Category: Difficulty

Does God See my Couch?

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Our sitting and rising are often indicative of a change in circumstance and mindset. When we shift our location or position, it is usually with intention. Therefore, these events mark pivotal moments.

My rising from bed in the morning is a key moment. My attitude at that point often sets the tone for the start of my day. Many factors play into the feeling at my daybreak rising: How well did I sleep? What were my thoughts as I drifted off to rest the evening before? How well does my body feel? What events await me? What appointments will I face today? What human interactions await me today? How much work lies ahead?

Similarly, our sitting down in a particular spot marks important thoughts. Many factors play into our feelings as we sit down in our office chair: Why I am employed here? What is the real purpose of my life? Who will affirm my value today? Who will try my patience? Will my paycheck cover my financial needs? How late do I have to work? Am I smart enough to complete this project? Why don’t more people like me? Will I have a job next month?

Or, perhaps you are sitting down on the couch in your family room. It is your time to relax . . . or not to relax. Flowing through your mind as you sit in the comfort of your own home may be considerations such as: Why will my mind not stop racing? Will I be lonely again this evening? Why did I make bad decisions today? Why is my house not as nice as someone else’s home? What do I need to get done this week? What should I do with the next hour? Why do I feel so overwhelmed at the end of each day?

No matter where or when we sit – or where or when we rise – one fact remains . . . the Lord knows all about it. He is not a God removed from His creation. He is ever-present and all-knowing. David confidently proclaimed of the Lord in Psalm 139:2 (NIV), “You know when I sit and when I rise.” What comfort! I face no change in circumstances and no shift in thought alone. My God is with me, taking it all into His consideration. No other person on the face of the earth may understand my heart as I bend my knees to gently sit or plant my feet on the floor to firmly rise, but God – who is both on the face of the earth and above the earth – apprehends my every idea.

God sees every positional transition of my body and every mental activity of my mind. He knows. He knows. He knows. Moreover, God generates an endless number of thoughts toward us to cover every circumstance we face. Not only does He see, our Lord is thinking. He is sending His own heart straight to us. The God who is sovereign over the entire universe is thinking innumerable things about you! David said in Psalm 139:17-18 (NIV), “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand.”

I recently learned that Lady Gaga has nearly eighteen million people following her on Twitter. This essentially means that at least eighteen million humans are thinking of her. That astounding fact is nothing compared to God’s thoughts aimed at you! His precious ideas for your life cannot even be counted! To meet every question of your heart is a thought of God. To surpass every movement and occurrence of your life is an answer of God. You need not be famous or talented or rich to have the only One who really counts thinking of you always.

Are you sitting and about to rise? Are you standing and about to sit? God knows. Whatever it is you will ponder or have to face in your change of position, God has a thought of His own to meet it and conquer it. He knows when you sit and when you rise, and His thoughts toward you are innumerable! Rise and sit . . . fully assured.

Life-Building: Will You Crash or Stand?

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What do followers of Jesus have in common with those who do not follow Jesus? Two things are for sure: we both invest in our lives and we both suffer. Jesus directly addressed these two issues when He taught the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders. He also clearly expresses the one thing the wise and foolish builders do not have in common – the end result of life as a whole. At the surface – and from a bird’s-eye view – much can appear similar when it comes to working through life and enduring all the nasty things the world can bring. However, a marked difference exists. For one person, the result is everlasting endurance; for the other, it is final destruction.

Keep in mind that Jesus is not simply a storyteller or a kindly teacher. Jesus is God . . . and the Creator and Designer of reality. When He speaks to the issues of life, He knows what He is talking about! This parable is not just an inspirational speech; this teaching is Truth. Do you want to be hit square between the eyes with what matters? Do you want to face actuality head-on? Do you want to take the blinders off and be real about your soul and destiny? Then listen to the words of Jesus Christ in Matthew 7:24-27 (NIV):

    Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had is foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.

My mathematical mind so prone to symmetry immediately notices the similarities and differences between the two types of “life builders”:

    1) Both types of people hear the words of Jesus. So, hearing or reading or even knowing God’s Word is not the answer to a secure life.
    2) While one group hears and does not put the words into practice, the other type actually lives out the Word of God. This is no little thing. The wise builders do not simply read the Bible in order to feel good about themselves or to appease church-going onlookers. The wise builders actually apply God’s Word to the inner workings of their minds and the outer working of their lives. They do not just hear Jesus say, “Take up your cross and follow Me,” (Luke 9:23) or scan publicly that sobering statement in the Bible, they really rise in the morning with a consciousness of death to self and life to Christ! They lay aside their selfish desires to obey God’s voice in the big and small stuff of everyday living.
    3) Both types build. Both are at least spending minutes, hours, days, and years doing what is necessary to survive. Both must toil, eat, relate, and plan for the future. Both are occupied. One, however, is immersed in his own desires. The other is going about the business of living according to authentic biblical principles.
    4) Both experience hardship. Notice the careful wording of Jesus here. The wise and the foolish builders each experience the same three difficulties: rain coming down, streams rising up, and winds blowing and beating against what they have built. Building a life wisely on the Word of God is no guarantee of a carefree life. This world system is broken by sin, and everyone in it experiences adversity. Do not think God has abandoned you because distress arises. No, think rather that – for now – you are stuck in a broken world.
    5) The major difference between the two groups emphasized here is the ultimate outcome of life-building. Living out God’s Word is likened to erecting the house of your life on a solid, rock foundation. The rain, streams, and wind cannot destroy such a life; for the foundation is the Rock Himself, Jesus! The Maker of weather is greater than weather’s effects. So, too, Jesus is the Maker of life. He is certainly greater than life’s effects. When we build according to Him, no tragedy can annihilate us and no annoyance can dissuade us. Our lives will stand! In great contrast, the life of one who hears but does not actually obey will fall; and the crash, says Jesus, will be great. That final demise is assured because any foundation other than Jesus is likened to sand. Sand subsides in the end. As the rains come down, sand begins to shift. The house built without adherence to the Word of God gives way; it is not able to withstand the accumulation of blasts from this broken world. In the end, its crash is great; its demise is sealed. How great is the disintegration of a life completely lost because of the refusal to walk in alignment with the God who made everything and defines the parameters for true and successful living!

Which kind of builder will you be? Wise or foolish? Both hear the Word of God. Both build and endure hardship. Only one kind actually lives out the Word, and only the same survives.

Counting Trials as Joy

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Sometimes we mistakenly assume that joy will come to us on a silver platter, plain and understandable. We think joy looks like worldly happiness. However, circumstances we deem favorable are not the source of true joy. Godly joy is not so thin as to come only when “good” things happen. Godly joy is deep, abiding no matter what things happen. In fact, difficulty may cause joy to erupt to the surface of our soul.

God did not tell us to rejoice when all is going our way. We are designed to rejoice when all is going His way, for He alone defines reality and satisfaction. If I limit my rejoicing to the confines of superficial circumstances, I am to be pitied. Conversely, if I expand my rejoicing to the bigness of God’s transcendent plan, I am blessed beyond human measure.

James tells us to take action when times of testing come. He proclaims, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds” (James 1:2, NIV). We are to consider – or “reckon” – or “count” – as joy the trials that pervade our comfort zone. To reckon one reality as a completely different concept takes will and action. Times of testing come and I am to count them as pure joy; this is unnatural to me. It goes against the grain for me to not only find hope somewhere in the midst of many trials, but to actually consider my endurance of testing actual joy. I guess this is why so few Christians seem to be joyful. We are not rightly applying the biblical, mathematical equation: Facing trials of many kinds = joy.

And exactly why should we radically equate the endurance of all kinds of trials with joy? God gives a very direct answer, “Because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:3-4, NIV). Are you familiar with the word “fulfillment”? The entire world seems to be chasing the elusive feeling of fulfillment in life. Actual fulfillment comes at the end of perseverance’s work in our lives. We will “lack nothing” when we have grown to completion in God by enduring many tests that draw us closer to the only One who can make us who we are supposed to be. I am to count the trials as joy because they strip me of all self-dependence and force me to acknowledge the only One who harnesses all of life and time for His purposes (Ephesians 1:11). Joy is the freedom that comes in recognizing God is in control; I don’t have to fear any person, power, or circumstance because God reigns supreme over all of them. As I come to the end of myself through trials and testing, I come to the beginning of God’s true reign in me.

The word perseverance in this passage comes from the root, “to remain under.” God allows the testing of difficult circumstances to develop in me an ability to bear up under pressing problems with the knowledge that Jesus is completing me. He is whittling away at me, so that I become like Him. He is preparing me for my ultimate destiny – an abiding in righteousness in a place God prepares that delivers us from this broken world. When we endure with a faith in God, we demonstrate our trust in His loving and righteous hand. We show we believe not just in word – but in action – that God delivers on His promises. We trust that being completed by the Perfector of Everything is worth the difficulty. In the accounting system of God’s kingdom, perseverance is highly valued. Remember the words of Jesus to His disciples as He explained the persecution they would encounter, “All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved” (Matthew 10:22, NIV).

When trials come, be reminded that we are on the road to perseverance, and the ultimate end of godly endurance is completion. Therefore, trials ought to be reckoned as joy. God is working in us! He cares enough to continue the process of refining us and making us who we ought to be. Only in being who God designed me to be will I be fulfilled in any real sense. Happiness is defined by the world as favorable circumstances; joy is defined by the Lord as His work of completion in me. Let Him work and let the trials come. All the while, use right mathematics and count the tests as joy.