Month: July 2019

The Weapon of Silence

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Now Joshua had commanded the people saying, “You shall not shout or make any noise with your voice, nor shall a word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I say to you, ‘Shout!’ Then you shall shout.” -Joshua 6:10

Believe it or not, this isn’t the first time the children of Israel had been told to be silent. Joshua’s predecessor had instructed them similarly when they were at the Red Sea (see Exodus 14:14).

In neither case is there a clear, precise reason noted for the silence. For instance, “You need to be quiet so the enemy doesn’t suspect what you’re doing,” or, “This is going to be a surprise attack.” Nope. It appears it’s much like a parent telling a child to just, “Step back, watch, and learn. Trust me. If you’ll stay out of the way, I will take care of this for you.” Not a bad thing, but suppose there is more to being silent than just staying out of the way. What if God is actually giving you a personal weapon that could serve you in all situations, and you just have to learn how to use it.

In the case of the Red Sea scene, they had to totally rely on God. They were not given anything to do. All they were to do was watch. In their silence, they had a weapon for building their faith. In their complete inactivity, they had the chance to allow silence to remove their fear and doubt and worry to replace it with wonder and awe and amazement. Silence became a weapon to build their faith.

Traipsing around Jericho’s walls, their weapon of silence offered a different use. This time God had already told them what he was up to. This time, they had to decide if they believed him. Silence was their personal weapon to choose to believe God, in what he’d promised, and in what he was doing.

What’s your Red Sea, your Jericho wall? It’s possible God is telling you the same thing. “I got this. You don’t need to say another word. Here’s your weapon. Build your faith in me.”

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It’s Coming…Just Not Yet

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I’ve decided I want to chat with Caleb in heaven. Of course, by the time we get there this thought won’t matter, but currently I’m curious.

I’ve never thought about this before today, so here’s the deal. Caleb and his pals were sent to spy out the land of Canaan in Numbers 13. The end result, only Caleb and one other guy said they believed God would allow them to take the land; he was outvoiced by the other ten guys and spent the next 40 years waiting to enter the land. Caleb believed God, but his belief didn’t allow him to receive what he could have had in that moment. He had to wait because of other men’s fears and unbelief. He did nothing wrong, but he had to wait.

Scripture doesn’t mention anything about Caleb during these 40 years.  All we know is that when they were up, he was more than ready to claim his inheritance (see Joshua 14-15). Evidently, Caleb waited well. He didn’t allow himself to get focused on himself long enough for anyone to notice. 

No “poor me!” No “what did I do to deserve this?” 

No, he made a choice to “wholly follow the Lord God of Israel” even after watching his spying pals focus on themselves to the point of death.

Maybe your life situation is the result of someone else’s bad choice. Maybe it’s “not your fault.” Maybe you’d rather get what’s coming to you sooner than later. 

May you catch some hope from Caleb. God sees you. He is for you. He hasn’t forgotten you. Your thousand days are a second to him. Hold on. It’s coming…just not yet.

This Is So

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(Lyrics to a song inspired by Joshua 4:24)

Verse 1

With each sunrise you refill me

To recount the hope that I see

Looking back to claim your promise

All my words proclaim your goodness

 

Chorus

This is so

All may know that You are God

This is so

I may always fear You, Lord

Write it on my heart

Remind me who you are

May I not forget

This is so

 

Verse 2

Waves behind me tell your story

Ever lifting all your glory

Here’s my song to join in raising

Yours alone the name worth praising

 

Bridge

In your presence I’m made holy

By your strength I’m standing only

July 4, 1837

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(portions of President John Quincy Adam’s Independence Day speech in 1837 as quoted in Our Presidents and Their Prayers)

Why is it, friends and fellow citizens, that you are here assembled? Why is it, next to the birthday of the savior of the world, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day? – And why is it that, among the swarming myriads of our population, thousands and tens of thousands among us, abstaining, under the dictate of religious principle, from the commemoration of that birth-day of Him, who brought life and immortality to light, yet unite with all their brethren of this community, year after year, in celebrating this, the birth-day of the nation? Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event in the progress of the gospel dispensation? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer’s mission upon earth? That it laid the corner stone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity, and gave to the world the first irrevocable pledge of the fulfillment of the prophecies, announced directly from Heaven at the birth of the Savior and predicted by the greatest of the Hebrew prophets six hundred years before?

…the Declaration of Independence announced the One People, assuming their station among the powers of the earth, as a civilized, religious, and Christian People, – acknowledging themselves bound by the obligations, and claiming the rights, to which they were entitled by the laws of Nature and of Nature’s God.

…A moral Ruler of the universe, the Governor and Controller of all human power, is the only unlimited sovereign acknowledged by the Declaration of Independence; and it claims for the United States of America, when assuming their equal station among the nations of the earth, only the power to do all that may be done of right.

Hope Restorer

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You may have asked or been asked the question, “If you could have one super power, what would it be?” After today, I know a pretty good answer.

Within three hours, God gave me the opportunity to have four conversations-three with people I met for the first time. He apparently wanted to see if I would give them what he gave me (see July 1 post).  To summarize in one word what these conversations circled around, they were all about restoration:

  • Joy Restoration
  • Security Restoration
  • Connection Restoration
  • Faith, Love, and Value Restoration 

In the eyes of someone seeking restoration, you see many things: loss, fear, loneliness, anger, confusion, hurt-to name a few. But when they are given a different vision, a different lens that gives them a peek at an answer or a way out, something else flashes across their eyes. Their restoration has been birthed by a glimpse of hope.

What if we all pursued the super power of restoring hope? If you’re thinking you don’t have any hope to offer, then maybe it’s time for you to be a receiver (see yesterday’s post). Or maybe you’re thinking, I don’t know how to restore hope. Congratulations! You just made yourself available for the Holy Spirit to do his work through you rather than you doing it for him. One thing is for sure-we can’t give something that we don’t have.

So here’s the challenge: store up your own hope. Be ready to give it away to those who show you they need it. Be prepared to answer the super power question: “I already have one. I’m a Hope Restorer.”

Balanced Communities

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Community. Whether we want to be or not, we are in community. And lots of it.

  • Family 
  • Work
  • Church
  • Neighborhood
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Charities
  • Hobbies

And the list could go on. And in all of these various communities we find ourselves in, we have a role as either a receiver or a giver; ideally, in the best of communities, we all work at keeping a good balance of actually being both.

We tend to focus on how much giving determines a community’s greatness. Generosity no doubt strengthens every fiber of a community. But let’s be honest; there are some challenges with being all about giving and disregarding the value of receiving. 

Jesus illustrated this in the scene where perfume was lavished on him. No one could out give Jesus. Yet he illustrated the humility to allow someone to give to him. Did he really need what he was receiving? Some thought no; he believed otherwise. A better question would be, how did Jesus receive the service from others that he taught them to give? In order to fulfill his own teaching of love and peace, he had to allow himself to receive it.

I’m not the best receiver. I’m a much better giver. What has helped my growth in receiving is this definition of community: experiencing Jesus’ love through other humans. I can’t control their giving and receiving, but I certainly can control mine.

Here’s to balanced giving and receiving in all our communities!

Give ‘Em What God Gave You

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It’s possible for someone in my position to ask myself this question more than others; but the reality is we all ask it, consciously or not: “Why is this person in my life?”

Reality also is we can ask that question from a negative or a positive place. The negative place might contain spoken or unspoken expletives. The positive place would not; they would be replaced with a better question, something like this: “How can I fulfill the reason God placed me in this person’s life?”

When you read John’s account of Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman at the well (chapter 4), you get the sense Jesus asked this better question. It’s most likely what prompted him to start the conversation. He needed something from her, yet he wanted even more to reveal to her she needed something that only he could provide. The Father had brought them together for a reason.

If you were to make a list of those people you believe God has put in your life for a reason, who would make the list? What if you wrote their names down and then added by each name what that reason might be? It could be something as simple as to listen. Maybe a slightly bigger reason of to recognize. What if like Jesus, God has given you something unique that, with his help, only you could provide for this person? According to Paul in Ephesians 2:10, God’s already given you what you need to fulfill your reason. Nothing stands in your way. Go ahead. Give ’em what God gave you.

Building Trust

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This quote came from my @youversion devotion this morning:

“My perspective of every situation will either encourage or dishearten my trust in God.”

I believe that. So to put it to a test, here’s a simple exercise I started as a journal entry. You might give it a try also.

Make two headings on the page: Dishearten & Encourage

Under dishearten, write a perspective that clearly lacks trust in God.  Maybe something like, “God doesn’t care.”

Then under encourage, write the perspective that counters this statement. Possibly, “God is always at work.”

So far I’ve written four competing perspectives on my page. I’m going to review it daily and add to it throughout the week.  The goal-build trust instead of sabotage it.

What exercise might help you build your trust in God?