Month: July 2013

Saying Thanks Before Seeing the Gift

| Karen

The hardest time to say thank you is before you see the gift.  But yesterday, this is exactly what God asked me to do.

Through various circumstances, it seems a change is coming.  I can’t speak more about it yet, but it has caused me an extreme amount of anxiety.  Maybe you can relate –  the unexpected comes, hits you out of left field, and you’re not quite sure what God will do to set things right.  Maybe you, like myself, tend to focus on the problems as they grow bigger and bigger.

I wonder what expectations the 12 spies took when they went to have a sneak peak at the Promised Land (Numbers 13-14)?  Basically, God had taken them out of slavery, done several miracles along the way, and said Here is the promised land (paradise) I am going to give you… 

Did some go with the idea that the Promised Land would never work out?  There’s too many of us, even if there is a land flowing with milk and honey, it could never sustain this many people for long, we’ll have to be moving again before long…

Did some go with the idea that the Promised Land would be taken without difficulty?  Whoa God, You didn’t say that there would be any obstacles along the way – I thought if any people lived here already, they would be so frail and weak or at least terrified of us, that as soon as we’re ready to take the land, they would just flee in panic.  But these guys look huge!  Much stronger than us… Maybe this isn’t such a great idea after all…

Or did some go with the idea that no matter what they saw, God had already said He would give them the land so they took Him at His word?

Yesterday in my devotion, I read, “The ten [spies] saw God, if at all, only through the difficulties of the situation. These two men [Joshua and Caleb] saw the difficulties through God. In one case the difficulties minimized god. In the other, God minimized the difficulties.” -James Hastings:

This convicted me.  I had done the same thing.  But God… what about this?  And how will You work this out?  And I don’t see a way around this…

Yet I was looking at God through the lens of my difficulties.  Yesterday, I tried to look first at God’s ability, and see the difficulties through God first.  What did it look like?  I thanked God every time anxious thoughts came to mind.  I determined that I would thank Him in the same mental “breath” for every worried prayer I prayed.

  • Thank You God that You will make a way where there seems to be no way
  • Thank You God that You will never leave me or forsake me
  • Thank You God that You are doing amazing things “behind the scenes” now that I cannot yet see
  • Thank You God that I am not alone
  • Thank You God that You will not leave us destitute
  • Thank You God that You care more for my children and their future even than I do, which seems impossible
  • Thank You God that You will give us wisdom to make the right decisions because we have prayed believing that You will
  • Thank You God that when I walk through the fire and flood, I do not need to be afraid, for You are with me

And on, and on… all day.  And you know what?  The difference was astounding.  Did I still feel anxious at times?  Yes.  But at the end of the day, I felt like my eyes were fixed on Jesus.  Do I have a solution or an answer to how God will work things out?  No.  Do I have greater peace and joy?  Yes.  Do I believe God’s Word even more because I have already thanked Him for fulfilling the promises in Scripture, even though I have not yet seen how He will do this?  Yes.

So I plan to keep the same perspective today.  Will you join me?

Jesus, I pray for everyone else who may be facing uncertain situations right now.  I pray that in their anxiety, they would thank You for who You are and for the promises You have given us in Scripture.  Thank You that You will never leave us or forsake us.  Build our faith now through thanking You with every breath.  Help us all keep our eyes on You so we can see our difficulties in the right perspective instead of letting our difficulties overwhelm our perspective of You.  

Confidence

| Karen

The stage was set.  The place?  An immense, immaculate palace in a foreign land.  Bold columns lined the entryway.  Century-old decorative art, long ago engraved into the walls themselves.  Tapestries hung from the high ceilings.  A thick luxurious rug ran the length of the throne room, up the stairs, and under the throne itself.  On the rug, at the foot of the stairs, men in the business attire of the day were kneeling while presenting an issue before the king, who sat on the gold-plated throne.  The atmosphere?  Troubled.  The proper attitude toward the king?  Fear.  Respect.  He was a good king but powerful.  With a word he had the authority to end the lives of the people he ruled.  The meeting was quiet, but intense.  Suddenly, the throne room door opened.  No interruption was expected.  However, a small girl about 5 years old emerged.  Without a moment’s hesitation, she ran barefoot down the length of the carpet, right through the men who looked surprised but briefly bowed their head towards her, and up onto the lap of the king.  Watching, I feared for the child.  Surely the king would be angry.  If not this, then at least he would be impatient, looking around for some servant to get the child out of his presence.  After all, he had the weight of the whole kingdom on his shoulders at the time.  Yet the king reacted differently.  Drawing the child into his arms, he welcomed her, and turned all of his attention to her.  In fact, the girl whispered something into his ear, and immediately he stood up, carrying her, and went to address the problem she was telling him about.

See, this was from the movie Anna and the King.  Based on a true story, this girl was one of the many children of the king.  It has been years since I have watched this movie, but this scene always remains in my mind.  Perhaps because I feared so much for this little child to be rejected, rebuked, or condemned.

Many years before this king lived, the writer of Hebrews must have had a similar story in mind.  At first, he gave a warning in Hebrews 4:12-13.  “For the word of God is full of living power.  It is sharper than the sharpest knife, cutting deep into our innermost thoughts and desires.  It exposes us for what we really are.  Nothing in all creation can hide from Him.  Everything is naked and exposed before His eyes.  This is the God to whom we must explain all that we have done.”

Terrifying, isn’t it?  It doesn’t make me want to run into the throne room.  Yet the writer continues in Hebrews 4:14-16, “That is why we have a great High Priest who has gone to heaven, Jesus the Son of God.  Let us cling to Him and never stop trusting Him.  This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for He faced all of the same temptations we do, yet He did not sin.  So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God.  There we will receive His mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it.”

“Let us come boldly…”  Can we come boldly if we are only depending on our own good works to give us favor with God?  No… God knows our innermost thoughts, every bad thought, every mean word, every selfish action, every purposeful disobedience… God knows.  There is no hope if we are trusting in our good works to balance out our problem of sin.

Yet there is hope.  Not in ourselves, but in Jesus.  In the past, the High Priest offered animal sacrifices to atone for the sins of all of the people.  But Jesus, God as man, came to live on this earth, in poverty, facing the same problems we have – the same temptations, the same heartaches – yet He lived perfectly, He did not sin.  But He offered the final sacrifice to atone for all of us – not an animal sacrifice.  This time He offered His very life in our place.

The result?  When we accept this sacrifice, and ask Jesus to forgive us for the times we have disobeyed Him, and give our lives completely to His rule as our King – we become His children.  Children who can approach the throne of God boldly – with confidence.  Not in ourselves, but in Christ.  Like the king’s daughter, we can approach without fear of rejection, rebuke, or condemnation.  “So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God.  There we will receive His mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it.”

Today, you need to approach the throne of God.  What is holding you back? 

  • Something wrong you have done?  Tell God about it.  Ask His forgiveness.  He has promised He will forgive (1 John 1:8-9).  Think your sin is too great for God’s forgiveness?  Read the book of John – look at the types of people He forgave, and the types of people He called to be His followers.  Read Mark 2:15-17.
  • Fear of rejection?  I think this breaks God’s heart.  In Matthew 23:37, Jesus grieved that such a sinful city wouldn’t let Him draw the people to Himself, like a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings.  God wants you to come to Him.
  • Fear of condemnation?  But there is no condemnation for those who belong to Jesus – Read Romans 8:1-16.
  • A desire to wait until another day?  What if that day doesn’t come?  Approach God today.  Don’t live another day of your life for yourself, trying to make it on your own good works but feeling tormented because you know you cannot approach God this way.  Accept Jesus – and His work of forgiveness – and enter boldly into God’s throne room.
  • Don’t want to bother God with your problem?  But you are precious to Him.  If you were to have a grain of sand for every time God thought “precious thoughts” about you, they would outnumber all of the grains of sand on earth – just for you!  (Read Psalm 139:17-18, and all of Psalm 139 for more).

Jesus, please give us boldness to know we can approach Your throne of grace today.  Thank You for Your forgiveness, for being our High Priest and making a way for us to become children of God.  Let us not shy away from You but come boldly to You today, knowing we will receive Your grace and help for whatever troubles us the most today.