home I prayed and prayed and begged and pleaded that everything would be okay and that I hadn’t burned down my neighbours’ homes or killed my dog. He answered my prayer. In the natural scheme of life, my home should have gone up in smoke Sunday evening. The fact that it didn’t was a God thing. That was supernatural. There was no luck involved. It was answered prayer. Thank you, Lord.

“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us,” 1 John 5:14.

Set Apart

A few days ago, a well intentioned girlfriend told me she’d like to “set me up” with a friend of hers. She began to sing this individual’s praises. He sounded like a very nice person. I had to decline – this friend of hers is not a Christian. For a few seconds her face appeared to look as if I had not only insulted her, but her eligible bachelor friend. She wanted an explanation and I was happy to give it; she thought I was being a snob.

I’m not a religious person by any means. I don’t like religion. I do however love God and I trust in Him – I trust in His words – and I trust in His wisdom. I also have experience under my belt – the experience of previously being married to a self-proclaimed pagan. Now, in all fairness, I have to admit that at that time, I did not know Jesus – but I did believe in God.

In the Pentateuch, God gives instruction to His chosen children – the children of Israel – concerning who they were permitted to marry. He did not want them to intermarry because their surrounding neighbours worshipped idols and false gods. In His great and awesome wisdom, He knew that their hearts would be lead astray from worshipping Him and, in doing so, they would lose the blessings that He had in store for them. “You’re not an Israelite,” she said. “No, I’m not. But, I’ve been grafted in to the family tree.”

In all his wisdom, King Solomon disobeyed God in this respect. His heart was turned to the gods that his wives worshipped. It didn’t go well for him. His exemplification of this disobedience had an extremely negative impact on his son Rehoboam and also, in fact, all his subjects.

I told my friend that if God was preparing someone for me that I am sure he would be a man who loves God even more than I do. Why? Because he would be the head of my family and would be responsible to set an example of godliness.

“That doesn’t sound very fun,” she stated. I just smiled because I know in my heart that divorce isn’t much fun and neither are the consequences of unwise decisions. I was chosen and set apart for a purpose. If and/or when God decides that it’s time for me to be part of a couple, I have no doubt that His choice will be the best choice and it will go well for me.

“Oh that they had such a mind as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever!” Deut. 5:29.

What Are You Thinking About?

A friend of mine and I were having a little chat after the service on Sunday.We got onto the topic of feelings and how some of them can overwhelm us and subsequently control us. I used to despise being what most people call a “feeler”. Naturally, that’s because most of the feelings I had were self-involved, negative, and growth-stunting.

We discussed how to discern what is a useful feeling and what is not. Sidebar if you will; I can give some pretty solid advice from time to time, but believe me, I don’t always use the wisdom God gave me and follow it. Maybe writing about it will root it a little more deeply into my character.

I believe that all feelings originate as the product of the thoughts we entertain. What we see and hear can often be what seeds a thought into our minds. We don’t have to water those seeds. We know that there is one who travels to and fro upon the earth seeking that which he can destroy. It takes very little effort for that guy to plant rotten seeds, but we are the only ones who have the power to decide whether they will grow in the fertile soil of our minds.

Thoughts that encourage, edify, and exalt others, ourselves, and God are worthwhile. We can express them and make them fruitful. We can meditate on them day and night. We help others grow, we grow ourselves, and relationships with God flourish.

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things,” Phil. 4:8 ESV

What's Cooking?

Every now and then I’ll cook a roast beef. As it is cooking, my son is lead by the aroma and appears out of nowhere with this question: “What’s cooking?” As the roast cooks, the smell permeates our home. The next questions to follow about every hour are, “What time is supper?” “When are we eating?” and “Is it almost ready?” We find ourselves anticipating the moment when we’ll sit down together and enjoy the fruit of my labour.

I could get annoyed at the repetitive questions and pressure to provide, but instead I relish in the fact that what I am doing, the preparation that I’ve put into the meal, is expected and being looked forward to.

Imagine though, if I removed the roast and served it before it was fully cooked. It wouldn’t taste as it was meant to taste. It will not have been worth the wait nor meet his expectations or need.I find that when it comes to waiting for something I need, my son and I are very much alike. I can almost taste it and I don’t want to wait. Rather than savouring the aroma, I want it now.

Things are no different when I ask God to provide for a need. I don’t want to wait. When I really think about it, He wants to serve me the best – not substandard or the next best thing. He’s knows my likes and dislikes. He knows my needs. He knows what’s best for me and His timing is perfect. It’s not easy to control my desire to take over and trust that what He is preparing for me will be what I really want and need.

I can be persistent and annoying with my nagging question, “Is it almost ready?”  But I’m sure that God is smiling over the fact that I’m waiting and giving thanks that He will provide exactly what I need when I need it – even when I’m trying to rush Him.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God,” Philippians 4:3.