Thursday, May 28, 2009

Friendship

I was reading Job 29 today.  Job is getting to the end of his debating with his friends and he makes this statement "I long for the years gone by when God took care of me, when he lighted the way before me.....the friendship of God was felt in my home."  I got to thinking about this and how we feel when God seems to be distant.  I was also reflecting on my brief time as a parent and that a former pastor on mine once said that God leads with a lamp not a flood light.  With a lamp, you must stay close to the one leading exactly the opposite with a flood light.  

Taking these random thoughts and knowing the outcome of Job, I am convinced that God is in the process of moving us from the flood light to the lamp.  He does this so we stay close -- so we really experience who he is.  And, this can only be done abiding in him in close proximity.  If he lead us with a flood light we would never need to be close.  God could shine the flood light on your life.  But, he loves you too much to do that.  He wants a relationship with you.  As parents, we want to experience life with our children.  But, even at 3.5  years they think they can do it "all by myself."  So, there are times, when I am silent and withdraw from JT.  Not to be mean.   No, not at all.  I  do it because I really want to have a relationship with him and the love that a 3.5 year old can give.  Some times I have to draw it out of him to move closer to him.  And, normally it works.  Sometimes it has backfired.  Other times circumstances by themselves do it.  And, I am thankful for those.  But, the point is I want a relationship and will do what it necessary to nurture it.  

So, here's the point for me.  If I, not having complete wisdom or knowledge do that, how much more would my heavenly father?  And, so, Job's desire for friendship and guidance and his appeal to go make sense to me.   Of course, knowing the ending helps.  Since the stories in the Bible are there to help us understand how God relates to us, next time God seems distant and you feel like Job, tell him you want to go deeper with him.  He'll be happy; I know I would if JT said that.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Treasure

I sat yesterday with two clients -- members of a very wealthy family (billionaires).  I have been blessed to have clients that are very wealthy.  In any event, they were discussing the 300 foot mega yacht they were on and all that it had.  As I sat there, my mind drifted.....man that would be nice.  And, thankfully, I caught myself.  What is it within me that actually makes me begin to agree that this is life?  I read Job today and he said "let them no longer trust in empty riches. They are only fooling themselves, for emptiness will be their only reward."  So, I have to, again, adjust my feelings to God's truth -- riches do not equal happiness or life.  Society screams they do. God, however, whispers, in I Timothy 6: 19 that we can take hold of "real life" by sharing and being generous and being rich in good works.  All I can do is pause and ask God to continue to bring this boulder size truth to me.  It will set the path for each minute of my life.  

Friday, May 15, 2009

Independence and In-Dependence

I had breakfast this morning with a friend.  It was a great breakfast.  And, I was reminded of what I already knew that from the time we are kids we are told to be independent.  I suggest there is a higher way, the way God created us -- In-dependence.  We must be dependent on Him.  We must be "in-dependence" on Him always.  The fact is that the slide between the two is subtle.  I saw it in my own life.  After confessing that I need His blessing and His grace and mercy in my life and my business, all three began to show up.  And, guess what happened?  I said to myself, I knew I could do it!  What a fool I was.  I had to sit there and confess that He guides and provides all.  As I told this story to my friend, he looked at my with that dazed look on his face and said "that's where I am."  My hunch is that if we men were honest most of us are there because independence has been elevated in our culture.  But, Jesus, always countercultural says "seek ye first this kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you."  He believes living in-dependence on God.  Oh how I long to truthfully live each day to the fullest with integrity and hard work in-dependence on Him.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

The Heart of a King

Proverbs 21:1 says "The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases."  What would Mordecai say about this verse?  In Esther 5 - 7, a story continues to unfold in which Haman wants to kill Mordecai and Esther is trying to stop it.  And, one evening the king had trouble sleeping and so he asked that the history of the kingdom be read to him.  Therein, he "discovered" how Mordecai had foiled the assassination plot of the king previously -- though the king already knew this because he had promoted Mordecai to a position in the palace as a result.  I think it wise to pause there for a moment.  We all have "kings" in our lives.  And, God controls all hearts and directs them where he pleases. Is there someone that God needs to cause to "discover" a fact about you again?  Instead of telling that person, how about praying that God would reveal it to that person?  

The more I read Esther, the more I love the book.  God has a great sense of humor in this scene.  Knowing that Haman is full of himself, God directs the king to ask Haman how to honor someone.  And, Haman, thinking he is to be honored, advises the king of what he would want.  But, instead of his being honored, Haman has to be the person honor Mordecai.  I can't imagine the look on either Haman's or Mordecai's face. It comes to an ironic close with Haman receiving exactly what he planned for Mordecai -- death on a gallows.  

While I understand that God's decisions and directives do not always line up with a simple, comfort-free life, I do know that God does work behind the scenes and in response to prayer.  God can cause a "king" in our lives to "discover" again something about us.  I want to be Mordecai who was calm and cool, not "trembling nervously" before Haman, and it begins with knowing who holds the heart of the king and who is the King.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Esther -- The Journey

"Life's a journey, not a destination," is a line from a popular song in the 80s.  I recently boarded tri-rail with my son -- a train that runs between Dade County and Palm Beach County.  We boarded in Dania and were off to the Boca stop.  There were many people on the train going to a destination, not us.  We were on the train for the journey.  JT wanted to ride the train and so while others were complaining about the time it was taking we were enjoying the journey.  And, to be truthful, I was able to enjoy it because JT wanted to go on a ride (I wonder how often we miss the joy of the journey because we don't have the child like faith -- approach to life -- that Jesus told us to have).  And, now we turn to Esther.

Esther is on for the journey.  The second in command to the king is able to have the king issue a decree to kill all the Jews, and her uncle asks her -- the queen -- to speak to the king to stop it (which could result in her death).  So, she is hesitant and her uncle reminds her an important fact about the God journey "if you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die."  She has to be reminded that if we do not approach life as a journey we will miss opportunities.  God will accomplish His purposes and the cool thing is that he lets us on for the journey -- and joy -- if we are willing to approach life that way. 

While most of our decisions do not deal with a literal death consequence if we do not make them in accordance with God's will, I would argue that we miss out on partnering with God and a part of us does die.  And, we miss the joy of the journey.  I don't want to miss the joy.  I want to enjoy the journey because this life truly is a journey not a destination.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Go with the Flow -- Esther

We hear this expression a lot -- "go with the flow." But, what does that mean? I know for me it has meant "just sit back and relax." I was reading through Esther and she is orphaned and is taken to a beauty contest at some level for the king. Not sure exactly what she had in mind for her life. She wins the contest and is made queen of Persia. Her uncle Mordecai -- who raised her -- gets a job in the palace and tells her of a plot to kill the king. The assassination attempt is stopped and the culprits are hanged ending chapter 2.

Esther seems to be a prime example of someone that can "go with the flow." I would suggest that for the Christ follower this means the ability to genuinely see God's hand in all our circumstances even when that requires the eyes of faith because we can't "see" it. Feelings come and go but truth remains, and I must align my life to truth. I know that many times I act as though it all depends on me -- whatever that "all" is. And, quite frankly it doesn't depend on me. In fact, we would call that sin. While I am responsible to act and to live a life of integrity, I am not responsible for the outcomes. This is difficult for me -- for most men -- but, it is what God calls us to. He calls us to "go with His flow."

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Freedom From Things and Self

Deuteronomy 8 has become one of my favorite chapters in all the Bible. The Israelites are about to go into the Promised Land -- no more wilderness. And, it is a land flowing with abundance. God knows their tendency is to become proud of what they have "accomplished" and so he tells them that he was humbling them and testing them to see if they would obey. In fact he let them go hungry and thirsty and then fed them and gave them water. And, the purpose was so that they would learn that it's not about "bread and water." It is about the bread that comes from heaven.

An analogy from fishing helps me understand even more. When fishing for Marlin, other Billfish, and Dorado, we may put out a teaser -- a lure with no hooks. The purpose is to make the fish to try to eat the lure and then pull it away right before it takes it. Finally, the fish is so singularly focused on eating it will come close enough to the boat to throw out another lure that it wouldn't have eaten before. God wants a singular focus from us and he will use other "teasers" to bring us right to him and his kingdom.

Back to the Israelites, God was developing in them a freedom from things and self. God had to teach them to be free from things so that they could be free to receive things because the land they were going to would be so plentiful that without this lesson they would stray. In fact, He states "when your flocks and herds have become very large and your silver and gold have multiplied along with everything else, be careful! Do not become proud at that time and forget the Lord your God..." The reason was that He wanted to make sure that they were free from things and free from self so that none would say that "he achieved this wealth with [his] own strength and energy." Because, the reality is that "he is the one who gives you power to be successful."

This has made me think about the last 7 years or so for me. While I have been faithful to give back, did I let some "self" creep in and say, "I have done such"? Not sure, but it is possible. Also, might God have something even greater in store for all of us that are in the midst of a trial as long as we allow Him to take us where we have to go? Where we need to go, even if it hurts? God wants us to be thirsty and hungry for Him. He wants us to be free from things and self so that we can be free to receive things. At some level, it is freeing to know that there is nothing that anyone can take from you. But, if we are really just stewards, then hasn't this always been true? It's all a matter of perspective and one I am grateful to have experienced!

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

The Battle

I sit here today wondering why I forget so often that there is a battle.  In church on Sunday the pastor spoke about how christianity is on the decline per Newsweek.  And, on Saturday the professor said that things will continue to get worse.  Without getting into an eschatological debate, I suggest that this battle is worth fighting for.  Our hearts -- the hearts of men and women -- are worth fighting for.  Turkey is where Paul planted churches and is now muslim.   I make the point only in that we are always one generation away.  Why is our generation -- me included -- so passive?  Eldrege, in "Fathered by God," makes the point that Israel did not have to go into the wilderness -- it wasn't inevitable.  It was avoidable, but Israel wouldn't fight -- it was passive.  We are at war but we -- I -- want to think sometimes that I am not. Well, I am.  Why don't we live like we are at war?  I think it is one of the greatest tricks the devil plays -- make us forget about him.  What is wrong with our hearts that we are passive? Lord, I want to be "all in" whatever that means.  I don't want to be passive.  I want to avoid the wilderness.  It is avoidable.  Help me to act.    

Monday, May 4, 2009

5.4.09

I sat in class on Saturday thinking about Job.  We all know the story and probably that's part of the problem.  The known becomes common and the common becomes mundane.  And, then, it looses its impact.  As I sat there, the professor said, "and, God told the devil to test Job.....God knew that Job would stand the test."  The devil, of course, so full of himself didn't know.  Then, I thought about me -- many of us are in a test now whether it be health, the economy, whatever it is and God trusts me enough -- YOU enough -- to say to the devil:  "go ahead test my servant."  Man, the common became profound for me on Saturday.  I hope it does for you as well.  Take time out today to appreciate the common and you may see as I did how profound it really is.