Nearsighted or Farsighted?

2 Corinthians 4: 16-18, 5:1-10

¹⁶Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. ¹⁷For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. ¹⁸So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

¹Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. ²Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, ³because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. ⁴For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. ⁵Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

⁶Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. ⁷We live by faith, not by sight. ⁸We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. ⁹So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. ¹⁰For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

When I read this passage of scripture this last week, I realized something about myself. I am nearsighted. What I mean is that, I often find myself starring at what I can see right in front of me. By the Hand of Providence, I’ve got a lot of things right in front of me that are not fun. Things like trials, testing, and struggles have been put in my path for a very good reason…but these things that are right in front of me are affecting me tremendously physically, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. I keep finding myself tired, thirsty, slowed, and because of it all, somewhat despairing. Quite the opposite of verse 16, I have lost heart seeing only the outward wasting away and the temporary that is right before my eyes. When hope morphs into anxiety and worry, it’s a good indicator that you need to refocus your hope.

Out of all the verses here my favorite is verse 17. It says that “our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” What a wonderful perspective! I realize that compared to the future in heaven that I have awaiting me, my present trials are in fact “light and momentary”. Heaven will be forever and the things I struggle with are temporary. Compared to the awesome joy of every day with Jesus Christ in eternity, the hardships and pain that I experience are an easy and light load to bear.

What Paul is saying is that we need to have this perspective! He is saying: “This is the perspective that we have! We are not looking to the things right in front of us, but we are trusting in things that we can’t yet see!” “¹⁸So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.” (18) In Chapter 5, Paul goes on to give an example of what he is talking about. He describes his longing to live in the heavenly country awaiting him. Like a line out of a popular Switchfoot song, “I want more than this lonely nation.” Paul is trying to clue us in to the place and the One with whom our hopes should lie. When we place our hope in Jesus Christ and in the eternal life ahead of us, then our present struggles become

“light and momentary troubles”. In this time in my life, I need this perspective to survive, and just to make it by ok. I challenge you to look to the eternal glory ahead…the wonderful closeness to God that we will have when we reach that heavenly place! This will be the challenge ahead of me for the next little while! Let’s learn to be farsighted!

Waiting in the Blank

Psalm 13 is a member of the frequently-occurring category of psalm - the lament. Though only six verses, it features all the things found in laments that make us uneasy. It is a no-holds-barred prayer in which the psalmist affixes blame for his dire situation with God. In two verses, the psalmist levels four straight questions at God, all starting the same way: “How long?” It is an emphatic, even impolite, series of questions.

Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann warns against jumping to conclusions. Only to an outsider does this illustrate a failure of faith. On the contrary, it is, as Brueggemann writes, bold faith. Bold faith insists on presenting reality as it is experienced. It refuses to give a polite, edited-for-TV version. Prayers that arise from a contrived faith settle for a contrived god, a god who can’t handle the truth. Laments refuse to settle. They seek God and nothing less. Thus the jarring language.

If the first four verses of Psalm 13 are jarring for their boldness, the last two are jarring for their rejoicing. Like many laments, this psalm takes a 180-degree turn. “But I trust in your unfailing love,” writes the psalmist. “My heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the Lord's name, for he has been good to me” (TNIV).

All attempts to explain this about-face are conjecture. But I would suggest we note something. Between the last line of verse four and the first of verse five, note the horizontal strip of blank, white page. For those of you without Bibles handy, it kind of looks like this:



Now granted, blank strips like this appear hundreds of times in the psalms, separating hundreds of verses. On the surface, this one is no different.

However, I wonder how much time is tucked into that blank strip. Obviously things changed for the psalmist between verses four and five. How long did it take for that change to come? Before the rejoicing began? How many days passed in which verses one through four were the extent of his prayer and beyond that was just an unbounded blank? Maybe that blank space covers months. Maybe it took years before the joyous change in his situation compelled the psalmist to compose those final lines.

We don’t know. Even as these laments ask “How long?” over and over, they seem dead set against giving specifics. They give us only blank spaces. At the same time, this psalm is showing us how to live inside those blank spaces - wide, narrow or in-between. What do we do? We wait. We wait on God. Whether we wait patiently depends on what we mean by “patient.” We are patient in the sense that we refuse to give up on God and settle for second-rate alternatives. In other words, we refuse to dull the pain of blankness with alcohol or mindless entertainment. We refuse to simply distract ourselves with busyness. We don’t want to be numb (despite its appeal); we want what the alternatives can’t deliver: rejoicing. So we endure the blank.

Not that we like it. The blank always sucks. But here’s where the laments prove helpful. Their purpose is not to put us at ease with emptiness and the absence of God. (If anything, they increase our discontent.) Their purpose is, first of all, to give us permission to speak honestly with God about that discontent, even if it’s at the expense of politeness. Second, they remind us that the blank always comes to an end. God comes.

The question is simply a matter of how long. (How long? How long, O Lord? How long?)

Jesus himself gives us an example of faith that, rather than avoiding the blanks, endures them. As he agonized on the cross, on the precipice of the great blank space of death, he cried out in lament, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Psalm 22). To link our faith to his is, again, simply to trust the blank is not infinite. We wait, looking again and again to Jesus’ resurrection. It is in the resurrection that Jesus binds the blank spaces, puts them under his authority and assigns their limits.

In the resurrection, faith finds boldness and hope in rejoicing.

-Mark Roeda (found on relevantmagazine.com)

Be Still, My Soul

Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change, He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake
To guide the future, as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know
His voice Who ruled them while He dwelt below.

Be still, my soul: when dearest friends depart,
And all is darkened in the vale of tears,
Then shalt thou better know His love, His heart,
Who comes to soothe thy sorrow and thy fears.
Be still, my soul: thy Jesus can repay
From His own fullness all He takes away.

Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord.
When disappointment, grief and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past
All safe and blessèd we shall meet at last.

Be still, my soul: begin the song of praise
On earth, be leaving, to Thy Lord on high;
Acknowledge Him in all thy words and ways,
So shall He view thee with a well pleased eye.
Be still, my soul: the Sun of life divine
Through passing clouds shall but more brightly shine.

-Ka­tha­ri­na A. von Schlegel

Let the Heart Cry Louder than Emotion

God,
It seems like now is one of those moments where everything seems so big that I need to just be still and know that You are God. How can I possibly watch over everything? No matter how much I could try I know I would still fall short of living right in at least one way. Sometimes I wish that I could have it all together for even five minutes. What a beautiful way to draw me close! Not just for a moment but for a lifetime. I keep asking for the gain, the rewards, the growth, and the intimacy with You, and I keep getting trials, tests, dissatisfaction, and pain. And now I realize the beauty of it all. All of the hardships You have placed in my life are designed to make me run to You. I keep having to draw nearer and nearer still just to "do ok" in life, and now I realize that You are answering my prayers. Lord, don't stop! Continue to challenge me and test me and try me! Refine me with the hottest of flames! Though it be more difficult than anything I will ever experience, take me through it...to purify me, to cause growth in me, to strengthen me, to make more like You, to draw me closer in relationship to You, to know and understand Your heart better. I know that You will carry me through every circumstance that You place in my path. For You are a God who leads His people into difficult places...but You go with them. Just as You lead the Israelites to the edge of the Red Sea and seeming death only to have them walk through it with a wall of water on the left and the right. Just as You let Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendego enter into the fiery furnace only to endure the heat with them and bring them out entirely unscathed. And now pondering who You are is giving me that too big for the mind feeling again. I must simply be still and know that You are...God.

Knowing You

All I once held dear, built my life upon

All this world reveres, and wars to own

All I once thought gain, I have counted loss

Spent and worthless now, compared to this

Knowing you, Jesus, knowing you

There is no greater thing

You're my all, you're the best

You're my joy, my righteousness

And I love you Lord

Now my heart's desire, is to know you more

To be found in you, and known as yours

To possess by faith, what I could not earn

All surpassing gift, of righteousness

Knowing you, Jesus, knowing you

There is no greater thing

You're my all, you're the best

You're my joy, my righteousness

And I love you Lord

Oh to know the power of your risen life

And to know you in your sufferings

To become like you in your death my Lord

So with you to live and never die

Knowing you, Jesus, knowing you

There is no greater thing

You're my all, you're the best

You're my joy, my righteousness

And I love you Lord

“Bring Forth the Royal Diadem, and Crown Him Lord of All”

Today I was reading from a book called “The Pursuit of the Holy” by J. Oswald Sanders, and I was really struck by an illustration that he used. The chapter I was reading was dealing with the Lordship of Christ, a term that I’ve heard many times before but never really understood. Sanders deeply challenges his readers to examine their hearts to determine whether Christ is in fact the Lord of their lives.

It’s so easy to put Christ on the throne of our lives in one moment and then replace Him with something or someone in the next. Christ is in fact Lord of all. He has a right to the throne of our lives and our hearts, and doubly so because of His sacrifice on the cross. Both who He is and what He has done demand the position of King, the position of Lord in our lives.

I was challenged to think again about what it means to call Jesus my Lord. I think Christians get so used to throwing that word around that they often forget its meaning. To call Him Lord is to say that you have surrendered everything to Him. To call Him Lord is to acknowledge both His salvation unto us and His continuing sovereignty over us. I can honestly say that I have loosely called Him Lord on many occasions when I wasn’t giving Him that place in my heart.

To bow down and humble yourself before God and submit to Him as Lord of your life is an ongoing battle. It’s a battle to be willing to do this and then a battle to succeed in doing this. It’s also scary too. The thought of losing control and giving everything to God is incredibly terrifying. However, His Word says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” (Pr. 3:5-6)

With the wonderful promise of a straight path before us, we can trust God as the Lord of our lives. In his book, Sanders tells an awesome story that brings this truth to life:

“The organist in a village in Germany was playing some music of Mendelssohn, and was not playing it very well. A stranger, hearing the music, crept into the church and sat in the dimness of the back pew, where he heard the imperfections of the organist’s performance. When he ceased playing and prepared to depart, the stranger said, “Sir, would you allow me to play the organ for a little while?”

“Certainly not,” was the surly answer. “I never allow anyone to touch the organ but myself.”

“I should be so grateful if you would give me the privilege,” persisted the stranger.

Again he met with gruff refusal. The third time his appeal was allowed, but most ungraciously.

The stranger sat down, adjusted the stops, and began to play the same piece, but with what a difference. It seemed as if the whole church was filled with heavenly music.

The organist looked askance and asked, “Who are you?”

Modestly the stranger replied, “I am Mendelssohn.”

“What,” cried the organist in deep mortification, “did I refuse you to play on my organ?”

That is what we do with Christ when we refuse Him the opportunity to take the instrument of our redeemed personalities, and bring out the harmonies of heaven.”

Wow! Isn’t that awesome?! What a difference it makes when we let the creator of humanity itself be the Lord of our lives. This week, I would encourage you to join me in reflecting upon these questions: Do I have the desire to submit to Christ’s supreme Lordship over me? Am I letting Christ take His rightful throne as the Lord of my life? Am I succeeding in keeping Christ on the throne of my life and everything else off of the throne from moment to moment? May God challenge you through this and bring you to a deeper understanding of yourself and of Him.

Re-Examining Idolatry

Today as I read for my devotions I came across the story of the golden calf in Exodus 32. This chapter tells the story of how the Israelites and Aaron melted down all the gold jewelry of the people and carved it into a golden calf. After fashioning an idol they began to worship it. All the while Moses is up on the mountain receiving the stone tablets of the law. Isn’t it ironic that he’s receiving the law while the Israelites are breaking it? As I read Erwin Lutzer’s take on the chapter in His book “Getting Closer To God”, I found a heavy conviction setting in. I was surprised to look at this passage from the new perspective that Lutzer suggests:

“We are all idol lovers. Left to ourselves, we drift toward idolatry; we all want to create gods who are according to our liking. Let’s not read this story as if it were ancient history. This is a diagnosis of the human heart. When we see the Israelites at the base of the mountain, we see ourselves.”

Wow! I never would have compared myself to the Israelites who cried out for an idol to worship that day. After all, I’ve never crafted any little buddhas or incan faces out of stone or gold. However, an idol isn’t just a little figure that we worship. It can be anything that takes God’s rightful place in our lives. C.S. Lewis defines an idol as our “overwhelming first.” In other words, our idol is whatever or whoever overwhelms our thoughts and our desires. Though today we may be guilty of idolatry in the mind, we exhibit the same hearts as the Israelites did when they worshipped the calf.

I began to realize that I still have idolatry issues in my life! Getting past this is not just a one time deal-with-it kind of thing. It’s more like keeping the weeds off your lawn. New ones keep sprouting and you have to keep pulling them, one at a time.

Lutzer very simply states that “[i]dentifying our idols is quite easy. We must ask two questions: What do we think about in our spare time? And, whom do we wish to please?”

Yikes! After asking myself those two questions I realized that there were several answers that weren’t what they should be. I realize now that many times I have let friendships and other people become my “overwhelming first”, and even more so…myself. How many times have I played video games excessively just to entertain and please myself? How many times have I wanted to talk to or spend time with my friends just to feel better? As if they can meet my needs. Lutzer puts it beautifully saying, “[w]hen God is silent and appears indifferent to our needs, a climate is created where idolatry flourishes.” I can honestly say that I have been unfaithful many times when God has let the climate occur and as it says, idolatry has flourished in my life.

But the most important part out of all of this is how we can remove those idols and restore God to the “overwhelming first” in our lives. To do this we must repent. When God shows us our idols we need to name them to Him, one by one. We need to ask God for help to destroy idolatry as it takes root in our lives.

“The dearest idol I have known,

What e’er that idol be,

Help me to snatch it from the throne

And worship only Thee.”

“If we are repentant of our idolatry, God will help us.”