storiesofvalue

Struggles drive us deeper.  We consider it joy to suffer, not because suffering is necessarily pleasant, but because it is the best way to grow in our knowledge of God.  When balance is restored in our lives, we are awe-struck by the lessons we have learned regarding the interface of an all-powerful God with our human imperfections.  Our faith doesn’t look quite the same, which means we may never correctly say we are “back to normal.”  Yet, we are stronger because we have become less rigid and more open to the possibilities contained within the mind of a Heavenly Father who knows no limits.

In our home we have an old calendar lithograph with two wild horses, one white and one black, caught up in a lightning storm.  The black horse appears to be sheltering the white one, so I tell people the picture represents the courageous way I protect my wife from danger.  She just smiles.

I love the picture because it used to hang in an upstairs hallway in my grandparent’s home, and even today I remember seeing it as they carried me to bed.  The history of the original work of art is a mystery.  Several variations were produced for business calendars and even currency, but I have yet to find anyone who has identified the artist.  However, there is an artist, and speculating on his mind and motivation is nearly as exciting as the picture itself.

Journeying to the greater depths of God’s love and grace is not always easy, but it is always fulfilling.  The knowledge we encounter takes us beyond human logic.  Our faith, developed in the shadows of our darkest valleys is almost always abnormal.

Do your struggles drive you keeper into the arms of God, or lead to estrangement?  Can you choose which outcome you are going to experience?

Dear God, keep me moving in the right direction.  In Jesus’ name, Amen. 

Therefore, in time, we learn to wait and meditate before passing judgment on any set of circumstances.  If we were dealing with a statistically rich environment with multiple controls, such as professional baseball, or national politics, we might be so arrogant to venture an answer.  But when we stand in the presence of the God with whom “all things are possible”, we must be ready for anything.

This means the 80% of certainty I stand in as I journey with God, is constantly transformed.  The basic tenets remain the same, but my awareness of how God might exercise His absolute sway in the universe deepens.  What I come to know teaches me just how much I have yet to learn, and the mere existence of so many possibilities, combined with my trust in God, gives me the courage to stand even as fear and doubt crouch at the door.

I believe Mary, the mother of Jesus was already a young woman of great faith when God chose her.  But I see this same process of discovery in her comment to Gabriel: “How will this be?” (Luke 1:34)  Mary’s inquiry was prompted by her commitment to sexual purity.  We can appreciate her confusion.  Her bigger dilemma, however, is common to all.  When God’s hand in our circumstances operates out of the realm of preconceived possibilities, how can we move forward?

This changes as we learn to live by the “Law of Possibilities.”  As long as we are willing to accept the fact we are unable to predict an outcome,  we can trust God to work things out for His glory.  We can find the courage to walk with Him through the process, even when we have serious reservations about the future.

Is it hard for you to move ahead with God when you can’t any new possibilities?  How do you trust Him in spite of your reservations?

Dear God, broaden my horizon.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Third, God has eternal purposes that transcend our circumstances.  Jesus’ original apostles suffered pain and persecution at the hands of many people.  I am sure there were days when they questioned the value of their sacrifice.  But would any of us argue against the fact their experiences were indispensable?  Aside from the work they accomplished, don’t we often reference their trials and attempt to model our reactions to hardship after theirs?

But these experiences obviously were not confined to the early church.  Are you aware some of the church leaders who first tried to translate the Bible into English were hunted down by brothers in Christ and on occasion tortured and killed for their efforts?  You may be more familiar with stories of missionaries who were murdered within hours, or even minutes of encountering a people group.  Today, Christians around the globe are still tortured and murdered for their faith.  Is God at work in these situations?  Absolutely!  Our vision of God’s plan is limited to the things we can see, hear and touch.  His is eternal.

Is it hard for you to stay focused on God’s plan with your temporary circumstances threaten to defeat you?  How do you avoid being distracted?

Dear God, reveal your eternal vision to me daily.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Secondly, God can bring together ordinary circumstances in an extraordinary way.  He does not have to work outside of the normal course of nature to accomplish these ends.  This is why some people call this kind of work “providence,” as opposed to “miraculous.”  We might call every amazing thing God does in our life a miracle, but we should recognize this important distinction.  If we consider the ordinary people, places and events in our lives, and the ways they intersect on a daily basis, then multiply these by the infinite divine option of God, the possible solutions to our personal trials are mind-blowing.  This is why people of great faith can stand tall while new believers fall apart around them.  It isn’t because they know the outcomes, but rather that they know what they don’t know.  They trust the process and have been surprised too many times to worry about things that are out of their control.

When was the last time you sensed God was working through an ordinarily circumstance in your life?  How might He use you in an ordinary way to bless someone else?

Dear God, help me see behind the ordinary.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Since God’s divine option is infinite, it is unlikely any of us will ever find a way to describe it fully.  Still, I feel compelled to venture into three areas in which we are repeatedly amazed.

First, God can change the course of nature.  This is, by definition, one of the things that make His involvement in our lives miraculous.  He is the One who set nature in motion, and therefore, He has the authority and the ability to alter earthly reality.  This is why true miracles are difficult to evaluate by the scientific method.  They work outside of the foundational principles upon which science is based.  Whether we are praying for the healing of a terminally ill patient or a change in the path of a deadly storm, God can reconfigure the laws of nature and defy the ordinary.

Have you ever seen God change the course of nature?  Do you believe it is always possible for us to know when He has intervened?

Dear God, remind me not to underestimate Your power.  In Jesus’ name, Amen. 

The “Law of Possibilities” reminds us the scope of God’s providential means and methods are beyond human comprehension.  This is the reality I have also referred to as God’s “divine option.”  I am convinced the process of growing in our faith involves the worrisome, teeth-clinching, wall-punching, crying in our pillow at night restraint that keeps us around long enough to see God work in unexpected ways.  As I have said, I am not much of a mathematician, but in terms of God’s probabilities, numerical expression is always infinite.

I have never been much of a golfer, but from time to time I play in tournaments for a good cause.  At one time my golf equipment was sorely outdated, and a bit embarrassing.  It consisted of my father’s old wooden driver, an incomplete set of rusted irons with disintegrating hand grips, and a two-toned bag from the 50s.  To help complete the picture I will tell you the bag was made of white and turquoise vinyl with leather trim.

One day, my partner in a church tournament knocked on my office door.  He entered carrying a nice used bag of golf clubs.  He had purchased new equipment and wanted to give me his old stuff.  Actually, he said, “I don’t want to be embarrassed when we play in the next tournament.”  His motivation was irrelevant, as far as I was concerned.

The next time I played golf I proudly displayed my updated bags and clubs.  Did it help me play better golf?  Well, yes it did!  The driver head was twice as big, and I didn’t have to use a nine iron as a pitching wedge.  The clubs were also better suited to my 6.2 frame, as opposed to the short clubs my shorter father had given me.  I didn’t instantly become a better golfer, but I had more and better options, thereby increasing the probability I would have greater success.

At the risk of reducing God’s realm to a golf bag, this principle holds, even on an infinite scale.  The difference is, God calls the shots, and the Law of Possibilities reminds us He has the ability to overcome anything.  “All things are possible with God.”

Has God ever shown you options you didn’t know existed?  What do you do when you have exhausted all of your options?

Dear God, open my eyes to the possibilities.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

I am confident nothing we have yet to discover about God will equal or rise above Jesus crucified, buried and risen.  We do, however, have many things to learn, and every new lesson deepens our faith.  In our faith conversations we discuss possibilities more, and are shaken less by circumstances we have never encountered.  Trust teaches us to expand our vision of what God might do, and to exercise patience as He works out the details in our lives.  While we still make many requests of God, our dialogue is more centered on learning His will than imposing ours.  As we align our hearts with His, we see His hand more often.  We still face disappointments and frustrations, but our growing faith gives us a broader context within which to navigate.  What once was mostly a verbal conversation of faith becomes a journey.

The best news is, with each experience, our faith can become stronger and deeper.  Maturity is a process.  And the only thing as certain as the faith we stand in is the fact we will be tested until the day we see Jesus face to face.

How would you describe your conversation of faith with others?  With God?

Dear God, help me give more of my heart to you.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

I have watched people agonize over what might have been lacking in their faith that led God to let a loved one die, or some other tragedy to transpire.  I remind them trials are not necessarily a sign that one lacks faith, but a challenge to exercise greater faith.  I also point out the greatest servants of faith throughout history are those God used to take the biggest steps of faith, which usually resulted in the most significant pain, or death.

This means our conversation of faith should not be about what God has done for us because of our faith, but rather what we are doing for God, and whether or not we have the faith to go where He leads us.  This perspective is a game changer when it comes to our journey through a critical season in our lives.  We are finally able to release ourselves of the burden our faith has somehow been deficient, and move forward with a childlike trust as we discover the unique path God has set before us.  It isn’t about the course He has designed for others, or about our inability to fully defeat fear and doubt.  Instead, our greatest step of faith is our decision to follow, no matter what, and to wait and watch as God shows us His infinite wisdom.

Once we break through our unrealistic obsession with works-based faith, we are free to see true growth in our walk with Christ, even in the midst of the most difficult circumstances imaginable.  Instead of holding a grudge against God because He didn’t reward our faith, we can crack the door to our hearts and let his love and grace pour in.  No longer are we crushed under the weight of guilt because we believe our suffering is a form of punishment from God for some deficiency of faith.  We want to know the answer to the question “why?” but we are willing to wait and learn.  We can also accept the fact we may never have all of the answers to our questions in light of the lessons the Lord might teach us along the way.  We are free to cry out, to grieve and to take our time.  God heals us when we give Him and ourselves the space to put the pieces of our lives back together in new and beautiful ways.

Perhaps we know the gospel accounts so well, we overlook a most obvious example of this principle.  As Jesus lay in the tomb, the disciples huddled together, fearing for their lives.  Although they had walked with Jesus for three years and had been told He would die and rise again, the idea of a resurrection was still foreign to their thinking.  This explains why they were fearful, and why Thomas was doubtful.  Peter’s certain-minded statement, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16) was being tested by the horrific set of circumstances that had unfolded in Jerusalem.  The truth of the Great Confession had not changed, but the delusion of defeat left the disciples conflicted.

Mary Magdalene was certain Jesus was still dead when she asked a gardener (Jesus in disguise) where He had hid her Savior’s body.  When the other women told the disciples the angels’ words concerning the resurrection, they didn’t believe them.  Two people on the road to Emmaus were aware of these developments when they spoke these words to a traveler (Jesus in disguise once again): “Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” (Luke 24:24 NIV)

“But him they did not see”.  The very people who followed Jesus as the Son of God were unable to immediately embrace the implications of their own belief system.  Many have suggested this is because they were still thinking Jesus had come to overthrow the Roman Empire.  And yes, Jesus had the power to raise others from the dead, but how could the dead raise the dead?  It should have been obvious to everyone the Father had the power to raise the Son.  But the disciples’ faith, though certain, needed an infusion of new possibilities.  Once they saw the risen Lord, the resurrection took its place among the foundational gospel truths and the eyes of the disciples were opened.

How do we learn to give God more time in our circumstances?  What is the reward of patience?

Dear God, teach me to wait.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Then how do we grow in faith?  What did the disciples lack in their fishing boat that caused Jesus to be critical, and how were they supposed to fix the problem?  I propose they would not have grown had they asked what good things they needed to do to prove their faith to Jesus.  How then does faith grow?

Faith is, at its root, trust.  Therefore, for faith to grow, we must be more open to God’s leading, and more willing to accept His will for our lives.  This means the sign of a growing faith is not the quick resolution of circumstances, or the showering of worldly gifts, but rather an increase in God’s influence in our lives as we trust Him to use us for His glory.  The problem with the disciples in the boat wasn’t that they hadn’t done enough for God, but rather they forgot He was there in their presence waiting for them to trust Him in everything.

A growing faith is fueled as we fill our minds with God’s Word, and take steps of faith with no pretense.  Heroes of faith don’t care about the earthly outcome of their own lives, but rather the good of the kingdom and God’s ultimate working out of His eternal plan.

How would you contrast “work-based” faith with trust?  How does trust allow God to do more in our lives?

Dear God, help me resist the temptation to do it all myself.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

My #2 Pencil Faith illustration originally grew out of an attempt to calm the nerves of people I met who believed their walk with the Lord had come to an impasse.  Some feared a complete meltdown of faith and wondered if God was not already punishing them for their failure to stand up under their circumstances.

If life is a journey and if faith is a learning experience, then our conversation of faith must be seen as a novel, not a cliché slapped on a bumper sticker or trinket we purchase at our local Christian bookstore.  As well, faith itself must be linked to our relationship with Jesus, and can never be seen as an indication of individual achievement.

When I talk with people going through a trial, I am always amazed by how quickly they revert to a work-based faith.  I am not talking about the erroneous notion of salvation by works, but rather the idea that faith itself is a work.  I have discovered this is what is swirling around in people’s minds as they try to figure out why God hasn’t answered their prayers as they had hoped.  They surmise it is because they lack faith, and they speculate on how much more faith they might need to gain God’s favor.  Exactly how such a faith can be acquired is a bit of a mystery to them.  Perhaps if they worship more, pray with greater fervor, or do some good deed God will affirm them.  I am not suggesting these are bad activities, but rather that this is a mistaken view of faith, and one that leads to unnecessary distress.

Do you believe you have ever tried to build a “works-based” faith?  How can this approach turn a good activity into a negative one?

Dear God, help me put my trust in You alone.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.