"Better a little with righteousness than much gain with injustice." Proverbs 16:8
I work in a job that could be looked at as political. I am not a politician, but I work with people who are appointed into their jobs by politicians. This has a direct effect on me. These guys make promises that they can bring XYZ to their local area. Then they come to me to get it done. No problem, that's my job. I get paid to shop. For them. The problem is that there are a lot of strings attached to the money that I get to shop with. You can't just go out and buy anything you want to. Plus I have fourteen bosses. And I am accountable to all of them. So if I am going to buy something for one boss, all of the others have to be ok with it. These guys all mean well. They want to help their local communities. The problem is that they don't understand the rules that dictate what they can and can't buy. So sometimes they make promises that I just can't make happen.
So there comes the dilemma. Sometimes we try to do the right thing, but we just can't get it done. We want to do it, but our hands are tied. We try to find a way around it. A loophole, or exception, but often it isn't there. And so we have to say "sorry dude, no can do...." When this happens the bosses aren't happy because promises have been made, jobs are on the line.... it's not pretty. But it's got to make you wonder....
Good people do stupid things sometimes. It's not because they are dumb or anything, but they get tunnel vision. They only see a part of the bigger picture. We need to try to take the blinders off and look at it all.
If we are serving God and not man; we should not feel too badly about letting the bosses down. But we are human and sometimes having to say "no can do" feels like failure. But then we need to turn to the bible. The living word of God. And see what it says. I know that Jesus went into the Temple and challenged the Pharisees. He felt that one should not blindly follow rules just for the sake of following them.... but He never said not to follow good rules. I think that we need to look at the situation. In the case of my job, there is always some other way that an item can be procured. Some other funding. In this case I think it is honorable and right to stick to our guns and not just do something that we know we aren't supposed to do.
Do you have situations in your life that challenge and perplex you? Do you wrestle with whether or not you're doing the right thing? Do you wonder when is the time to throw out the rules and when is the time to follow them? Life is full of situations like this.... That is why it is so cool that God is always there for us.... If we turn to Him and seek the truth, we will find it.... If we follow His lead, we will be ok....
Dear Lord, Please be with me and my friends as we face the challenges that are thrown upon us. Help us to seek Your way in each and every issue that arises. And help us to take comfort in the fact that You are there with us and for us. And let us give the worry to You, and just go along for the ride.....
Friday, August 27, 2010
Friday, August 20, 2010
A brave little girl
"All your sons will be taught by the LORD, and great will be your children's peace." Isaiah 54:13
A little girl died today. She was the daughter of a guy I used to work with. She developed cancer about two years ago. She had a leg amputated. She bore great pain. She learned to live with it. She showed great braveness and a love for life. She was an example to all those who knew her. She was a good kid.
I am sad for my coworker. I am sad for his family. But at the same time, I rejoice for them too. Their daughter is no longer suffering. No longer in pain. And best of all... she is now sitting at the foot of the Father, in perfect health. Her body whole again. No pain. No sickness. No missing leg. She can run. She can play. She can dance.
God has a plan for our lives. Each of us. He has determined that plan before we were even born. He sends us out into the world knowing what will happen in our lives. From the moment we were born we affected those around us. So even a child has an affect on others. This child's bravery in the face of terrible pain and suffering has touched so many lives. Let us not be sad. Let us celebrate her life. Let us be thankful that God has used her and has now let her come home to be with him. And let us pray that the family can feel some comfort in that. I think it is much harder for those left behind.
Dear Lord, please be with Jim and his family as they mourn the loss of Kayla and help them to see You working in their lives. Please help them to feel Your comforting touch as they go on. And help them to know, to really really know that she is with You and is ok. Thanks.
A little girl died today. She was the daughter of a guy I used to work with. She developed cancer about two years ago. She had a leg amputated. She bore great pain. She learned to live with it. She showed great braveness and a love for life. She was an example to all those who knew her. She was a good kid.
I am sad for my coworker. I am sad for his family. But at the same time, I rejoice for them too. Their daughter is no longer suffering. No longer in pain. And best of all... she is now sitting at the foot of the Father, in perfect health. Her body whole again. No pain. No sickness. No missing leg. She can run. She can play. She can dance.
God has a plan for our lives. Each of us. He has determined that plan before we were even born. He sends us out into the world knowing what will happen in our lives. From the moment we were born we affected those around us. So even a child has an affect on others. This child's bravery in the face of terrible pain and suffering has touched so many lives. Let us not be sad. Let us celebrate her life. Let us be thankful that God has used her and has now let her come home to be with him. And let us pray that the family can feel some comfort in that. I think it is much harder for those left behind.
Dear Lord, please be with Jim and his family as they mourn the loss of Kayla and help them to see You working in their lives. Please help them to feel Your comforting touch as they go on. And help them to know, to really really know that she is with You and is ok. Thanks.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Nothing is Impossible
"With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible" Matthew 19:26
As you read this blog, I will be on the road, heading to my first ever family reunion. My dad's family. This will be the first time that some of my cousins have ever met. Those of you who know me know that my family has undergone a huge transformation during the past year. It has been a difficult year for all of us. I have found it particularly challenging. Yet in this very difficult year, I have seen God's handiwork.
My immediate family does not believe in God. There has been a lot of opposition in the past toward me and my walk with God. I have struggled to try to live my life for God. And to do so in such a manner that they might see God working in my life without pushing them away...
That meant years of sneaking out to go to Church. Going next door to my neighbors to read the Bible because we didn't have one. It also meant not being my nephew's Godmother because my sister was afraid that if I ever had to raise him, I might send him to church. It meant not talking about God to my family for fear of being physically hurt by my dad.
But as I said, things change. God has a plan for our lives. He knows what it is. He knows how it will work out. It is His timing, and not ours. We just need to believe that no matter what is happening, it is in His hands. And we need to faithfully wait it out.
Last spring I moved out of my parents house. My mom wasn't happy about it. My dad was glad. Our relationship got worse before it got better. Something else happened last spring. My dad was diagnosed with a rare lung disease. I studied up on it. My research said that the disease was almost always fatal, but there was no telling how long he would have. He seemed fine for quite a while. Then in the fall our world began to fall apart. I had a personal loss. Someone whom I was very close to. This also affected my dad. He was upset that someone so young and strong could suddenly die. And we had just seen him and he was healthy. About a month later; my uncle (my dad's youngest brother) died from bladder cancer. This also hit my dad really hard. He began to think about his own mortality. He told me that he didn't think he would last out the year. He began to give up. His whole countenance changed. We spent a lot of time together last fall. I would go to his house and he would come out of the bedroom to visit with me. (My mom said that he never came out of the bedroom the rest of the time.) He would bring me newspaper articles to read or would want to discuss current events. We would sit and talk. Or later, when he was weaker and couldn't always come out to the living room we would sit in his bedroom and watch television together. Usually Discover or the History channel. Not much talking going on, but I know he enjoyed those times.
I never got to share the most important thing in my life with my Dad. I never got the opportunity to discuss God with him. Not directly. Not in detail. We had a few conversations but he never let me get too deep into it. He always shut me off. So I just spent time with him and continued to pray for him. Each time he entered the hospital I would ask if my pastor could come and visit with him, but my dad was clear that he didn't want that.
When my dad was dying, I was surprised by a phone call from a cousin who said that he wanted to come up to see my dad. What I didn't know was that my cousin had accepted Jesus as his savior several years ago. Like me, he had met with much resistance from family and had not shared much with others. But he felt called to come and share the good news with my dad before he died. It was like an answer to my prayers. God was working. Quietly. In the background. Using his faithful servants.
My cousin got the opportunity to share with my dad. My dad didn't kick him out. They talked. I don't know the outcome of the conversation. My dad said that he wanted to talk to me alone before he died, but we never got the opportunity. Not that I didn't try. My dad was enjoying having the family around and didn't want to send them out so that we could talk. I think that he thought he would have more time. Shortly before my dad died, his lawyer came to visit. At the end of the visit she asked if she could pray for him. He said ok. She made sure that he knew that she wanted to pray for him "in Jesus' name." He still said ok. This was just hours before he died. God was working that day. I am sure of it, though I will not know the result until the day I join him in Heaven.
Since my dad has died, I have been blessed with the opportunity to share the gospel with each of my sisters in one on one conversations. And while none of them has accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior, they have not asked me to shut up. God is working.
So as I head up to this family reunion, I go with the realization that God is working in our lives. That things happen that we think impossible. Nothing is impossible for God. And we can do all things through Him.
Dear Lord, please use what has happened in my life to give someone else some hope. You have been there for me. Working quietly in the background while life happened. You are working in my friends lives too. Even when they don't realize that You are there. Thanks for always being there. Even when we don't see you. And help us to just have faith to know that You are always there for us.
As you read this blog, I will be on the road, heading to my first ever family reunion. My dad's family. This will be the first time that some of my cousins have ever met. Those of you who know me know that my family has undergone a huge transformation during the past year. It has been a difficult year for all of us. I have found it particularly challenging. Yet in this very difficult year, I have seen God's handiwork.
My immediate family does not believe in God. There has been a lot of opposition in the past toward me and my walk with God. I have struggled to try to live my life for God. And to do so in such a manner that they might see God working in my life without pushing them away...
That meant years of sneaking out to go to Church. Going next door to my neighbors to read the Bible because we didn't have one. It also meant not being my nephew's Godmother because my sister was afraid that if I ever had to raise him, I might send him to church. It meant not talking about God to my family for fear of being physically hurt by my dad.
But as I said, things change. God has a plan for our lives. He knows what it is. He knows how it will work out. It is His timing, and not ours. We just need to believe that no matter what is happening, it is in His hands. And we need to faithfully wait it out.
Last spring I moved out of my parents house. My mom wasn't happy about it. My dad was glad. Our relationship got worse before it got better. Something else happened last spring. My dad was diagnosed with a rare lung disease. I studied up on it. My research said that the disease was almost always fatal, but there was no telling how long he would have. He seemed fine for quite a while. Then in the fall our world began to fall apart. I had a personal loss. Someone whom I was very close to. This also affected my dad. He was upset that someone so young and strong could suddenly die. And we had just seen him and he was healthy. About a month later; my uncle (my dad's youngest brother) died from bladder cancer. This also hit my dad really hard. He began to think about his own mortality. He told me that he didn't think he would last out the year. He began to give up. His whole countenance changed. We spent a lot of time together last fall. I would go to his house and he would come out of the bedroom to visit with me. (My mom said that he never came out of the bedroom the rest of the time.) He would bring me newspaper articles to read or would want to discuss current events. We would sit and talk. Or later, when he was weaker and couldn't always come out to the living room we would sit in his bedroom and watch television together. Usually Discover or the History channel. Not much talking going on, but I know he enjoyed those times.
I never got to share the most important thing in my life with my Dad. I never got the opportunity to discuss God with him. Not directly. Not in detail. We had a few conversations but he never let me get too deep into it. He always shut me off. So I just spent time with him and continued to pray for him. Each time he entered the hospital I would ask if my pastor could come and visit with him, but my dad was clear that he didn't want that.
When my dad was dying, I was surprised by a phone call from a cousin who said that he wanted to come up to see my dad. What I didn't know was that my cousin had accepted Jesus as his savior several years ago. Like me, he had met with much resistance from family and had not shared much with others. But he felt called to come and share the good news with my dad before he died. It was like an answer to my prayers. God was working. Quietly. In the background. Using his faithful servants.
My cousin got the opportunity to share with my dad. My dad didn't kick him out. They talked. I don't know the outcome of the conversation. My dad said that he wanted to talk to me alone before he died, but we never got the opportunity. Not that I didn't try. My dad was enjoying having the family around and didn't want to send them out so that we could talk. I think that he thought he would have more time. Shortly before my dad died, his lawyer came to visit. At the end of the visit she asked if she could pray for him. He said ok. She made sure that he knew that she wanted to pray for him "in Jesus' name." He still said ok. This was just hours before he died. God was working that day. I am sure of it, though I will not know the result until the day I join him in Heaven.
Since my dad has died, I have been blessed with the opportunity to share the gospel with each of my sisters in one on one conversations. And while none of them has accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior, they have not asked me to shut up. God is working.
So as I head up to this family reunion, I go with the realization that God is working in our lives. That things happen that we think impossible. Nothing is impossible for God. And we can do all things through Him.
Dear Lord, please use what has happened in my life to give someone else some hope. You have been there for me. Working quietly in the background while life happened. You are working in my friends lives too. Even when they don't realize that You are there. Thanks for always being there. Even when we don't see you. And help us to just have faith to know that You are always there for us.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Everyone Has Compassion
"Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn." Romans 12:15
On the way to church the other day God got me to thinking about the word "compassion". I had begun the day with absolutely no idea of what compassion really meant. It was just another word that Christians throw around in conversation, but I had absolutely no clue as to what it really was. You must remember that I was raised in a household which knew no forgiveness. Where wrongs (whether real or imagined) were held against you forevermore.... so I went online and looked the word up. According to my online source compassion is when you put someone else's problems before your own. When you put their needs first.
I have worked in emergency services for 25 years, working 15 of them as a Medic. I have spent most of my career dealing with people who were not at their best. They are miserable. They hurt. They don't feel well. They are grumpy. Quite often they are not even a little bit nice. But while I am with them I give them my fullest attention. I try to care for them as if they were family. But is that compassion? I am thinking not. Because once I leave them I don't think of them again. I don't wonder if they got better. I don't recognize them if I see them again. I find that I don't even really care how they are doing. I know it seems wrong. But if I let myself care about everyone whom I tended, I would be consumed and could not do a good job with the next patient.
The ability to turn the caring off is something learned as a young child. I learned to not get to really know anyone. I learned to be nice to people but it was pretty much "out of sight out of mind". I never really had a yearning to know or be known. I was a loner, someone who just didn't need others in my life. It was good preparation for the career to which I would be led, but it was pretty stinky preparation for life.
It wasn't until I really got God in my heart that I began to actually care about people. It started slowly. I had a very small group of friends whom I cared about. I found that I was interested in how they were doing. I found that I started to think about them even when I was not with them. I would even remember to ask God to help them with things that were not going so well for them. I had never really prayed for anyone before that time. After a while as I began to let God work on some of my problems I found that I began to care about more and more people. I found that I could feel for them. That I really did care what was going on in their lives and not just when I was with them. I began to pray for people who hadn't even asked for prayer.....
So what was God trying to tell me about compassion that morning? I realized that He was telling me that we all have problems. And that each of us thinks that our problems are the worst problems in the world. But once again He reminded me that we all have the same sorts of problems. Oh, the details might be different, but they are all basically similar. That is what allows us to relate to the problems that others have. We have been through (or are going through) a similar experience.
Haven't you wondered why it seems like we have some problems that seem to pop up quite often in a small time frame. Are there painful things that you have suffered through this year? Have your friends and family been suffering through similar things too? There is a saying that bad things happen in threes. I don't think it is necessarily limited to threes. But it does seem that bad things happen to us and then they seem to happen all around us. I have found that dealing with some of the bad things that have happened has helped me to feel for others going through those same hard times later.
I think that you have to have experienced a problem or a hard time to be able to really reach out to someone who is currently going through it.... that is compassion. You have worked through the pain. You have seen how God works and heals it over time. You are willing to reach out and be there for someone who is going through it now, even though it brings back a lot of very painful memories. But you know that God is going to get them through it. And you know He is there with you too.
It is hard to set your problems aside to be there for someone else. But God has asked us to do that. To put our pain away and to be there for someone else. I'm thinking that is what the sermon on the mount was all about.
Dear Lord, I know that I can be very self centered at times. Especially when things are not going well for me. I tend to turn inward and away from those I care about. Please help me to take my eyes off myself and to reach out to others. Help me to show compassion and to really care for them. To be a good and loving friend. And help me to be humble enough to reach out to them for help too. To allow them to be there for me. That is a pretty hard one for me to do. I am believing, for in You all things are possible.
On the way to church the other day God got me to thinking about the word "compassion". I had begun the day with absolutely no idea of what compassion really meant. It was just another word that Christians throw around in conversation, but I had absolutely no clue as to what it really was. You must remember that I was raised in a household which knew no forgiveness. Where wrongs (whether real or imagined) were held against you forevermore.... so I went online and looked the word up. According to my online source compassion is when you put someone else's problems before your own. When you put their needs first.
I have worked in emergency services for 25 years, working 15 of them as a Medic. I have spent most of my career dealing with people who were not at their best. They are miserable. They hurt. They don't feel well. They are grumpy. Quite often they are not even a little bit nice. But while I am with them I give them my fullest attention. I try to care for them as if they were family. But is that compassion? I am thinking not. Because once I leave them I don't think of them again. I don't wonder if they got better. I don't recognize them if I see them again. I find that I don't even really care how they are doing. I know it seems wrong. But if I let myself care about everyone whom I tended, I would be consumed and could not do a good job with the next patient.
The ability to turn the caring off is something learned as a young child. I learned to not get to really know anyone. I learned to be nice to people but it was pretty much "out of sight out of mind". I never really had a yearning to know or be known. I was a loner, someone who just didn't need others in my life. It was good preparation for the career to which I would be led, but it was pretty stinky preparation for life.
It wasn't until I really got God in my heart that I began to actually care about people. It started slowly. I had a very small group of friends whom I cared about. I found that I was interested in how they were doing. I found that I started to think about them even when I was not with them. I would even remember to ask God to help them with things that were not going so well for them. I had never really prayed for anyone before that time. After a while as I began to let God work on some of my problems I found that I began to care about more and more people. I found that I could feel for them. That I really did care what was going on in their lives and not just when I was with them. I began to pray for people who hadn't even asked for prayer.....
So what was God trying to tell me about compassion that morning? I realized that He was telling me that we all have problems. And that each of us thinks that our problems are the worst problems in the world. But once again He reminded me that we all have the same sorts of problems. Oh, the details might be different, but they are all basically similar. That is what allows us to relate to the problems that others have. We have been through (or are going through) a similar experience.
Haven't you wondered why it seems like we have some problems that seem to pop up quite often in a small time frame. Are there painful things that you have suffered through this year? Have your friends and family been suffering through similar things too? There is a saying that bad things happen in threes. I don't think it is necessarily limited to threes. But it does seem that bad things happen to us and then they seem to happen all around us. I have found that dealing with some of the bad things that have happened has helped me to feel for others going through those same hard times later.
I think that you have to have experienced a problem or a hard time to be able to really reach out to someone who is currently going through it.... that is compassion. You have worked through the pain. You have seen how God works and heals it over time. You are willing to reach out and be there for someone who is going through it now, even though it brings back a lot of very painful memories. But you know that God is going to get them through it. And you know He is there with you too.
It is hard to set your problems aside to be there for someone else. But God has asked us to do that. To put our pain away and to be there for someone else. I'm thinking that is what the sermon on the mount was all about.
Dear Lord, I know that I can be very self centered at times. Especially when things are not going well for me. I tend to turn inward and away from those I care about. Please help me to take my eyes off myself and to reach out to others. Help me to show compassion and to really care for them. To be a good and loving friend. And help me to be humble enough to reach out to them for help too. To allow them to be there for me. That is a pretty hard one for me to do. I am believing, for in You all things are possible.
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