Yes, Words Matter+

“Don’t tell me that words don’t matter,” Barak Obama has claimed even recently, and that thought if not the exact same words is not new.  As long ago as the Biblical account of the world’s creation, God’s words mattered, especially in regard to what Adam and Eve could eat in the Garden of Eden.  The serpent tricked the first man and woman about what God really had said to them.  Words, both written and verbal, can have a tremendous impact for the good and the bad. 

Recently, CBS This Morning aired a story about six soldiers stationed in Iraq, men who were right on the battlefields.  They discovered “The Gilmore Girls,” a wonderful series spanning seven years (2000-2007) centering on a close mother/daughter relationship.  Set in Stars Hollow, an alluring small town filled with interesting and memorable characters, the stories easily drew the audience in.  One soldier wrote a letter to the writers, thanking them for creating shows that briefly took the men away from the horrors of the battlefield and strengthened their bond.  The writers sent the men a “care package” with “Gilmore” jackets.  The writers still have the letter.  Yes, words matter.

Abraham Lincoln, whose works are examined in The Eloquent President, by Ronald C. White (2005), greatly valued the ability of words, clearly and eloquently written, to move people in mighty ways.  Perhaps his most memorable speech was the Gettysburg Address, delivered in 1863.  Edward Everett, a famous orator of the day, was to be the main speaker to dedicate the battlefield where so many soldiers gave their lives and where they were laid to rest.  He spoke for over two hours.  Lincoln’s speech lasting less than three minutes holds the words and evokes the feelings and ideas that provided hope and direction looking past the devastation of the war, words that mattered to the hearers and readers of his day and ours. 

Of great importance are the words we share with one another matter, sometimes in surprising ways.  Years ago, I took my mother to the funeral of a woman who had been Christian education director in the church I grew up attending.  I also sent a sympathy card to her husband, adding some personal comments of his wife’s effect on me and others.  When I saw him about a year later, he came to me and thanked me for those words I had written, words I had long forgotten.  But he had not forgotten because words matter.

As a teacher, I tried to impress upon my students that writing well was about more than just passing college courses.  I would have told them about the effect of the soldier’s letter highlighted on the morning news show.  And as Christians, we have God’s words, absolutely reliable and powerful.

Words and their potential to simply or eloquently express ideas and feelings matter, so let’s be sharing words that encourage, strengthen, exhort—whatever is of good use in God’s sight in this new year.           

Feeling Thankful

            While growing up in the 50s and 60s, my family often watched television in the evenings.  A favorite program was “The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show,” a variety program featuring the singer who ended each program with a hymn.  We had at least one of his albums and played it on our console record player.  On the morning my father died just before 6 am in 1995, a song from that album, “When They Ring Those Golden Bells,” softy rang out in my mind over and over even though I had not heard the album played for many years.  That day, these lyrics for me verified my father’s place at last secured with God after a long battle with cancer:

Don't you hear the bells now ringing
Don't you hear the angels singing
'Tis the glory hallelujah Jubilee
In that far off sweet forever
Just beyond the shining river
When they ring the golden bells for you and me

            There was a time in my early years that our whole family attended the Presbyterian church in the heart of our neighborhood.  However, Dad became an infrequent attender after I was about 12 or 13.  It was my mother who remained very active in the church, setting an example to me to be involved.  I went to Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, youth group and even summer camp.  I not only participated in these activities, but drawing close to God as I did so meant something to me.  I suspect part of my earnestness was because of my mother’s mental health problems.  Lacking the normal stability from her, perhaps I sought it elsewhere.

            I considered writing about various characteristics I share with my mother or father, but a recent reminder of the Tennessee Ernie hymn that lingered in my mind at my father’s death, brought me to a very different perspective.  In August, my husband went to New Mexico to be with his mother, the last of our parents living, in her final days.  She still had her old records and a player, and after she lapsed into more sleep, my husband played some of her records as he sat with her.  Curiously, one of them was a Tennessee Ernie Ford album, bringing me back to the day my father died.  

            Although my father stopped going to church or even talking about his faith at all, he exhibited the love of Christ in many ways, even in the hard places of life.  He stayed with my mother when others might have left and was always sad when somehow we finally got her into the hospital for treatment because he knew how she hated to be there.  On his job at a steel company, once he hired a black teen with a baby on the way who lacked experience or any degree, but scored the highest on some test given to applicants.  We got to know Mike who went on to earn his degree and considered my father his mentor and friend.   My Dad was a loving father and grandfather, even attending one of our son’s baseball games after getting a chemotherapy treatment.

            Together, my parents nurtured me to become a person of faith, directly and indirectly, and over the many years of my adult life, I have sought out ways to build on that foundation.  By the grace of God, I believe I have become a stronger and more spirit-filled Christian, and I remain so thankful for what my parents gave me.

Not Known but Noticed

               I am known.  More accurately stated, I am noticed at the Fitness Center on the Eastern Illinois University campus since my husband and I began our twice weekly work outs about ten months ago.  Students, many in snazzy, close fitting outfits are the main exercisers, but many older adults come, also.  Of all who go in and out, I believe I am the only cushion-carrying, cane-dependent visitor.

               The first “observations” came from retired women using the center.  A very chatty, active woman on a machine next to me commended my commitment to keep exercising one day.  It was a morsel of encouragement I appreciated greatly.  Another woman, a doctor from India, called to me as I walked toward her at the local hospital complex.  She asked if I used the center and then applauded my efforts to exercise despite my physical challenges, adding a doctorly question, “Are you taking fish oil?”  Words of kind recognition in a world where one can feel invisible and alone at times bring blessing.

               My first impression of a retired professor riding an exercise bike as we briefly talked about the budget impasse in Illinois had not been a favorable one.  However, as he observed me a little longer, he started offering help in adjusting the heavy platform on a machine.  I had seen him use it and remembered physical therapy sessions on it to strengthen my legs.  I told him so and added it to my routine. The platform has various settings, but I just used it as I found it.  Soon, he began putting the platform in the correct slot when we both were there, and he spotted me “making my rounds.”  An unexpected kindness, an obviously flawed first impression, and another way I continued to discover I am noticed. 

               Entering the center requires going down 22 steps.  Since lower leg and hip weakness is the main symptom of my diagnosis (a rare neurological disorder), my work out begins on those stairs.  As I was heading back up to the machines, an older man on his way down said to me, “Determination.  One hundred percent determination.”  Speechless, I failed to give the strength and power of God credit for fueling this determination.  The man was familiar but an unknown observer—until then.

               Hopefully, few exercisers saw my two treadmill disasters, leaving me holding the bars for dear life after losing my footing, once because of a loose shoe string.  But on another day, a young lady saw me walking to another machine with an untied shoe and stopped me.  She said she would tie it, adding, “You’re an inspiration.”  She, too, notices me plodding through my routine and offers a kindness.

               Apparently, some have watched as I try to exercise despite my neurological challenges.  Simple words and deeds of kindness are so uplifting for all of us.  But even better is the miracle-working power of Almighty God, who still performs wondrous acts of healing as we look to Him with expectant faith and hope just as many did in Jesus’s day.  Seeing me walk up and down those 22 steps caneless, cushionless and normal—that would be true inspiration, pointing to God’s greatness, not anything of mine.   

More than We can Imagine

               About twice weekly my husband and I go to Eastern Illinois University’s Fitness Center to use treadmills and weight machines.  The “ghost town” of summer is now filled with student activity.  Recently, I watched volleyball games through the opening inside the walking track to the floor below.  Thinking back to high school, I remembered playing volleyball, basketball, field hockey and tennis.  Now, needing assistance just to walk, it is hard to imagine even playing volleyball again.

            Almost immediately, God brought to mind a favorite scripture translation that I don’t normally prefer.  In my New King James Bible, Ephesians 3:19,20 reads: “Now to Him  who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus . . .”  The New International Version substitutes “imagine” for “think,” saying:  “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine . . . “ This translation became more real to me as I thought about my athletic past, now seeming impossible.

            How often are we limited by our inability to imagine, let alone believe, God could help with something that seems almost impossible in our human minds.  But that is just the problem.  We can’t believe God for the healings, conversions, reconciliations, etc., because we can’t imagine these things happening.  We are overwhelmed with what our senses, reasoning and fears tell us.  Biblical characters were not immune to doubt.  When the men (angels) told Abraham Sarah would have a son, “Sarah laughed within herself, saying, ‘After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure . . . ‘"(Gen.18:10,12).  God, Himself, has his say telling Abraham, “ Is anything too hard for the Lord?”  (18:14).  I suspect He would say the same thing to us when we doubt His ability or even His will to do something that doctors, lawyers, counselors and mere words can’t do.

            But God’s words aren’t the same as ours.  The Bible tells us its words brought to life by the Spirit are “living and powerful” (Heb. 4:12) and “given by inspiration of God” (11 Tim. 3:16).  They can be part of how God delivers the gift of faith when we seek Him, perhaps asking questions or seeking His will instead of buying into the sayings and phrases we pass around to bring understanding.

               God is sovereign, all knowing and all powerful, but He has given us free will and our choices can affect how our days of ease or ones of crises go.  People frequently say, “God is in control.” The Bible, however, illustrates and says just the opposite.  “And we know that we are children of God and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one” are an apostle’s words (1 John 5:19 NIV).

            Looking to Jesus, seeking God’s wisdom in His word, growing in our faith and expectation of ”more than we can ask or imagine,” perhaps still can produce the signs and wonders of Jesus and the church He empowered on Pentecost. 

The Gentlest of men

              “The gentlest of men” was the concluding phrase in the obituary yesterday describing my daughter Bonnie’s father-in-law.  He was, indeed, a gentle soul before Ley Body robbed him of cognitive and motor abilities.  Interestingly, meeting Bonnie’s husband the first time, I was struck by his gentle and kind manner.  Since then, I have commented more than once that “kindness is a highly underrated virtue.”

               In the rush to business and consumerism of much of today’s world, often it is the important but simple kindnesses we fail to do: visit a shut-in, write a note of appreciation, purchase a useful gift card for someone in need, go to a new neighbor’s door with cookies or just a friendly welcome, or offer help to someone about to move.  The list could go on and on.  Even simple hospitality, an invitation for dinner or desert in your home, does not have the priority in our lives it used to or should have.

               This observation is certainly not uniquely mine.  Often in a confession during a Christian service, we are to ask forgiveness for what we fail to do, “things left undone” might be the phrasing in one liturgy.  It was Jesus who presented the familiar parable, “The Good Samaritan,” to illustrate who the neighbors are we are supposed to love when He gave the two great commandments to love God and our neighbor.  The sinners in the story are the religious people who walked right by a wounded Samaritan who had been beaten and robbed, now lying in their path.  Many Jews during Bible times looked down on the Samaritans as not true Jews.

               The traveler who Jesus praised, who did the right things, stopped and ministered to the man’s injuries and took the man to an Inn to receive more care that he would pay for.  His destination, the cultural attitude toward Samaritans, his more selfish use of time and resources didn’t override the important issue:  a person in his path urgently needed care.  Imagine. 

               Demonstrated gentleness and kindness are such simple things and can cost us far less time and money than what the kind man in the parable did.  For example, a friend of my daughter’s brought over a very nice breakfast casserole for them to eat during this difficult time of loss.  While visiting the church I grew up in years ago, the husband of the Christian education director approached me and thanked me for just a few words on a sympathy card that described some remembrances I had of his wife during my early Sunday school days; I was so surprised.

               Yes, there is one less gentle soul among us, but I see his son, my son-in-law, continue as one kind and gentle man still among us.  On purpose, may we seek to frequently take some time to act with kindness and gentleness to those in our paths.

 

 

New Insight on Hannah's prayer

            Hannah, Samuel’s mother described in 1 Samuel 1, was no stranger to me before I prepared to lead a Bible study/discussion for the monthly ladies’ group at church.  Nonetheless, I read the material and other resources, including Women of the Bible: A One-Year Devotional Study of Women in Scripture, Ann Spangler & Jean E. Syswerda.  Being a retired English teacher, I took notes and then prepared a plan.

            Our pastors have taken another call, and various ordained and lay speakers have preached on Sunday morning.  Beginning our lesson, I reminded the ladies’ group of one minister who strongly encouraged us to read the Bible, expecting it “to speak to you” (that same counsel from a coworker 40 years ago revolutionized my Christian life).  Two important words used in the scriptures for “word” are  logos, meaning the information written down, and rhema, describing how the Holy Spirit makes a phrase or story “speak to you” personally, creating hope and faith.

            Having copies of 1 Sam. 1-20, I suggested reading the passage aloud and then to ourselves, marking any word or phrase that grabbed our attention or produced responses.  So, we read about Elkanah and his two wives, one producing children and Hannah, barren and distressed as the story begins.  Then Elkanah takes his family to Shiloh as he did every year to offer a sacrifice to God and then to feast, celebrating the finished harvesting of the grapes.  After a while, Hannah leaves the group and goes to the temple to pray.  There she pours out her heart to God, asking for a son and promising to offer that child back to the Lord’s service.

            Eli, the priest, notices her and accuses her of being drunk.  She explains her heartfelt petition, and Eli sends her off with his blessing: “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.”  Hannah’s countenance immediately changes; she is no longer sad and forlorn but peaceful and I think, expectant that God has had heard and will answer her request despite the years of childlessness and disappointment.  When they return home, Elkanah “made love to Hannah, and the Lord remembered her” (1 Sam. 1:19), in other words, God answered that fervent prayer.

            It was interesting to hear the ladies’ comments, many responses so different from my own.  I pointed out what I quoted above, that “God remembered her,” a phrase used after Abraham passionately interceded for any righteous in Sodom and Gomorrah where Lot lived.  There, too, “God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out” (Gen. 19:35).

            The next day God brought to mind a verse about the value of fervency in prayer.  I believe that deeply prayerful Hannah connected with God that day in the temple, proving the truth in this verse:  “The fervent, effectual prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16).  As always, I learn when I teach on something, but it was the Holy Spirit that brought that verse to me, reminding me of the power and value of persevering, consistent, and fervent prayer lifted up to the God who hears. 

"Love Trumps Hate" Revisited

 Most of what follows originally was posted in 2014, right after disturbances broke out when the Ferguson police officer was not charged in the shooting of Michael Anderson. 

December 4, 2014

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that,” words spoken by Martin Luther King, Jr.  When our emotions are raging, it is so tempting to act in ways that only feed the trouble at hand.  Surely God has a better way if we, as Christians, will draw on our faith and the Holy Spirit’s power to follow Christ’s ways of love and peace.  One verse I am drawn to often is in Romans 12:21:  “Don’t be overcome with evil but overcome evil with good.”

  I’ve been reading a book of my daughter’s, Let me Sow Love: Living the Peace Prayer of St. Francis, by James E. Adams.  While waiting in a doctor’s office, I turned to where my bookmark was in the chapter titled, “Where There is Hatred, Let Me Sow Love.”  As the news on the television in the room was covering all the destruction and turmoil after Officer Wilson was not indicted, I read these words of self-examination: “We must be aware of the hatred and ill will that we may be harboring against others.”  The chapter ends with this prayer: "Lord, help me to learn from You the gentleness and humility of heart I need to live the Peace Prayer.”

  In God’s eyes, we all stand at the feet of the cross as equals, sinners in need of the grace and mercy of God.  Let us try to be part of God’s goodness and mercy at work in the world, especially in our thoughts, words, and deeds right now at this difficult time in our city, our country and beyond.  (end of post)

Almost two years have passed.  Violent acts of hate in America continue to shock, anger and sadden us.  In just a few days, two Black men were shot when stopped by police, and five Dallas officers died after being shot by a sniper specifically targeting them.  When interviewed on the morning after the attack on the white policemen,  Bob Schiefer, a CBS journalist of many decades, spoke of a cultural change.  Our society has become "less patient . . . rude,” less tolerant and loving.  And then there are all those guns.

The love that drives out hate is the love of God, a love that prompts love for others, a love that can save us over and over from being victimized by our own less constructive, selfish,  and outright destructive human emotions.  Lyrics from a 2010 song, “The Basics of Life” keep coming to my mind:  “ . . .Where are the virtues that once gave us light?  Where are the morals that governed our lives?. . .We need to get back to the basics of life, a heart that is pure and a love that is blind.”

By God’s grace, we do, indeed, need to get back to the basics of life.

 

Rivers of Living Water--and Joy

Continuing to think about joy, I found there was more to learn and share.  In fact, as I was trying to walk faster on the treadmill at the university’s fitness center, a verse came to mind:  “The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10).  I have known a song with this scripture in it for many years, but I saw something new this time.  The phrase is “the joy of the Lord,” not necessarily the human feeling of happiness when things are going well.  This joy is rooted in God Himself, and as we abide in Him, it can become a fruit of His Spirit in us.

John 17 reveals the deep prayers of Christ for Himself and His followers as He approaches His crucifixion, resurrection and return to His heavenly Father.  Jesus wants to be glorified and bring glory to His Father; He wants the world to see the miraculous power of the living God.  Jesus asks, “Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given me, that they may be one as We are. . . But now I come to You . . . that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves” (Vs. 11, 13).  Again, this is the joy of Jesus, something deeper and surer than fickle human emotions.

At times, life’s experiences can seem to suck the joy right out of us.  But there is an eternal resource, the living water Jesus supplies; we can come to Him and drink and be renewed.  “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37,38).  John adds that Jesus was speaking of the Holy Spirit that had not yet been given.  Acts 2 describes the fulfillment of the coming of the Spirit to indwell and empower believers.

So it seems that this joy of the Lord, this living water of the Spirit, is ours for the asking and ours for the taking.  Perhaps it is much like the manna supplied in the wilderness to the Israelites—fresh and new every morning for that day.  Take heart, be of good cheer, be full of joy!  The long view of the Christian life is one of winning the race and then enjoying eternal life, free of every ill this world can throw our way.

Being Full of Joy

               While visiting our son and his family in Montgomery, Alabama, two years ago, my husband and I took a wonderful side trip to Monroeville.  Here, Harper Lee grew up and the town, its court house, and its people provided the basis for Macomb and its characters in To Kill a Mockingbird, published in 1960.  More than 40 million copies have been sold, portraying the simplicity of life in this small town seen through the eyes of a young girl, centering on her father defending a black man falsely accused of rape in a very compelling story.

               After walking around the town, we went into the courtroom, so like the one in the movie. Eventually, I made my way to the gift shop—of course.  I bought some notecards and a little, open wooden box.  On its grayish front is a mason jar with the words “Be full of joy” across its front.  I think it grabbed my attention because I knew these words were ones I needed to take to heart.

Difficult health issues and chronic pain have made being joyful challenging at times.  Yes, each of our children have had their own healthy children; we have become grandparents, what can and should be one of life’s most wonderful blessings and greatest joys.  Then both families lived out of town, and day-to-day life just seemed hard even though we knew God was with us, helping and hearing our prayers.  God’s word also encouraged us—now, too-- to expect and hope for physical healing, just as those who came to Jesus in Bible times.

Examining just a part of what the Bible says about “joy” proved to be quite interesting.  The emotion of joy appears frequently in the Psalms and in Isaiah.  In addition, Jesus taught about keeping God’s commandments and remaining in God’s love, saying, “These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11).  The joy of Jesus transcends our human emotional responses to life's experiences.  Scripturally, joy must be rooted in loving God, seeking to be filled and refilled with the living presence of His Holy Spirit.  Paul explained that joy is a “fruit of the Holy Spirit” (Gal. 5:22) along with other needed traits.

Hebrews 12 seems to summarize how joy worked throughout Jesus’s time on earth.  Seeing life as a race of endurance, Christians are encouraged to look to Jesus, “the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:1,2).  Clearly, difficult, very painful experiences, emotional and physical, are described.  However, He kept His eyes on His Father and the joyful demonstration of God’s love and power (the resurrection, overcoming Satan’s evil plans) as the prize that could be part of our lives here and eternally, also.   

May the Holy Spirit fill us, too, and help us to “Be full of Joy” as we look to Jesus.

Prayer and Politics

The woes and corruption of Illinois politics was something Jim and I had read about and had seen on television—from a distance before our daughter and her husband were hired to work at Eastern Illinois University here in Charleston.  The story, however, has become much more personal since our move here last June, just one month before the new governor was to present a state budget to the legislature.  A budget has yet to be agreed upon and passed through the legislature, and the consequences of this impasse have been very destructive to higher education, social agencies and programs all around the state.

At EIU, over 200 employees have lost their jobs, and significant furloughs have been in place for some administrators and department chairmen, and may extend further.  The atmosphere at the school has been stressful and uncertain for staff and students alike.  Several bills to get money to the schools and social agencies have been passed only to get a veto from Governor Rauner.  Two times the house has voted to override the veto, only to come up short by 2 or 3 votes.  Our state representative, who should be well aware of how central the welfare of the university is to our town, its people and the broader region, failed to vote for the override.  There have been rallies, letters to legislators, a press conference by the university president, and a march from the school to the courthouse—in the rain.  And still the wait for funding continues.

We have participated in some efforts, but we have also been praying and praying.  In Isaiah 55, we are reminded that God’s ways are higher than ours, his thoughts better.  Jesus often spoke of the importance of continued prayer, one time as He introduced a parable about the value of persistence.  “Men ought always to pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1).  In another parable in Luke 15, Jesus asks the crowd if a sheep owner wouldn’t search for his lost sheep “until he finds it,” again emphasizing perseverance. 

Although Elijah is an Old Testament character, his experience is used as an example of what persistent prayer can accomplish.  James 5:16 introduces the example with this declaration: “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” God had called Elijah and told him that there would be a period of draught and then rain would come.  So, Elijah was acting on God’s instruction and leading as he bent down to pray for rain in 1 Kings 18:42.  Seven times Elijah sent his servant to check the sky before the servant finally saw some evidence (a cloud the size of a man’s hand) his prayer was answered.

God’s words about faith, prayer and persistence can encourage us and guide us.  We can remain hopeful and expectant as we face difficult circumstances such as the ones here in Illinois.

Truthiness or Truth

              The new host of The Tonight Show became well-known to many for his old show, The Colbert Report.  He played a character described in Wikipedia as a “well-intentioned, poorly informed high-status idot and a self-important right-wing commentator” (Wikipedia).  Although Jim and I saw very little of the show, I remember a key word he used: “truthiness.”  Colbert defined the self-coined term to mean if one says the same thing with feeling and confidence often enough, many people will think it is true.

               Right now we all are being bombarded by campaign facts and figures about this candidate or that issue.  Sometimes a news station or newspaper will do a “fact check,” and often the real story is not exactly as it has been presented.  Even without election year shenanigans—yes, I have become a bit jaded over the years—we are often in need of knowing what is truthful.

               I would say that in our Christian lives, discerning what is true is more important than anywhere else.  A multitude of voices gives us information; most obviously, if we attend church, pastors giving sermons are the main voices.  Joining theirs are countless books, some even best-sellers, movies, Christian speakers, CDs, etc.  Two phrases I have heard repeatedly are “God is in control,” or similarly, “God is in charge.”  The implication is that God will have His way so we can just trust and go about our business.

               Jim and I have two sons, one on earth and one in heaven.  Our first son only lived for 17 days, most of them fighting for his life.  Well before this experience, I had been introduced to the charismatic movement and began reading the Bible a little differently, as an instrument of truth and a way for the Holy Spirit to “speak” personally to me as I searched for what to believe in addition to my Presbyterian background.  After our baby’s death, I sought the help and understanding I needed in the scriptures more than ever.           

My choice to seek God’s truth in the scriptures is mirrored in the early church in the Bible itself.  In Acts, Paul and Silas were sent to Berea and spoke in the synagogues.  Afterwards, the Bereans “received the word with all readiness, and searched the scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11).  Church leaders had their words backed up by signs and wonders, yet the Bereans were seeking God in the printed word they had to be sure of what to believe.

               More than a few years ago, Jim and I were struck by the opposite of the idea that God is in control in an NIV translation of 1 John 5:19: “We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one."  There are countless stories and scriptures that point to God as the giver of every good and perfect gift ( James 1:17).  In fact, the lead in to that verse points to the need for Christians to be discerning, as it commands, “Do not be deceived, my brethren.”

               “Truthiness” has fooled people for centuries.  Let us seek what Luke 18:8 instructs, “to be careful hearers of the word.”

^”

Overcoming "Impossibilities" instead of Losing Heart

 

               Every year I use a different mix of devotionals to try to read every day.  Sometimes I do have to play catch up.  This year I have started a new book, God’s Little Devotion Book for Leaders, one in a series of little devotion books.  I was ordering another copy of the one on prayer when Amazon kindly showed me a picture of an eagle on the front of the one for leaders.  So, I bought both books, making Amazon so happy for tempting yet another customer.

               However, I am finding that the giant retailer did me a favor.  Even just some pages into the devotional for leaders, I am finding it an interesting and encouraging book.  So far, it recounts the ventures considered impossible that some daring and confident person succeeded in achieving, matching it with a related scripture.  One story was about building a railroad through the Andes Mountains in the 1880s.  Some of the finest engineers were presented with various possible routes, but they declared such a feat could not be done.

               As a last resort, a 60 year old Polish engineer, Ernest Malinowski, was consulted and believed a railroad could be built through the mountains.  What he constructed despite revolutions holding up construction and other difficulties “ is considered one of the great engineering marvels of the world.”  It went through 62 tunnels and across 30 bridges.  In big, bold letters on the page opposite the story are the words, “Never, never, never . . . give up, followed by a verse from Galatians 6:9.  “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”  The first part of this verse is on a picture frame, a $1.00 find at a rummage sale, in our living room so God can continue to remind me of these encouraging words.

               Another verse about our hearts that has uplifted me in a similar way is in Luke 18:1.  Jesus “spoke to them that men always ought to pray and not lose heart.”  The NIV version ends with “not give up.”  This begins the parable of “The Persistent Widow.”  The ungodly judge finally granted her the request she sought because she did not quit coming to him with the plea, “Grant me justice against my adversary.”  It is God’s strength, guidance and encouragement that enable us to be seekers that do not quit. 

               At the end of the story of the engineer who built the railroad through tunnels and over bridges high in the mountains is this observation:  “Obstacles are meant to be hurdled.”  God does call us to be both persistent and even daring as we look to Him with expectancy.  “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16).

May God help us to be such people of faith, persistent and bold

in the face of “impossibilities.”

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.”      Helen Keller, The Open Door