HEARING GOD

Job 34:1-36:33; 2 Corinthians 4:1-12; Psalm 44:1-8; Proverbs 22:10-12

“But it is wrong to say God doesn’t listen, to say the Almighty isn’t concerned. You say you can’t see him, but he will bring justice if you will only wait.”

“We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.”

“I do not trust in my bow; I do not count on my sword to save me. You are the one who gives us victory over our enemies; you disgrace those who hate us. O God, we give glory to you all day long and constantly praise your name.”

“The Lord preserves those with knowledge, but he ruins the plans of the treacherous.”

It’s worth reminding ourselves that just because we aren’t sure if God is answering us or not does not mean He isn’t talking. Just because we don’t feel or hear any response doesn’t mean He’s not listening. Just because we are unsure of ourselves and of Him does not mean God isn’t in control. Yet, we are quick to doubt, aren’t we? Given a choice between belief and uncertainty, most of us default to skepticism. I wonder why. Where is the authority for the thought that the Lord no longer speaks to His people? Whose word do we trust on the matter? Scripture is pretty clear that the Father does not speak to everybody. Those with hardened hearts, for example, cannot hear God. They almost certainly outnumber those who diligently cry out and listen for the Spirit’s guidance and comfort, several times over. Why would we ever allow the hardhearted’s experience – or lack of it – to dictate reality to us, when we know they are not able to hear God?

Then, there are the true seekers who are just not used to the idea that Christ still inspires, even today. They know not what they seek, so they have no idea when they hear or find it. They may even battle a sense of guilt or unworthiness that blocks spiritual input or prevents them from accepting it. In any event, those who have not practiced the presence of Christ for some time can hardly be trusted as witnesses to the absence of inspiration from his Spirit.

And, of course, on the other hand, there are the super religious who claim to hear the voice of God in every breeze and see His hands in every circumstance. Perhaps they are correct. But I doubt it. Scriptures refer pretty much as often to complaints about unanswered prayers and the lack of divine guidance as they do to praises for God’s responses to prayer.

The fact is the Lord sometimes lets us struggle on our own. Not every petition gets an answer. Jesus does not owe us a response. Once in a while, He lovingly leaves us to our own devices and graciously hides His presence from us to force us to get serious about exactly what we do believe, and the type and kind of inspiration we will accept. The Father’s silence is a time for growth. It teaches patience, selflessness and perseverance. It increases creativity for those bold enough to attempt it. Mainly, though, it forces us to be honest with ourselves. We accept and follow Christ for Who and What He is, even if we don’t understand or speak the same language, or we do not follow and accept Him at all. Regardless of whether or not He speaks, we must recognize Him as sovereign and accept His decision to inspire or not as His right. When we insist instead that God comes to us on our terms if he is going to come at all, we displace our heavenly Father as the ultimate authority in our lives.

We’re never going to know if God speaks and inspires as long as we require Him to speak in our terms and from our perspective. We’re never going to realize His plan for our lives if we’re more concerned about trying to dictate it to Him in advance. Whatever else it may be – and God speaks to each of us in our own way – hearing God first and foremost requires that we let God be God. As long as we are in His way, insisting on hearing only what we want to hear, we ought to expect to be disappointed. If we’re going to get on His wavelength, we first have to allow Him the freedom to speak His heart and mind to our souls, and we have to accept and act on His judgments and directions, rather than our own. 

RECOGNIZING GOD'S VOICE

Job 31:1-33:33; 2 Corinthians 3:1-18; Psalm 43:1-5; Proverbs 22:8-9

“God is greater than any human being. So why are you bringing a charge against him? Why say he does not respond to people’s complaints? For God speaks again and again, though people do not recognize it. He speaks in dreams, in visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they lie in their beds. He whispers in their ears and terrifies them with warnings. He makes them turn from doing wrong; he keeps them from pride.”

“But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.”

“Send out your light and your truth; let them guide me.  Let them lead me to your holy mountain, to the place where you live. There I will go to the altar of God, to God—the source of all my joy. I will praise you with my harp, O God, my God!”

I was having a dinner with friends a couple of weeks ago, and a question came up about how to recognize the voice of God. Now, not being an expert in the matter, I was unaware of any hard and fast rules. There probably aren’t any. (Leave a comment if you’ve got any ideas for the rest of us!) But I do have experience in listening for God. More important, I know well what it feels like to think I understand what the Lord wants done and to end up regretting my failure to obey. So, to try to improve my sensitivity, I started keeping score. When I believe the Lord has spoken, I make a mental note of it. Whether or not I follow the direction or inspiration – I’m not sure how to describe it – I also keep track of my response and the result. What I’ve discovered is pretty stunning. Every time I’ve gone against what seemed at the time to have been divine prompting, my decision turned out badly. On the other hand, not once when I have obeyed have I been disappointed in the results. That’s not to say I have seen a lot of extremely positive developments from obedience. Work’s still work, after all. However, obedience does seem to keep me out of trouble, and that’s getting to be enough. Avoiding major screw ups, coupled with a deeper sense of peace about where I am and what I’m doing, actually is a pretty decent way to live. Anxiety is kept to a minimum. Joy finds it easier to get a foothold. There’s still stress – of course, there is – but it is easier to manage and even set aside on occasion.

I suppose one could argue I’m just engaging in a little reverse spiritual engineering, judging potential inspiration by its apparent results. But that’s not how it feels. It feels like I’m getting better at sensing the Holy Spirit’s input. It feels like intentional attention is paying off. It feels like practice, while I am far from perfect, is at least improving my chances of keeping in the Father’s Will.

There isn’t any way to really explain what Christ’s voice sounds like. It’s not audible exactly. It’s quite honestly like thoughts are just being inserted in my brain that I didn’t think. But the thoughts I attribute to the Spirit all have one thing in common: they do not reconcile well with what I want to do. They sometimes even seem illogical (but then, what’s logical about love?). Invariably, though, they save me from myself.

Maybe God doesn’t really communicate with us at all, at least not in the sense I’m talking about it today. But maybe He does. And what if He does? What if our problem is just that we aren’t hearing Him? I, for one, would hate to learn when I get to heaven that the Lord had been trying to lead me through life’s rougher waters, and I turned a deaf ear. It seems to me the only logical course is to do whatever it takes to listen to God and do our best to obey. Who knows? We might just surprise ourselves, even as our Savior surprises us.

IMPASSE

Job 28:1-30:31; 2 Corinthians 2:12-17; Psalm 42:1-11; Proverbs 22:7

“But do people know where to find wisdom? Where can they find understanding? It is hidden from the eyes of all humanity…. God alone understands the way to wisdom; he knows where it can be found, for he looks throughout the whole earth and sees everything under the heavens. He decided how hard the winds should blow and how much rain should fall…. Then he saw wisdom and evaluated it. He set it in place and examined it thoroughly. And this is what he says to all humanity: ‘The fear of the Lord is true wisdom; to forsake evil is real understanding.’”

“Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume. And who is adequate for such a task as this?”

“Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again—my Savior and my God! Now I am deeply discouraged, but I will remember you—”

In mediation, there is a term for when parties cannot reconcile their respective positions. The mediator declares an “impasse,” and the mediation is ended. Thereafter, it is as if the entire process never happened: nothing said can be used in Court, and confidentiality must remain inviolate. Sometimes, the parties leave more frustrated than when they started. More often, though, even if the mediation is not initially successful, the impasse eventually does resolve itself because, at least, a productive dialogue was started. Either way, the best thing is a mediator usually stops the mediation when things start to go south before irreparable damage is done. Job and his friends could have used a mediator. No one was going to back down without a third party’s help and input. Each person had established their position on the matter for better or worse up front, and no one was open to discussion or consideration of anyone else’s perspective thereafter. Instead, they resorted to throwing insults and other verbal arrows at each other. How like today’s people they were!

There is a reason Scripture refers to Christ as a mediator. Without Him, we and God reached an impasse long ago. Like Job, we simply could not get to where God is, and there was no way to engage Him in productive dialogue as long as our sin nature kept getting in the way. Jesus came to break the impasse by laying His own Body over the severed lines of communion and communication between us and God. But He did not stop there, because the impasses of life did not stop there. The forgiveness and healing Christ initiated between us and the Father, through the mediation of the Holy Spirit, also are intended to flow out and reconnect broken lines of communication between believers and others as well.

I’ve reached many impasses in my life as an attorney, and more important, as a person. I can’t remember saying anything seriously that I ever thought was wrong… at the time. But I can remember many times when what I thought was the truth turned out to be a huge mistake, and I remember castigating others for thoughts or opinions which later turned out to be right on. What I’ve learned from that primarily is I take myself too seriously at my own peril, and I need my Mediator to help keep me from doing irreparable harm when I am in a disagreement. Even being correct on the facts does not necessarily make my opinions right, and it certainly does not mean my communication of those facts was or will be done in a way that could be heard and helpful.

So, I’m trying to do a better job communicating through my Mediator. Somehow, when I filter my words through the mind of Christ first, a lot of verbiage just falls away as unimportant subjectivity. Other thoughts are cut off as being too inflammatory or just plain immaterial to the issues at hand. Mainly, though, my basic thinking gets turned around. The Great Mediator is quite adept at showing me to me for what I am. As He does, it causes me to consider and weigh the impact my words will have in addition to what they specifically mean. I begin to mix in a little more love with the truth. Sometimes, Jesus even changes my mind in mid-thought. Usually, that happens because He shows me I’m flat wrong in intended presentation, if not the facts. He confirms the pending fight is just not worth the carnage it will cause. He reminds me that right and wrong, from my perspective at least, are typically not as important as I think they are. Truth as embodied in the life and teaching of Jesus Christ turns out to be a whole lot more important, especially when my words and deeds would otherwise obscure it for the ones who need to hear it the most.

There are two approaches to an impasse. One can walk away from the situation entirely and burn their bridges behind them. Or one can decide to work around the problem, just like Christ finds ways to get past our sin and our defenses when He mediates for us. I prefer the creativity involved in the second response. And I like the security and accountability of having my Mediator around to help me relate to others and to God. Sometimes, I just cannot find a way to cross the gulf of disagreement and sin. Thank God Christ knows the way and built the bridge.

FACING THE WALL

Job 23:1-27:23; 2 Corinthians 1:12-2:11; Psalm 41:1-13; Proverbs 22:5-6

“I go east, but he is not there. I go west, but I cannot find him. I do not see him in the north, for he is hidden. I look to the south, but he is concealed. But he knows where I am going.”

“It is God who enables us, along with you, to stand firm for Christ. He has commissioned us, and he has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment that guarantees everything he has promised us.”

“Corrupt people walk a thorny, treacherous road; whoever values life will avoid it. Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.”

My wife and daughter just returned from a ten days’ “girls’ only” hiking/camping trip to the very bottom of the Grand Canyon and out. Fair’s fair: I had the guys for our March ski trip. I was not really worried at all about the girls (although I did not tell them that). They both know their way around a campsite and a trailhead, so I figured that, barring unforeseen car trouble, they’d be fine. Nor did I know my daughter’s home made sterno burner would threaten to torch their campsite along the way. But Dad/husband that I am, once they got home, having made the same hike myself several summers ago, I started to think about all the trails along the cliffs and all the ways they could have gone wrong, and it certainly caused me to stop a moment and not be quite so cavalier about their safe return. They did well because they knew their destination; they followed a very well marked path; they were in good physical condition and well prepared; and they did not do any experimenting with the less known, more dangerous areas. Take away any one of those factors from the equation, though, and the outcome could have been very different. Even given their actions and preparation, one wrong step, and they could have found themselves stuck and stranded in the Canyon, a mile below the surface world. They might have hit the wall and found it insurmountable.

Seldom has any man ever been more stranded or stuck, or hit the wall harder, than Job, and none of it was his fault. Suddenly, his world made no sense. The order and prosperity he knew turned to bitter chaos seemingly at a whim. Nothing was as it had been just a few short weeks earlier. Worse, his self-proclaimed “friends” along the way gave him very conflicting directions and no real comfort. He was alone on a path he’d never walked and on which few ever traveled. He had no map and no effective guide. Worse, he was poured out himself and had little energy and no real enthusiasm for the life ahead. What he wanted was to curl up and die. Job hit the proverbial wall, emotionally and physically.

At some point, life will impact many of us in the same way. Like Job, we have to find our own way out. There are no easy answers, and even God seems far away. Sometimes, there’s no avoiding it. The only way out of adversity is through it. The good news is we may not be as lost as we feel. The bad news is we know exactly where we are, and our prospects just don’t look all that great.

In the Grand Canyon, that place really is known as “The Wall,” and my wife has now overcome it twice. After hiking six miles or so up the Bright Angel trail (a taxing effort in itself) from its Colorado River bottom, one comes face to face with a literal wall of granite. The name fits. The Wall is a vertical cliff rising over a half mile above its base, straight up. From the bottom, the path up it is completely invisible in places and seemingly unattainable in others. But it’s the only way out. Routinely, hikers can be found sprawled beside and even in the path, overwhelmed at just the thought of ascending its heights back to the South Rim. In fact, the toughest thing about The Wall is not the sheer physical effort one must muster to conquer it. Its hidden difficulty lies in its psychology. As with many of life’s journeys, The Wall epitomizes a fundamental truth: getting down is relatively easy. Getting up and out is another thing entirely. Coming down is scenic, fun, even exciting. Getting back up is taxing, sweaty work. It requires persistence and a positive attitude which for many by that point has been severely depleted. The thing is, though, that there is only one choice if one ever expects to escape the confines of the Canyon. If you want out, you have to go up.

Whatever the cause, most of us will face a time when the only choices we face are difficult, and the way out seems the hardest of all. At that juncture, we have to remember what we know. We need to keep our heads and eyes up. When I was on the Bright Angel facing The Wall in the dead of summer several years ago, conventional wisdom was to not look up and just put one foot in front of the other until you got to the top. Look down, so you did not have to confront how much higher you still had to go. I think that, in effect, was the advice Job’s “friends” gave him, and it was exactly the wrong instruction. What saved Job is what got me up The Wall. Looking up, I could see the blue sky and the beauty of the view. I remembered my goal, the magnificence and rest life at the top held in store. Sure, if I considered the path alone, it looked pretty discouraging. But every path has an end, and when I saw the path as the means to that magnificent end, it made the journey easier, because it brought out a strength and courage I did not know I had.

Job held on with a relentless insistence on just one more audience with God. He wanted to clear his name, but more than that, it seems he just wanted to hear once more that he was loved. He desperately needed to know his suffering was not in vain, that God knew and that God cared. His friends encouraged him to keep his head down. Job knew a better way, however difficult the path. Look up. Keep focused on the magnificence at the end of the journey.

WHEN THE BEST ANSWER IS NO ANSWER

Job 20:1-22:30; 2 Corinthians 1:2-11; Psalm 40:11-17; Proverbs 22:2-4

“How can you comfort me? All your explanations are wrong.”

“All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.”

“But may all who search for you be filled with joy and gladness in you. May those who love your salvation repeatedly shout, ‘The Lord is great!’”

‘A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.”

I don’t do well with silence. Usually, some strange compulsion drives me to offer opinions and solutions, requested or not. Ofttimes, this requires more than a little creativity (as in when there are no good answers, and I don’t have enough knowledge to provide legitimate opinions). Like a basketball referee whose view of the play is blocked, I confess to occasionally making up the call. Or, as my father was fond of saying, “He calls ‘em like he doesn’t see ‘em at all.”

Probably as a result of my own failures and limitations in the area of advice suitable for others, I’m beginning to appreciate more and more than there is a time and place when the absolute best thing to do is do little or nothing at all. There are times when life just doesn’t make sense, and we can drive ourselves and others crazy trying to make sense of it. In our drive to force some semblance of order onto chaos, we rationalize ourselves into conclusions about situations that may not be accurate or fair to those involved. In a rush to come up with a simple answer, we blow past the tough questions, opting instead to engage in a bit of revisionist history to conform the past into our image of what should be or should have been, instead of conforming our answers to the real facts.

There’s a big danger here. As we draw conclusions that best suit our preconceived notions and answers, we risk doing more harm than good. This is exactly what Job’s friends ran into. For seven days, they were content to just sit with Job, commiserating with him in his misery, understanding there are some tragedies too great for words. But eventually, like most humans do, they got impatient with Job and decided it was time to fix him. Problem was, they had no better answers than they'd had at the first. Not content with simple compassion and empathy, though, they fell into cliché and mischaracterization in order to fit their facts into their theology. God preserves the good and destroys the wicked. He is fair and just and knows the hearts of men. Job has been destroyed. Thus, God must have judged him wicked. Thus, he must be wicked and simply denying or blinded to his own sinfulness. Ergo, he must search himself and exorcise his sinfulness so God can restore him.

What a brutal, unkind approach to friendship such counsel is! Yet, when Job resists, suddenly the friends take his willfulness and rejection of their diagnoses as a sure sign of the correctness of their position and castigate him even more violently until their friendship itself faces destruction. Again, the obvious point is don’t judge. We just cannot handle it, or exercise it properly, as prone to fallibility as we are ourselves.

A true friend has got to be comfortable with silence. Sometimes, there are no answers – at least, none that we can discern – and our efforts to manufacture them can do a lot more harm than good. Instead of trying to fix each other, or explain away senseless, if not altogether unjust, tragedy, we do well to better understand the blessings of silence. This in no way means we should leave our grieving friends alone. Far from it. There may be times our personal presence is all that stands between them and some very poor choices. But it does suggest there are times when the best kind of friend to be is silent.

Christ promised His presence only when two or more are gathered in His name. When I am lost, I usually require a friend or two to help me find the way. But I don’t need or want their quick fix solutions; I just want kindred, loving and empathetic souls which, in union with mine, will bring the Holy Spirit into the situation and make His presence and wisdom real. Seldom do I need (or even have the ability to discern) the specific answers to life. What I need, like Job, is a deeper communion with the Author and Perfecter of life. If I am still long enough, and willing to submit once more to the Lord’s sovereignty in all things, I can usually, eventually figure things out on my own. But for situations which absolutely defy explanation or understanding, most times, it’s enough to know we have friends beside us who share our bewilderment but are willing nonetheless to come as Christ’s ambassadors to reassure us of His love.

Life throws at us any number of situations that surpass our ability to make sense of them. Let’s not waste time or risk damaging our friends further by trying to make sense of that which can make no sense. Instead, let’s just take it on ourselves to be Christ for our friends. Shield them where we can, and where we can’t, just love them through the storm. Sometimes, the best answer to a problem is no answer at all. 

REDUCED TO THE INTEGRITY OF OUR FAITH

Job 16:1-19:29; 1 Corinthians 16:1-24; Psalm 40:1-10; Proverbs 22:1

“But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and that he will stand upon the earth at last. And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God! I will see him for myself. Yes, I will see him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought! How dare you go on persecuting me, saying, ‘It’s his own fault’? You should fear punishment yourselves, for your attitude deserves punishment. Then you will know that there is indeed a judgment.”

“Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong. And do everything with love.”

I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord. But as I stood there in silence—not even speaking of good things—the turmoil within me grew worse.”

“Choose a good reputation over great riches; being held in high esteem is better than silver or gold.”

Life holds far more questions than answers. No matter how we may wish or rationalize it to be otherwise, odds are that each of us will come to the time, place or circumstance in our lives where nothing makes sense. I won’t belabor the point, because I only say that to say this. The time to install a smoke alarm is not after the house burns down. Nor did God intend that we wait until we experience a life crisis to establish a relationship with his Son. When life throws us for a loop, it really helps to be prepared for a soft landing. No one can completely avoid the slings and arrows of the Prince of this world, and we delude ourselves to think otherwise. But we can be better prepared to withstand Satan’s hits if we make a habit instead of a happening out of our time with our true King.

I’ll admit it. When things are going well, I’m as likely as anyone else – and perhaps more so than most – to give myself the credit, or just take things for granted. Nothing motivates a spiritual revival like a little adversity. The Holy Spirit, however, never intended us to live our lives in the uncertainty of constant crisis management. We can never achieve real peace in our lives as long as we are just waiting for the other shoe to drop. We cannot feel completely safe as long as the majority of our faith and security rests in our jobs and other people. We will never experience true sanctuary unless we stop running from place to place trying to hold on to our sense of personal significance. At some point, it all boils down to this: those who live life successfully are those who know what it means to rest in Jesus and who actually take the time needed to do it on a consistent basis.

No where is this more evident currently than in my profession of law. There are more attorneys out of work right now than there have ever been. Ever. That’s a long time, and it’s sad enough on its own. What is truly tragic, though, is the fact that most of us don’t know what to do with ourselves when we are not awash in the adrenalin rush of doing deals, trials and the like. For the first time in their lives, many attorneys are feeling unneeded, discarded and insignificant, mostly due to circumstances completely beyond their control. They did nothing wrong. The choices they made for their life’s work seemed reasonable at the time. Who knew the profession would turn up so wounded years after they committed themselves to it? Sure, as in any profession, a number of us don’t deserve as good as we’ve got, and others deserve far worse. But for the vast majority of scared and uncertain souls in our ranks, none of this was their fault. They stood by like the rest of the world, appalled at the destruction the immorality of a relative few could wreck on the innocent. Still, they also suffer the indignity of recent statements like Jay Leno’s, “Never have more attorneys been out of work…. At least something good has come out of this recession.” When the entire world seems to be against you, where do you turn?

Job knew the answer: “I know that my Redeemer lives….” How could he know in that moment of his deepest grief? Abandoned by God, mocked by his friends and dismissed by his wife, how could Job possibly have kept his sense of divine presence, much less his hope for the future? Throughout his entire story, there aren’t many clues. There’s no sign of God’s involvement with him during his crises, until their final dialogue. The Holy Spirit did not wrap Job in comfort when he lost his fortune. Christ sent no angels to tend him when his children died. I can only guess at what kept him professing his confidence in a Redeemer at the point we find him today, but it’s a pretty good guess. I think Job was able to maintain hope in the bad times because he routinely experienced deep spiritual communion with his God, particularly during the good times when he did not appear to “need” it.  As betrayed and hurt by his Creator as Job came to feel, he continued to insist on his relationship with God, and on his right to confront the Spirit as one of His children. I do not understand why the Lord allowed Job to suffer as long as he did, or why He did not at least come to Job with words of comfort at some point, but then I’m not God, and I do not know His ways. All I do know is that Job never disavowed God. He never questioned, much less denied, His existence. I believe the only reason he did not do so was because, when unspeakable tragedy struck, Job already had so much experience of and with God that it was simply impossible for him to give up his faith.

Life does hold more questions than answers. There are more things we just don’t know than we’d ever admit in public or even to ourselves. But when adversity strips us down to the point where all we have is the integrity of our faith, my personal prayer is that I will find the best answer I can under the circumstances: I never want to forget that I, too, know that my Redeemer lives! 

CHALLENGING GOD

Job 12:1-15:35; 1 Corinthians 15:29-58; Psalm 39:1-13; Proverbs 21:30-31

“Be silent now and leave me alone.  Let me speak, and I will face the consequences.
 Yes, I will take my life in my hands and say what I really think.
 God might kill me, but I have no other hope. I am going to argue my case with him.”

“So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.”

I said to myself, ‘I will watch what I do and not sin in what I say. I will hold my tongue when the ungodly are around me.’ But as I stood there in silence—not even speaking of good things—the turmoil within me grew worse.”

“No human wisdom or understanding or plan can stand against the Lord.”

I give thanks that we have a God with whom we can fight. That may sound odd, but frankly, a God who would hide behind His holiness and remain aloof from His Creation has little personal attraction for yours truly. A Savior who will not engage His Creation cannot be love or a Savior. Holiness without compassion and empathy is a cold and brittle thing. But the Lord does engage. There are times when we need a good fight with Him, too, if for no other reason than to work off our frustration. The thing to remember is that all but the most barbaric of conflicts have some rules. For example, while the Holy Spirit does allow disagreement and sometimes outright conflict with His Will, He will not allow His Name to be profaned in the process. Before we start drawing lines in the sand or throwing the gauntlet at Christ’s feet, we’d better understand exactly how to approach Him when we’re not particularly pleased with Him.

The first rule is stay humble. We can learn a lot from the touch of the Master’s Hand, but we have to remain teachable. This is a tough assignment when I feel mad or betrayed, because my instinctive reaction is not to ask what I can learn from the situation, but to ask who I can punish or who needs to pay. That won’t cut it with our heavenly Father. As long as we continue to operate out of unreasoning fury, we can be pretty sure the Holy Spirit will just continue to let us stew in our own juices.

Second, go head’s up on Christ, one on one, man to man (or woman), but also with respect for the opportunity and the One we approach. When I feel disillusioned or hurt, I’ve noticed I spend a lot more time thinking about God than actually talking to Him. I probably talk to others more about my frustrations concerning God than I talk with Him about how to address them. Ultimately, I find it very counterproductive to try to work through things without respecting Christ’s involvement. What helps is to remind myself that anytime I approach the Father, whether in anger or joy, I move onto holy ground. By definition, no matter what I’m thinking, I am engaging in prayer any time I’m communicating with the Spirit. And no matter how I feel about it, just the ability to pray is an exceptional blessing. God gave us the right to pour out our hearts to Him, but spewing venom just to spew venom is better done outside the context of a communication to the Divine.

Third, hang onto hope. Nothing is in vain if it’s done for or about the Lord. More important, He will take pretty much whatever we give Him with respect, and He will use what we allow Him to use for good, no matter whether we think he can redeem the situation or not.

Finally, remember, the wisdom of God is just way better than our own thoughts, but we also have the ability to think with the mind of Christ. Jehovah’s ideas no longer need be so foreign to us that we cannot begin to even comprehend what God is doing or how the Spirit might work given the chance. We can discern God’s plan. Granted, it’s still not something we automatically do when questioning God. We just have to want to, and be willing to work at it. Our questions usually overwhelm His answers, at least in our own ears. If we put more effort into claiming the mind of Christ and trying to understand our Creator and His mission for us, we may find ourselves becoming more appreciative of His ways. In turn, we may also find there isn’t really all that much to fight about, either.

BOOTSTRAPPING

Job 8:1-11:20; 1 Corinthians 15:1-28; Psalm 38:1-22; Proverbs 21:28-29

“Can you solve the mysteries of God? Can you discover everything about the Almighty? Such knowledge is higher than the heavens—and who are you? It is deeper than the underworld—what do you know? … If only you would prepare your heart and lift up your hands to him in prayer! Get rid of your sins, and leave all iniquity behind you. Then your face will brighten with innocence. You will be strong and free of fear. You will forget your misery…. You will have courage because you have hope.”

“I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said.”

“For I am waiting for you, O Lord. You must answer for me, O Lord my God.”

“The wicked bluff their way through, but the virtuous think before they act.”

Back in the days of John Wayne westerns, life seemed a whole lot simpler. Then, adversity didn’t seem quite as real, and certainly not so overwhelming. For a kid like me, it was reassuring to know The Duke could always be counted on to pull himself up by his bootstraps when the chips were down. While the fantasy he represented never quite attained immortality – oh, how I hated Bruce Dern in The Cowboys for slaying my idol – as long as we could hear that Texas drawl, we could muster our own courage and had reason for hope.

The Duke is gone now. I’ve crossed the half century mark, and the world has gotten a lot more complex. Very bad things are happening to very good people, while the wicked clearly prosper. Hope is an ever more elusive commodity. People are literally giving up on God, then on themselves. Our leaders don’t know where to turn for answers, and many of us in the rank and file feel lost and abandoned by the society and communities we helped build. This is just not how things are supposed to be, and the idea that we can simply pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and tough it out seems more and more unrealistic.

Several weeks ago, though, I committed to changing my perspective and being more positive. Doing so is easier said than done under present conditions. What is becoming clear is that optimism is not just an act of will; it is an act of living faith. It is no good - and can be downright dangerous, pardner – just to blithely ignore the obvious, especially when the obvious is getting more and more difficult to ignore. But on the other hand, we need to understand what it is we are looking for to keep us afloat in the chaos. Simply, I think we’re looking for that one sign of hope that will give us courage again. Many of us are depleted by circumstances. We need to reconnect with some source of power outside ourselves that will renew our strength and lift us up. Like Job, we don’t need comfort or criticism. We need hope.

What different approaches Zophar and Paul apply to the need for hope! Adopting a fatalistic, “you should have seen it coming and brought it on yourself” mantra, Zophar essentially tries to whip Job back into shape. Unfortunately, like a prizefighter who has taken one too many shots to the head, the only fight left in Job is to resent the ones who claim he did not fight hard enough. He has no strength to bootstrap himself off the canvas; he is down for the count and needs to know someone in his corner can and will help him up. Paul turns things completely around. Whatever our own condition, the first, most important thing he wants us to know is that Christ is in our corner just waiting for permission to lift us up. He knows what it’s like to get knocked down; He knows what it’s like to suffer for things He did not do or cause. He understands being poured completely out, but He also experienced resurrection, and because He did, so can we. This is THE matter of first importance, for without it, ultimately, all of life pretty much dissolves into vanity and futility.

Christians have reason for hope. Our faintheartedness is a reflection of our weariness, and our weariness is a reflection of our loss of enthusiasm for the new life and courage Christ provides. Cling tightly to the resurrection! When we allow our faith in the empty tomb to slip through our fingers, we give up on the only power that is really capable of lifting us up. Being more positive is not an act of bootstrapping. It is instead a recognition that God wasn’t kidding when He offered us eternal life. We walk a much surer path when we keep our eyes off the ground.

FRIENDS IN NEED

Job 4:1-7:21; 1 Corinthians 14:18-40; Psalm 37:30-40; Proverbs 21:27

“In the past you have encouraged many people; you have strengthened those who were weak.
 Your words have supported those who were falling; you encouraged those with shaky knees. But now when trouble strikes, you lose heart. You are terrified when it touches you. Doesn’t your reverence for God give you confidence? Doesn’t your life of integrity give you hope? Stop and think! Do the innocent die? When have the upright been destroyed?... My experience shows that those who plant trouble and cultivate evil will harvest the same.
 A breath from God destroys them. They vanish in a blast of his anger…. If I were you, I would go to God and present my case to him.”

“But everything that is done must strengthen all of you.”

“The godly offer good counsel; they teach right from wrong.
 They have made God’s law their own, so they will never slip from his path.”

My mother was always harping on me about my criticisms of others. “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” She meant well, but was a pretty inconsistent model. Over the years, I also learned that some things which must be said just cannot be said in a way that sounds nice. “Nice” tends to get misinterpreted, especially when coupled with politically correct euphemisms. People who do not want to hear the negative won’t hear the negative, at least unless it is thrust upon them in no uncertain terms. Nice or not, there is a time and place to speak the truth in love.

Nevertheless, Mom got it mostly right. First, talking to a young man with little experience in living life and even less maturity, she was wise to counsel me not to sound too big for my britches. (Not that I ever listened, but that’s another blog….) Second, silence was a good discipline for me; it was not my default response to much of anything. But finally, it came down to this: my criticism just wasn’t helpful. It was not spoken in a spirit of love. It did not typically offer solutions. There was no real intent to assist the other person, only an intent to drag him or her back down to the level I thought they should be (meaning, below me). It was not unusual to use my powers of criticism simply as a means of elevating myself over those I saw as competitors. Nor is that a strategy unique to me. In most any competitive environment (is there one that isn’t these days?) there can be found those who practice criticism as a cat sharpens its claws to attack its prey.

Paul laid down a better principle. He had nothing against correction or education or even outright criticism, so long as whatever was done conformed to one rule. Everything that is done must be useful to all and build up everybody in the Lord. I’ll admit when I first came across this verse and began to apply it, it made me more than a little frustrated and sometimes downright angry. Such wisdom was being withheld! What righteous judgments went unpronounced! Come to find out, though, that folks usually got along just fine without my critical counseling. They mostly knew if and what they were doing wrong from the start. They did not need my input to figure it out in any event. One way or another, as time passed, they came to understand their sin and its impact. They did not need a judge; they needed a supportive friend. They did not need someone to fix them (or would not accept a “fixer” at the time, regardless). They needed someone to love them in spite of their shortcomings.

I first “got” this when I saw it in action in my youth group at church. A big-time leader in the church got caught embezzling funds from work, and by the time he was caught, he’d already squirreled away north of a million dollars. His son drove a too-expensive car, dressed too well and had always been an arrogant sort. When his Dad went down, the car got repossessed, and raggedy jeans and t-shirts became his Sunday best. I had my talons ready to skewer. One thing stopped me. No one else was doing or saying anything that was not supportive of the boy. My own friends, who had been alienated as much as I, suddenly formed a protective hedge around him that kept me and others like me at bay. My folks fumed that the church continued to accept the man into its fellowship until he finally went to jail, and after he’d done his time, welcomed him back with open arms. Later, I learned his son had understandably gone through a very rough time and paid a huge price elsewhere for being the son of the wrong man. Church was the only place he felt safe, and it was to church he turned when he got so depressed suicide seemed like the only way to end his personal mortification. Even today, I shudder to think what I might have said and how it might have affected him if I had, and I praise God for the fact that my friends were a whole lot wiser and more compassionate than me. That incident marked a turning point for me as well. Paul’s admonition began to look like it made a lot more sense.

I don’t know where people developed our irrational need to fix each other – whatever the personal cost to the ones needing fixing. I do know our feeble efforts often backfire and end up doing more harm than good. So it was with Job’s friends, and so it is with us. People are almost infinitely capable of punishing themselves for their misfortune. Judging and second guessing ourselves are two talents we require little help to develop. Loving ourselves in spite of the messes we make,… now, that’s another story. It is nearly impossible, especially in the midst of guilt and self-loathing, to see ourselves as God sees us. Truly, the kindest thing a friend can do in such times is remind us how to love ourselves by allowing the Spirit to love us in spite of ourselves. The lesson may begin with something as simple as an arm around the shoulders or a quiet listening ear.

We cannot fix each other any more than we are capable of creating each other out of a sperm and egg. Only the Original Manufacturer actually knows how to fit that sperm and egg together to make a unique individual according to His Plan, and only He can fully and faultlessly repair His Creation when it gets broken. We do no one any good when we just break them down further. The next time I cannot say anything nice, I think I’ll try just being with the person and sticking around in support until I see how God handles the situation. I figure I’ll probably learn a thing or two that way, and I won’t have to worry about doing any additional damage, either. Win-win.

GOD RESTORES

Job 1:1-3:26; 1 Corinthians 14:1-17; Psalm 37:12-29; Proverbs 21:25-26

“Then the Lord asked Satan, ‘Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil. And he has maintained his integrity, even though you urged me to harm him without cause.’ Satan replied to the Lord, ‘Skin for skin! A man will give up everything he has to save his life. But reach out and take away his health, and he will surely curse you to your face!’ ‘All right, do with him as you please,’ the Lord said to Satan. ‘But spare his life.’ So Satan left the Lord’s presence, and he struck Job with terrible boils from head to foot. Job scraped his skin with a piece of broken pottery as he sat among the ashes. His wife said to him, ‘Are you still trying to maintain your integrity? Curse God and die.’ But Job replied, ‘You talk like a foolish woman. Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?’ So in all this, Job said nothing wrong.”

“Let love be your highest goal....”

“For the strength of the wicked will be shattered, but the Lord takes care of the godly. Day by day the Lord takes care of the innocent, and they will receive an inheritance that lasts forever. They will not be disgraced in hard times; even in famine they will have more than enough…. For the Lord loves justice, and he will never abandon the godly. He will keep them safe forever, but the children of the wicked will die.”

“Despite their desires, the lazy will come to ruin, for their hands refuse to work.”

I’ve been avoiding issues with the Psalms to this point, but today’s Scriptures raise a contradiction that can no longer be avoided. Job and Psalms just cannot be reconciled. Even the briefest glance at today’s readings proves that. God clearly abandoned Job to Satan – twice! Psalm 37 is but one of many passages which appear to deny the obvious. The absolute truth, however, is and always has been that being “godly,” “righteousness” or even outright “saved” is not any guarantee of safety, security or well-being. In my personal experience, and according to John 16:33, being children of God actually guarantees us trouble. It may provide some solace that God eventually restored Job, plus some. But then again, done buns can’t be undone, no matter what good we – or God – may do later. Just look at how happy Job was to have been born! (See, e.g., Job 3:11-26.) It is likewise an insufficient response to hold that God still maintained a shred of sovereignty over Job’s life by forbidding Satan from taking Job all the way to death. What about His complete abandonment of Job’s children, farmhands and servants? Were they all uniformly “unrighteous” or just meaningless collateral damage which would detract from the main point if they were given more detailed Scriptural backstories? These are very tough questions, and they deserve better and more honest than most of us are willing to give them.

Once more, I confess a certain confusion and uncertainty in this area, but here’s what I think. In truth and fact, most of the “God preserves the righteous” Psalms are subject to the same pragmatic conflict: they just don’t ring true based on what we, like Job, actually know of life from having lived and seen it. God does not always take care of the godly or the innocent here on earth, nor is there any covenant they will survive through hard times. Worse, if Job is to be believed (and, being Scripture, it is), then even the idea that God will never abandon the godly seems subject to serious question, if not outright doubt. Of course, there is at least one answer: neither we nor the Psalmists have/had any real idea of just what it takes to be “godly” or “righteous.” “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God,” and “the wages of sin is death.” Even Christ Himself knows what that death feels like, although He only suffered it in our place. So, do the Psalms simply set before us a tantalizing possibility none of us have even a prayer of realizing in this lifetime? Well, that would certainly be their practical effect, except … for the empty tomb.

Whether or not God does or even has to abandon us at some point in this life is a strategic misdirection thought up by the Father of Lies to keep us away from any serious relationship with the Holy Spirit. We destroy ourselves and abandon God all by ourselves; we don’t require His or anyone else’s assistance in that regard. We actually deserve abandonment, regardless of God’s role in it, if any. That’s not the point. The point – the only one worth considering, if we want to be theologically accurate - is that God restores. We may never be able to make sense of our situation from a human perspective. Obviously, the writer of Job never clearly did. But the moral of the story is that God is always ready to restore us, if we will let Him have His way with us first, whatever that may mean in our given circumstances. It’s called letting Christ be Lord so we can truly call Him Savior. And sometimes, it is a very hard thing to do.

Most any of us can probably recall a situation where things happened to us or others that really were too much to bear. Committed Christians experience the overwhelming pain of divorce, the loss of a child or spouse and even suicide, too. It is unkind and intellectually dishonest for us to simply dismiss such occurrences by claiming, “They must not have been real Christians; God sees the heart.” Even Christians feel lost and abandoned at times. Again, though, restoration is God’s point and purpose.

Psalm 22 is one of the few Psalms that tells the whole story from abandonment to restoration (which may include, of course, resurrection).  It begins, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Let us be clear, then, even though it makes us squirm. God forsakes sin. At some point, He has no choice. Until the debt of sin was paid, God’s holy character could not deal with sin.

Nevertheless, God does restore. The price of sin was paid, once and for all. This does not guarantee our safety, but it does guarantee we are secured in heaven. I am aware some will say that the promise of heaven is poor recompense for injuries suffered here on earth. But those who know heaven is the only place to fully experience unconditional love know its rewards will eclipse any adversity we may face here on earth.  Sometimes, it feels like a heavenly answer has little practical significance on earth. For those who feel that resurrection is insufficient compensation for their earthly lives, I feel truly sorry. But they will never appreciate heavenly things until they develop an eternal perspective, anyway, so we’ll leave things where scripture seems to leave them… for now.

TALK LESS, LOVE MORE

Esther 8:1-10:3; 1 Corinthians 12:27-13:13; Psalm 37:1-11; Proverbs 21:23-24

“Mordecai the Jew became the prime minister, with authority next to that of King Xerxes himself. He was very great among the Jews, who held him in high esteem, because he continued to work for the good of his people and to speak up for the welfare of all their descendants.”

“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”

“Stop being angry! Turn from your rage! Do not lose your temper— it only leads to harm.

“Watch your tongue and keep your mouth shut, and you will stay out of trouble.”

I talk too much and spend too much time trying to defend myself and my perspective. This bent toward self-justification is so automatic I’m usually into it at the first hint of disagreement, even before knowing the exact problem. I don’t know where this defensiveness comes from. What I do know is there’s too much CYA in my life and not enough concern about what that kind of mentality is doing to my creativity and relationships.

The fact is, when I defend myself, I inevitably alienate others. No one wants to be around someone so insecure they spend more time justifying themselves than listening to others. Besides, what hasn’t Christ forgiven? Do we really need to continue to impress each other with our words of wisdom and put ourselves over each other when Christ has invited us all to His banquet? It seems my defensiveness says more about my relationship with Christ than I thought, and I don’t like the picture it paints one bit.

A defensive personality just cannot be a loving personality. Defensiveness belies an emptiness of the soul – a need for man’s approval – of disproportionate and unhealthy size. When we get defensive, others recognize our insecurity has jeopardized our self-image and warped our personality. If we are filled with the Spirit and have accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior, our place in heaven is secured. There is simply no need to be defensive. There is no need to be self-centered at all. Yet, most of us still get defensive at times. Being right still gets priority over being loving. That doesn’t make it right. We are still thinking like fallen creatures, not like forgiven and remade saints.

The Spirit fills us apart from anything we can say or do, and nothing we say or do short of outright rejection will cause Him to fill less of us. The next time we feel the temptation to be defensive, let’s let the Holy Spirit take the hit. God is big enough to handle any criticism thrown at Him. If we will get serious about thinking with the mind of Christ, pretty soon, my bet is we won’t have anything to defend. We can, and will, be loving and right at the same time, and there won’t be anything left to prove. Christ’s presence in our lives will not just get us through but will shine out to others, no apologies or justifications needed.

And that’s all I have to say about that.

FOR THIS VERY TIME AND PLACE

Esther 4:1-7:10; 1 Corinthians 12:1-26; Psalm 36:1-12; Proverbs 21:21-22

“Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed. If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”

“There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us. A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.”

“Whoever pursues righteousness and unfailing love will find life, righteousness, and honor.”

Humans have always complained a lot about injustice, inequity, immorality and any number of other things, but most of us do precious little to combat any of it. A familiar refrain in human history is the plaintive question, “But what can I do about it?” The Holy Spirit’s answer to Christians is always the same: “Plenty!” However, instead of taking the risk and acting on and in faith, we take the coward’s way out. Passivity. Que sera, sera. That has got to change!

Edmund Burke said, "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." How right he was! It is time for Christians, especially, to quit whining and start acting in the power God gives them. Our problem is not that we are not empowered; our problem is that we do not believe we are empowered, so we will not, cannot, act in and based on faith. Consequently, we fail to take advantage of the gifts the Spirit gives us to change our world and win souls for the Kingdom. We doubt the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives, so we have never tested the power of Christ. Most of us have no idea if it will hold up under stress or not. More’s the pity when we don’t claim our power as children of the Father, and it just lies inside us, dormant and wasted. Let it lie long enough, and we become spiritually atrophied. This is precisely what James was referring to when he stated, “Faith without works is dead.” Unused muscles soon waste away. A faith which is missing in action has a similarly limited longevity.

Here is my question. What good is an unused, untested faith? Why bother with religion at all if we are just going to put it on a shelf where we can look at it in a vain effort to derive some emotional comfort from its presence? Some might say emotional comfort itself is reason enough for faith. I beg to differ. Anyone who claims emotional comfort from an untried and untested faith is just kidding themselves into thinking they have a relationship with Christ. There can be no relationship without connection, interaction and mission. If we do not allow Christ to empower us, even to the point of discomfort, we really have no part in him, and we among all men and women are most to be pitied. We may as well worship an idol or golden calf for all the eternal good our cosmetic faith generates in the world.

When life throws us curve balls – as it certainly did Esther – our first question should not be “Why me?” or “What can I do about it?” It should be “What if God put me here precisely to deal with this situation?” Odds are, He probably did, after all. The next self-challenge ought to follow if only as a matter of logic. “What would He want to do about it, if the only tool He had was me?” Then, get about it. This is exactly what Esther ended up doing, with a little help from ol’ Uncle Mordecai. She evaluated her situation, her blessings and her need, and then she acted, even at the risk of her very life. And God prevailed. Scripture is clear about the outcome had she refused to act. At the very least, she and her family would not have lived to see the victory of Yahweh or the salvation of the Hebrews. What a waste of a perfectly good Queen that would have been.

Paul is very clear. Each one of us is gifted by the Spirit. We have different gifts for different uses and reasons. Each one of us is gifted by the Spirit for a specific purpose. We are gifted to help others. It follows, then, that it is quite impossible to be filled with the Spirit and yet be unwilling to step forward and take the risk of helping others. Too many claim the Spirit while too few do anything with Him. If we can be honest with ourselves about nothing else, let us at least be honest about that. And if we honestly do claim the Spirit, let us put our faith into action. Who knows but that we were given grace and hope specifically to share them with others at such a time as this.

TRUE SIGNIFICANCE

Esther 1:1-3:15; 1 Corinthians 11:17-34; Psalm 35:17:128; Proverbs 21:19-20

“When it was Esther’s turn to go to the king, she accepted the advice of Hegai, the eunuch in charge of the harem. She asked for nothing except what he suggested, and she was admired by everyone who saw her. Esther was taken to King Xerxes at the royal palace in early winter of the seventh year of his reign. And the king loved Esther more than any of the other young women. He was so delighted with her that he set the royal crown on her head and declared her queen instead of Vashti.”

 “But in the following instructions, I cannot praise you. For it sounds as if more harm than good is done when you meet together. First, I hear that there are divisions among you when you meet as a church, and to some extent I believe it. But, of course, there must be divisions among you so that you who have God’s approval will be recognized! When you meet together, you are not really interested in the Lord’s Supper.”

“O Lord, you know all about this. Do not stay silent. Do not abandon me now, O Lord.
 Wake up! Rise to my defense! Take up my case, my God and my Lord. Declare me not guilty, O Lord my God, for you give justice. Don’t let my enemies laugh about me in my troubles.”

It’s hard to know at first blush what to say about Esther. She certainly did not come to be Queen as a result of any great spiritual decision. If pressed, most of us would admit to feeling a little morally conflicted about her role as a conscripted concubine-turned-monarch. But I think there are several more positive points to be drawn from her story that are especially relevant to circumstances today.

First, God raises up. Oh, I know we talked about resurrection just last week at Easter, but that’s kinda the point. Easter need not be just a once a year event focused on an ancient tomb in Israel. Resurrection (even if a bit metaphorically) is offered to us in the here and now. If we allow Him to do so, God can and will raise us up out of the depravity, anxiety and frustration of everyday life just as surely as He raised Jesus from the grave. How else could an obscure Hebrew female go from being an impoverished orphan to beauty queen to real Queen to the savior of her entire race? That’s more coincidence than even the most optimistic among us could credibly accept. But the point is, it did happen. Divine compassion reached down and found its voice in a young female heretofore all but invisible to the larger world. We are never insignificant when we are aligned with the Creator.

Which gets to the second point. Esther apparently needed help aligning herself with the Will of God throughout her life, but her willingness to listen and learn saved the entire Hebrew nation. This does not imply she was wayward necessarily, only that her full purpose might never have been achieved without some helpful advice. Her primary saving grace seems to have been her willingness to accept the counsel of those who attempted to help her. Actually, her real gift was even more fundamental. Distilled to its essence, Esther’s great advantage was an absence of blinding pride. She was never too proud to accept the help of others. More important, she was willing to admit when she needed it.

There was no false bravado in Esther – not an ounce. Nor was there a victim mentality. Where she could have felt demeaned, Esther claimed blessing. She did not fight circumstances, but accepted and reconciled herself to them and allowed them to work for her and for her people. She played her part in history so well because she filled the role thrust on her perfectly. She took advantage of her situation in a positive way without trying to take the one extra step of “more.”

How different was the approach of the Corinthians! Literally elbowing each other away from the Lord’s Table to claim more for themselves, church members developed pathological egos. They worked to create divisions in the Body rather than heal them, just to get noticed. The illogic of their actions was lost on them. They ignored the opportunity to get noticed for doing good and replaced it with a penchant for being right and powerful. Paul made clear there is nothing worthy of praise in these sorts of actions. The notoriety one gets from doing evil is not the sort of notice that counts for much that really matters. Certainly, it does nothing to build up or save others.

Each day, we face any number of choices. Ultimately, though, most come down to a single decision. We must decide whether to live in pride or humility.  This may give rise to other, derivative preferences – like whether we decide to live for ourselves or others – but most of these are resolved by the pride vs. humility choice. It sets our course, and is a very real decision.

I too often act out of pride, but today, I cast my vote for humility. Humility just works better in the long run than pride. Humble people seem to have less stress in their lives, and they seem much less likely to experience lasting conflict. They live life with a consistency and balance and contentment I can only envy. Moreover, the truly humble are some of the most visible and significant people I know. It’s just that no one hears it from them. I think I work too hard at trying to be important. A little more reconciliation to circumstances and a little more positive outlook about how they might work to good would probably give my soul a lot more rest. And a restful soul in troubled times is a soul that remains most available for the Holy Spirit to use most fully. It is not afraid to seek help and follow the advice of others. It does not reject the opportunities of circumstance, either, especially when humility is a prerequisite to claiming the opportunity. Perhaps it really is the truly humble who are the truly significant. 

PRAYING FOR VENGEANCE

Nehemiah 12:27-13:31; 1 Corinthians 11:1-16; Psalm 35:1-16; Proverbs 21:17-18

“I did them no wrong, but they laid a trap for me. I did them no wrong, but they dug a pit to catch me. So let sudden ruin come upon them! Let them be caught in the trap they set for me! Let them be destroyed in the pit they dug for me. Then I will rejoice in the Lord. I will be glad because he rescues me. With every bone in my body I will praise him: ‘Lord, who can compare with you? Who else rescues the helpless from the strong? Who else protects the helpless and poor from those who rob them?'"

“The wicked are punished in place of the godly, and traitors in place of the honest.”

One of the things I like best about the Bible is its unflinching honesty. Those who put it on a “sacred shelf” and believe that it teaches only about how life ought to be are missing a very important point. The Bible is not a how-to book; it is a true biography of the Children of God. As such, Scripture deals with the injustice, sin and corruption of life just like it addresses redemption, salvation and resurrection – as choices making up the fabric of real life by which the courses of our lives are determined. In a similar vein, every once in a while (particularly in Psalms like today’s), a blast of oh-so-human feeling shouts out so clearly it cannot be ignored. These emotional slices of real life often involve petitions for vengeance. They make us uncomfortable because they ring so true. We know they are inconsistent with the “turn the other cheek” ethic of the Christ we claim to follow. Nevertheless, the urge to repay evil with evil (even if dressed up as holy retribution) is nearly automatic.

However instinctive it may be, we need to be careful when praying for vengeance; we may well end up as victims of our own wrath. Most of us, in the darkness of our souls, know what it is to wish ill upon those who hurt us, just as did the Psalmist, King David. It may be fundamentally “un-Christian,” but it is also a very natural reaction. What we fail to understand is that, however natural our reaction may be, it is a response that can literally swallow us up and destroy us if left unchecked.

In my younger days, when it came to wounds (real or imagined), I historically had a long and unforgiving memory. I was also fairly thin skinned, which made for an even worse combination. It was not unusual for me to write off an entire relationship over just a few hurtful words. Of course, while I considered those bold enough to criticize me as spiteful or thoughtless, I viewed my usually caustic, in-kind responses as nothing more that tough truth-telling. For years, most of my relationships were extraordinarily conditional. Admission was granted only as long as criticism did not come with it. I had no interest in accountability and dealt harshly with anyone who tried to hold me to it. Beyond arrogant, I watched the body count rise around me with little regard for the consequences. I finally woke up one day to a grim picture. I was isolated in my own bitterness and had pushed away most everyone, including Christ, who could have saved me from myself. Remaining friends were few and far between. Most tellingly, my life was devoid of thoughts of charity. I do not mean charity in financial terms – though there was precious little of that, either. Tit for tat, I had gotten lost in the habit of thinking unkind thoughts about others.

There is a reason Jesus taught us not to judge, and to turn the other cheek. We cannot handle any other response. Anger soon begins to control. Bitterness poisons. Alienation overwhelms. Eventually, the same yardstick we apply to others really does get applied to us, and we do not have to wait for God’s Judgment to see this work itself out, either. There is such a thing as Hell on earth. It usually begins with isolation. Resulting resentment leads to more isolation and so forth, until we are caught in a downward spiral only the Holy Spirit can lift us out of. But over the course of years, I’ve learned some additional reasons to give up on vengeance as well.

First, I like myself better, and feel more secure about and in myself, when I have others who hold me accountable and can do so without fear of retribution. There is much we can learn from others and much strength to be gained from the support of friends. If we separate ourselves from our egos, we will see most criticism, especially from our friends, is not mean spirited. It honestly is intended to be helpful. Our rejection of it is usually more an issue of pride than inaccuracy. We need friends willing to fade the heat to show us ourselves as others see us.

Secondly, the body count caused by resentment and hypersensitive overreaction to criticism or injury is just not worth inflicting. Ultimately, if we can still be truthful with ourselves, we will see the ones hurt worst by our lashing back in anger and vengeance are us. We become the last survivors on a spiritual island of our own making. There is nothing to nourish or refresh either our hearts or our souls. The stench of abandoned, decaying relationships haunts our memories. But finally, it comes down to this for me. I simply no longer want to be guilty of wounding another precious soul. Souls are God’s creations. They are not for us to trifle with or harm. Considering that the souls I hurt the worst on earth are likely to be the first ones to greet me in heaven has done wonders for keeping my pride in check. Wonders of wonders, with pride in check, I’ve found I learn a lot more, too!

So, what’s up with David? How can any “man after God’s own heart” call down heaven’s curses on those who have injured him? I suspect the answer can be found only in the correct interpretation of the phrase “after God’s own heart.” David had his moments, to be sure, but at the end of the day, he proved himself every bit as human and fallible as any of us. His saving grace was that he continued to quest after God’s heart. He was a man almost constantly searching for God in crisis and blessing alike. And he was smart enough, when overwhelmed by the desire for revenge, to turn the matter over to God. David’s prayer may be a hard prayer for the pacifist to understand at all. But for the rest of us, laying our conflicts at the foot of the Cross is always a better decision than trying to extract an eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth. The sight and dentition we save is usually our own!