God's Timing

Photo by Lori Kennedy

God’s Timing

By Lori Kennedy

. . . Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death.  No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it .”  (John 11:4 NIV)

Have you ever wondered where God is and why He hasn’t answered your prayers? Have you ever felt abandoned by God? Have you felt that He's left you or doesn’t love you? 

Have you had a prayer answered in a different way than you hoped or expected?

I always think of that Garth Brooks song, “Unanswered Prayers”.  As the song goes, when Garth was in high school, he used to pray that God would allow him to marry the girl he was currently dating. Many years later at a class reunion he reflects back on his life.  Then thinking about his current bride, he thanks God for not answering that high school prayer. 

I wonder if Mary and Martha felt that their prayers had gone unanswered when Lazarus died before Jesus arrived.  John 11:5-6 says that Jesus loved Mary, Martha and Lazarus, yet He made the decision to stay where He was two days after He heard that Lazarus was ill.  He arrived four days after Lazarus had been buried.  Martha accuses Jesus in verse 21 of chapter 11 of being too late.  She states, “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.”  In verses 32 of chapter 11, Mary makes this exact same accusation. 

Why do you think Jesus did this?  Why do you think He allowed Mary and Martha to suffer this loss?  Do you think that they felt that He had abandoned them, did not love them and had not answered their prayers?  We know He was burdened for them in their grief as stated in 11:33.  Verse 35 says that Jesus wept. 

Mary and Martha had seen Jesus heal people before as had the Disciples.  Yes, healing was a miracle, but the miracle of healing had already been witnessed.  In fact, that is exactly why Mary and Martha had called on Jesus, healing was the anticipated result of requesting His presence.  However, the scripture states in 11:4 that this particular miracle was to be for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.  Verse 15 of chapter 11 says that it was so the disciples may believe.  Verse 40 further discloses His purpose by stating, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”  Maybe, just maybe, God wanted to reveal more of himself to His faithful followers than had been previously shown to them.

I had a friend tell me that our being able to see God working in our life is like the Macy’s Day Parade on Thanksgiving Day.  We are just someone in the crowd, only able to see what is exactly in front of us at that moment.  God, on the other hand, is hovering over the whole parade and can see beginning, middle, and end.  God knows what’s best for our lives as declared in Romans 8:28 (NIV), “God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose” and in Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV), “For I know the plans I have for you”, declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  It is truly daunting to try to see the Hand of God in the midst of difficult circumstances or to feel His love during an especially silent time.  If you are going through a tough time, I challenge you to keep your perspective eternal using the backdrop of the cross as your filter.  If you are feeling abandoned and not hearing from God, I laugh and tell you to hold on tight, because He might be about to reveal His glory in mighty and powerful ways to you!

Stones

Photo Courtesy of Debra Courtney

Stones

By

Debra Courtney

“This they said to try (test) Him, which they might find a charge on which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger. However, when they persisted with their questions, He raised Himself up and said, Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” John 8:6-7AMP.

I have never heard of Jesus throwing stones at a woman to make her feel better.

Sons of Adam and daughters of Eve throw stones.  Stones come in different forms (i.e. lies, cold shoulders, deceit, evil eye, physical abuse, emotional abuse, verbal abuse etc.) Our calling is not to throw judgment upon others, but to identify with them. 

The Pharisees found out that they were in the same boat the woman was in. I believe that when Jesus bent down and wrote in the dirt is that he possibly wrote down their sins. And as the accusers peeped over to see what he was writing, the stones dropped to the ground.

Jesus was around the temple teaching. It wasn’t until after they made their case against her that he bent down to write in the dirt. The very thing they were formed out of. Remember, man was formed out of the dust, woman was not.

Especially after being Christian for a time we begin to separate ourselves from "sinners."  They have too many issues that bring us down. "Who really wants to go there again?", we say to ourselves.  Back to the bondage(s) and the curse(s) of heaviness that sin carries.  We know this is exactly what the enemy wants us not to do.  He does not want us to engage in the lives of others in order to share with them God's Amazing Grace. He prefers we keep our distance.

But we forget that it was our own "failure to measure up" (i.e. sin) that brought us to Jesus in the first place.  I have to remind myself and want to remind myself to identify with the sins of others, simply because it reminds me of hellish life and environment I came from (grew up in). God is no respecter of persons. By judging her they were could mask their own insecurities and feed their pride. God hates pride. However, it happens so subtly, sometimes we don’t even realize it is happening.

We need to remember that Jesus left us in this world for a very good reason.  The good news of the Gospel is our message. God loves me just the way I am. But he loves me too much to leave me alone in my pride.

It is not my place to judge anyone. As I observe the "sin" in others, I will find myself judging the behavior, but wisdom and grace lead me to leave the judging of the soul to the Creator of that soul. It isn't my job to do God's job.

It’s ironic that I write this in regards to a lesson I learned from watching the reaction of my pet dog Dot-z.  She didn’t like any form of criticizing, heated debates, loud talking, any sort of discourse at all! She would actually get up and leave the room. At first we (my husband and myself) didn’t notice it as much, but later on during the 17 years she lived with us, it was apparent this was her way of letting us know of her disapproval of our heated issues and wanted no part of listening to us or being in the same room with us. She could sense the atmosphere of the room change from harmony to discourse. The same atmosphere that was present when the Pharisees had presented the woman to Jesus.  

Over the last 5 years of her life we became more attentive of how we would relate to each other if there happened to be a disagreement so as not to upset her. As a result of Dot-z attitude and reaction, I began to re-evaluate the way I would react to challenges. I started to look at them more as opportunities rather than challenges. To analyze and ask myself what would Jesus do?  That was when I actually discovered what Jesus meant...”he or she without sin cast the first stone.”  WOW!  What a self-realization about myself.  

I have thrown stones all my life. I felt like stone throwing was what I needed in the world to survive. Because of emotional and verbal abused as a young child growing up this was the only environment I knew. I carried this “stone throwing” in to my adulthood. This to me seemed to be a normal environment. Besides isn’t this the way people work out their frustrations or dislikes about their spouse or other issues they are dealing with in their life and the world?

My stones had many, many names. I hurt a lot of people very badly with my stone throwing and some of my stone(s) actually killed a lot of relationship(s) which I am ashamed of. Especially one in particular. I am in the process of learning to just drop the stones, Debra, just drop the stones!  When I do, I feel as forgiven and liberated as the woman that was brought before Jesus.

I don’t know why I paralleled the woman caught in the act of adultery in the Bible to the way my pet would walk out of the room due to an atmosphere that was unbecoming towards another human being (my spouse) or others.  After all the words in the sand could be my sins just as well as the Pharisees.

I believe it is to show me the character(s) of God and that He requires me to strive and live daily to obtain them.

How does God react when we mess up? Well if I have learned anything, he is not in the stone throwing business.

Faith & Fear

Fear & Faith

by

Tracee Persiko

 

Matthew 16:14-16

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁴ They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

¹⁵ “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 

Faith is one of those things that require a response - an expression of our life that mirrors what we believe. If I were to say I wasn’t scared of the dark, but constantly slept with a night light on, my life would speak of contrast.

Faith requires expression. The truth of my life, and the story it is telling, really should mirror what I believe.

In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus asks his disciples the question, “Who do you say I am?” He wasn’t interested in what the perceptions of others were, but more importantly Jesus wanted to know what His disciples thought. This question is not just for the disciples to answer. Jesus asks each of us this question as well. However we answer this question it will be reflected in our daily lives.

Our lives are meant to look and sound different after God has entered in.

I wish I could say that I have this down, but it’s an honest struggle. I constantly teeter back and forth between responding in faith and responding in fear. I have fears that paralyze me and keep God at a seemingly controlled distance. I struggle to make decisions that don’t always involve calculated risks.

Faith without expression makes no difference.

I have a lot of areas in my life that speak more of fear than faith. I still struggle with surrendering areas of control to God. I have self-sufficiently protected my own heart for so long that it’s hard to trust him with those areas. Fears can also dictate the lenses in which I see and respond out of. 

I know I am not the only on with this battle. Abraham trusted God, but still slept with his servant Hagar. Moses trusted God’s provision, but took control in the desert anyway. David responded in faith with Goliath, but ran at the threat of Saul.

We all have our fear responses that creep in.

Fear nullifies faith. Responding out of fear leaves no room for trust.

The battle of fear vs. faith is so frustrating. I hate that I respond out of my fear. I hate how it affects my relationship with God and others. I am learning to surrender my fears. I am learning to trust more than respond out of them. I hate that our hearts have been wounded and walls of fear have served as replacements. That is not how life is meant to be known.

In the midst of my fears, God gently whispers, “Who do you say that I am?” I am grateful for His grace that reminds me that He is trustworthy and faithful; His perfect love drives out all of my fears. I desire for my story to reflect who I trust and know God to be. Trust is hard and leaves us sitting in discomfort. But a life that speaks of faith reflects trust in the one who is known.

God is redeeming my places of fear. Choosing to respond out of faith is still more of a conscious choice than not. He is gentle, patient, and full of grace.

Who do you say that HE is?

Does your life reflect that answer?