Here we get into the details about faith and life

Following Directions

By faith, Noah built a ship in the middle of dry land. He was warned about something he couldn’t see, and acted on what he was told. The result? His family was saved. His act of faith drew a sharp line between the evil of the unbelieving world and the rightness of the believing world. As a result, Noah became intimate with God. Hebrews 11:7 (The Message)

I grew up in town. It wasn’t a big town by any means, but it had street signs and stop lights and landmarks. My husband, on the other hand, grew up in the country, thirty minutes from town. When we got married, we moved into the house– out in the country– that his uncles built for his grandparents.

Like most newlyweds, we were excited to have a place of our own, and we were also very proud of our little house and invited everyone to come see us. While the directions were very straightforward–drive 7.1 miles north on the state highway and turn right, then drive 9.4 miles and turn left and the house is a half-mile down the road on your left–there weren’t a lot of good landmarks.

For people who had grown up in the country, this was no big deal. For townies like my friends and family, it was a very big deal.

But I learned that if I added a couple of sentences to the directions, they found us without fail. I said, “When you’ve been driving for a very long time, and you’re beginning to think you’ve made a mistake, or missed the turn, keep going. You’re almost there.”

Sometimes God sets us on a path, and we faithfully follow the directions He gives us, but often we don’t get any spiritual “landmarks,” things that would reassure us we’re headed the right way. And we get nervous. And our faith gets shaky. And we begin to question whether we missed a turnoff or something.

Keep going. You’re almost there.

When God told Noah to build the ark, it was another hundred and twenty years before the rains came. A hundred and twenty years! We get antsy if God’s plans don’t work themselves out in twenty days. God is a big-picture, long-term thinker. His plans extend through eternity in both directions. He has called us to play a part in them. Sometimes that means that means the directions He gives may not resolve as quickly as our short-term vision demands.

But that’s okay. We can trust Him, and we can trust His directions. Even when it seems like we’ve been working at them for a very long time. And we start to wonder if we’re doing something wrong …

Keep going. We’re almost there.

Low Expectations

By Paula

Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You. Jeremiah 32:17

Late last Saturday night, I listened to a local weatherman deliver the overnight forecast. We were under (another) winter weather advisory and we were curious how bad “bad” was going to be. The weatherman put up his radar images and then his graphics with a forecast for 2-4 inches of snow. Then he made a very interesting statement. He said, “Our models were showing 9-10 inches of snow, but we think that’s way too high.”

By Sunday morning, we had nine inches of new snow.

Sometimes I think we fall into that same kind of low-expectation, low-balling when it comes to matters of faith. We read in Scripture how God is faithful, how He hears and intervenes in the lives of His people. We hear other people testify to God’s greatness and mercy. (I witnessed one this week, in fact.) We have evidence of God’s grace active in our own lives, too.

But even with those highly reliable models, often when it comes to stepping out in faith, we tend to revise our expectations downwards. Way down. “Sure, God did that then … for those people … but I think that’s a little too much to hope for in my situation.”

No, it’s not.

God’s actions are designed to showcase His deity. One of the primary ways He does that is by doing things only He can do. Our hardships are opportunities for God to display His power and our testimonies add to His glory.

Don’t miss your chance to be part of that because of low expectations.

Can you think of a time you were hesitant to bring something before God because you didn’t think He would actually take action? Is there something you’re holding back now?

The Advocate

By Paula

And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 1 John 2:1

I filed my taxes not too long ago, and my tax software said we were at a higher risk than most for an audit. I have business income. We had expenses from a failed adoption. And we’ve never been audited before.

Now I keep pretty good records, and I don’t intentionally try to cheat, but I made a mistake on my taxes once before and got a very official looking letter as a result. I have absolutely no desire to be audited. However, for a fee, I can enlist a go-between. Then if we get audited, the go-between will take our case and deal with the IRS on our behalf.

This is not an original idea.

The penalties I owe a holy, righteous God go far beyond unpaid taxes. It is a debt I cannot comprehend, let alone pay. Jesus stepped in and fully paid that debt as Savior. Now He stands as my Advocate, affirming to God that every last sin is covered by His blood. He crushes every accusation Satan can throw. He erases every sin I commit. He restores my relationship with God when my disobedience severs it.

This is the gospel today.

We tend to think of the gospel in past terms or in future ones, but all of its amazing power is necessary and active in our lives today, now, this very moment. Jesus’s work on our behalf didn’t end with the resurrection. Not only that, we know that our sin can never undo the work He did on the cross because He is our Advocate.

Now that’s good news.

Our Biggest Difficulty

By Paula

Some time ago, I posed a question – What is the most difficult thing about living a Christian life?

I was surprised to see a common thread in the responses. In my non-scientific informal survey, the most difficult thing we face as believers is … other believers.

We are each other’s biggest difficulty. How does that happen?

We get satisfied.
We lose grace.
We have more self-righteousness than Christ’s righteousness.
We become prima donnas, more concerned about being served than serving Christ or others.
We forget what were saved from.
We don’t grasp that we are fellow soldiers and not empire builders.
We prize our agenda above the Kingdom.
Or a host of other possibilities…

It reminds me of a poem my husband heard his pastor quote –

To live above with saints we love,
O, that will be glory.
To live below with saints we know…
Now, that’s a different story.

In the hours before Jesus’ crucifixion, He prayed that we would be one. Not that we would be the same, but that we would be united. Jesus knew all about our foibles when He saved us, and He intended for us put those to work for Him.

His own disciples wrestled with this. Simon the zealot belonged to a political party sworn to assassinate guys like Matthew for being Roman collaborators. They worked it out because they bought into a greater vision.

What will it take for us to do the same?

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! Psalm 133:1

The God Who Sees

By Paula

“I have seen his ways, and will heal him; I will also lead him and restore comforts to him.” Isaiah 57:18

A few years ago, on New Year’s Eve, my husband and I sat on the front pew of our church with our son. The service had ended, folks had already headed home and we were still there talking. You see, he had answered the invitation and told our pastor he needed to be saved, but he couldn’t get it resolved in the standard two verses of the hymn, so we stayed.

What he struggled with was the reality that he personally was a sinner. He understood Jesus died to save us from our sins. He knew that everyone was a sinner. But that jump to “I am a sinner,” was tripping him up. Finally, after multiple explanations (including ones with Legos), it all clicked.

However, even after we embrace that amazing reality that Jesus Christ loved personally, individually, and died to give us life, we still get tripped up by the same kinds of ideas.

We grasp that God loves us. We aren’t quite as certain when we say, “God loves me.”
We know God hears our prayers. But yet, we often leave our knees wondering if God heard us that time.
We believe God has a plan, but looking around for evidence that our situation fits in it often leaves us empty.

When all those questions play against a backdrop of modern society where it’s easy to get lost in the shuffle or reduced to just a number, it’s hard not to wonder if God doesn’t just lump us in with all the other believers. But the evidence shows God sees and knows us personally.

Take Hagar for instance.

In Genesis 16, Hagar is a pregnant slave (carrying her master’s baby) on the run because her mistress suddenly turned into the psycho mistress of the underworld. She had been used and betrayed by those in authority over her. She was Egyptian by birth, a slave, and now a fugitive. The chances of finding any help were slim and becoming slimmer with each scuff of the sand beneath her feet.

But God saw it all.

When God addresses her in verse 8, He says, “Hagar, Sarah’s maid …” He knew exactly who she was, and her situation. He deals with her personally. Before He leaves, God gives Hagar some guidance as to what to do next and He makes some promises to her. Because of this meeting, Hagar gives God a name, The-God-Who-Sees, because, she explained, “Have I also here seen Him who sees me?”

You’d think after an amazing encounter like that, her faith would be rock solid for the rest of her life. But Hagar is real. She forgets. Soon, she’s busy trying to make a life for herself and her son. Then she gets kicked out. In her desperation, God speaks to her again, calling her by name. He provides reassurance, direction and hope (and water in the desert).

While you might argue that of course God took care of Hagar, she’s in the BIBLE! Then I would argue that it would be pretty impractical to lug around a book containing the details of everyone God heard, cared for and provided for. In Scripture He gave us enough examples to prove His character. Then we rest our faith on that.

Rest assured, the God Who Sees also sees you. Personally.

Believing Is Seeing

By Paula

Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” John 11:40

If you’ve had the chance to catch The Santa Clause one of the dozens of times it’s airing this month or have seen it in the twenty years since its release, you may recall a scene early in the film. Scott Calvin has arrived back at the North Pole and an elf named Judy is helping him settle in for a well-deserved night’s sleep with a cup of perfect hot cocoa. Scott comments that the North Pole and everything around him is too wonderful to be real. “I see it, but I don’t believe it.”

“You’re missing the point,” Judy says. “Seeing isn’t believing. Believing is seeing.”

For hundreds of years, the Jews believed God would send a Deliverer. Generations of them believed, but never saw that promise fulfilled. That’s how faith works. Hebrews 11:1 tells us that faith is the evidence, the proof of things we haven’t seen.

But sometimes, that’s asking a lot. Especially in a world where chaos seems to be winning. Especially when the some of the promises are entering their second millennium without being fulfilled. Especially when the things I see around me don’t seem to square with those promises.

There was a man in a similar situation in Jerusalem a very long time ago. He had lived his entire life under the domination of a brutal foreign power. There was heavy taxation. There was mockery of his religion and his heritage. There was no recourse for anyone mistreated at the hands of the government. And there had been no word from God in 400 years.

Yet Simeon believed.

He was committed to the hope of a Deliverer. It didn’t matter what he saw around him. He clung to what he knew. God keeps His promises. The Deliverer would come. Simeon’s belief was so strong that he expected to see this Deliverer.

So he watched for Him.

Day after day after day.

For a lifetime.

Believing became seeing.

At the prompting of the Holy Spirit, Simeon came to the Temple on the very day that Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to fulfill all the requirements of the law of Moses. Simeon knew. As soon as he saw the baby, he knew.

He took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said,“Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation.” Luke 2:28:30

I get choked up every time I read that. Every single time.

Simeon’s faith was rewarded. His faith became sight.

Yours will be, too.

Keep expecting. Keep watching.