Not my sermon - Our relationship with God, progression of metaphors

The following are the notes I took from a recent sermon while at the Evangelical Free Church in Kamloops. As they are notes, they are more shorthand than fill out sermon, but the point of the message I believe is still prevalent. It was a guest speaker, but I honestly don't remember his name or I would give him full credit! He's with Evangelical Free Church of Canada in some capacity... :-P

Most of us understand metaphors. The scripture is full of metaphors.

1st Metaphor: Isaiah 64:8 - The potter andthe clay.
God is a great, perfect designer. His creation is as perfect and beautiful as was his intent. What we can get from this is that when we don't understand life, God does. God gets it. Rom. 9:21, does not the potter have the right to make some pots for noble purposes and others for common use? What right does a pot have to complain to the potter?

2nd Metaphor: Ezek. 34:12 - Shepherd and the sheep.
God's committed to us, to our well being. There's a sense of ongoing commitment. Sheep are pretty pathetic little animals. Without a shepherd, they will get into all sorts of dangers and troubles. There is a security here for us, as well as a reminder. Not only am I not capable of living without God, but I wasn't designed to do so!

4th Metaphor: Jer. 3:19 - Father and Sons.
Here's an even stronger commitment from God to us. We are not just sheep in his flock, we are his children. How gladly would I treat you as my children! We've all been children. We understand the relationship between a child and a parent. They need someone to make decisions for them, even ones they may not like. A child doesn't know everything that is going on, whereas a father does. Sometimes children need discipline, but that doesn't take anything away from this metaphor.

5th Metaphor: John 15:15 - Friends
Jesus called them friends, no longer servants to a master. There are things that a father and son won't share. But friends open up to each other, rely on each other. They trust each other. God wants to be our friend. And the good news is, he already knows everything that's going on in our life! God wants more from me.

6th Metaphor: Rev. 19:4 - Bride and bridegroom.
This final metaphor shows us how intimate God wants to be with us. Not just our creator, not just our protector, not just our Father, not even just our friend, but our bridegroom!

Separately all these metaphors teach us many things about the relationship God wants with us. They also show a growing progression. The final metaphor he gives us is the most intimate. Where you are on this progression will define the relationship you are in right now. It's not what you know your mind about these metaphors that's important, it's what you believe that controls how you live and the choices you make.
God gave us these metaphors so that we would understand the relationship God want to have with us. Can we believe these with our hearts?

If all we believe is that we are a pot, we will struggle with low self worth. What relationship does a pot have with its potter?

If all we believe is that we are sheep, we can at least interact with God. But it's still a one way relationship. How meaningful relationship can a sheep have with its shepherd?

But if you can believe he's your father, now there's communication. The same species, even. But there is still issues with this relationship. Many have poor examples of this relationship. But this is a good metaphor, a good step.

But if you can get to the friendship metaphor, if you can believe this with your heart, then it is a really good thing. Having this type of relationship is worth gold.

But the best relationship anyone can have us the bride and bridegroom. There is an intimacy there found nowhere else.

There is always a gap between what I know this relationship could and should be and what it actually is. Why? Because I have built a fence, a wall. I've believed a lie from the enemy that getting too close isn't a good thing. God will demand to much from us. He will send us where we don't want to go, make us do what we don't want to do.

Why do we believe the father of lies rather than the father or truth? God wants us to come to him, to have an intimate relationship with him.
Where are you in this progression? What step are you standing on?

Move up. Move closer.

God sends us his word to transform our lives. He wants us to come closer. Do not listen to the enemy who says he's someone to be feared. Don't be afraid. God loves us, he doesn't want to hurt us, he wants to protect us, to develop us. God is a patient God, and he doesn't force us into places.

God is inviting us to come closer, do we trust him?

Wrongfully Accused

Not fair!

Two words I’m sure everyone of us has said at some time. Two words I’m sure all of us have thought, maybe even recently.

If I pulled out a bucket full of cash and started handing it out, how would you like me to divide it between everyone? If I gave some of you fifty dollars, some of you twenty, and then a few got a hundred would you all be happy? Would those of you with twenty dollars feel ripped off that you didn’t get fifty? If you had fifty, would you be happy that at least you didn’t get twenty, or would you be miffed that someone else got a hundred?

And if you got a hundred, would you even think about those that got only twenty? Or would you be happy that you were lucky enough to get the highest amount given?

You see, we all want fairness. When we are treated what we feel to be unfairly, our first reaction is to jump up, scream and holler, and make the injustice known. If we receive less than what we deem to be our fair share, we let people know. It isn’t fair! I was wronged!

I watched the Canucks game last night, and every player that got sent to the penalty box went there protesting the injustice. No one went peacefully. None of them said “Yes, Mr. Referee, I shouldn’t have hit him in the face with my stick, I will go serve my time.” Nope, instead the comments were more along the lines of “What on earth is wrong with you, Ref? His face got right in the way of where I needed to swing my stick! Not fair!” We all see fairness or injustices from our own selfish, tainted points of view. Most “injustices” we feel have occurred to us really actually aren’t injustices at all. If you’ve ever heard the saying “There’s always a faster gun.” (referring to the Old West gun slinging days), the same can be said that’s there’s also always a slower gun. But it’s just so easy to focus on the one that is better off than we are, and wish life was fair so that we had what they did, rather than think about the one that is worse off than us and be thankful that life isn’t fair so we don’t have what they do.

In fact, you may have heard about this before, but it has been said that if we were to “be fair” and divide the world’s wealth equally among all of us, did you know that all of our yearly incomes would drop drastically? Even our homeless would be worse off than they are now.

This morning I want to talk about injustices. I want to talk about being wrongfully accused. And I want to discuss how we react to these injustices. But, in doing so, I do want you all to consider the injustices you’ve suffered, or are suffering, and first of all consider whether or not they are injustices at all. The first step in dealing with an unfair world is to stop focusing on the how unfair it is to you that your brother just bought a new truck, or your neighbor could afford to install that amazing new deck. Instead, let’s weed out the perceived injustices so that we can deal with the ones that truly are unfair.

To start, I would like to read from the Old Testament, 1 Samuel chapter 26. In case you are not aware of the history of this story, Saul is the King of Israel. He was anointed by God through Samuel. However, Saul quickly fell out of favour with God and so Samuel then anointed David as the next King of Israel to take over for Saul once Saul’s reign had ended. Obviously, a dictatorship like the reign of a King doesn’t end after he served his four year term like a President or Prime Minister. It ended with his death. So, as long as Saul lived, he was the reigning King of Israel. And Saul knew about David. Saul knew that his line of royalty would start and end with himself. His sons would never be royalty because of his actions. David and his line would take over, and this angered Saul. In fact, I’m sure he uttered the words “Not fair!” many times. So, Saul chased David for years, trying to kill him. Speak about being treated unfairly! Here is David, tending sheep when suddenly he’s told he’s going to be the next King. Before that even really gets to sink in, he’s running for his life hiding in the desert, always scrounging for shelter, food and water. What did he ever do to deserve this life?

So, in I Samuel chapter 26, we read of a chance that David gets to change his life. This is actually the second opportunity that arises for David to take Saul’s life and end this absurd running through the desert.

1 Samuel 26

David shows great faith in his God. He has an opportunity to take the path of his life in a new and different direction, but instead he chooses to simply leave it in God’s hand and spares Saul’s life. David does, however, confront Saul about this injustice. He stands up against it and expresses his displeasure. But he does not cross the line of taking control out of God’s hands and into his own.

Recently we had a neighbor call By-Law on us. Apparently, our dogs bark non-stop all day. Well, seeing as Corrie is home all day, we know this was not truthful. So it bothered us. It bothered us a lot. My reaction was to avenge the injustice. We have a good idea what neighbor it was. Anyways, I felt like marching over and giving them a piece of my mind. Or, I started thinking about how I could call By-Law on them for all the things they do that technically they shouldn’t. For a full day, thought after thought went through my mind of how I could stand up, speak out and try and right this injustice!

In fact, the next day, they went out and their own dogs barked and howled inside their house for a few hours straight. Were they loud? No, they were indoors. Did they annoy me? No, I hardly could hear them. But, here I thought, here I have a great opportunity to set things right! Phone By-Law, complain about their dogs! But we didn’t. It’s kind of hard to take revenge when you are trying to write a sermon on how not to do so. But it wasn’t easy! It filled my thoughts for way too long.

Human nature says “get revenge, get even”. God says “Sit back, turn the other cheek.” Human nature says “It’s not fair, I was wronged!” God says “It doesn’t matter, I’m in control.”

Someone cuts you off on the highway, what is your reaction? You say something in a discussion that is misunderstood and you are wrongfully attacked, how do you respond? You work hard and long, and someone else gets the promotion, what is your attitude?

Think about the message that Hollywood presents to all of us day in and day out. If you are wronged, fight back. If someone hurts you, hurt them back and make them pay. Solomon wrote in Proverbs chapter 15 verse 1 that “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”

Really? God wants us to be pansies? Where’s the movie theme in that?

Nope. Read that again. A harsh word stirs up anger. Any fool can react. Any brainless idiot can jump into a war of words. It takes strength to stop, to take the hit and to respond in a way that will actually stop the altercation before it even begins.

In Hollywood, when you get cheated, you react and the one who wronged you goes running away with his tail between his legs.

In reality, you react only to find that he or she reacts to your reaction, meaning now you have to react to their reaction. Where does this end? Many of us know from our own, unfortunate experiences. It ends with hurtful words, broken relationships, and regretful actions that we wish we could undo.

Instead, a gentle answer turns away wrath.

But that’s hard to do. That requires inner strength. That requires resolve. That means I need to be OK with being wronged.

And there’s nothing pansy about that.

Let’s look at someone else who had inner strength beyond comprehension. Jesus Christ. We all know this story. Jesus stood in front of a crowd of his accusers. The very people he had just spent years with healing sicknesses, feeding and leading are now yelling at him, cursing him, and crying for the release of a criminal in exchange for his execution.

If there ever was a moment for someone to stand up and yell about being unjustly treated, it was now.

If there ever was someone with the power to do so in an amazing way, it was Jesus.

And yet Jesus chose silence. Jesus chose to rest in his Father’s arms. Jesus gave up his desire for justice to allow God’s will to be done instead. If Jesus had done what we all likely would’ve done in this situation, none of us would be here having church this morning. There would be no hope, there would be no salvation. Because Jesus let the injustices overwhelm him with pain, suffering and even death, we can be treated “unfairly” and be allowed to come before a King clean and pure. Because Jesus didn’t seek vengeance, we now have life.

Paul wrote about vengeance in Romans chapter 12. Let’s read through a few verses, starting on verse 12.

Romans 12:12-21

Bless those who curse you! Do not repay evil with evil. Do not take revenge.

It is God’s to avenge.

Did you get that? Revenge isn’t even in our job description. Our duties are to bless others, to mourn with them, to live peacefully with everyone. Nowhere in the list of job requirements does “Revenge” even appear. It’s God’s job!

Instead, God says that we are to feed our enemies. If they are thirsty, we are to give them something to drink. We are not to be overcome by evil, but instead to overcome evil with good.

One thing I find very interesting in this passage is the end of the part where Paul quotes Proverbs saying that by feeding and watering our enemies, we “heap burning coals over their heads”. Isn’t that kind of like getting your revenge? Isn’t that kind of the mentality that we’re supposed to avoid?

But, in reality, by treating our enemies with kindness, Solomon is saying that our enemies will feel remorse over how they treated us. This is God’s wrath pouring down on them. If you consider Saul’s reaction to David when David confronts him, showing him he had a chance to avenge himself yet didn’t. Saul was remorseful. He apologized to David, and his life spiraled even further out of control. In fact, shortly after this, Saul actually enlists the help of a medium to summon the spirit of Samuel from the dead for advice rather than going to God.

So the next time that someone wrongly accuses you, or treats you unfairly, remember that vengeance is God’s job. Bless them when they curse you. Feed them. Treat them with love and kindness.

The Thorn in Your Side

How many of you have ever been hiking? And on those hikes, how many times have you ever managed to get one of those annoying burrs stuck in your socks and shoes? And, this is the more related question this morning, how many times did you just leave that burr and continued on you hike limping away? Let’s read a passage from 2 Corinthians.

2 Corinthians 12:6-10

Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Today I would like to talk about the thorn. When we read, hear or even just think upon this verse, I believe that we all quickly realize our own thorns that exist, or have existed, in our lives. Whether it was an event past, or something you are going through now, we’ve all had to deal with these thorns or varying degrees. It could be a thorn of pain or suffering. Maybe a thorn of persecution. Or possibly even a thorn of that annoying neighbor. Whatever it might be, it is a constant source of irritation and discomfort.

While I don’t wish to make any of us to focus on these issues too much this morning, I would like you all to take a moment to think about your thorn. How have you dealt with it? I would assume you’ve prayed about it, so if so, how did you pray? Did you ask God to remove the thorn, as Paul did? Did God remove the thorn? If not, did you learn to deal with it? Did it make you grateful? Or did it make you bitter?

I’ve talked previously about our acreage we own in Edmonton. For three years, Corrie and I have prayed for God to sell this acreage. For three years, God has chosen not to do so. For three years, we have analyzed, researched and examined all of our decisions we made. Was this a wrong step here? Did we move incorrectly there? Where did we go wrong? Then, in a flash of brilliance, we had the answer. We were sure of it. This is the lesson God wanted us to learn! And still, the acreage remained unsold. And so we would start all over again.

Eventually, I became discouraged. I became confused. And then, I soon became simply distant. I didn’t want to think about it anymore. I stopped praying about it, I stopped wondering about it.

And then, I had a still, quiet moment. I believe that God reached down and spoke to me. I’ve mentioned before that I ride my bike to work. Many mornings, if I can drag myself out of bed on time, I will leave early enough that I can stop on some great spots on the trail that overlook the Kamloops valleys. Here, I have a few quiet moments reading my bible and praying. Well, a few weeks ago I realized I hadn’t done this in a very long time. So, I got up early enough one morning and rode out to this spot. As soon as I started praying, I started with the same old, same old lines. “God, please sell this acreage…” Then, suddenly, I stopped. And it was then that I believe God gave me a realization. I began to think about the past three years. What has been the one thing that has driven me closer to God over the past few years? The acreage. What has been the one constant that has caused me to lean on God? The acreage. What one area in my life has made me consistently focus on God? The acreage!

Suddenly, I blurted out, “God, don’t sell the acreage!”

When life it going good, when there are no stresses, no cause for concern, no heartbreaks, what also tends to be missing in our lives? Our dependence on God. The more we have that life that everyone feels so compelled to achieve, the more we tend to lose our reliance on our heavenly Father.

And when I blurted out “God, don’t sell the acreage!”, I meant it. If it wasn’t for the acreage, would I be where I was today? If it wasn’t for the trials that having this extra burden in our lives brought, would I have what I have today?

That morning, I prayed that God would continue to help me grow. I asked for acceptance of the acreage. I asked for God to grant me peace about the burden. And I thanked God for it. And God told me, through the words of Paul in 2 Corinthians, “My grace is made perfect in your weakness.”

Are we willing to live with that thorn in our side?

Paul states “in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn”. We don’t know what this thorn was, although many have speculated and some seem to even have some enlightened truth that no one else received. However, what Paul’s thorn was is not important. What is important is, one, he had a thorn and, two, God did not remove it.

That second part is crucial. God did not remove it.

Are you ready for this? Think back again to your own thorn. Are you willing to live the rest of your life with it?

One thing that I’ve always struggled with as far as witnessing is the whole trials and tribulations of the Christian walk. How does that look good on our advertising pamphlets? Come, follow Christ and endure hardships! Come, walk with God and experience heart ache and trouble!

But God has started to give me a better understanding lately of what this means. What is our goal as Christians? We talked about this a few months ago. Our goal is to become Christ like. Why? To glorify God, our maker. As such, if going through trials brings me closer to that goal, then we should all, as Paul did, “boast all the more gladly in our weaknesses”. Paul said, “I delight in my weakness.” Delight! Rejoice! Really?

That same morning, after I continued on riding, I got to the bottom of the Peterson’s Creek valley. As I stood at the creek side, looking up at the hill in front of me, I realized a similarity between my ride and what God had just started to reveal to me about suffering. When I leave the house and get on that bike, I have two goals in mind. One, to get to work. But, if that was my only goal, then I could drive, take the bus, or even hitchhike. But, I also have a larger goal of getting more into shape. I stood beside the creek, thinking about how the following 30 minutes of riding were all uphill. 30 minutes of nothing but climbing.

So, I thought, what if I asked God to remove this hill? What if I prayed, “God, I don’t like this struggle, please take away these 30 minutes of climbing.” And, what if God did that? My goal, getting to work and getting more in shape, would leave with the removal of that hill. Sure, my next 30 minutes would be easy. I might even think I’m having a good time. But what a waste! If God moved that hill, He also would have to move my goal further away from me! And, if he did so, my next 30 minutes of riding on flat trails would be a complete waste of time and effort.

And, yet, how often do we focus our prayers on how we want God to remove our trials from us? How often do we find ourselves praying that God simply removes this thorn? And what if he did?

God never promises us a free ride. If you were to do a few quick flips through your Bible, you would find many, many references to trials and tribulations in our walk.

1 Peter 5:10: And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you

James 1:12: Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

Romans 12:12: Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

Romans 5:3: More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance

Romans 8:18: For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

James 1:2: Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds

Should I continue? We could do this all day. And yet, we so easily fall into the human nature of desiring what is uncomfortable in our lives to be removed. Are you cold? Turn on the furnace. Are you hot? Turn on the Air Conditioning. Do you not sleep well? Buy a memory foam. Do your feet hurt? Buy fitted insoles. And the list goes on and on. Please don’t get me wrong, I am not saying we all go home and sell our mattresses, shoes and air conditioners. But what I’m saying is the way of life that we have been privileged to live here in North America is one that focuses on removing discomforts. And the way of life that Jesus lays out before us is one that doesn’t avoid discomforts, but instead embraces them.

I’m not sure if any of you follow the Tour De France? It just ended just over a month ago I believe. If you don’t know anything about the Tour De France, let me fill you in. This tour is a bike race where the racers ride for 3 weeks covering a distance of around 3500 kms. These riders put on anywhere from a paltry 100 kms in a day to often over 200! They have some days riding in the flats, but the majority of the ride is through strenuous and painful climbs through France and neighboring countries. The ride has been compared to running a marathon several days a week for three weeks! They say the elevation of the climbs has often been compared to “three Mount Everests”. Well, I watched some of these stages and I have decided that I’m going to enter this race next year.

So, in preparation of this, I am going to go out and buy a $10,000 road bike. I will also put aside about $2000 to make sure I have the right fancy clothing. And, of course, I will subscribe to Bicycling magazine, Bike magazine, and any others I can find so I can read thoroughly about this sport and get a good understanding. I will dedicate at least 15 minutes each day to reading online about past races, winners and others involved in the race. And, for good measure, I will buy as many video footage of previous races that I can.

But I won’t ride a single mile on my new bike.

Nope, that’s painful stuff! Why would I put myself through such daily torture? Have any of you seen those guys riding their bikes up the Juniper hill? They’re in pain! Nope, not going to waste my time and put myself through such discomfort.

But, I think I’ll be ready for the Tour next summer.

So, maybe a bit of an exaggerated point, I know. But, really, this is how I feel that many of us, myself so often included, try to walk our walk with Christ. Lord, I’ll read my Bible at least 15 minutes a day. Oh, and I’ll be sure that I spend some good money on books from that local Christian bookstore to learn more about you. And, of course, I’ll go to church and even give my tithe.

And then God brings that thorn.

And then so many of us say, forget it, it’s too hard, God get rid of this thorn. Some of us wheel and deal. God, if you remove this thorn then I promise that I will… (fill in the blank). Some of us get upset… “God, why would you do this to me? Why would you allow this to happen to me?” But how many of us rejoice?

God says, count it as joy. Rejoice in your trials. Delight in your thorn.

However, I do not wish to end on this note. I do not want to focus on the suffering, or on our trials. God does not want us to be happy in the trial because of the pain. God wants us to be happy in the trial because of what that pain brings. God wishes us to rejoice in suffering because of how it brings us closer to our goal of becoming more Christ-like. As I ride my bike for 30 minutes going all up hill, I often do not think about it very joyfully. It would be a rare event for you to catch me smiling as I pedaled up those climbs. But at the end, I am happy. I feel good. I accomplished my goal, and that was satisfying. I got closer to my goal of getting into shape, and that is fulfilling.

We are never to seek out suffering on our own, we are never to wallow in our suffering, or to hold never ending pity parties. God does not want us to be focused on the suffering, he wants us to focus on the goal. God wants us to be happy with the trials He brings us because he wants us to realize that through them, we become stronger and more closer to Him.

As you leave this place today, think again about your thorn. Are you willing to live the rest of your life with this thorn? Are you willing to thank God for it? To praise and rejoice because of it? Are you willing to accept God’s supreme wisdom and rest on his understanding?

Remember, if God removes the mountain, he has to also remove your goal.

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Do You Know Your Goal?

Romans 8:5-39

When Corrie and I were engaged, we used to go golfing a lot in Saskatchewan. We enjoyed it, but I wasn’t that great. I obviously hit enough nice balls to make me want to keep playing the game, but overall when you look at my records, they weren’t that impressive!

But we did enjoy it. The lush, green fairways, the trees swaying in the breeze, and of course, me throwing my golf club farther than I actually managed to hit the ball itself.

I just had a few minor problems with my game. One was my ball. It just refused to go the right way! Sometimes it would tease me and sail beautifully straight through the air, heading directly for the flag at the end. But then, suddenly, without any warning whatsoever, it would careen off to the side and disappear into the woods. Why this happened, I just never knew. Sometimes it wasn’t even nice enough to get up into the air at all. It would just bounce along the ground for a few meters and then die. All that effort, all those strange bodily contortions, all for naught. And then that crazy little white ball would sit there, taunting, laughing. Or may that was my fellow golfers, but nonetheless it was frustrating.

My ball had a major problem. It just didn’t have a sense of direction at all. It had no idea where it was supposed to be going! It just went wherever the wind took it, or, worse, however my club happened to strike it at the time. And, more often than not, that was not accurate.

Of course, you could try and tell me that it wasn’t my ball’s fault. That it had no choice in the matter. But I know better. That deviant little white ball simply had no idea what the goal was, and as such it was susceptible to any slight leaning or directional change.

This example of the golf ball is actually pretty accurate for our lives. So many things in our life cause us to veer off track. Maybe the home you grew up in was tough. Your parents were hard on you, or maybe you grew up in a split home, or with a single parent, or maybe an absentee parent. Whatever the case, your family and your upbringing, aka the golf club, sent you, the ball, veering off your intended course. Right from the start, right off the tee, you seemingly didn’t stand a chance.

Then, added to that misaligned beginning come the crosswinds of adversity. Maybe there were struggles in school growing up, hard times financially, a loss of a friend or family member. Life’s winds blew fast and harsh, causing what was already a rough start, or maybe even a start that seemed OK at first, veer wildly off course. And so you take a bad hook into the woods, not even close to the green and the flag at the end of the fairway.

And you become disillusioned.

As you sit in the woods, buried in the grass and brush, you become disillusioned with life. Questions begin forming in your head. Why are you here? What could possibly be the purpose of life? And, like everyone else, you try to get yourself out of those woods. You attend church. Maybe you go to Bible School, or lead Bible studies in your homes. But the fact still remains that you are lost and on your own. Every now and then the sun peaks through the trees to give you a ray of hope, but as soon as it comes, it is gone again.

And you are stuck. Caught in the forest of your sins, your failures and your shortcomings. And, for many of us, we soon realize that we will never get out of this forest on our own.

Let’s read through the passage today that I want to speak about.

Romans 8

Life through the Spirit

⁵ Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. ⁶ The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. ⁷ The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. ⁸ Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

⁹ You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. ¹⁰ But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life^[d] because of righteousness. ¹¹ And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of^[e] his Spirit who lives in you.

¹² Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. ¹³ For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

¹⁴ For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. ¹⁵ The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.^[f] And by him we cry, “Abba,^[g] Father.” ¹⁶ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. ¹⁷ Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

Present Suffering and Future Glory

¹⁸ I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. ¹⁹ For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. ²⁰ For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹ that^[h] the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

²² We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. ²³ Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴ For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

²⁶ In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. ²⁷ And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who^[i] have been called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. ³⁰ And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

More Than Conquerors

³¹ What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? ³³Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶ As it is written:

   “For your sake we face death all day long; 
   we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”^[j]

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,^[k] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I’ve been reading a book about business lately (I know, sounds quite boring but I’m actually enjoying it to be honest). While I’m not going to go into details of the book itself, one part of it really stuck out to me. Of course, I think it’s the main point of the book so it should stick out to me. Anyways, one basic statement they made was that any action that leads a company closer to its goal is a productive action, whereas any action that leads a company away from its goal is counter-productive. Pretty basic, really. However, if a person doesn’t understand the goal then how does he or she know if what they’re doing is productive or counter-productive? The only way anyone can know this is by knowing the goal.

As a Christian, as a son or daughter of God, do you know the goal that God has for you? Do you know whether your day-to-day activities are actually productive or counter-productive? If you don’t know the goal, you can’t know the answer to that question.

The goal for all of us is largely the same. It is written throughout the scriptures, it is repeated by multiple authors. In verse 29 and chapter 8 of Romans we read that God predestined us to be conformed to the image of His Son.

Throughout the New Testament we see similar mentions of this goal. In 2 Corinthians 3:18 we read that “we all …are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory.” Paul also refers to the Galatians in Galatians 4:9 by stating “My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you…” And also in Ephesians 4:11-15 we read “So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.”

You see, without a knowledge of this goal, without a true understanding of this purpose, we all end up lost and alone in the woods. Try as you might, you will never find your way out of the woods and onto the green.

Worse than not knowing the goal, is knowing the goal but not knowing how it get there. You may know that you want to get to the green, to find that flag, but how do you get there? We see throughout scripture that God’s intention for our lives as his children is to become like Christ. But how?

Romans 8 doesn’t just reveal God’s intention for us, but also the directions. And those directions are through the Holy Spirit. By living according to the Spirit. The Spirit is in our lives, God has built in a GPS directing us how to be more and more like Christ every day.

God knew we would fail. So he sent his Son to die on this earth as a man so that we would be forgiven. But that wasn’t all. God also knew that after our failures, we would need help to find our way back, to become more Christ-like. And so he then gave us his Holy Spirit.

So how do we tap into this resource? How do we use the Holy Spirit within us to develop ourselves to become more Christ-like? How do we turn on this GPS to give us our sorely needed directions?

Let’s read again the first part of the passage we read earlier (read vs 5-17 again).

So, living by the Spirit means we put to death the misdeeds of the body. What are these misdeeds, then? And how do we learn about them, so we can put them to death?

By learning more about Christ.

If we are to live by the Spirit, and if we are to become Christ-like, if that is our goal then it would make sense that we need to focus on learning about Christ himself.

Coming to Church is a great step. Attending Bible studies also helps us to learn. Daily devotions, constant prayer, spending time with God. As I said earlier, any action that leads you towards your goal is productive. Any action that takes you further away is counter-productive.

Does this mean that doing things like soccer, work, home renovations or whatever is counter-productive? Only if those things take you further from your goal. If you play soccer or hockey or golf, and yet find yourself falling further from your goal of becoming more Christ-like, then playing in that sport is counter-productive and needs to be ‘put to death’. If renovating your house is putting a division between you and your family, if it is taking away time that you should be spending with God, then it is counter-productive.

The Spirit convicts us. As you go about your daily activities, if the Spirit is convicting you of an action that is taking your further from your goal of becoming Christ-like, then stop. We should be ever working towards becoming more Christ-like, and no one has time in their lives to be doing anything but what brings us closer to that goal. Examine your life. What misdeeds are you doing that are taking you further from this goal?

God wants to use the Holy Spirit as the club that guides us out of the forest and back onto the fairway.

Are you confused as to what direction your life needs to take? Turn on the GPS within you that is the Holy Spirit. Let him convict you of your actions that are taking you further from his goal for our lives.

Mothers Shape the World

What do Steven Harper, Billy Graham and Ted Bundy all have in common? They all have or had a mother. That just might be a bit of an obvious statement, to be sure. But the fact is, each one of us here has, or had, a mother who helped us develop into who we are today.

Some of us were shaped positively, some negatively. We grew up either under loving care, or under uncertain neglect. Some of us can look back at happy memories of our moms, while others look back and maybe mourn a loss. I was blessed enough to have a very loving and caring upbringing with both a Mother as well as a Father that cared, loved and helped shape me into a child of God. Not only that, but I was surrounded by friends, family, and many other positive “motherly” influences. Even now, I look at my wife and our friends and I see so many positive mothers influencing the next generation. But I’m not so naive to think that everyone has had the same experiences. And as such, I do understand that celebrating Mother’s day can be a bittersweet day for many. But the fact remains that regardless of whether a mother wants to or not, she is shaping the next generation one child at a time.

Mothers have the power to shape the world. And a Christian mother has the ability to shape the world in a way beyond our imagination by her devotion to God.

This morning I want to talk about a mother that is an example for us all, not just an example for mothers. The bible is full of great examples of mothers. From Eve to Mary and many others, we see many examples of strong, loving, and caring mothers. So why Hannah, you many ask? Here’s an example of a mother that really spent very little time actually being a mom, right? And yet she is an example for us to follow?

Let’s dig a little deeper into who this woman of the Old Testament was, and what examples she lived out for us.

When we first meet Hannah in I Samuel we meet a woman that is actually in pain. We find Hannah in tears, because she was barren. In those times, not being able to have children was a major deal, even considered a failure of a wife’s duties. To add to the situation Hannah was in, her husband had a second wife who was able to conceive and taunted Hannah about it.

1 Samuel 1:1-8

¹ There was a certain man from Ramathaim, a Zuphite^[a] from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. ² He had two wives; one was called Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none.

³ Year after year this man went up from his town to worship and sacrifice to the LORD Almighty at Shiloh, where Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were priests of the LORD. ⁴ Whenever the day came for Elkanah to sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters. ⁵ But to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved her, and the LORD had closed her womb. ⁶ Because the LORD had closed Hannah’s womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her. ⁷ This went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the LORD, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat. ⁸ Her husband Elkanah would say to her, “Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don’t you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don’t I mean more to you than ten sons?”

Hannah’s troubles, however, produced in her a level of desperation that caused her to seek God’s help. As Christians, it is often during our struggles, during our hardest times that we are the most devoted to God. We find ourselves praying more frequently, reading the Word more faithfully and following God more fervently. Hannah was no different. As her troubles drove her to tears, they also drove her to God.

1 Samuel 1:9-18

⁹ Once when they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on his chair by the doorpost of the LORD’s house. ¹⁰ In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the LORD, weeping bitterly. ¹¹ And she made a vow, saying, “LORD Almighty, if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.”

¹² As she kept on praying to the LORD, Eli observed her mouth. ¹³ Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk ¹⁴ and said to her, “How long are you going to stay drunk? Put away your wine.”

¹⁵ “Not so, my lord,” Hannah replied, “I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the LORD. ¹⁶ Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief.”

¹⁷ Eli answered, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.”

¹⁸ She said, “May your servant find favor in your eyes.” Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast.

Let’s look at Hannah’s prayer. She’s praying as she is weeping, and she pleads with God to “...look on your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son...” At this point, we are seeing a desperate and maybe even angry Hannah as she put her request before God.

She had good reason to be discouraged and upset. She could not have children, she had to share her husband with another woman, a woman who laughed in her face and mocked her, her husband was unable to help her and even the high priest did not understand her motives. Yet instead of being bitter and resentful, she brought her problem before God hopeful that He would help her. Her prayer opened up the way for God to work.

This prayer also shows us an example of a God who cares about us. Our purpose on this earth is to worship and glorify God. Not to have nice cars or a big house. Not to work. Not even to have children. And yet, God still sees us and cares about our desires and wishes. Hannah’s prayer doesn’t show any worship, praise or even adoration. At this point, she is simply beyond herself, and instead cries out for God’s mercy. In fact, she even bargains with God. She promises God that if He gives her a son, she would give that son right back to Him. But God still cares, and God listens.

One key thing we can pick up here from Hannah’s prayer is that God wants to hear the desires of our hearts. He wants to hear our pain. Hannah expressed her true feelings with honesty, laying it all out before God. We should do the same. Yes, it is critical that we glorify and praise God. But, as imperfect humans living in a broken world, God knows that we will go through times that cause us to fall on our knees, pouring our hearts out to Him.

But, let’s notice here not just Hannah’s desperate prayer. Notice also what she does afterwards. Hannah went away, ate something, and was in better spirits (her face was no longer downcast). She left her problems with God! She poured out her heart before her Saviour, and then left her problems with Him. She believed that God would take care of her, and she left upbeat and positive. So often, we find ourselves pouring our hearts out to God, laying our problems down before Him, only to gather them all up again and bring those same problems back out with us rather than leaving them in God’s capable hands.

I Samuel 1:19-23

¹⁹ Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the LORD and then went back to their home at Ramah. Elkanah made love to his wife Hannah, and the LORD remembered her. ²⁰ So in the course of time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel,^[b] saying, “Because I asked the LORD for him.”

²¹ When her husband Elkanah went up with all his family to offer the annual sacrifice to the LORD and to fulfill his vow, ²² Hannah did not go. She said to her husband, “After the boy is weaned, I will take him and present him before the LORD, and he will live there always.”^[c]

²³ “Do what seems best to you,” her husband Elkanah told her. “Stay here until you have weaned him; only may the LORD make good his^[d] word.” So the woman stayed at home and nursed her son until she had weaned him.

God gave Hannah the desire of her heart! Hannah gave birth to a boy! One thing I would like to point out here is the dedication of this family to God. First of all, they made a yearly trip to Shiloh to worship God and offer sacrifices. Secondly, we find Hannah in desperation praying and pouring her heart out to God. And now, the next morning before they leave, they once again get up early and the first thing they do is they go and worship the Lord again before returning home. God does honour Hannah’s plea, but let’s not overlook the fact that Hannah and her family were dedicated in their worship and praise of the Lord as well. Hannah displayed full trust and devotion to her God throughout these hard times. Hannah understood that while she was in misery, in the end worship of the Lord was still of utmost importance.

And God rewards her devotion by giving her a son.

Let’s continue reading.

I Samuel 1:24-28

²⁴ After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a three-year-old bull,^[e] an ephah^[f] of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh. ²⁵ When the bull had been sacrificed, they brought the boy to Eli, ²⁶ and she said to him, “Pardon me, my lord. As surely as you live, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD. ²⁷ I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. ²⁸ So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD.” And he worshiped the LORD there.

This is the section of this story that is truly amazing. Many of us can relate to Hannah in her sorrow and desperation. Some of us can even relate to maybe even attempting to bargain with God. But very few of us can stand there beside Hannah and proudly say that we held up our end of the “bargain” that we made with God. Hannah does.

Hannah raises Samuel until he was weaned. How old Samuel was, it doesn’t say here exactly in these chapters. The New Living Translation says that Hannah tells Eli the priest that she had stood before him several years before praying for a son. Regardless, whether he was 2 years old or 6 years old, the fact remains that he was a very small, young boy. And Hannah gave him to God.

Can you imagine? How many of you here today are mothers? Even fathers? Can you imagine giving up your only child to the church? Can you imagine walking away from your son? I can’t. I have a hard enough time parting with my tithe sometimes... Do you remember the story of the rich man who asked Jesus what he needed to do to get to heaven? Jesus responded that he must give up everything he owned, which made the rich man sad because he knew he couldn’t do it. Yet Hanna gave up her son! Don’t you think if given the option, she would’ve gladly chosen her belongings over her son? Instead, Hannah entrusts her son to the Lord, not begrudgingly, but with joy.

The key here is that she gave him to the Lord. She didn’t entrust him with Eli, the priest. In fact, if you are familiar with the story surrounding Eli and his sons at this time, you can be sure that Eli was not very good at raising children. Chapter 2 says that Eli’s two sons were “scoundrels” with “no regard for the Lord.” They manipulated the people, they stole food that the people of Israel would offer as sacrifices to the Lord. They treated God with contempt and disrespect, and yet they held a position of power over the people. If they did this in front of everyone, I can only imagine what life might have been like in the temple behind closed doors. This was no place for a child to be raised and taught about the Lord!

Yet, this is not what Hannah saw. Hannah saw her God, and trusted in her God, not the priests. She rested in who she knew she served, not in the humans that were displaying such a poor example of what following God really was. These priests could’ve learned a lot just from Hannah!

Hannah not only gives up her son, the child that she so desperately wanted, but she does so willingly and joyfully. They sacrificed to God, and worshipped him. Not once does it mention anything about Hannah feeling regret or remorse. This feeling of confidence can only come from one place, and that’s from God.

How often have you entered into a situation that was out of your control? How often did life seem uncertain and by all logic, you had nothing to rely on? Take a lesson out of the life of Hannah. Don’t put your trust in what is untrustworthy. Put your trust in God. And you can face the uncertainties with joy.

Let’s continue reading into the next chapter, the prayer of Hannah.

I Samuel 2:1-10

¹ Then Hannah prayed and said:

   “My heart rejoices in the LORD;
   in the LORD my horn^[a] is lifted high.
My mouth boasts over my enemies,
   for I delight in your deliverance.

² “There is no one holy like the LORD;
   there is no one besides you;
   there is no Rock like our God.

³ “Do not keep talking so proudly
   or let your mouth speak such arrogance,
for the LORD is a God who knows,
   and by him deeds are weighed.

⁴ “The bows of the warriors are broken,
   but those who stumbled are armed with strength.
⁵ Those who were full hire themselves out for food,
   but those who were hungry are hungry no more.
She who was barren has borne seven children,
   but she who has had many sons pines away.

⁶ “The LORD brings death and makes alive;
   he brings down to the grave and raises up.
⁷ The LORD sends poverty and wealth;
   he humbles and he exalts.
⁸ He raises the poor from the dust
   and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
he seats them with princes
   and has them inherit a throne of honor.

   “For the foundations of the earth are the LORD’s;
   on them he has set the world.
⁹ He will guard the feet of his faithful servants,
   but the wicked will be silenced in the place of darkness.

   “It is not by strength that one prevails;
¹⁰ those who oppose the LORD will be broken.
The Most High will thunder from heaven;
   the LORD will judge the ends of the earth.

   “He will give strength to his king
   and exalt the horn of his anointed.”

For those of you out there who are moms, if you had just given up your only child at such a young age, would these be the words coming out of your mouth? How about the fathers in the room? This should’ve been a heart wrenching ordeal. And yet, Hannah’s confidence and satisfaction in God is simply amazing.

So how does this story relate to Mother’s Day? Here’s a woman that didn’t have any children at first. Then, she has a son for a few years at the most, and yet gives him to the Lord. So how is Hannah a good example of a good mother? Hannah, through her devotion to God, influenced the direction of a nation. Had Hannah turned bitter towards God about being barren, had she resented Him, and not prayed her prayer of desperation, then who knows, but maybe God wouldn’t have used her! And yet, Samuel was born to Hannah, Samuel who became one of Israel’s greatest prophets. A leader who ushered in a great era. Samuel’s devotion to God was unequalled, and we can now see that he had an amazing example to follow in his own mother.

Consider the impact Samuel had on Israel. The state of Israel at the time was fading. The priests were leading Israel along a dangerous path, and once Samuel took over, he began putting the country back on the right track and he led Israel in the way they should be, as nation of God. Samuel was also responsible for leading in the era of the Kings. First with King Saul, but then more importantly with King David.

All of this wasn’t possible if it weren’t for Hannah’s dedication to God. Hannah’s willingness to serve God, no matter what, resulted in one of Israel’s most successful eras.

And Hannah’s influence didn’t end once she walked away from her son. She made Samuel a new cloak every year that she and her husband came to Shiloh. She wasn’t heavily involved in his upbringing, but she still had input in his life. And you can rest assured that Hannah’s prayers turned from pleading with God for a child, to placing that child in God’s hands daily. As a mother, she would think of Samuel I’m sure on a daily basis, praying for him and placing him in God’s hands.

To contrast this, I mentioned Ted Bundy earlier. I don’t want to even begin to discuss his life here this morning. But what I will mention is his upbringing. He was born to a single mother, and his father is an unknown. He was raised by his grandparents, of whom his grandfather was known to be abusive, and his grandmother was timid and depressed. Is it any surprise that Ted took such a negative and dark path in his life?

Of course, your upbringing is no excuse for your actions today. Good people can come from bad upbringings, and bad people can come from good upbringings. But the vast majority of us end up positively or negatively largely based on the positive or negative influences of our lives. Our mothers are a huge part of those influences.

Let’s consider more examples of a mother’s influence. First of all, Mary, the mother of Jesus. Mary became pregnant with Jesus before she was married. Likely, the majority of those around her didn’t buy the whole “virgin birth” story. As such, Mary and Joseph most likely raised Jesus under a tainted reputation. People probably saw Mary as a “scandalous” woman. They most likely looked down upon her, probably even mocking her or avoiding her when they would see Mary on the streets.

Later on, as Jesus begins his ministry, we also see that at some point Joseph is out of the picture, leaving Mary as a widow.

And, during Jesus’ ministry, who were the two types of women that he showed most compassion to? Prostitutes and Widows. He knew what it was like to live life as a “scandal”, and he knew what it was like to live life as a child of a widow. Yet, Mary’s dedication and devotion to God is evident also in her ability to let Jesus go. She trusted in God, regardless of the circumstances of her own life.

How about a more recent example of a mother’s influence? We all know President Obama. What maybe we all don’t know is his upbringing. His father left when he was 2 years old. His mother was a strong woman, and raised him on her own. Here are some quotes about Obama’s mother:

· “...people who knew [his mother] well say they see her influence unmistakably in Mr. Obama.”

· “He would not be where he is today, he has said, had it not been for her.”

· “I think sometimes that had I known she would not survive her illness, I might have written a different book — less a meditation on the absent parent, more a celebration of the one who was the single constant in my life.” (Obama, in reference to his book he wrote about his Father)

Whether positively or negatively, mothers influence and shape the world. People like Ted Bundy have shaped the world in a negative way, creating fear, sadness and hopelessness. People like Obama, regardless of your political views of him, have the power to shape the world in a way that will impact all for years to come. And people like Samuel did shape the nation of Israel, bringing them closer to God and demonstrating what it meant to be a follower of the Lord, dedicated and devoted.

A mother’s influence is not something to take lightly. For those of us that can look back on our lives and recognize the positive influence our mother’s had, and how they shaped our lives, lets thank them. For those of us who are helping our wives be mothers to our children, let’s give them the support, love and encouragement that they need to be the positive influence in our children’s life. For those of us maybe on the sidelines, friends and family of a mother, let’s dedicate ourselves to helping these mothers continue to be a positive influence. Hannah had the support of a loving and caring husband to help her through. Let’s all work together to encourage those mothers around us.

Trusting in an Awesome God

This morning I want to talk about trust in God. But instead of discussing with you how we should trust in God, or even why we should do so as children of God. What I would rather focus on this morning is who God is, and after which we will hopefully discover more about how we are fools not to trust in Him.

The other day Corrie and I took the kids down to the river bank. I was carrying Avery, who is our 1 year old youngest. I started walking along a log, over and into the water a bit. Avery was completely relaxed the entire time, showing no signs of worry or trepidation whatsoever. I thought about our older kids, and how they would most likely be gripping my neck tightly, maybe even whining as they consider the possibility of falling into the water. Avery, on the other hand, had no thought about what could happen. Instead, she was entirely trusting in my ability to keep her from harm. And it made me think about us, as children of God, as well.

One of my favourite passages is Psalms 18. I think this is an excellent passage depicting a side of God that we rarely see, hear or even discuss.

Vs 1-3: Glorifying God for his glorious works and blessings.

¹I love you, LORD, my strength.

² The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
   my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
   my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

³ I called to the LORD, who is worthy of praise,
   and I have been saved from my enemies.

This is what I want to talk about this morning. This is the direction I hope we can all start to head. I want this for my life, and I hope most or all of you do as well. That we can say, without hesitation or wavering, that God is our rock and fortress. That God is my protection. I find one of the most frustrating things in my life is converting head knowledge into heart knowledge. I mean, I know these things. I grew up as a missionary kid, so these sort of “clichés” were engrained in my head from a very young age. But turning this more into heart knowledge has become increasingly difficult. This morning, by diving deeper into who God is and exploring his awesome power I hope that we can all begin to focus more on transferring this sort of reliance on God from something we say with our lips, to something we live with our hearts. He is a ROCK that cannot be moved by any who would harm us. He is a FORTRESS or place of safety where the enemy cannot follow and a SHEILD that comes between us and harm. He is the POWER that saves and a PLACE OF SAFETY high above our enemies. So how can we begin truly believing these statements, how can we begin to live a life that reflects these truths?

Vs 4-6: God saves us from our worst entanglements and His protection is limitless for His people.

⁴ The cords of death entangled me;
   the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.
⁵ The cords of the grave coiled around me;
   the snares of death confronted me.

⁶ In my distress I called to the LORD;
   I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice;
   my cry came before him, into his ears.

We have all faced hard times. We have all had to live through struggles, through rough circumstances. David here speaks words of utter despair. Death entangles him. Floods of destruction surround him. Grave wraps its ropes around him. David is expressing a feeling of utmost helplessness. I read these words, and in a small way I feel that I can relate. I may not have experienced extreme pain and loss, but I feel like I have gone through (and still am going through) situations in my life and walk that have caused me to feel like throwing in the towel. And at times, I think I actually have thrown in the towel. Depression, anger and frustration have caused me to lose my focus, to stray from the path I know I should follow. I really like the New Living Translation’s version of these verses, because the 6th verse starts with ‘BUT’… David hit’s the brakes on his downward spiral with a sudden ‘BUT!’ In his distress, in his state of hopelessness, David called out to God for help. He prayed, and God heard. He cried, and God listened.

Do we truly understand this? How many times have we wrongly accused God, whether out loud or in our thoughts, of ignoring us? How many times have we assumed that God simply has something better or bigger to do, and therefore has left us hanging? These verses give us no indication of time. They say nothing about how many times David prayed, just that David cried out to God. David reached out and God heard. God hears. God listens. And God responds. And in this case, does he ever respond.

Vs 7-15: A description of God’s power and strength.

⁷ The earth trembled and quaked,
   and the foundations of the mountains shook;
   they trembled because he was angry.
⁸ Smoke rose from his nostrils;
   consuming fire came from his mouth,
   burning coals blazed out of it.
⁹ He parted the heavens and came down;
   dark clouds were under his feet.
¹⁰ He mounted the cherubim and flew;
   he soared on the wings of the wind.
¹¹ He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him—
   the dark rain clouds of the sky.
¹² Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced,
   with hailstones and bolts of lightning.
¹³ The LORD thundered from heaven;
   the voice of the Most High resounded.^[d]
14 He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy,
   with great bolts of lightning he routed them.
¹⁵ The valleys of the sea were exposed
   and the foundations of the earth laid bare
at your rebuke, LORD,
   at the blast of breath from your nostrils.

God responds to David’s cry. The picture David paints here of God is one that we so rarely seem to focus on in our church circles today. God’s awesome on display! It seems easy for us to focus on God’s patience. It seems quick for us to spend time discussing his meekness, and his humbleness. And while these are all good and true, this passage focuses on a God that is so much more than that. Our God is an awesome God, with wisdom, power and strength! The mountains shook! The earth quaked! Smoke poured from his nostrils, flames leaped from his mouth... God comes to David’s rescue in a thunderous way. There was no mistaking this, God was on a mission. Someone had picked on the wrong child that day.

I’d like to share a storey with you of my childhood. I don’t remember a lot of the details, but when I was young (I think maybe in 3^rd or 4^th grade) I remember playing baseball in elementary school with the big kids that were a few grades older than me. It was our team’s turn to play field, so I ran out to play base. One of the older kids decided he wanted to play base, so he simply ran over and shoved me off of the base. While I don’t remember all of the details, I do remember that my older brother saw this, ran across the field and fought this other kid. He came to my aid, he risked his safety for my own. How many of you have been in a similar situation? Parents here today could easily relate to this feeling. If your child was being harmed, you probably wouldn’t hesitate to rush in and protect them, to come to their rescue. Not only that, but you would come in with authority.

God comes to us with authority. He sees us in pain, he hears our cry, and he comes to our rescue with authority, scattering our enemies. And God’s authority is awesome. His voice thunders the skies. His breath clears the seas and lays the foundations of the earth bare.

Do you know this God? Do you recognize this God? Do you believe in this God?

How many times have you prayed, but doubted in your hearts? How many times have you cried out to God, but then when you finished that prayer you decided that you’d just try and take care of the problem yourself because God probably wouldn’t do anything? Do you know this God?

God is all powerful, we struggle to get out of bed some days.

God can cause the mountains to shake and the earth to tremble!

God can rain hail and fire!

I ask you again, do you truly know this God?

I think most of us would have to honestly answer that we don’t. We know the God of love. We maybe even know the God of correction. But the awesome protector that would blast the earth aside with his breath just to save us when we cry out him? Not so much. I believe that we stop short of this God. And yet this is the same God! This is the God that we live for, that we praise with our lips during singing. So why do we not truly come to realize his awesome power? Why do we fail to recognize that our pain is his pain, and that if we would just ask and believe, he would come with fire breathing from his mouth to scatter our enemies? Do we think we don’t deserve it? Let’s continue reading this passage, as David quickly changes the feeling of the passage. Suddenly, in verse 16, the storm is subdued, and the clouds part and the earth is still.

Vs 16-29: God Rescues

¹⁶ He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
   he drew me out of deep waters.
¹⁷ He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
   from my foes, who were too strong for me.
¹⁸ They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
   but the LORD was my support.
¹⁹ He brought me out into a spacious place;
   he rescued me because he delighted in me.

²⁰ The LORD has dealt with me according to my righteousness;
   according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.
²¹ For I have kept the ways of the LORD;
   I am not guilty of turning from my God.
²² All his laws are before me;
   I have not turned away from his decrees.
²³ I have been blameless before him
   and have kept myself from sin.
²⁴ The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
   according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

²⁵ To the faithful you show yourself faithful,
   to the blameless you show yourself blameless,
²⁶ to the pure you show yourself pure,
   but to the devious you show yourself shrewd.
²⁷ You save the humble
   but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.
²⁸ You, LORD, keep my lamp burning;
   my God turns my darkness into light.
²⁹ With your help I can advance against a troop^[e];
   with my God I can scale a wall.

God reaches down and rescues David. God supports him, and leads him into protection. God longs to protect us. God longs to save us from our troubles. But at the same time, God wants us to call to him. God wants us to first reach out to him. God wants us to come to that place in our hearts where we realize that it’s not me, it’s you, God!

Of course, God does not always deliver us from our problems swiftly. Some problems we are meant to go through with God as our support. These are things that build us up, make us better and more equipped for His work. We probably all know about the “thorn in Paul’s side” that he so often talked about in the New Testament. We don’t know what that thorn was, but we do know that Paul prayed often for God to remove it, but God chose not to do so. Paul recognized that in his weakness, God was made strong (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). However, that still doesn’t mean that God doesn’t come with thunderous authority to support us. God does come, God does respond to our cries, and God does listen.

Some people also think that God is a crutch that “weak” people use because they are not strong enough to make it on their own. This line of thinking, in reality, is the actual crutch. This thinking is man’s feable attempt at trying to remove God from the picture. We often see reliance on others as a weakness. Take the typical male for example. People joke that men won’t see out help, won’t ask for directions, won’t read instructions, and the like. And it is so often true. Why? A big reason is that men often see reliance on others as being a sign of weakness. We all know the truth, we all realize that we could never make it through life purely on our own, we need others. We need friends, family, spouses. We need each other. And yet, so many people see that those who need God as being a ‘crutch’. I say this is so far from the truth, we don’t need God as a crutch, we need God as a complete hospital bed! We are entirely and completely at a loss without God. We are not merely leaning on God to give us support for a sprained ankle. We’re completely sunk in his arms asking him to carry us through. And it doesn’t mean that we need to be dealing with some extreme sorrow or pain for us to rely on God this way, either. Whatever your ‘thorn’ is that is in your side, God wants it to cause us to completely trust and rely on him. David states in verse 27 that God will rescue the humble, but humiliate the proud. The humble person is the one willing to crawl onto that hospital bed. The proud person is the one that says he doesn’t even need a crutch!

Vs 30-36: God prepares us for life

³⁰ As for God, his way is perfect:
   The LORD’s word is flawless;
   he shields all who take refuge in him.
³¹ For who is God besides the LORD?
   And who is the Rock except our God?
³² It is God who arms me with strength
   and keeps my way secure.
³³ He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;
   he causes me to stand on the heights.
³⁴ He trains my hands for battle;
   my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
³⁵ You make your saving help my shield,
   and your right hand sustains me;
   your help has made me great.
³⁶ You provide a broad path for my feet,
   so that my ankles do not give way.

God does not promise to eliminate all challenges, but instead He gives us strength to make it through them all. He never leaves us alone to face any challenges, but instead is always beside us teaching, learning and strengthening us. God arms us with strength.

Let’s return to that story of the hospital bed again. It was 2 years ago today that Corrie broke her ankle in a game of soccer. Had she simply said “Doctor’s are just a crutch for weaker people, I’m fine!” and tried walking away, she would’ve collapsed in a heap. Instead, she was taken to the hospital where she laid in a bed for days while they took care of her. They fixed her ankle, put it in a cast, and gave her medicine and food to help get her strength up. When she left, she still couldn’t walk, but with help from those who understood what was necessary, she was on the road to recovery. After a month or so later, she was able to once again walk and now is playing soccer again and enjoying her freedom. What if she had refused treatment? What if she had turned the ambulance away? She would be a hobbling mess still. The ankle would never have healed properly, and it would be causing her pain and suffering still to this day. We read this passage here and we see a God that wants to fix what is broken in our lives. By turning to God, by completely resting in his arms, God makes us strong. He trains us for battle, his right hand supports us, and he gives us a shield for victory.

God doesn’t just rescue us, he trains us. God doesn’t just pull us from the pit, he strengthens us and teaches us so that we can better avoid that pit again next time. Crying out to God isn’t just so that he can come and pull us out so that we can go on living our same life! When we are rescued, we are to be changed! We are to be transformed! The God that poured smoke from his nostrils as he came thundering out of heaven wants to teach us, he wants to strengthen us!

I honestly believe that many areas in my life that I feel God has left me alone or ignored me is simply because he knows that the only reason I’m calling on him is for a quick rescue mission. God, pull me out of this pit and then leave me alone! Have you ever been guilty of treating God like a genie in a bottle? Please, Lord, just grant me these three wishes and then I’ll leave you alone, if you leave me alone. That couldn’t be any further from what God truly wants from us! God desires us to grow. God desires us to become stronger. God wants us to repair us, and then get us right back out into the battle stronger than ever. But He can’t do that if all we want is the quick repair.

Vs 37-45: The counter attack

³⁷ I pursued my enemies and overtook them;
   I did not turn back till they were destroyed.
³⁸ I crushed them so that they could not rise;
   they fell beneath my feet.
³⁹ You armed me with strength for battle;
   you humbled my adversaries before me.
⁴⁰ You made my enemies turn their backs in flight,
   and I destroyed my foes.
⁴¹ They cried for help, but there was no one to save them—
   to the LORD, but he did not answer.
⁴² I beat them as fine as windblown dust;
   I trampled them^[f] like mud in the streets.
⁴³ You have delivered me from the attacks of the people;
   you have made me the head of nations.
People I did not know now serve me,
⁴⁴ foreigners cower before me;
   as soon as they hear of me, they obey me.
⁴⁵ They all lose heart;
   they come trembling from their strongholds.

Here David describes what I see as a counter attack. He opened with hopelessness and a cry to God. We witnessed God’s awesome power and his unsurpassed protection. We then saw God training and strengthening the fallen David. And now we see David’s counter attack.

David describes a great victory. He crushes his enemies. He pushes them back. David becomes a feared man, a man to avoid, a man to leave alone and not one to mess with any longer. You see, in my story earlier where my brother came to my rescue, what did I learn from that? I learned that my brother would stick up for me when I was in danger. That was a great thing! But if I were to spend my life waiting for my brother to bail me out during every difficulty, I think we can all imagine what an annoying person I would be! God on the other hand trained David, strengthened him and then supported him. With God at his side, David conquered his enemy. With God, David achieved victory!

And so can we. God wants us to rely on him. God wants us to believe in him. Believe in his awesome power. Believe that he can and will rescue us from our pits of despair. But understand that he will not stop there. God will transform our hearts. God wants to change our spirits. He wants to strengthen us, so we can turn around and defeat the very enemy that had us running with our tails between our legs. God wants us to achieve victory.

Vs 46-50: Praise be to God!

⁴⁶ The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock!
   Exalted be God my Savior!
⁴⁷ He is the God who avenges me,
   who subdues nations under me,
⁴⁸ who saves me from my enemies.
You exalted me above my foes;
   from a violent man you rescued me.
⁴⁹ Therefore I will praise you, LORD, among the nations;
   I will sing the praises of your name.

⁵⁰ He gives his king great victories;
   he shows unfailing love to his anointed,
   to David and to his descendants forever.

Finally, David concludes with praise to God. He lifts God’s name, He recognizes that his victory was because of God’s intervention. He does not take any credit for his victory, but instead directs all glory to God.

This is such an easily overlooked step! When Jesus was on this earth, he healed 10 men of leprosy, but only one turned back to thank him. Why? Because when the chips are down, and when all hope is lost, we find it easy to turn to God. But when God rescues us and helps us defeat our enemy, it is so easy to suddenly forget and to run off ahead.

David doesn’t forget. David knows full well what happened, and he gives the glory to God.

Have you forgotten God? Have you enjoyed his rescue, his healing, and his training only to forget him after the victory? All praise and honour to God!

What Would You Take in 15 Minutes?

The following is a sermon I was given the opportunity to deliver to the Pritchard Evangelical Free Church on Sunday, March the 20th, 2011.

My brother and his wife and new baby live in Fort McMurray Alberta. They just moved there last summer as my brother, Rob, took a counselling job there. They found a little condo to rent while they looked for a place to live. If you know anything about that town, you know that the cost of living there, with house prices and even rent, is quite unreasonable. A week ago Friday, they received a knock on the door telling them to get out of the building within a few hours. Not knowing any details, they quickly packed, found a hotel and moved out for the night. They soon learned that the building
they were in was built shoddy and a new engineering report showed some recent failure of structural components, meaning the building could shift at any moment, rupturing gas lines and causing potential fires and explosions. They also learned that they may never be let back into their home! After a few days, they were told they would at least get a 15 minute window to get in, get as much as they could and then get out. To make matters worse, tenants could only go in one household at a time, and out of the 300 or so people in the building, Rob and Amanda drew last place! If that wasn’t bad enough, though, they were also informed that if a tenant took more than 15 minutes, that would take away from the next tenant’s 15 minutes and so on down the line. In other words, the chances that there would be any time available at all once Rob and Amanda’s time slot came were very slim.

Suddenly, because of one company’s drive to make an easy buck by cutting corners, Rob and Amanda, along with a few hundred others had suddenly not only lost their homes, but everything they owned! They had nothing but the clothes on their backs, and a few belongings they had packed quickly that fateful night. Things looked very bleak. Photo albums, family heirlooms, irreplaceable items were all at the brink of being destroyed along with the poorly constructed building.

I would imagine that we can all relate to this experience at least on some level. While they are all only “things”, most are “things” that have grown near and dear to our hearts. Some are items we received as gifts, souvenirs from travels, etc. Sure, insurance will replace the TV’s, most of the
furniture. But we all know it wouldn’t be the same. Who among us hasn’t experienced some sort of life changing situation? It may have been a personal tragedy, a loss of someone, or something, a pet even. Many of us can relate, if even a little, to a feeling of hopelessness, to have our life be turned “upside down”. During that time, what did you do? Where did you turn?

This morning I want to talk about our focus. Where is your focus? Who is your focus, or better yet, what is your focus? There are two areas I want to discuss this morning where our focus comes into question. The first is during victory. The second is during tragedy and hardships.

Focus During Victory

How many of you have watched an award ceremony? Think back to the last time you watched the Oscars, or the Juno Awards. Or maybe the end of a championship game, even the Stanley cup. What do the victor’s all seem to have in common? The ‘thank you’ speeches. It’s the same thing every time, no matter what the occasion. I want to thank my producer... fans... family... even God. I can’t think of a single time a victor has said something to the effect of “I deserve this award, I worked the hardest and I was the most skilled and it only made sense that I got the award anyways.” No, while that attitude may be present, everyone understands that at a time like this, due diligence must
be done to ensure those who helped are thanked and appreciated. The victor’s focus is often directed towards others. Often, I think their focus is inward, as the thank-you speeches are often seemingly forced, well rehearsed, and just downright boring. I also wonder after the ceremony, what happens then? Does the victor’s focus suddenly shift from the “high” they experienced while receiving the award, to a sudden selfish and inward focus? Do they wake up the next morning feeling fulfilled, or feeling the same as the day before? In life’s victories, or more importantly, after life’s
victories, where is your focus? Is it on yourself? Is it on those who helped you achieved the victory? Is it on God?

In I Kings, we have a perfect example of a man of God with amazing “God-focus” seeing a great victory, but then shortly afterwards immediately losing that focus. Let’s read 1 Kings, chapter 18, verses 20 to 40. God showed himself in a miraculous way, Elijah had a great victory! He must’ve been pumped! Let’s keep reading. (I Kings 19:1-5) What happened here? Where did the Elijah go that we read about in chapter 18? Seize the prophets of Baal! Don’t let anyone get away! He was on fire. And now in the next chapter, he suddenly wants to die. What changed? God didn’t change. Ahab and Jezebel didn’t change, other than the fact that they were obviously more upset with Elijah than usual. But something changed with Elijah himself. His focus changed. His life was threatened, and he
was on the run, he was on his own and his focus shifted from being on God to now being on himself. All he could see was his immediate situation. He was tired, hungry. God lets him rest, even provides sustenance for him, and after a few days He asks Elijah what was wrong. In chapter 19, verse 10, Elijah answers “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

Where is his focus? I have been zealous... I am left... they are trying to kill me. Elijah’s focus is inward. On himself. And God recognizes that he needs a ‘focus-lift’. God doesn’t berate him, instead, he reveals himself to him. Let’s read further in chapter 19 (I Kings 19:11-18). God reveals himself to Elijah and helps him to refocus. He gives Elijah mission for success and also informs him that there are 7000 more believers out there and that Elijah isn’t alone. God helps Elijah refocus.

How many times have your greatest victories been followed with a similar focus failure? After victory, it is so easy for us to lose our focus and start to look inward. And yet it is after our victories that we need to retain our God-focus more than ever. After the high, inevitably comes the crash. After a spiritual victory, God expects us to continue our journey rather than sit back and rest on what we may see as our own accomplishments. He had Elijah follow up his Mt. Carmel victory by anointing others to further his work. However, often as humans we tend to try and follow up victories with rest
and relaxation. We try to “rest on our laurels” as the saying goes. If you look that saying up online, one of the definitions is to “to be so satisfied with your own achievements that you make no effort to improve.”

Turning our focus inward can only lead to a spiritual ‘crash’. Ultimately, we are all aiming for a much greater prize, a much larger victory. We need to continue keeping our focus on the bigger prize, on God. Enjoy the victories that God brings, but never relax in them. Never sit back on them. Keep pushing forward. As long as we have breath in these lungs, our work here is not done!

Focus During Tragedy

Another common area in our lives where we tend to lose focus is during tragedy or hardships. Something comes into our life that causes us to stop looking upwards, and, once again, start focusing inwards.

Jesus’ disciples experienced this after Jesus was crucified. Three days after Jesus was crucified and buried, the disciples were huddled together, behind locked doors, in fear for their life and saddened about the week’s events. Where was their focus? Inward. On themselves. They were focused on how they were feeling, and about the tragedy that had turned their lives upside down.

Another example of this inward focus after hardship can be found in the writings of David. He was banished. His king had a death warrant out for him, his wife couldn’t be trusted and his best friend couldn’t help him. David had nowhere to turn, and was found hiding in a cave, focusing on himself and his troubles. Just a short while before, he’d been happily tending his sheep. Now his life was threatened at every turn and he was a castaway in the desert. In fact, David’s focus turns inward enough to where he resorts to lies and deceit in order to get bread and a sword from the priest Ahimelech at Nob. He also fled to his enemy city where he has to pretend to be crazy just to get out alive. David was desperate and at the end of his rope. The key there being that it was his rope, not
God’s.

How did God restore focus to his disciples? How did he turn David’s focus upwards? In both cases, God returns his people to a higher calling. With the disciples, Jesus returns to them, and gives them a mission, a directive, to preach the gospel. He also gives them the Holy Spirit. With David, God brings along family and friends to console him and strengthen him. Eventually, others from all over start coming to David for help. People who were discontent, or in distress, began flocking to David because they trusted in his valour and wisdom. Now David had a mission again. He had a purpose, a
higher calling greater than himself. God lifted David’s focus off of himself and turned it upwards. David began commanding these men and in fact formed a small outlaw band and began fighting for those who were persecuted, protected those in need of protection. David started to become the man God wanted him to be, the man who would one day become Israel’s greatest King.

God wants our focus to be upward, not inward. He wants our eyes to be on Him, on the greatest prize, instead of ourselves and our situations. God knows that as soon as we look down at ourselves, or at our own situation, we start to crumble. Like the apostle Peter so vividly experienced as he stepped out of his boat, focused on Jesus, and began walking across the water! But as soon as he looked down, and shifted his focus to his own two feet and the water beneath them and suddenly he began to sink. We are no different, except for the fact that many of us never even step out of the boat in the first place!

I want to return to the story of my brother and his wife in Fort McMurray. Here are some of the Facebook posts from them during this time.

Amanda, a week ago Saturday: ...is
feeling very misplaced and confused.

Amanda, Tuesday: ...completely
leaning on God right now ‘cause I have no strength left. How did my life turn
so upside down? I am so thankful for Rob and Sam.

Rob, Tuesday: ...Well we get
access to our condo on Friday, 8:00pm, for 15 minutes. Anything left will be
part of the insurance claim that at this point looks like it will be denied,
find out more about that in the am. So, we're thankful for 15 minutes.

Amanda, Friday: ...believes a
miracle will happen at 8pm tonight. I can feel the love and prayer! It feels
overwhelmingly awesome! We are going to have steady, grippy, fast hands;
amazingly strong arms & backs; very fast, secure feet; sharp eyes; and
calm, logical heads.

I wanted to bring their situation up here to show their focus. When things were bleak and looking bleaker, their focus was continuously upwards. Amanda, “completely leaning on God” and “I am so thankful for Rob and Sam”. Rob says “we’re thankful for 15 minutes”. Instead of “why is this happening to us?” or “I can’t believe we only get 15 minutes”, there was a sense of gratefulness. Amanda found their son Sam’s baby book that had somehow managed to find its way into their stuff when they left that Friday night. She was understandably so thankful to have brought it, even if it was by accident. Rob mentioned at one point that he thought it would be a good idea to hang around the condo while others were packing their stuff to see if they could help. Their focus was always upward, and never inward.

A while ago, I had Corrie paint the words “Holy is the Lord” on my bike’s handlebars, which I ride every day to work. The goal was to keep my focus upward. God is Holy, no matter what my situation. God is holy, no matter what happens to those around me. God is holy. How many of you have tried
to contemplate eternity? It is an unfathomable thought for our human minds to comprehend. And yet, from what we read in the Word, we will be spending eternity praising God and his holiness. God is holy! No matter what is going on, He never changes. His holiness is no less today in sorrow than it was yesterday in victory.

Do you have financial problems that seem insurmountable?

Holy is the Lord.

Is your relationship with your spouse is on the rocks, and
seem irreparable?

Holy is the Lord.

Are you sick and are asking for healing?

Holy is the Lord.

Are you hurting?

Holy is the Lord. 

I’m not saying that these issues shouldn’t be brought to our Saviour’s feet. Quite the contrary. We should immediately bring these to His feet. We probably need to lay these issues at His feet daily!  But then, we must acknowledge who God is. Holy is the Lord! Regardless of what I’m going through right now, holy is the Lord! When we are done with our time here on this earth, when all withers away and “dissolves as snow”, one thing will remain. God! Holy is the Lord!

Rob and Amanda demonstrated to all those around them that their focus was upward during their time of uncertainty. They kept reminding themselves that it was only “stuff” and that many don’t get the 15 minute window opportunity. Friday night came, and many family, friends and even co-workers came to help.

Rob said “(Amanda’s Mom) was pretty amazing in the kitchen, she can move like a little tornado. She got the whole kitchen packed in boxes and even plastic bags, which now we have to go organize but at least we have access to it. (Amanda’s Dad) got my whole library in...two bins by himself, one of our helpers who wasn't supposed to be inside (he was the 5th of the allowed 4) got out a bunch of big stuff, the young guy that my coworker brought was indispensible, and our little army outside got it all in the trailer, the trucks and all over the tarps :) It was a pretty fun, bonding experience actually. (Another couple) organized all the random stuff, and (yet another couple) packed and sorted and grabbed stuff coming out the windows. It was pretty awesome.”

In the end, and I’m assuming that this was because they were last, but those in charge of the situation ended up giving Rob and Amanda an entire 50 minutes, instead of the originally allotted 15! The group was able to clear out the entire apartment minus their couch, bed and a bookshelf. But
other than that, they got EVERYTHING out!

Here is the post from Amanda after the fact: “I got my miracle!!!! All that's left is the couch, loveseat,  a bookshelf and bed. Plus we may be able to get the rest in a couple weeks. :) Our 15 minutes turned into about 1 hour!”

Holy is the Lord! When life gets turned “upside down”, and you are given 15 minutes to get what you can and get out, where will your focus be? What will your attitude be? Will you be inward focused, selfishly wondering “why me?” Or will you be upward focused, thankful and praising God that He is the same yesterday, today and forever?