A Strange Thing

My mother is in the hospital. Has a tumor in her bladder that she will be having removed and biopsied next week. In addition one of my children who broke his arm, had to have surgery to set it and is still in a cast came down with Strep throat. Another one of my children has swine flu. And in all honesty, like most I could keep the list going. Life has storms and certainly right now I am in a season of thunderstorms.

That is not the strange thing. It does not strike me as odd when life is....well life. Jesus makes it abundantly clear in passages such as Matt. 7:24-27 that the storms of life come to all people. Where did this escapist mentality that invades the church come from? It is certainly not Biblical. Anyway...that is another blog.

The strange thing to me is how many believers assume that those facing trials will question their faith, blame God or quit. Perhaps because I did not come to Christ out of crisis it never has dawned on me to abandon Him while I am in one.

My response when I face the trials of life is Thank God Jesus is The Rock - that in every storm there is Truth that is unshakeable, Peace that is unexplainable and strength that is undeniable.

Is your faith shaken during hard times? Why??? Who said there wouldn't be hard times? The TV preacher, the church, wishful thinking? Jesus never said that. Jesus said that in this life we will face trouble but to take heart that He has overcome the world. That is why He came. Jesus is my hero.

Feedback???

Darren

The Road Less Traveled

This morning in my devotion time I was reading in Exodus 13, just after the passover and the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. Vs. 17-18 says that the Lord purposely did not let them take the shorter route but instead lead them through the longer road in the desert. WHY? Because he knew they had been slaves for 400 years and were not prepared to battle. The short road would have led them staright into battle unprepared. Taking the longer road would protect them while allowing them opportunity to learn to trust and depend on God.

QUESTION?
*Am I willing to accept the fact that sometimes God will take me on the longer road to develop in me the character necessary to please Him that I would not develop on the shorter road?
*Am I willing to trust that God is more interested in accomplishing His will in me than I am, just not in the manner that I always see fit?
*Am I willing to accept that what God is doing in me is more important than what He is doing through me?
*Am I willing to understand that it is in the longer desert road that the qualities necessary for where I am going will be learned and developed and will become the foundation for the future.
*Am I willing to follow God no matter what road He leads simply because He is God and I am not.

I am ashamed to admit that I may kick and scream at times and even whine like the Israelites about the journey but in the end I am confident that God will carry onto completion every good work that He has begun in me. It is not unspiritual to question, process, express frustration, or even be weary at times as long as it is followed up with obedience. Personally, I think God appreciates the transparency, after all my true feelings are not hid from Him.

More than that, long roads remind me that my true passion is to be like Christ anyway. It has never been about the destination. It is about Love. My love for Christ and more importantly, His love for me.

Thoughts and/or comments?

Blessings,
Darren


Thoughts and comments?

What I'm reading

Books I have recently read:
-Mere Christianity and The Probelm of Pain by CS Lewis
-The Whole Gospel for the Whole World the life of PC Nelson by Bob Burke
-It by Craig Groschel
-Wild Goose Chase and In the Pit with a Lion On A Snowy Day by Mark Batterson
-Fellowship of the Burning Heart by AW Tozer
-Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson

Books begun not completed:
-The Unexpected Adventure by Lee Strobel and Mark Mittelberg
-The Beauty of the Balance by Terry Tramel
-8th Habit by Stephen Covey
-Knowing God by JI Packer
-Soul Cravings by Erwin McManus

I would love comments or feedback on any of these books or others.

I was lost,now I am found

As you can tell it has been awhile since my last post. Why? Well the easy answer is because I lost the link - yeah, I know I should have wrote it down, but hey it was after midnight when I opended the account. The deeper truth is that I have drug my feet to find it. One of my commitments for 2009 was to become a bit more techy. I have moved into the ranks of facebook, Iphone and slowly blogging - does twice count as blogging??? No tweeter yet. Am I the only one that sees both the blessing and curse of all this technology. Yes, it has a thousand if not more benefits. I do not disagree or argue and certainly for my children - they could not imagine a world without it. However, there is a peace in a less hectic life. More is not always better. Better is better. Am I the only one that relishes the moments of not being connected to a phone? Can you be successful, connected and cutting edge in this information age if you don't immediately answer every call, read every email and facebook your every move?

Have we lost the art of being still? Early this morning in my office I just sat quitely. I felt impressed to just pause. My plan with coming extra early was to read and study - of which there never seems to be enough time - not just sit. I felt guilty, lazy, uncommitted, frustrated, irritated, idle...yet it also felt refreshing, relaxing, cleansing, restoring, clarifying...

I will not lie, the constant temptation to touch a book, check my email, work on my to-do list remained throughout. Funny thing about quiet time. The more you stop, the easier it is to stop. I was reminded that I haven't been stopping as much lately.

While facebook, email, phone calls may help me stay connected on the surface...quite times connect the deep parts of my soul to myself and to Christ. My tendency is to always look to, strive for and long for the future. Stopping helps me see the now. This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it. Help me embrace this verse today.

Blessings,
Darren