with us and working

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”

Hebrews 13:5-6

 

My writing has taken a turn for the infrequent and rare. It’s not intentional, not desired; it’s just what has happened. I guess with the blessing of four children and a wonderful wife, followed by the responsibilities of a full-time job, accompanied by the privilege of helping pastor a community of believers, rounded out by an investment in getting an education in Biblical counseling something was bound to fall by the wayside. I don’t hope for it to remain this way. I don’t intend for it to continue being a rare occurrence that I write. It simply was lost in the shuffle of busyness. I want to see if that’s something I can rectify because it’s good for my soul to process the words God has given us.

 

The ease with which writing got lost amongst the busy life I live reminded me of just how easily we lose what we cherish, even what we need. We lose what we know to be true. Consider the words at the beginning of this post; the words from the writer of Hebrews. His reminder: God is with us. God is working.

 

He first calls us to be content; to not become consumed with greed and want and the slavery of materialism. The fuel for this battle against the consuming fire of consumerism? God will never leave us.

 

God is always with us.

How many days do we run through—head down and determined—seeking to get to the goal, searching for the prize that’s caught our eye, and forget that God goes with us? Not forgetting in theory, not forgetting if someone asked if we believed God was with us, but literally forgetting to engage the presence of God. Forgetting to speak to him, to rely on him, to listen for him? How many days do we actively not remember the presence of Jesus walking through our day with us?

The writer continues by reminding us that the Lord is our helper, so why should we fear the attacks of people. Why do we put so much weight in the opinions of others? Why do we spend so much energy seeking approval from those we share life with? Or those we don’t share life with? Why do we obsess over appearance and perception and image? Because we forget that God is for us and God is working.

 

The Lord is my helper. If only I could remember that.

 

Life is inherently busy. We fill up our time with stuff and with things. Just as we tend to fill up the empty space in our homes with junk we don’t need, we tend to fill up our schedules with places to go and people to see; shows to watch and goals to accomplish. We feel over-busy and under-rested. And in the fast paced moving of day in and day out we so easily forget him.

 

We can spend a few moments in the morning, or at meals, or in the evening, or at whatever time we find that works, and in those moments we can remember God. Engage him and listen to him. But what about the rest of our days? What about the times of going and doing and being? Do we remember him? Do we speak with Him? Do we listen to his whisperings?

 

God is with us. God is working.

 

Can you imagine the impact on our lives if we lived every moment believing this? Living in response to this? Can you imagine the different trajectory your life would take? The impact on your daily decisions and attitudes of the heart if this simple piece of gospel truth permeated to the all aspects and all moments of the day?

 

We would live wholly differently. We would be wholly different if we could just be captured by the radical truth of a God literally present and actively working. It’s not a theory, and it’s not abstract.

 

God is with us. Literally. Now. And he isn’t going anywhere but wherever we go. Wherever we are. He is there before us and will be there with us. And he isn’t just there. He isn’t just sitting, just watching, just disappointed, or just keeping tabs on us. He is working. He is moving. He is being the God of the universe who gave himself to save us.

 

God is with us. God is working.

 

the roundabout way

 

Do you ever look back on the journey of your life, at the ways in which you got where you are today and just wonder: How did I get here from there? For most—if not all of us—our life hasn’t consisted in a straight line trajectory of point A to point B and then on to point C. Sometimes my adult life has felt more like I started at point Q and the proceeded to point F only to then move on to point W. And next? Probably point B. When I look at where I have been, where I am now, and where I could go, it certainly doesn’t seem that this journey has been decided by efficiency. At times it’s seemed like little more than going in circles.

 

This is just the way of God. He takes us, not by the fastest or shortest way, but instead he takes us the best way. Best meaning what meets our needs, what shapes us where we need shaping; the way that teaches us and pummels us when necessary. He takes us by the way of abundant living not easy living. 

 

God loves to take the roundabout way.

 

When Pharaoh finally let the people go, God did not lead them along the main road that runs through Philistine territory, even though that was the shortest route to the Promised Land. God said, “If the people are faced with a battle, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” So God led them in a roundabout way through the wilderness toward the Red Sea. Thus the Israelites left Egypt like an army ready for battle.            Exodus 13:17-18

 

This roundabout way is scenic at first. It’s nice to feel like we aren’t racing to get there (wherever “there” is), but are just moving along, enjoying the journey. But our nature leans towards impatience and soon this becomes frustrating. We just want to be there already!

 

It’s easy to get angry and agitated with God. To wonder why everything we want—and especially the things we think he wants for us—take so long to get here. If this is what God wants for me then why doesn’t he just make it happen?!

 

Because God knows what we need.

 

Do you honestly think that God wanted to take the Israelites the long way around? These were not the best road trip companions! Do you really think God wanted them to go through all the waywardness and major mistakes they were about to experience in their long and seemingly unending journey through the desert? Of course not. But this is what they needed. They need it here at the outset, and they need the trip extended later when they get their first chance to enter the promised land.

 

God is not in the business of giving us what we will like. He gives us what we need. Because God loves us too much to give us only what makes the temporary fun. He is in the business of the eternal.

 

The eternal has time for us to take the roundabout way.

 

eternal

“What if they want to know who you are? What if they want to know who is sending me?”

 

These seem like good questions. Moses isn’t being unreasonable here (Exodus 3:13). He is just thinking ahead. What should he say if he goes to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt and is challenged about who this God is? And so he asks and God responds with that famous and somewhat enigmatic name: I Am. Or in some translations, “I Am who I Am.”

 

God is saying, among other things that he is God of the now. He isn’t bound by time. He isn’t the God who was. He is now, where we are, when we are. He is God of every day and every time. God of every moment.

This is my eternal name, my name to remember for all generations.       Exodus 3:15

 

God is eternal. I don’t think I fully appreciate what that means. I want to, but it’s so other than everything I am familiar with. There is no context in my life for something with no beginning; something that will have no end or completion point. Everything I know and relate to wasn’t at some point…and then it was. Everything I know of will eventually pass away and become a “was” and a memory.

 

Except God. He is. He always is. A thousand years ago God is. A million years from now God is. This makes my brain hurt. God is not simply bigger than this moment I am living in. He is bigger than all moments, bigger than time. He is, no matter when. He always is.

 

God is eternal and if ever there was a thing about God that made him bigger and beyond us it is this. We are so confined by time and place and the present. We are so temporary and so now. God transcends it all. And perhaps the most amazing thing of all is that one day, at some moment in time we will be yanked out of time as well. We will exist in the eternal where God is. A where that isn’t really anywhere, but is everywhere.

 

It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.            1 Corinthians 15:52-53

 

It seems odd to wait in time for a moment in that time where time will be stripped away. And yet I wait. Anxiously wondering when forever will finally arrive. Why is it so slow in coming? Why does the eternal take so long to start?

 

In the meantime I will wait and wonder at the eternal God who makes the way out of time possible. His name is eternal because he is eternal. He is the God of every moment and he is not swayed or changed by the passing of time. Trying to comprehend this makes my head and my heart soar.

 

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.    Hebrews 13:8

 

little by little

Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.   Exodus 23:30

 

We are such an impatient society. We want everything now, or better yet, we want it yesterday! It’s one of the negative side effects of fast food restaurants, digital downloads, and credit. We have been led to believe that if something is worth having, it’s worth having fast. Nothing is worth waiting for these days.If we want it now we can have it now. Even if having it now costs more in the long run.

We don’t wait well. We don’t pause much. We don’t breath deep and enjoy the moment. We are always running after what’s next. We have all but forgotten how to live with a sense of present-ness. We no longer are all that interested in embracing the moment because we are busy planning and strategizing for tomorrow.

And I fear the impact on our souls has been far worse than we realize.

As I was reading through Exodus this morning, pondering all that God had to say to the Israelite people as he sets them up for a future with himself, I was struck by something God said. I don’t know if it was hard for the Israelites to take, the Bible doesn’t really say. But I think in our day and age it would have been met with some resistance.

In Exodus 23 God is telling the Israelites how he will send an angel with them to protect them and guide them as they make their way into the Promised Land. And God explains that he will drive out before them all their enemies and help them take the land that he had set aside for them. But then God makes a startling (at least to us) statement.

This victory, this “claiming what God has for them” will not be quick. It will not be instantaneous and it will not be easy. It will take years.

In fact, God uses the term “little by little” to describe the progress towards victory that they will experience.

Little by little! I thought God moved in miraculous ways?! I thought God displaying his power meant fast and furious activity, giant waves of destruction for the enemies and easy victories for those who are God’s people?

That’s the way it’s often presented by today’s church. God moves in waves of power. God makes things happen in an instance. The only miracles are quick and obvious miracles. We don’t hear much about the subtleties of God’s moving. We don’t get much on the “slow and steady wins the race” kind of God activity.

And so all too often we feel left in the lurch by God. We feel like God isn’t doing anything because he isn’t doing anything fast. We assume that if something is little by little then more prayer and more faith will speed up the process. Apparently, that’s not always the case.

And look at why God is planning to do things this way in the promised land with his promised people:

…I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you.  Exodus 23:29

 

God says he will do it little by little until they are large enough to handle the responsibilities that come with so much land; until they can handle taking care of it.

 

Sometimes getting an answer to pray in a fast and sweeping fashion would be a punishment more than a blessing. Ever have that “if only I knew then what I know now” feeling when looking at your past experiences? Ever wish you could have a “do over” because you know you are far more capable now than you were then and you know it could work out differently this time?

We would be well served, I think, to pray for more “little by little” gifts from God rather than the constant barrage of “now, now, now!” that often becomes our mantra.

It reminds me of a song we used to sing when I was a kid. It was a good old Music Machine song about a snail:

“Have patience, have patience, don’t be in such a hurry. When you get impatient, you only start to worry. Remember, remember that God is patient too…”

 

Sometimes the expression of God’s love and power is found in the slow answer to prayer; in the little by little rather than the much and the quickly.

how did I get here?

“I have become a foreigner in a foreign land.”  Exodus 2:22

 

How did I get here?

When did life become this?

Ever look at your life, your surroundings and just wonder how you got where you are? How you ended up doing what you are doing or living where you are living?

It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but sometimes it’s just surprising. You find yourself where you never expected to be. Doing what you never expected to be doing.

Sometimes it can feel exciting, and sometimes it can feel disappointing. But in most cases, it’s a bit disarming.

This wasn’t the plan. This wasn’t the place. I expected to be more “successful” or I expected to be more established, or I just expected to be…well…more.

When I read the beginning of Moses’ story in Exodus I came across his statement:

I have become a foreigner in a foreign land.

Sometimes this is more true than we care to admit.

Again. It’s not necessarily bad. Sometimes being in foreign places in life, where I never planned to go, can be exactly where I need to be. It can be exactly where I want to be.

Or it could be like Moses’ situation. Maybe I’m in foreign territory because I’m on the run from my past. Maybe I got myself into this by poor choices, or an unwillingness to confront my problems.

Either way, the real question for us becomes can I accept where I am today?

Can I trust that God will guide my path? That he is in control?

Paul makes a bold declaration about his own circumstances:

…I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.          Philippians 4:11-12

 

Will I be content today?

the good old days…weren’t that good

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”

Isaiah 43:18-19

 

What is it about the past that can hold so much sway for us? Sometimes we see the past with such rose-colored glasses that everything—even the bad things—seem so much nicer, easier, more desirable than what we have now. Whatever we had then, whoever we were with then, however we lived then can sometimes seem so much better than the best of now. We love to romanticize past events.

And other times, it’s quite the opposite. Other times what we remember is just the pain. Someone forgot, even though it was so important to us and they expressed interest. Another promised and never came through. We were mistreated, hurt, talked about, let down. We failed, lied, wounded others. We embarrassed ourselves, how could others not remember it just as vividly as we do?

For good or bad, we are skilled craftsmen at taking the past and bending it, highlighting it to better see ourselves and others as heroes or villains. It all depends on the day.

But the Father calls us to new things. To today. To present-ness.

Sometimes I think we tend to run back tot the past because, as God describes here in Isaiah 43, the present feels like a “wilderness”, a “wasteland” of sorts. We can look at the past and we know how events went. There is a sense of control that comes with looking back. We can embrace things as they happened or imagine how they could have gone differently, but either way we know how that chapter of the story ends. So it feels safe. It feels known.

The problem with the present is that it’s so momentary. There is far more past and far more future than there is present. So there is less for us to try to control. Less change for us to affect. If we live in the present, if we embrace the new things God is doing we must trust more; we must live by faith more.

 “See I am doing a new thing!”

  

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!   2 Corinthians 5:17

 

It’s the call to stop being defined by our past. It’s a call to stop “if only” and “what might have been” living. It’s a call to stop regretful living. Following Jesus is about having a clean slate, a new start…every morning.

Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.   Lamentations 3:22-23

 

The fact is that the “good old days” just weren’t that good. They were fine when the day they were a part of was called today. They were a gift then. But they were not so good that they should be where we live now. They are not God’s today for us…or they wouldn’t be the past. They would be the now.

Today is new, and we are new, and the possibilities, the plans and the experiences are all new. They are God’s gift to us. They are today.

Today God is doing a new thing. May we have the grace and courage necessary to perceive it.