This may be why God hasn’t answered

Have you ever tried to bargain with God?  What were you asking for?  What did you offer?

Common things we ask for:
Removal from a difficult circumstance
Safety, security
Financial success
Healing from illness
A specific person to be our spouse

Common things we offer:
We’ll go to church every week
We’ll give money to the church or to the poor
We’ll never ask for anything again
Promise to stop swearing or smoking or drinking, etc.

The ancient Israelites often took the same approach when they wanted something from God.  One of the ways they would “bargain” is by instituting a fast on a particular day of the week.  Very religious Israelites would fast on two separate days each week.  A “fast” is where you give up something, typically food, for a period of time.  They intended to get God’s attention and favor based upon them denying themselves food, and doing this as a sacrifice to God.  However, they weren’t getting the results they wanted:

Isaiah 58:3
“Why have we fasted, but you have not seen?
We have denied ourselves, but you haven’t noticed!”

In Israel’s context, the feelings of hunger felt throughout the day were supposed to remind them of their need for God.  Just as the body relies on a daily intake of food, they should also rely on a daily intake of God.  While they went through with the sacrificial activities of the fast, God took issue with how the Israelites were treating the rest of their day:

Isaiah 58:3-5
“Look, you do as you please on the day of your fast, and oppress all your workers.  You fast with contention and strife to strike viciously with your fist.  You cannot fast as you do today, hoping to make your voice heard on high.  Will the fast I choose [to respond positively to] be like this: A day for a person to deny himself, to bow his head like a reed, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes?”

For God, the purpose of a fast wasn’t for someone to just go through the motions of denying themselves and acting religious.  Notice that their fast was self-focused: a person denies himself, bows his head, spreads out sackcloth and ashes.  Instead, the kind of sacrifice God was looking for from those who fast included other people:

Isaiah 58:6-7
“Isn’t this the fast I choose:
To break the chains of wickedness,
to untie the ropes of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free,
and to tear off every yoke? 

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
to bring the poor and homeless into your house,
to clothe the naked when you see him,
and not to ignore your own flesh and blood?”

It’s as if God is saying, “You want to deny yourselves, out of reverence to Me?  Then deny your claim on your time and help rescue other people from their chains and oppression.  Don’t just deny yourself the food in your house, but instead give it away to someone who doesn’t have any.  Give the space in your home, give away your clothes, and give love to your family.”

God doesn’t want religious robots.  If He wanted puppets, then He would have created them.  God doesn’t want self-centered sacrifices, either. 

But if…IF…the Israelites were to sacrificially fast the way God described, then this is how He promised to respond:

Isaiah 58:8-12
“Then your light will appear like the dawn, and your recovery will come quickly.
Your righteousness will go before you, and the Lord’s glory will be your rear guard.
At that time, when you call, the Lord will answer,
when you cry out, He will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you get rid of the yoke among you, the finger-pointing and malicious speaking,
and if you offer yourself to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted one,
then your light will shine in the darkness, and your night will be like noonday.

The Lord will always lead you, satisfy you in a parched land, and strengthen your bones.
You will be like a watered garden and like a spring whose water never runs dry.
Some of you will rebuild the ancient ruins; you will restore the foundations laid long ago,
you will be called the repairer of broken walls, the restorer of streets where people live.”

What would it be like to have a reputation that reads like that???
What would it be like to have a relationship with God like that???

There are so many incredible benefits listed here, but there’s a condition in the middle of the section that shouldn’t be missed – if you offer yourself to others.  Not “sit in a church pew.”  Not “throw a few more dollars in the offering bucket.”  Not “try harder to avoid doing bad habits.”  Not making promises to God you probably won’t keep.

Maybe you’ve prayed.  Maybe you’ve promised.  Maybe God is looking for a different sacrifice before moving in your life…and it starts with us moving in the lives of those around us.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

I was a bad neighbor. And I was embarrassed.

I was convinced that he saw me as a bad neighbor.  At least, I was pretty sure it was him. 

A few weeks ago, my wife and I were preparing our house to host a barbeque for a group of friends.  We had the typical “get ready for company” agenda: clean this, find a new place for that, make room for additional seating, buy last minute items.  We weren’t 100% sure what the weather would be like, and there was a strong possibility that we’d be spending time outside.  Let’s just say that I had let the outside upkeep chores slide a little bit over the previous month or two. 

So the day before the party, I was outside pulling weeds, trimming bushes, and weed-whacking all the hard-to-mow spots.  One chore I had put off for a while was trimming the grass that had grown up over the curb.  We live on a corner lot in our neighborhood, and one side had grown over quite a bit.  I didn’t realize how much until I started going at it with the weed-whacker.  It took some time and a fair bit of trimmer line to get that side shored up.  It was a mess, too.  I’m glad I was wearing jeans and safety glasses, because stuff was blown everywhere.

I went back to the garage and got distracted with something else.  I cleaned up the tools I had left around the yard and went on to some other chore.  Just before I went back inside, I thought, “Do I need to clean up the trimmings from the curb?  Nah, it’s just little stuff.  It’ll blow away.”  I then went on with my day, getting other parts of the house ready for the party.

The next morning I got up and took our dog out early for a walk.  As we turned the corner, I didn’t see many of the trimmings in the road…instead, there were four or five piles of trimmings placed back in our lawn.  I internally groaned, “Oh no.  Someone cleaned up after me and put them back where I’d be sure to see them.  I bet they were cussing me out the whole time they were scooping these things up.  Way to make the neighborhood look bad.  Jerk can’t even pick up after himself.”  The most likely person to do this would be my neighbor across the street.  We’ve barely talked over the years, so I’m not sure of his attitude or opinion of me.  He’s never been unfriendly, but we haven’t been friends.  Feeling completely embarrassed, after I finished walking our dog, I cleaned up the piles and then hosted the party that afternoon.

Throughout the days that followed, I wondered how much I had made him mad.  I wondered if he held a grudge or at least thought less of me as his neighbor.  It seems a bit silly as I type this out, but I mentally beat myself up over this.  I felt embarrassed each time I walked our dog past his house, thinking things like: The trimmings weren’t small.  I should have remembered better.  Or, at least I should have checked before going back inside.  Why was I so selfish thinking it was ok to leave them?  How could I leave a mess for someone else to clean up?

About two weeks after the party, I was walking our dog and my neighbor happened to be outside.  Swallowing my pride, I flagged him down.  I asked if he was the one who put the trimmings back in my yard.  He said that he had.  I apologized for leaving such a mess, and that I had spent these weeks assuming that he believed he had a jerk for a neighbor.  To my surprise, he smiled and said, “Oh no, I was just trying to help you.  I’ve gotten a letter before from our HOA about my lawn growing over the curb and didn’t want you to get a letter, either.  I just do what I can to help keep our neighborhood cleaned up.”  He then extended his hand to shake mine, showing that he had no hard feelings.  While shaking his hand, I realized that I had been completely wrong about his motives and attitude. 

In Paul’s first letter to the believers in Corinth, chapter 13 is famously known as “The Love Chapter.”  We’re all familiar with the love is patient, love is kind phrases that begin a long list of what love is and what love isn’t.  However, in the middle of the chapter is a verse that often trips people up:

1 Corinthians 13:7
[Love] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

It’s the believes all things part that seems confusing.  Other translations render the phrase as trusts all things – and that kinda helps, but it kinda doesn’t.  A helpful explanation is found in the Holman New Testament Commentary:

Perhaps this characteristic of love is best expressed in contemporary English idiom as: “Love gives the benefit of the doubt.”  Suspicion and doubt toward others do not indicate affection or love.  On the contrary, when someone loves with Christlike love, he entrusts himself to the persons he loves time and again.  Still, love does not demand that a person trust even when the basis for trust has been destroyed.  Love does not give the “benefit” when there is no “doubt.”  In these circumstances trust is folly.  Yet, the general practice of those who love is to trust the good intentions of others as much as possible.

I had spent those two weeks doing the opposite of loving my neighbor.  My neighbor has never given me any reason to think he would be hostile or mad at me, but it didn’t even cross my mind that he could actually be trying to help me.  All the tension I felt between us was caused by my embarrassed feelings and imagination…because I didn’t give him the benefit of the doubt.

It’s just another step for me to learn how to love my neighbor as myself.  I hope you’re taking those steps, too.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

It wasn’t what Jesus planned

Have you ever made plans, only to have them ruined by something unexpected?  Maybe one of these sound familiar:

It's been a tough week at work.  Good-busy, but definitely busy.  You’ve settled into bed, only to be woken up a couple hours later by your anxious-sounding child who says, “I don’t feel good.  I just threw up in my bed.”  As you drag yourself out of your warm bed, you realize that there won’t be much sleep tonight.
OR
You’ve looked forward to a quiet Saturday afternoon/evening all week.  Nothing is planned.  Nothing will be planned.  The only items on the agenda are peace, quiet, and (finally!) some relaxation.  Just as you’re settling in, you get “one of those calls” from a not-super-close-friend-whose-more-of-an-acquaintance.  Their life has suddenly fallen apart, and you know helping them will consume the rest of your day. 
OR
You’re getting the family packed for a long-awaited vacation, and just as you’re getting ready to leave…your neighbor’s pet suddenly has an emergency and has to go to the vet.  Your neighbor asks if you can stay with her kids while she takes care of the animal.

I’m sure you can think of other scenarios that you have experienced.  What is your default response to having your plans upended?  How quickly do you get upset?  How many curse words and complaints are muttered under your breath or shouted in your head?

These situations are especially challenging when your interrupted plans are ones you had with other people.  When we’re the ones setting the agenda, we don’t want our plans to be knocked off course.  How we handle these moments can be quite revealing for what our hearts and minds are preoccupied with. 

On more than one occasion, Jesus had the same issue – someone came to Him and drastically changed His plans for the day.  The example we’re going to look at comes at one of the busiest times in His ministry.  He had previously sent out His 12 disciples in pairs to preach about the coming Kingdom of God and heal sick people as proof of their message (Mark 6:7-13).  After completing their mission, they’ve come back to Jesus, and He decides they needed some rest:

Mark 6:30-32
The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to Him all that they had done and taught.  He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a remote place and rest for a while.”  For many people were coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.  So they went away in the boat by themselves to a remote place

That’s great leadership.  The 12 apostles were successful in their mission, but they were tired out from all the work.  Jesus wanted to celebrate them, but also give them the opportunity to rest – away from all the crowds.

Have you ever been so busy that you did not even have time to eat?  Even if all your work is a success, without fuel and rest, we all crash eventually.  Jesus knew His people needed some R&R, and it must have sounded wonderful to the disciples when they heard Jesus say, Get in the boat, we’re going to go somewhere and rest for a bit.

However, getting away wasn’t that simple.  Jesus and His disciples were meeting needs for many people, and they had a reputation for doing so.  Crowds formed wherever they went, and some people were willing to go to great lengths to be near Jesus:

Mark 6:32-34
So they went away in the boat by themselves to a remote place, but many saw them leaving and recognized them, and they ran on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them.  When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd

A large crowd was the total opposite of what Jesus had planned for His disciples.  His planned “staff retreat” had unexpectedly turned into a large-scale ministry event.  What would have been your response?  I think I would have wanted to get back in the boat and sail to another side of the lake…probably would have also had a few choice complaints bounce around my brain and possibly escape my lips.  But look at how Jesus responded:

Mark 6:34
When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd and had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.  Then He began to teach them many things.

Although He had planned a longer time of rest for His disciples, the time during the boat ride would have to be sufficient.  Jesus’ plans were upended with an unexpected need…and He responded with compassion.  Instead of seeing the crowd as a barrier to His own agenda, Jesus saw the crowd as they really were – they were like sheep without a shepherd.  They didn’t know what to do, where to go, or when they had crossed boundaries…they simply wanted to be with someone who they could trust, someone who would see them compassionately.

After teaching the crowd all day, as it was getting late, the disciples realized there was no food to feed anyone.  It was this moment when Jesus performed one of His largest miracles – feeding thousands of people with only five loaves of bread and two fish. 

My take-away from looking at this story unfold:
Serving others in unexpected, unplanned moments will require me to see others with compassion instead of looking at them as roadblocks that keep me from my own agenda.  And while I serve, I will have a front row seat to however God is going to feed them.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Proverbial life: watch your mouth

We’re taking a topic-focused tour of the book of Proverbs.  Although Solomon was commenting on life roughly 3000 years ago, his observations ring loud and clear in today’s modern times.  In this blog post, we’ll be looking at a topic that trips us all up: what we say and how we say it.

Our words matter, and once they are said, there are no take-backs.  We have several familiar phrases in the English language to communicate this truth:

You can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube.
You’ve let the cat out of the bag.
You can’t unring that bell.

When Solomon was instructing his son about living wisely – how to skillfully apply knowledge to his earthly life – he frequently brought up the words his son would choose.

The first proverb we’ll look at might feel a little obvious…but sometimes we need to be reminded of the obvious:

Proverbs 11:13
A gossip goes around revealing a secret,
but a trustworthy person keeps a confidence.

Being labeled as a gossip or as a trustworthy person is a matter of verbal reputation.  You can be known as either one, but not both.  If you share another person’s secrets or words spoken in confidence, you are betraying the trust that was placed in you.  As long as keeping the secret does not bring harm to others, the best use of our words when another person shares confidential information is to not use them at all…in essence, being trustworthy is often a matter of us keeping our teeth together and saying nothing.

Next, we find Solomon addressing a common situation in life: what to do with an angry person.  Whether the anger is caused by Solomon’s son or if he happens to get caught in the cross-fire of another person’s issues, he’s going to have to navigate situations were other people are seeing red and are looking for a fight.  Curiously, Solomon does not tell him to fight fire with fire:

Proverbs 15:1
A gentle answer turns away anger,
but a harsh word stirs up wrath.

Anger is a secondary emotion.  While anger may be at the surface-level and more prominent, there is always a primary emotion found underneath, driving that angry response.  Perhaps they feel taken advantage of, or foolish, or embarrassed…whatever the root cause is, the angry outburst is almost never subdued by fighting fire with fire.  Matching anger’s intensity or deriding it with a harsh word only escalates the situation.  In these situations, Solomon wants his son to use his words to diffuse the tension – and a gentle answer is the key to doing so.

Admittedly, giving a gentle answer in the heat of the moment is hard.  Not saying anything and keeping another’s confidence is also difficult.  Thankfully, Solomon clues us in to how we can make sure our mouths are doing the right thing:

Proverbs 16:23
The heart of the wise person instructs his mouth;
it adds learning to his speech.

You’ve certainly heard descriptions of other people like, “Her mouth has a mind of its own.” or “He has a loose tongue.”  These phrases attempt to excuse a person for running their mouths or speaking before thinking…instead, Solomon says that our mouth can be instructed and trained by what we have in our heart.  So, time to do a heart check – What are you feeding your heart?  What are you learning so that you can grow and have mature speech?

The benefits of being wise with your words isn’t limited to just you.  Being able to manage your mouth is more than having a good reputation and being able to handle an angry outburst.  Solomon also tells his son that his mature words will be helpful to others:

Proverbs 16:24
Pleasant words are a honeycomb:
sweet to the taste and health to the body.

When someone speaks kind words, encouraging words, supportive words, or empathetic words to you…those are special.  They are sweetly remembered, like a mental candy, that we can retaste anytime we recall them.  Our words can make someone else strong, brave, open, and confident…healthy at many levels of the body – mental, emotional, and yes, even physical.

Words are powerful.  What comes out of our mouths can make or break someone.  How will you choose to use your words today?

Keep Pressing,
Ken

An unusual God-planned meeting

Not to get all mystical on you, but have you ever felt like God was prompting you to do something or say something to someone? 

Maybe it was obvious, to help someone right in front of you.  Perhaps it was just to be somewhere specific.  Either way, how did you respond?  Did you shrug it off, wondering if you’re a little crazy…or did you actually do it?

Let’s take a look at one time God planned a specific meeting for a specific person…but He needed to get someone else to a specific place in order for it to happen:

Acts 8:26-29
An angel of the Lord spoke to Philip: “Get up and go south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is the desert road.)  So he got up and went.  There was an Ethiopian man, a eunuch and high official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of her entire treasury.  He had come to worship in Jerusalem and was sitting in his chariot on his way home, reading the prophet Isaiah aloud.

The Spirit told Philip, “Go and join that chariot.”

This is now the second time we’ve seen God tell Philip to do something.  The first was just to go to a specific area, with no directions beyond that.  While the second direction was a bit more specific, notice that God didn’t tell Philip what to say or how to say it.  Because he acted in both cases, Philip must have recognized that it was God communicating with him.  Philip had such a close relationship with God that he could recognize these promptings.  However, the person Philip found in the chariot might have surprised him.  Not knowing exactly why God sent him here, Philip offers to help the man.

Acts 8:30-35
When Philip ran up to it, he heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you’re reading?”

“How can I,” he said, “unless someone guides me?”  So he invited Philip to come up and sit wit him.  Now the Scripture passage he was reading was this:

He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
and as a lamb is silent before its shearer,
so he does not open his mouth.
In his humiliation justice was denied him.
Who will describe his generation?
For his life is taken from the earth.

The eunuch said to Philip, “I ask you, who is the prophet saying this about – himself or someone else?”  Philip proceeded to tell him the good news about Jesus, beginning with that Scripture.

The eunuch believed in Jesus for eternal life and had Philip baptize him at the next body of water they came to.  At the end of this account, we read that the Ethiopian eunuch went on his way rejoicing (Acts 8:39).  We don’t see this man again in Scripture, so we can only guess at what happened when he got home.  I’m certain he told the story of meeting Philip.  A man in his position and influence would have been able to share his experience with many people and…who knows how far into Ethiopia (or even into Africa) the good news about Jesus was spread!  I look forward to hearing the rest of this story when I get to the other side of eternity.

But going back to the start of our story – meeting the Ethiopian man wasn’t part of Philip’s plan for the day.  Since God had to tell him to go to the desert road between Jerusalem and Gaza, it’s safe to say that location wasn’t on Philip’s agenda.  But God desired to reach out to this one man, and by following God’s promptings, Philip was able to partner with God in doing so.

An Ethiopian official worshiping in Jerusalem was not a typical sight – so there must have been others along the way that influenced him so that he was ready to believe in Jesus for eternal life when Philip presented the gospel.  I’m certain there were many people in the Ethiopian’s story that directly or indirectly fueled his curiosity about the one true God.

I hope your relationship with God is as close as Philip’s, so that you can recognize God’s urging in your life.  Maybe you’ll be the one to share the good news about Jesus with someone else.  Maybe you’ll be one of those who helps prepare them to hear the good news at a later time from someone else.  If you’re not sure if you’d recognize God’s promptings like Philip did, then the best way you can develop that is to spend time with God.  Scripture reading and prayer are the two best ways of getting to know God better, a third great way is to hang out with those that know God better than you do.  It's the same approach to getting to know another person – spend time with them and their friends. 

Get to know God better, and you’ll recognize the Holy Spirit’s promptings to meet others where they are.  Who knows whom you’ll meet and how you’ll be able to partner with God?  Well…God does (and that’s kind of the point).

Keep Pressing,
Ken

I was disqualified

While I have never been in a situation where I needed additional blood, I know friends and family that have.  I’m thankful that when their need for a transfusion arose, blood was available.  Not only can your donation impact one or more lives, there are health benefits for those who donate blood, too.  I’ve also found that donation places like the Red Cross will even tell you which hospital received your donation.  We all know that donating blood is “a good thing”, but learning where and how our specific donation was used certainly reinforces the positive impact of our actions.

That said, I recently decided to donate blood.  I hadn’t done so in a while, so I went online and signed up for an upcoming Saturday morning where I could set aside some time.  I planned my day around the appointment.  When I arrived, I was asked to wait for a short time while they took care of other donors.  When it was my turn, I filled out the paperwork, answered some additional questions, and passed my mini-physical. 

After I sat down in the donation chair, the lady checked the veins in my left arm.  A troubled look came over her face as she gently pushed her finger around the inside of my elbow.  She couldn’t find a vein suitable for their needle.  I offered that she could use a vein a little lower down my forearm, but she told me they had to use a specific zone around the inside of my elbow.  She checked my right arm, and had the same problem – she couldn’t find a suitable vein.  She called over her colleague, who examined both of my arms.  She also came to the conclusion that I wasn’t prepared to donate blood. 

I admitted that I had not had any water that morning, and that I should have hydrated better.  They both agreed, but instead of just getting additional water the morning prior to donating, they suggested that I increase my water intake for two weeks before my next donation attempt.  This I found a little frustrating.  I told them that I do drink a fair bit of water, typically 2-3 liters per day.  But there was nothing to be done.  I was disqualified to give blood because I wasn’t prepared.  I didn’t fight or argue, because neither would have changed my situation.  I wished them a good day, and I went home.  All-in-all, the total trip cost me two hours and nothing came of it.

Without being over-dramatic, the reality of the situation was that I was unable to participate with the donation center in providing a positive impact to others in my community.  As I drove home, I thought about how much water I had been drinking lately.  After an honest assessment of the last few weeks…although I generally do drink as much as 3 liters of water per day…I have to admit that recently it’s probably been more like 1 liter per day, which would certainly explain my dehydrated state and blood donation disqualification.

Did you know that every person who has believed in Jesus for eternal life will one day have their actions assessed by Jesus?  While His assessment of our works will have no bearing on our eternal destiny, His bema seat judgment will impact our opportunities in eternity future.  Paul talked about it in both of his letters to the believers in Corinth:

2 Corinthians 5:10
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may be repaid for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.  

1 Corinthians 3:14-15
For the [judgment] day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire; the fire will test the quality of each one’s work.  If anyone’s work that he has built survives, he will receive a reward.  If anyone’s work is burned up, he will experience loss, but he himself will be saved – but only as through fire.

The loss experienced will be the loss of rewards and future opportunity to partner with Christ.  On that bema seat judgment day, all that we have done, whether good or evil, will be examined.  It will be clear how much we have lived for Jesus in this life and how much we have matured to be like Him.  Some will be rewarded, others will be disqualified.

There are many passages we could examine to find hints and descriptions of what kinds of rewards are available, but suffice it to say that if the God of the Universe says His rewards are good…then they’re going to be rewards we want to earn! 

Our difficulty right now is the same one that I had with my water intake…I thought I was “generally” ok.  Turns out I wasn’t.  We tend to think that God is ok with whatever progress we’ve made or actions we’ve taken.  However, Paul warned believers in Rome that they shouldn’t think to highly of themselves, rather they should honestly examine their choices and actions (Romans 12:3).  We may want to do the same…otherwise, we may coast through life thinking that we’re pleasing God when we’re actually not.  That’s not something we want to realize when it comes time for the judgment seat of Christ. 

Let’s not be disqualified later because we didn’t take action now.

Keep Pressing,
Ken