I make the point annually to watch Jimmy Stewart’s popular holiday portrayal of George Bailey in It’s A Wonderful Life (required viewing in my estimation for all who work daily to make a difference in people’s lives).

In a scene in the early minutes of the presentation, angels are talking in heaven of this person, George, in their endeavor to know more about him and enter into his world to offer assistance.

Clarence, the 2^nd class level guardian angel who eventually is assigned to task, asks, “What’s the matter with George. Is he sick? Is he in trouble?” “Much worse,” is the reply, “he’s discouraged.”

George gets his wish (“I wish I’d never been born”) and eventually is led through a process of seeing the world as it would have been had he never been born. The conclusion for his circumstances is identical to others – we do make a difference and our positive actions and kind words accumulate much greater than we could ever imagine.

People indeed observe and model what they see and hear from us. It’s humbling but certain that we have an influence in the eternity of another’s soul.

We each occupy a small fraction of space in this world. We do and must make a difference in the lives of others.

Ponce de Leon went on a fruitless quest for the fountain of youth. What if he had found it? While we might enjoy a longer life, that would not solve our most serious problem. There is a fountain of spiritual youth. It is available to everyone in the word of God.

Many people have sustained themselves in times of crisis with the little slogan, “This too shall pass.” That definitely puts things in perspective. When we look at all our troubles down here, we recognize it is temporary.

Everyone I know wants both a peaceful and fulfilling life. Nevertheless, most feel that in some way life is not cooperating with their desire. Life keeps setting up barriers. The only way to get peace and fulfillment is to make the right decisions about how we are going to conduct our life. We can’t control what happens to us, but we can determine the principles by which we live.

The fact is, our life is the sum total of our decisions. Some decisions are momentous and some are trivial. Some are easy and some hard. Every day of our life is filled with decisions.

All of us are faced with choices. Written over the fundamental ones are the words whosoever chooses me must give and hazard all he has. Jesus told us that. He said “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

We can be fulfilled. Remember, the quality of our life is determined by the quality of our decisions. Fulfillment is ours for the taking. The choice is up to us.

Do decisions ever come hard to you? Are you like the man who had to fill out a job application? One question said, “Do you have trouble making decisions?” The man replied, “Well, yes and no.”

Or perhaps we’re like the wife, who struggled with knowing what to say when asked a relatively simple question. Overheard:  “Has your husband lived up to all the things he said before you were married?”

“No.  He’s only lived up to one of them.” “Which one is that?” “He said he wasn’t good enough for me.” [2]

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[1] A good but slightly ineffectual man tries to off himself after an error that really wasn’t his fault. In Christmas carol fashion, his crusty-but-lovable guardian angel shows up to give him a tour of the world without his presence, and it isn’t a pretty place. Moral courage, small-town American life, civic cooperation, and family love are glorified; corporate greed and self-involvement are vilified; at the climax, a blanket of snow like spun sugar makes everything pure and clean like redemption itself.

[2] Ron Dentinger, Dodgeville, Wisconsin Chronicle; Reader’s Digest, February, 1995,  p. 59.        

“Let us so live that when we die even the undertaker will be sorry.” (Mark Twain)

A beginning…“Disappointment is the nurse of wisdom” 

(from the opening chapter The Measure of One’s Life by Gary Davenport)

There was five inches of snow on the ground outside the house, glistening beneath the street’s only light, settling in for another cold mid-winter night’s sleep in the Northeast corner of Ohio.

The week’s weather had been on a roller coaster, seeking to discern between the high 10’s and the mid-30’s, which certainly put the beautiful layer of ‘God’s gift’ in these parts at risk for another day.

The movie on the small television in the bedroom suddenly garnered even more attention than before, as lawyer Jan Schlichtmann (played by John Travolta) sat haggardly before a questioning judge. His life had seemingly come to a roadblock, and his demeanor displayed a frustration that spoke volumes considering the otherwise ‘high marks’ for the good intentions he had displayed throughout his career.

Viewed by some as an ‘ambulance chaser,’ he would acknowledge often through the movie, A Civil Action,[1] that money did matter. In fact, it mattered a lot if one wanted to drive expensive cars and dress impeccably in the finest of ‘threads’ and enjoy life’s finer things.

But this character struggled with good times and even better intentions. He eventually would grow ‘sentimental’ toward his clients, which was not to be considered by a “smart lawyer who wants to win the important cases.”

His problem was simple: he came to care about the client. And it cost money for small law firms to defend poor clients against deep-pocketed corporations who wanted only to “wear you down” until a settlement became a necessary evil.

He was penniless. Broke. And empty. Life should have been better. It had often lived up to the dream, but only for a moment in what seemed like a timeless daze of hard work and high ambitions.

The judge asked a series of questions, each determined to discover why his life was in such desperate condition. Where is all the money you made as a lawyer? The possessions one accumulates in his lifetime? “Do you expect your creditors to believe that you have nothing but $14 in your checking account and a portable radio,” she quizzed.

Then the words came forth: “Where is the money, the property, the belongings, the things by which one measures one’s life?”

The measure of one’s life! The measure of one’s life? What an intriguing statement. What a question? The suggestion is that one’s life is judged based upon accumulation of things. Stuff.

And the implication is that if one does not have this all-empowering stuff, that life is of little account.

A merchant, some few years ago, failed in business.  He went home in great agitation.  “What is the matter?”  asked his wife.

“I am ruined; I am beggared; I have lost my all,” he exclaimed, pressing his hand upon his forehead.

“All” said the wife. “No, I am left.”

“All, papa,” said his eldest boy, “here am I.”

“And I, too,” said his little girl, running up, and putting her arms around his neck.

“I’m not lost, papa,” repeated Eddie.

“And you have your health left,” said his wife.

“And your hands to work with,” said his eldest; “and I can help you.”

“And your two feet, papa, to carry you about, and your two eyes to see with, papa,” said little Eddie.

“And you have God’s promises,” said the grandmother.

“And a good God,” said his wife.

Where would we be without our good God, One who has shown Himself daily for His love and devotion to us? And isn’t it comforting to know that God  “…causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:45)

Those words are certainly expressed to each of us through God’s divine word: (Jeremiah 31:3)  “The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.”[2]

If we’re prone to wonder if God really cares for us at all, the apostle John gives us a reassuring reply:  “”For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

He reveals even more in his later epistle, seeking to give confidence to those who were surrounded by the wisdom-filled Gnostics of the day: “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” (1 John 3:1).

We often find ourselves questioning those things which once were most certain in our life. We move from doubt to despair and eventually discouragement or disappointment.

The company of the discouraged is a very noble company. Not too long ago, the Hayden Planetarium in New York City issued an invitation to all those who were interested in applying to be a part of the crew on the first journey to another planet. Eighteen thousand people applied. They gave the applications to a panel of psychologists, who examined them thoroughly and came to the conclusion that in the vast majority of incidents, those who applied did so because they were discouraged with their lives here and hoped they could find a new life somewhere else.  [3]

“Disappointment to a noble soul is what cold water is to burning metal; it strengthens, tempers, intensifies, but never destroys it. [4]

Even good marriages can be shaken to their foundations by circumstances that allow disappointment to breed. But the couples I’ve observed who have come through to the other side have done so first by God’s grace and second by holding firmly to each other. They have affirmed that the “we” they possess together is stronger than the “it” of the circumstances and disappointment. [5]

We don’t often see the larger picture since we are so close to the daily details.

The lone survivor of a shipwreck, marooned on a lonely island, managed to build a hut in which he placed all he had saved from the wreck.  He prayed for rescue and anxiously scanned the horizon every day to signal any passing ship.

One day on returning from a hunt for food he was horror-stricken to find his hut in flames.  All his possessions had gone up in smoke!

The next day a ship arrived.  “We saw your smoke signal yesterday,” the captain explained.

A Christian who was in very difficult circumstances fell on his knees in despair to cry to God, “When am I going to get out of all these trials?” But by a slip of the tongue he actually prayed, “What am I going to get out of all these trials?”  The change of that one word “when” to “what” was just what the Lord wanted and the hard-pressed Christian realized it. There is something more important than escaping from trials — it is learning what our Heavenly Father wants us to gain from them.   [6]

Corrie ten Boom used to say, “When the train goes through a tunnel and the world gets dark, do you jump out? Of course not. You sit still and trust the engineer to get you through.”

The apostle Paul said it best: “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”( Romans 5:3-5).

He laid it clearly on the line in its ultimate contrast later, in  Romans 8:18:  “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”

He even realized that the difficult times were intended to reveal his own weaknesses, and force him to rely more upon the eternal God: “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me 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.” (2 Corinthians 12:7-9).

The apostle Peter also needs our attention: “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.  But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.” (1 Peter 4:12-14).

And the end result isn’t so bad, either, is it?   “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” (1 Peter 5:10) If it takes a broken heart to draw us closer to God, then our prayer should be, “Break my heart.” Anything that draws us closer to God has great value.

Do you have wind chimes at your house? The next time you face a storm, listen carefully. Along with the howling wind, you might hear a beautiful sound from the chimes. They are making music in the midst of a storm. That is a parable of our lives. In the face of the greatest storms of our lives, we can make beautiful music.

If you want to see what’s in a sponge—just squeeze it. The contents will reveal themselves under pressure. The same thing will happen to you. When the pressure gets tough, you will see what’s inside your heart and soul.

[1]Jan Schlichtmann, a tenacious young lawyer, is confronted with the litigation of a lifetime in this unbelievable real-life story. Several families in the small town of Woburn, Massachusetts, have suffered the tragic losses of their children to the rare cancer known as leukemia. After having their claim rejected by most law firms in town, these citizens approach Schlichtmann with the possibility that the deaths of their children may have had to do with Woburn’s drinking water supply being contaminated by a couple of local businesses. The rub lies in the fact that these businesses are offshoots of two of the most powerful national corporations in the country! Schlichtmann must push his skill and craftiness as a lawyer to the limit in order to oust his opponents, who are working with a limitless bankroll.

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(from the last chapter)

Snow is still on the ground in Northeastern Ohio. Some 67 inches has fallen since first being confronted with lawyer Jan Schlichtmann (played by John Travolta) sitting at that table in the courtroom.

We’ve come to realize (haven’t we?) that life isn’t about power, or fame, or education, or wealth.  Life has higher ambitions for us to achieve. Our days are marked out differently that most.

And though we might become penniless, or go through troubles too difficult to even discuss without much emotion, “the things by which one measures one’s life” has become clearly understood. Right?!

For those of us involved daily in other’s lives through ministry, a “beginning and end” doesn’t always follow each other in an orderly way. It’s rare that we even see the “end of the matter” because people move away and we lose touch. We don’t know if our counsel was the wisdom promised.

We just know that we have done our best to counsel and encourage. Prayers were offered in the beginning. And they continue even now.

That’s why we often enjoy mowing the yard. Or shoveling the snow. Or watching that sporting end that has “an opening bell” and a concluding horn.

We see the end. It allows us to evaluate the process. We judge the results. There is the chance of closure.

I am drawn to the words of Solomon and Jesus on such matters. They give us the grand conclusion. The sum of the matter. It’s crystal clear.

Matthew 6:33  “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14: “” Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.”

I am also warned not to follow the route of Eliphaz and Zophar and Bildad, those  well-intentioned but weak-kneed friends of Job. They came to comfort and proved a burden. They spoke many words, had enough ‘doctrine’ to appear correct, but ended up of little help.

God gives us His biggest concern:  “After the LORD had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. {8} So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.””[1]

You have not spoken of me what is right. Wow!

It seems we can sin against God by saying things about Him that are not right! It certainly encourages us to listen more often and be willing to learn what we need. It humbles us. It puts us in a proper posture.

Then we are right where God wants us.

I was driving to a funeral a few years back listening to a sermon tape from an Arkansas minister who ‘speaks the solid, undeniable truth in a loving way.’ While the words met his usual high standard, the song sung just prior to the sermon got my attention.

It was new to me. The words were powerful. By the end, tears were literally streaming down my cheeks:

God Himself is with us, let us now adore him, And with awe appear before Him. God is in His temple, All within keep silence, And before Him bow with reverence, Him alone, God we own; To our Lord and Savior Praises sing forever.

God Himself is with us; Whom angelic legions, Serve with awe in heavenly regions. “Holy, holy, Holy,” Sing the hosts of heaven, Praise to God be ever given. Bow Thine ear, to us here; Hear, O Christ, the praises, That Thy church now raises.

O thou fount of blessing, Purify my Spirit, Trusting only in Thy merit, Like the holy angels, Who beheld Thy glory, May I ceaselessly adore Thee. And in all, Great and small, Seek to do most nearly What Thou lovest dearly.[2]

If we are seeking to do most nearly what He lovest dearly, our lives will have proper focus, direction, and directives. Our purpose in life will be clearly marked.

We need to “…find out what pleases the Lord.” (Eph. 5:10).

The final test is not what we think of ourselves, or what others may think. The final test is: What will God say? J. C. Ryle says, “The Lord Jesus winds up the Sermon on the Mount by a passage of heart-piercing application. He turns from false prophets to false professors, from unsound teachers to unsound hearers” [3]

“”Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’  Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ((Matthew 7:21-23).

Jesus is quite ready to concede that many of the false prophets will do and say wonderful and impressive things.

The Lord is not speaking to irreligious people, to atheists or agnostics. Nor is he speaking to pagans, heretics, or apostates. He is speaking specifically to people who are devotedly religious—but who are deluded in thinking they are on the road to heaven when they are really on the broad road to eternal damnation.

Obedience to His will is the test of true faith in Christ. The test is not words, not saying “Lord, Lord,” and not obeying His commands. How easy it is to learn a religious vocabulary, and even memorize Bible verses and religious songs, and yet not obey God’s will. Words are not a substitute for obedience, and neither are religious works. We are to hear God’s words and do them (see James 1:22-25). We must not stop with only hearing (or studying) His words. Our hearing must result in doing.

There is no point in saying that we love a person, and then doing things which break that person’s heart. When we were young maybe we used sometimes to say to our mothers, “Mother, I love you.” And maybe mother sometimes smiled a little wistfully and said, “I wish you would show it a little more in the way you behave.”

So often we confess God with our lips and deny him with our lives. It is not difficult to recite a creed, but it is difficult to live the Christian life. Faith without practice is a contradiction in terms, and love without obedience is an impossibility.

The words of an engraving from the cathedral of Lübeck, Germany, beautifully reflect our Lord’s teaching here:

“Thus speaketh Christ our Lord to us, You call Me master and obey Me not,

You call Me light and see Me not, you call Me the way and walk Me not,

You call Me life and live Me not, you call Me wise and follow Me not,

You call Me fair and love Me not, you call Me rich and ask Me not,

You call Me eternal and seek Me not, if I condemn thee, blame Me not.”

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[2] All scriptures are from The Holy Bible, New International Version, Original work copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.

[3] Bruce Thielemann, “Dealing with Discouragement,” Preaching Today, Tape No. 48.

[4] Eliza Tabor, Instant Quotation Dictionary, p. 97.

[5] Elizabeth Cody Newenhuyse, Marriage Partnership, Vol. 7, no. 3.

[6] Pulpit Helps, November 1994, p. 8.

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[1] Job 42:7-8

[2] God Himself Is With Us by Gerhard Tersteegen, 1729.

[3] Expository Thoughts on the Gospel: St. Matthew [London: James Clarke, 1965], pp. 69-70.

There are specific places revealed in scripture that show us that God specifically promised to go with us…we need to realize and remember then and begin to acknowledge His pres­ence in those situations, learning to share them with Him. He will be pleased, and at the same time things will go better for us.

He Is With Us in Temptation.

A man had a sign on his door which said, “Lead me not into temptation, I can find it for myself.” We can all make that statement. Temptation will make itself known on a daily basis. We will never triumph over temptation pretending it doesn’t exist. We cannot afford the luxury of thinking it can’t happen to us. Thanks be to God who can give us the victory over temptation.

The Apostle Paul taught us that our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit. God the Holy Spirit lives within us and goes everywhere we go. That should provide an added incentive for us to flee from sin. As Paul put it, “Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?” (1 Corinthians 6:18‑19).

The believer’s body is a mini‑temple, a sacred dwelling place for the omni­present God, and we must treat it as such. Sexual relations outside of marriage defile the temple of God. They dirty up God’s dwelling place. To be conscious of God’s presence is to guard the purity of His home.

But respect for God’s home is not the only deterring power of this doctrine. If we love our Lord and want to please Him, the knowledge that He is with us is going to have an influence on where we take Him and what we do in His presence. We usually try not to offend someone we truly love. While we may be tempted to do something of which they disapprove when we are separated from their watchful eye, we seldom entertain the thought of doing it when they are standing right there looking at us. The next time you are tempted to disobey God’s Word and disregard His will, visualize Him standing there watching the whole scene. He is there, you know, so we might as well think about it. Sometimes we act like ostriches with our heads in the sand. We think that because we cannot see God, He cannot see us. But He does.

The eyes of the LORD are in every place, Watching the evil and the good (Proverbs 15:3).

He Is With Us in Need.

The writer to the Hebrews had something to say about God’s presence. Some of the folks to whom he was writing had lost their jobs because of their faith in Jesus Christ, and they were facing desperate needs. They were probably worrying about how their needs would be met and, worse still, they were envying people who had every­thing they needed. They would benefit from this pertinent exhortation: “Let your character be free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, ‘I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you’” (Hebrews 13:5).

We may not have everything in life we want, but we do have the Lord. He is right there with us all the time. He sees all our needs and He will meet every one of them in His own time and in His own way. Some may be saying, like those Hebrew Christians of old, “But I have this bill due tomorrow that I can’t pay.”

That situation could be God’s way of en­couraging you to reevaluate your lifestyle. He wants us to be diligent, to work hard, to seek His wisdom about every penny we spend, and to stay out of debt. Unpaid bills sometimes reveal that we have been overly enthusiastic about gratifying our desires rather than merely meeting our needs. The next time you are tempted to spend money on something you do not need, remember that the omnipresent Lord of the uni­verse is right there with you. Ask His advice before you move ahead. Then trust Him faithfully to supply every need. That is what He promised to do (Philippians 4:19).

He Is With Us in Loneliness.

I want you to meet a lonely woman. Hagar was a slave, uprooted from her home in Egypt and taken to be the handmaid of Abraham’s wife, Sarah. She had gotten pregnant by Abraham at Sarah’s suggestion, and the resultant situation had brought such tension and turmoil to their household that she finally ran away to the wilder­ness—unloved, unwanted, pregnant, and absolutely alone in a strange land, the victim of someone else’s sin.

That was when the Lord appeared to her with tender words of encouragement and advice, and she called His name El Roi, the God who sees (Genesis 16:13). She had come to the comforting realization that God was right there with her, that He saw her in her loneliness, and that He cared. Ezekiel called Him Jehovah‑Shammah, the Lord who is there (Ezekiel 48:35).

He is the same God today. He sees us in our loneliness and offers us words of encouragement and advice. He is the God who is there, and He still cares. Most of us prefer a warm body near us when we are lonely, a hand we can touch, and a voice we can hear. God may provide that for us in His perfect time. But meanwhile, He is with us, and the very fact that we are physically alone can make His presence more precious than it would be if there were people around us. To believe that He is with us can help to dispel the aching loneliness.

Hope (looking with courage to the future) prevents us from clinging to what we have and frees us to move away from the safe place and enter unknown and fearful territory. [1]

He Is With Us Through Difficult Service.

Many godly people in Scripture faced tasks which they believed were beyond them, but the confidence to carry on came through the assurance of God’s presence. For example, when Moses was called by God to return to Egypt and deliver the people from bondage, he shuddered at the enormity of the task. When he tried to beg off, God said, “Certainly I will be with you” (Exodus 3:12). That was just the encouragement he needed to go on.

After the nation’s sin with the golden calf, God told Moses to lead the people on to their promised land. But he was afraid to go until the promise was reaffirmed. Finally it was: “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest” (Exodus 33:14).

The promise of God’s presence was the inspi­ration he needed to do the job he was called to do.

When Joshua took over the leadership of the nation after Moses’ death, he struggled with the same lack of confidence. But God was right there to encourage him: “No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you” (Joshua 1:5). “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go” (verse 9). If God would be with him, he could conquer the land against insuperable odds.

When our Lord’s disciples heard His commission to make disciples of all nations, they must have trembled at the vast­ness of what they were being asked to do until the Lord added, “And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). That would make all the difference in the world.

He Is With Us in Danger.

 The Apostle Paul faced many dangerous situations in the course of his apostolic ministry, one of which was in Corinth. The Jews there were disturbed at the great numbers of people turning to Christ and the situation seemed to be as potentially explosive as a barrel of TNT beside a campfire.

Paul seriously considered leaving. “And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, ‘Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city’” (Acts 18:9‑10). The key to Paul’s courage was in those words, “I am with you.”

God said much the same thing to the tiny nation Israel when she was surrounded by giant world powers which threat­ened to destroy her. Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand (Isaiah 41:10).

That is also His promise to us. There is nothing to fear for the child of God. He is present in all the places people sometimes fear. He is on that airplane, in that elevator, in that cramped room, on those high places, in that wild animal infested jungle, in that new and strange situation with people we do not know, in that operating room during delicate surgery, in the recovery room where the pain and discomfort are fierce.

Why should we fear anything when God is there? The Psalm­ist put it so beautifully: God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea (Psalm 46:1‑2).

He Is With Us in Death.

Death is the ultimate source of fear and anxiety for many people. But again, God is right there with us.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I fear no evil; for Thou art with me; 

Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me (Psalm 23:4).

When we face the death of a loved one, this thought brings greater consolation than all the well intentioned words of our human friends put together: God is with us. And when we face our own departure from this earthly scene there is no reason for alarm. God will accompany us right into Heaven’s glory.

Sometime ago someone handed me this interesting account: I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord and across the sky flashed scenes from my life. For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand, one belonging to me, the other to the Lord. When the last scene of my life flashed before me, I looked back at the footprints in the sand. I noticed that many times along the path of my life there was only one set of footprints. I also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in my life.

I questioned the Lord about it. “Lord, You said that once I decided to follow You, You would walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life, there is only one set of footprints. I don’t understand why in times when I needed You most, You would leave.” The Lord replied, “My precious child, I would never leave you during your times of trial and suffering. When you see only one set of footprints, it was then I carried you.”

What more can we ask? Wherever we go, whatever we face, our omnipresent Lord is with us. Ignore Him no longer. Let Him be part of every situation and circumstance. The awareness of His presence will add an exciting new dimen­sion to the quality of your life and to the confidence you enjoy in living.

Let me repeat an earlier point for emphasis and application here: Knowing this fact about God’s omnipresence is sufficient to give me the courage, confidence, and comfort I need to be courageous each day I have upon this earth, “…because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

Tim Hansel reminds us that “the Bible is a first-hand story of goose-bump courage in very ordinary people who were invaded by the living God.”

Faith and Courage

If there are two words that should be said in the same breath and said regularly to ventilate our hope, that should be flamed together, branded as a signature of our faith, they are the words “faith” and “courage.”  It takes courage to believe, and in order to have that courage, we must believe.

From time to time, lobsters have to leave their shells in order to grow. They need the shell to protect them from being torn apart, yet when they grow, the old shell must be abandoned. If they did not abandon it, the old shell would soon become their prison–and finally their casket.

The tricky part for the lobster is the brief period of time between when the old shell is discarded and the new one is formed. During that terribly vulnerable period, the transition must be scary to the lobster. Currents gleefully cartwheel them from coral to kelp. Hungry schools of fish are ready to make them a part of the food chain. For awhile at least, that old shell must look pretty good.

We are not so different from lobsters. To change and grow, we must sometimes shed our shells–a structure, a framework–we’ve depended on. Discipleship means being so committed to Christ that when he bids us to follow, we will change, risk, grow, and leave our “shells” behind. [2]

In A Pretty Good Person, Lewis Smedes writes:  A federal judge had ordered New Orleans to open its public schools to African-American children, and the white parents decided that if they had to let black children in, they would keep their children out. They let it be known that any black children who came to school would be in for trouble. So the black children stayed home too.

“Except Ruby Bridges. Her parents sent her to school all by herself, six years old.

“Every morning she walked alone through a heckling crowd to an empty school. White people lined up on both sides of the way and shook their fists at her. They threatened to do terrible things to her if she kept coming to their school. But every morning at ten minutes to eight Ruby walked, head up, eyes ahead, straight through the mob; two U.S. marshals walked ahead of her and two walked behind her. Then she spent the day alone with her teachers inside that big silent school building.

“Harvard professor Robert Coles was curious about what went into the making of courageous children like Ruby Bridges. He talked to Ruby’s mother and, in his book The Moral Life of Children, tells what she said: “There’s a lot of people who talk about doing good, and a lot of people who argue about what’s good and what’s not good,” but there are other folks who “just put their lives on the line for what’s right.” [3]

Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory or defeat. [4]

The only fight which is lost is that which we give up. [5]

In June l955, Winston Churchill, who was then near the end of his life, was asked to give a commencement address at a British University.  At this time he was physically infirm; he had to be helped to the podium.  Then he held on to the podium for what seemed an interminable amount of time.  He stood with his head down but then finally raised that great leonine head of his, and the voice that years before had called Britain back from the brink of destruction sounded publicly for the last time in history.

“Never give up.  Never give up.  Never give up.”  With that, Churchill turned and went back to his seat.  I’m told there was silence, and then, as if one person, the whole audience rose to applaud him, because he was a man whose life and words were together. Again and again throughout Churchill’s political career, he had known setbacks.  Three times, his career apparently was over, he was sent off to oblivion, and yet somehow he had a sense that there was still something left after the worst. [6]

Fear doesn’t want you to make the journey to the mountain. If he can rattle you enough, fear will persuade you to take your eyes off the peaks and settle for a dull existence in the flatlands. [7]

Henry Ward Beecher is credit as saying that “God planted fear in the soul as truly as he planted hope or courage. It is a kind of bell or gong which rings the mind into quick life on the approach of danger. It is the soul’s signal for rallying.“

Once you’ve faced the very thing you fear the most, it is no longer quite so fearful. [8]

Words can never adequately convey the incredible impact of our attitude toward life. The longer I live the more convinced I become that life is 10 percent what happens to us and 90 percent how we respond to it.

Being positive is part of being a hero–maybe the hardest part, because if you are a hero you’re smart enough to know all the reasons why you should be discouraged.

The best decision-makers are those who are willing to suffer the most over their decisions but still retain their ability to be decisive.

Maybe we need the confidence of Alexander McClaren, who courageously replied, “Only he who can say, “The Lord is the strength of my life,” can say, “Of whom shall I be afraid?”

During World War I, a British commander was preparing to lead his soldiers back to battle. They’d been on furlough, and it was a cold, rainy, muddy day. Their shoulders sagged because they knew what lay ahead of them: mud, blood, possible death. Nobody talked, nobody sang. It was a heavy time.

As they marched along, the commander looked into a bombed-out church. Back in the church he saw the figure of Christ on the cross. At that moment, something happened to the commander. He remembered the One who suffered, died, and rose again. There was victory, and there was triumph.

As the troops marched along, he shouted out, “Eyes right, march!” Every eye turned to the right, and as the soldiers marched by, they saw Christ on the cross. Something happened to that company of men. Suddenly they saw triumph after suffering, and they took courage. With shoulders straightened, they began to smile as they went. You see, anything worthwhile in life will be a risk that demands courage. [9]

We certainly want to avoid the charge being leveled toward us that we were neutral at a crucial point of our life. Dante said in the 13^th century that “the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in a period of moral crisis, maintain their neutrality. “

Today our culture is far less likely to raise up heroes than it is to exalt victims, individuals who are overcome by the sting of oppression, injustice, adversity, neglect or misfortune. … Success, as well as failure, is the result of one’s own talent, decisions and actions. Accepting personal responsibility for victory, as well as for defeat, is as liberating and empowering as it is unpopular today.

Ed was a motion picture producer who had finished his most recent film. During the next year as every independent film producer does, he had been working hard to try to sell his picture to one of the majors.  Being unsuccessful in his attempts to sell the majors, he had then approached many of the minor motion picture distribution companies.  He had finally aroused some interest in a smaller motion picture distribution company and had arranged for a showing of his picture to their top executives.

At the conclusion of the showing, the president of the motion picture distribution company turned to Ed and said, “There is nothing particularly wrong with your picture.  The story is all right, the quality is fine, the acting is acceptable, but if it is going to be a money maker there are three changes that need to be made.  There are three different locations in your film where we need to add sex scenes so that the picture will have some kind of box office appeal.  With the addition of these three scenes, we can assure you of a million dollars in profit for your share of what this picture will gross when released by us.”

Ed needed to make a sale badly because of the current conditions in his own company, but he responded by saying, “Thank you for looking at my film.  I appreciate your taking time to consider this as one of your projects for distribution, but I am sorry that we will not be able to make the changes that you have suggested.”  Ed knew to whom to say “No.”

He had the courage to act on his convictions.

However, taking a stand against the crowd is not easy. This is a struggle that exposes our strength or weakness. In past years South Africa was a climate of racism and black men often suffer humiliation from white inhabitants.  A Bantu was sent to the theater to get tickets for his  white employer.  There was a single line and upon inquiry he was told to get in the white man’s line although in South Africa this is forbidden. Suddenly a black haired youth elbowed him out of line.  This haughty action was followed by similar actions of a teenage girl.  Then a real bull of a man with closely cropped hair seized the native and hurled him into the street.  The theater manager told him to get back in line, but again he was thrown out. Then a voice sounded clear above the rumble of the complaints.  A man of about fifty, with whitened temples and in the open neck attire of a farmer, shouted with a voice ringing with threat and authority,  “Let this fellow in. What’s the matter with you?”  The crowd cowered and the lowly native was placed in front.

The South African farmer risked his reputation and the crowds disapproval, but he stood firm.  This is goodness.  And, it costs. Contrast this with the Indiana teenagers arrested for shoplifting.  They admitted they did not need the merchandise, but stole it because everybody was doing it.  Investigation revealed they did not feel they had done wrong since the crowd had placed a sanction on it.

I have always appreciated the ‘dry bones’ message of Ezekiel 36-37, when God revealed His plans for the deliverance of Israel and the restoration of His name among the nations. His motives were clear: “It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone….’For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land….I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”

“You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God.  I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you. I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine. Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and detestable practices.”

(Ezekiel 37:1-14)  “The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. {2} He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. {3} He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “O Sovereign LORD, you alone know.” {4} Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! {5} This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. {6} I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.'” {7} So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. {8} I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. {9} Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.'” {10} So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet–a vast army. {11} Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ {12} Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. {13} Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. {14} I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done it, declares the LORD.'””

God revealed His power and might, and the reality that literally nothing is outside of His control; He can do what He wills when He wants! He needs us to realize this and be willing participants! He who loves God with all his heart dreads neither death, torment, judgment, nor hell, for perfect love opens a sure passage to God.

In the midst of a storm, a little bird was clinging to the limb of a tree, seemingly calm and unafraid. As the wind tore at the limbs of the tree, the bird continued to look the storm in the face, as if to say, “Shake me off; I still have wings.”

Hope prevents us from clinging to what we have and frees us to move away from the safe place and enter unknown and fearful territory. The only fight which is lost is that which we give up. We must be careful for nothing, prayerful for everything, thankful for anything.

We must have plenty of courage. God is stronger than the devil. We are on the winning side. Success is never final; failure is never fatal; it is courage that counts. The great need for anyone in authority is courage. Courage is almost a contradiction in terms:  it means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die.

Courage is not limited to the battlefield or the Indianapolis 500 or bravely catching a thief in your house. The real tests of courage are much deeper and much quieter. They are the inner tests, like remaining faithful when nobody’s looking, like enduring pain when the room is empty, like standing alone when you’re misunderstood

A sailor was given liberty to go ashore when his ship docked at a large southwestern American city.  He visited a park famous for its trees and tropical flowers. As he walked across an open grassy sunlit area, he noticed bees flying all around him.  Suddenly, all the bees began to settle upon him. They were all over his clothes, his hands, and his face. Panic gripped him, and though he wanted to run in fear, he forced himself to stand stock still. There were hundreds, maybe thousands, of bees all over him.  He hardly dared to breathe. “Look at that sailor,” he heard a woman’s voice say. After what seemed an eternity to the sailor, slowly the bees departed one by one until they were all gone.  His uniform was soaked with perspiration, but he had not been stung once. Sometimes it is better to stand stock still in the midst of danger than to run in panic and fear and possibly to bring about the very end one wishes to avoid. Scripture says,  “”Whoever flees from the terror will fall into a pit, whoever climbs out of the pit will be caught in a snare; for I will bring upon Moab the year of her punishment,” declares the LORD.” (Jeremiah 48:44)

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[1] Henri J. Nouwen in The Wounded Healer.  Christianity Today, Vol. 40, no. 13.

[2] Brent Mitchell in Fresh Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching (Baker) from the editors of Leadership.

[3] Bob Campbell in Fresh Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching (Baker), from the editors of Leadership.

[4] Theodore Roosevelt, Marriage Partnership, Vol. 7, no. 3.

[5] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Christian History, no. 32.

[6] John Claypool, Birmingham, Alabama, Leadership, Vol. 12, no. 2.

[7] Max Lucado, Christian Reader, Vol. 32, no. 3.

[8] Ruth Senter, Christian Reader, Vol. 32, no. 2.

[9] Gordon Johnson, “Finding Significance in Obscurity,” Preaching Today, Tape No. 82.

That which distinguishes a deeply religious person from all other people is the fact that he has a definite place in his life for prayer. Prayer is a definite part of his life. And is should be the case, because there is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful than that of a continual conversation with God.

We are not told that Jesus ever taught His disciples how to preach, but He taught them how to pray. He wanted them to have power with God; then He knew they would have power with man.

Prayer is a form of communication between God and man and man and God. It is of the essence of communication between persons that they should talk with each other from the same basic agenda. Wherever this is not done, communication tends to break down. If, however, an atmosphere of trust can be maintained, then one learns how to wait and be still. It is instructive to examine the prayer life of the Master from this point of view.[1]

Prayer is much like a check to be countersigned by two parties. I sign the check and send it up to heaven. If Jesus Christ also signs it, it does not matter how large it is — it’ll be honored.

Abraham Lincoln faced some of our nation’s most difficult situation with prayer, stating that “I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go.”

The trouble with many who pray is that he/she says “Amen” and runs away before God has a chance to reply.

God wants us to communicate with Him because He has a great plan for our lives. For us to fulfill that plan, we have to hear what He’s saying and what He’s calling us to do. Prayer sometimes consists of sitting down and just being quiet and listening.

   You know how people say, “Don’t just stand there, do something”? I believe God is telling us, “Don’t just do something, stand there.” God wants us to be quiet sometimes and just meditate. We have to listen before we can learn and obey.

There come times in our lives when we in our desperation and pain run to God and dial our 911 prayers. Sometimes we’re hysterical. Sometimes we don’t know the words to speak. But God hears. He knows our number and he knows our name and he knows our circumstance. That help is already on the way; God has already begun to bring the remedy to us.[2]

Since September 11, 2001, when those Twin Towers were destroyed by terrorists in New York City, our country has been more accommodating to the ‘idea’ of prayer as opposed to the secular attitude of many of our citizens. Even our politicians have been seen to turn to prayer in a way unlike recent years.

But there is a natural cynicism in wondering if their actions are truly genuine, reminding me of an Indiana farmer who took his family to the nation’s capital to see how their government worked.  After visiting the House of Representatives, they went to the Senate gallery, where the chaplain of the Senate was speaking.

 Daddy,” asked the farmer’s ten-year-old daughter, “does the chaplain pray for the Senate?”

“No,” said the farmer.  “He comes in, looks at the Senators, and then prays for the country.”[3]

Many are unaware that the Declaration of Independence did not come into being until a day of fasting and prayer had been observed. Appointed by the Continental Congress, it was kept by all the colonies on May 17, 1776. At that time in our history, God and the Bible were given more reverence and recognition than they are today. When the nation was finally born, our forefathers rang the Liberty Bell with great enthusiasm, and a legend says that it cracked as they zealously proclaimed their freedom. Years later the White Chapel Foundry of London offered to recast the huge carillon, but their proposal was of course refused. Apparently the symbolic value of the damaged bell, which recalls the religious and patriotic fervor of those early days, is something that America still wishes to preserve.

This in itself is good; but in view of our nation’s moral decline, the crack may also suggest a break in our basic ideals and a serious defect in our spiritual attitudes. We can remedy the situation and avert the judgment of the Lord only by repentance, prayer, and a return to the faith of our fathers. In this sense, there is no time for delay in “mending the bell.”

These words have a profound historical significance: “Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon thee, and we beg thy blessings upon us, our teachers and our country.” This was the voluntary prayer the U.S. Supreme Court found violated the establishment clause of the Constitution in 1962 in Engel vs. Vitale. It reasoned that if this prayer was allowed, it would be a step toward establishment of a state-sponsored religion. The absurdity of this reasoning is self-evident.

The end of the Declaration of Independence provides: “with a firm reliance of the protection of divine providence….” At the opening of each day’s session of the Supreme Court the crier states: “God save the United States and this honorable court.” In 1952 the U.S. Supreme Court stated in Zorach vs. Clauson: “We are a religious people whose institutions presuppose a supreme being.” Carved above the entrance to the Supreme Court is: “In God we Trust.”

There are some of us within the legal system who desperately oppose the Supreme Court on this point and support those who courageously seek to change the law. Our children deserve better than the current moral anarchy.

Prayer is not overcoming God’s reluctance; it is adjusting to God’s willingness. God never sleeps, so He is never disturbed when we approach Him. God does not answer our much praying in order to get rid of us, but because He loves us.

Howard Hendricks tells of a church in Dallas a few years ago having trouble finding a teacher for a junior high boys class: “The list of prospects had only one name and when they told me who it was I said, “You’ve got to be kidding.” But I couldn’t have been more wrong about that young man. He took the class and revolutionized it.

“I was so impressed I invited him to my home for lunch and asked him the secret of his success. He pulled out a little black book. On each page he had a small picture of one of the boys, and under the boy’s name were comments like “having trouble in arithmetic,” or “comes to church against parents’ wishes,” or “would like to be a missionary some day, but doesn’t think he has what it takes.”

  “I pray over those pages every day,” he said, “and I can hardly wait to come to church each Sunday to see what God has been doing in their lives.”

Prayer does not fit us for the greater works; prayer is the greater work. Prayer . . . really is a silent surrendering of everything to God because it is not quite clear to us how we should pray.

What type things might we pray about? Pray for a tough hide and a tender heart. We might ask the lord to grant us a peaceful night and a perfect death.  The best prayers have often been more groans than words.

Benjamin Franklin suggested that we “Work as if you were to live a hundred years; pray as if you were to die tomorrow.”

There are days when we can bring before God a deep and glad laughter of joy and gratitude. There will be other days when we can only muster a bitter, angry complaint. If it is honest, be confident that God will accept whatever it is we truly have to lift up before him, and he will make it serve his purpose and our good.[4]

F.B. Meyer offered that “the great tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer.”

A 17-century Roman Catholic Frenchman named Francois Fenelon wrote, “Tell God all that is in your heart, as one unloads one’s heart, its pleasures and its pains, to a dear friend. Tell Him your troubles, that He may comfort you; tell Him your joys, that He may sober them; tell Him your longings, that He may purify them; tell Him your dislikes, that He may help you to conquer them, talk to Him of your temptations, that He may shield you from them; show Him the wounds of your heart, that He may heal them; lay bare your indifference to good, your depraved tastes for evil, your instability. Tell Him how self-love makes you unjust to others, how vanity tempts you to be insincere, how pride disguises you to yourself and to others.

“If you thus pour out all your weaknesses, needs, troubles, there will be no lack of what to say. You will never exhaust the subject. It is continually being renewed. People who have no secrets from each other never want for subjects of conversation. They do not weigh their words, for there is nothing to be held back, neither do they seek for something to say. They talk out of the abundance of the heart, without consideration they say just what they think. Blessed are they who attain to such familiar, unreserved intercourse with God.”

According to a poll on prayer for Newsweek in 1997, the following percentage said:

They ask for health or success for a child or family member when they pray — 82

They ask for strength to overcome a personal weakness — 75

They never ask for financial or career success —  36

The following percentages stated their beliefs about the prospects of prayer:

God answers prayers — 87

God doesn’t answer prayers —  51

They believe God does not play favorites in answering prayers — 82

God answers prayers for healing someone with an incurable disease — 79

Prayers for help in finding a job are answered —  73

They believe that when God doesn’t answer their prayers, it means it wasn’t God’s will to answer — 54

They don’t turn away from God when prayers go unanswered   —  82

According to researchers James Petterson and Peter Kim in their book, The Day America Told the Truth:  What People Really Believe about Everything that Really Matters, God is alive and well. But fewer people are listening to what He has to say than ever before. While 90 percent of those questioned by the authors said they believe in God, few turn to Him when they face a moral issue.

If Petterson and Kim are right — and other research results confirm America’s spiritual drift — then it’s no wonder that those willing to do right often seem few and maligned.

Prayer is not a stratagem for occasional use, a refuge to resort to now and then. It is rather like an established residence for the innermost self. All things have a home; the bird has a nest, the fox has a hole, the bee has a hive. A soul without prayer is a soul without a home.

Weary, sobbing, the soul, after roaming through a world festered with aimlessness, falsehoods, and absurdities, seeks a moment in which to gather up its scattered life, in which to divest itself of enforced pretensions and camouflage, in which to simplify complexities, in which to call for help without being a coward. Such a home is prayer.[5]

R.A. Torrey offers the following prescription that will bring revival — revival to any church, or community, or any city on earth. First: Let few Christians get thoroughly right with God. If this is not done, the rest will come to nothing. Second: Let them bind themselves together to pray for revival until God opens the windows of heaven and comes down. Third: Let them put themselves at the disposal of God for His use as He sees fit in winning others to Christ. That is all. I have given this prescription around the world… and in no instance has it failed. It cannot fail.

He also is credit with stating that “If all the sleeping folk will wake up, if all the lukewarm folk will fire up, if all the dishonest folk will confess up, if all the disgruntled folk will cheer up, if all the depressed folk will cheer up, if all the estranged folk will make up, if all the gossipers will shut up, if all true soldiers will stand up, if all the dry bones will shake up, if all the church members will pray up…then we can have a revival!”

The Untimely Death of Mrs. Prayer Meeting!

We are sorry to announce the passing of Mrs. Prayer Meeting. She died recently at the First Neglected Church on Ho-Hum Avenue. Born many years ago in the midst of a great revival, she was strong and healthy as a child, fed largely on testimony and Bible study she grew into world-wide prominence and was one of the most influential members of the Church family.

However, in recent years Sister Prayer Meeting has been failing in health, gradually wasting away until rendered helpless by stiffness of the knees, cooling of the heart, lack of spiritual sensitivity and the concern for spiritual things. Her last whispered words were inquiring about the strange absence of her loved ones, now so busy in the market place and places of wordly amusement on Wednesday evenings!

Experts, including Dr. Good Works, Dr. Socializing and Dr. Unconcerned disagree as to the fatal cause of her final illness. They all administered large doses of excuses, even ordered a last minute motivational bypass, all to no avail. A post-mortem examination showed that a deficiency of regular spiritual food, a lack of prayer and Christian fellowship, all contributed to her untimely demise.

The following prayer might be a good way to begin each and every day: I arise today through God’s strength to direct me, God’s might to uphold me, God’s wisdom to guide me, God’s eye to look before, God’s ear to hear me, God’s word to speak to me, God’s hand to guard me, God’s way to lie before me, God’s shield to protect me, God’s hosts to save me from snares of devils. From temptation of vices, From everyone who shall wish me ill, Afar and near, Alone and in a multitude.[6]

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[1] Howard Thurman in A Strange Freedom. Christianity Today, Vol. 43, no. 5.

[2] Leith Anderson, Men of Integrity, Vol. 2, no. 2.

[3] From Quote Magazine, reprinted in Reader’s Digest, March 1992, p. 50

[4] Gardner Taylor, quoted in Reflections,  Christianity Today, Vol. 45, no. 2.

[5] Abraham Joshua Heschel in Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity.  Christianity Today, Vol. 42, no. 5.

[6] Attributed to St. Patrick, from “The Deer’s Cry” (St. Patrick’s Breastplate), translated by Kuno Meyer, quoted in “Reflections,” Christianity Today, Vol. 44, no. 13.

A mother overheard her son’s little six-year-old friend ask why babies are spanked when they are born. The youngster replied, “To get them used to it.”

From the human point of view, life appears futile; and it is easy for us to get pessimistic. The Jewish writer Sholom Aleichem once described life as “a blister on top of a tumor, and a boil on top of that.” You can almost feel that definition!

The American poet Carl Sandburg compared life to “an onion—you peel it off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep.” And British playwright George Bernard Shaw said that life was “a series of inspired follies.”

When you were studying English literature in school, you may have read Matthew Arnold’s poem “Rugby Chapel” in which he includes this dark description of life:

Most men eddy about Here and there—eat and drink,

Chatter and love and hate, Gather and squander, are raised

Aloft, are hurl’d in the dust, Striving blindly, achieving Nothing; and then they die—

What a relief to turn from these pessimistic views and hear Jesus Christ say, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). Or to read Paul’s majestic declaration, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Cor. 15:58).

Do you have a dream? You need one. Dreams give hope. They display a powerful image of what life can be. Has your dream been shattered? Worse yet, has your dream turned into a nightmare and come true? For all of us dreamers, there is hope.

We need to find meaning and purpose! It gives us daily direction. It gives us worth.

Life is “not in vain” if it is lived according to the will of God! This mind-set makes all the difference! It gives us a focus as we wake each morning and begin pondering the new day. It makes calculation easier when we wonder what lies ahead – and helps erase those things past, over which we no longer have control.

A little girl was working very hard and could not be induced to stop and rest. This was before the day of electric lights. When asked, “Why do you not stop and rest?” she replied, “I have just one little candle, and it will soon be burned out. I wish to do what I can while the candle burns.” So it is with us. Our little day will soon be gone. May we do what we can while the candle burns. [1]

We live in a time of unprecedented discoveries, many of which tend to make life longer and living more comfortable and enjoyable. But with change and progress the inexorable law of change and decay also operates. Strange that so few in this world prepare for the inevitable. [2]

Henri J. Nouwen is credited with a profound statement: Sometimes I think of life as a big wagon wheel with many spokes. In the middle is the hub. Often in ministry, it looks like we are running around the rim trying to reach everybody. But God says, “Start in the hub; live in the hub. Then you will be connected with all the spokes, and you won’t have to run so fast.” [3]

I want to accept the challenge offered by Mark Twain: “Let us so live that when we die even the undertaker will be sorry.”

If we make that choice, we might prefer to adopt the positive lifestyle of Jeanne Hendricks, who said that “Living is not a spectator sport.  No one, at any price, is privileged to sit in the stands and watch the action from a distance.  Being born means being a participant in the arena of life, where opposition is fierce and winning comes only to those who exert every ounce of energy. “

Or perhaps we like the Yiddish Proverb: “Life is the biggest bargain.  We get it for nothing.”

Developing The Proper Outlook

One of the many outlooks we need to pursue is the one by Solomon offered in the overlooked book of Ecclesiastes. It’s often presented as a book for those in their 20’s to help them avoid coming mistakes or one for those in their 50’s due to their coming “midlife crisis.” It seems certain that this wise and powerful king seemed to go through one.

In his Unfolding Message of the Bible, G. Campbell Morgan perfectly summarizes Solomon’s outlook: “This man had been living through all these experiences under the sun, concerned with nothing above the sun … until there came a moment in which he had seen the whole of life. And there was something over the sun. It is only as a man takes account of that which is over the sun as well as that which is under the sun that things under the sun are seen in their true.[4]

    Since it is one of the Old Testament wisdom books, Ecclesiastes would have something to say about both wisdom and folly. There are at least thirty-two references to “fools” and “folly” and at least fifty-four to “wisdom.” King Solomon was the wisest of men (1 Kings 4:31) and he applied this wisdom as he sought to understand the purpose of life “under the sun.” The Preacher sought to be a philosopher, but in the end, he had to conclude, “Fear God, and keep His commandments” (12:13).

Because we live so close to the biblical text, we often fail to note its power to summon and evoke new life. The Bible is our firm guarantee that prophetic construal of another world are still possible, still worth doing, still longingly received by those living at the edge of despair, resignation, and conformity.[5]

John Locke once said, “The Bible is one of the greatest blessings bestowed by God on the children of man. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth without mixture for its matter. It is all pure; all sincere; nothing too much; nothing wanting.”

From the human point of view, nothing seems more permanent and durable than the planet on which we live. When we say that something is “as sure as the world,” we are echoing Solomon’s confidence in the permanence of planet Earth. With all of its diversity, nature is uniform enough in its operation that we can discover its “laws” and put them to work for us. In fact, it is this “dependability” that is the basis for modern science.

Nature is permanent, but man is transient, a mere pilgrim on earth. His pilgrimage is a brief one, for death finally claims him. At the very beginning of his book, Solomon introduced a topic frequently mentioned in Ecclesiastes: the brevity of life and the certainty of death.

Abraham Lincoln had ten guidelines by which he lived and governed his life He followed these guidelines until the day he died:

 1. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.

 2. You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.

 3. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.

 4. You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.

 5. You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich.

 6. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income.

 7. You cannot further the brotherhood of men by inciting class hatred.

 8. You cannot establish security on borrowed money.

 9. You cannot build character and courage by taking away man’s initiative and independence.

 10. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.

As far as wealth and pleasure are concerned, God gives to us “richly all things to enjoy” (1 Tim. 6:17). “The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it” (Prov. 10:22). The wealth and pleasures of the world do not satisfy, and the quest for power and position is futile. In Jesus Christ we have all that we need for life and death, time and eternity.

 So I suggest that we seek God and discover Him and make Him a power in our life. Without Him all of our efforts turn to ashes and our sunrises into darkest nights. Without Him life is a meaningless drama with the decisive scenes missing.

 But with Him we are able to rise from the fatigue of despair to the buoyancy of hope. With Him we are able to rise from the midnight of desperation to the daybreak of joy. St. Augustine was right–we were made for God and we will be restless until we find rest in Him. [6]

Contentment

To a large extent, we’re searching for that elusive place of contentment. The Holman Bible Dictionarydescribes contentment as “an internal satisfaction which does not demand changes in external circumstances.”

Hebrews 13:5-7 summarizes the teaching in advising believers to be free of the love of money and to depend on God’s promise not to forsake His people: “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.”

Worry has become an obsession in our modern world. A look at the self-help section in any bookstore will reveal its prevalence. Hospitals and waiting rooms are filled with people who have physical problems caused by overwhelming anxiety. In addition, there are many people whose lives are disrupted or made unenjoyable because of paralyzing fear.

Christians like to hide their worry by labeling it Christian concern. In spite of protestations to the contrary, Christians do worry. But, do they have to? Not if they learn from Jesus how to win over worry.

Paul spoke in similar terms in 1 Timothy 6:6-10: “But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”

The believer can be content no matter what the outward circumstances: Philippians 4:11-13: “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”

When we look at life against the message of the life of Jesus and His teachings, the risen life is not easy: it is also a dying life. [7] We should make it our priority and purpose.

Contentment finds an opposite in the form of worry. The words of Jesus early in His public ministry suggest that food and lodging should be enough for the godly: Matthew 6:34: “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

There is plenty to worry about (vs. 25). There is no shortage of potential items to worry about. Jesus mentions several matters of common concern: life, health, possessions, We could add our own list of concerns: accidents, aging, weather, or criticism.

There is nothing accomplished by worry (vv. 26-33). It is senseless. The rest of God’s creation does not worry, but God provides for them. Will he not do the same for us. This does not say we should not work, only that we should not worry while we work (v. 26, 28). It is fruitless. It will not add an inch to your height or a hour to your life. In fact, it may well take away from your life (v. 27). It is harmful. Worrying makes us look like the heathen, and it destroys our witness. [8]

Worry, he says, is characteristic of a heathen, and not of one who knows what God is like (verse 32). Worry is essentially distrust of God. Such a distrust may be understandable in a heathen who believes in a jealous, capricious, unpredictable god; but it is beyond comprehension in one who has learned to call God by the name of Father. The Christian should not worry because he believes in the love of God.

Worry gives a small thing a big shadow. Worry is an indication that we think God cannot look after us. Worry is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do but doesn’t get you anywhere.

Jesus goes on to advance two ways in which to defeat worry. The first is to seek first, to concentrate upon, the Kingdom of God. We have seen that to be in the Kingdom and to do the will of God is one and the same thing (Matthew 6:10). To concentrate on the doing of, and the acceptance of, God’s will is the way to defeat worry. We know how in our own lives a great love can drive out every other concern. Such love can inspire a man’s work, intensify his study, purify his life, dominate his whole being.

We must trust the heavenly father to provide for us as he has promised (v. 32b). We also need to live one day at a time. Handle each worry as it comes. Many will never come to pass. Those that do occur can only be handled in the present (v. 34).

It was Jesus’ conviction that worry is banished when God becomes the dominating power of our lives.

Simon Patrick said, “It is distrust of God to be troubled about what is to come; impatience against God to be troubled with what is present; and anger at God to be troubled for what is past.”

What seems clear is that we often worry about things over which we have no control, or about events and circumstances that never occur. For this, we lose the joy of today and add a burden to an already difficult day.

Life’s too short for worrying. “Yes, that’s what worries me,” we reply.

Rather we should know that one is given strength to bear what happens to one, but not the one hundred and one different things that might happen. [9]

John Dryden commented that “Only man clogs his happiness with care, destroying what is, with thoughts of what may be.”

Only one type of worry is correct: to worry because you worry too much.

We should leave tomorrow’s trouble to tomorrow’s strength; tomorrow’s work to tomorrow’s time; tomorrow’s trial to tomorrow’s grace and to tomorrow’s God.

It ain’t no use putting up your umbrella till it rains.[10]

Solomon got involved in all kinds of projects, hoping to discover something that would make life worth living. He started with great works (4-6), including houses (1 Kings 7), cities (2 Chron. 8:4-6), gardens, vineyards, orchards and forests (1 Kings 4:33), and the water systems needed to service them. Of course, Solomon also supervised the construction of the temple (1 Kings 5ff), one of the greatest buildings of the ancient world.

Solomon accumulated wealth (7b-8a), in flocks and herds (1 Kings 8:63) as well as gold and silver (1 Kings 4:21 and 10:1ff). He was the wealthiest and wisest man in the whole world, yet he was unhappy because activity alone does not bring lasting pleasure.

There can be joy in the doing of great projects, but what happens when the task is finished? Solomon found delight in all his labor (2:10); but afterward, when he considered all his works, he saw only “vanity and vexation of spirit” (2:11). The journey was a pleasure, but the destination brought pain.

“Success is full of promise until men get it,” said the American preacher Henry Ward Beecher, “and then it is a last-year’s nest from which the birds have flown.”

Work

We must not conclude that Solomon was condemning work itself, because work is a blessing from God. Adam had work to do in the Garden even before he sinned. “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it” (Gen. 2:15, niv).

In the Book of Proverbs, Solomon exalted diligence and condemned laziness; for he knew that any honest employment can be done to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31). But work alone cannot satisfy the human heart, no matter how successful that work may be (Isa. 55:2).

Solomon’s conclusion: Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole of man.

This is what makes man whole. And the secret is to enthrone God in the days of our youth. If you want to find the secret of living so that the heart is satisfied and the spirit is enriched and fulfilled according to God’s intention for you, then “Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come.” Enthrone God in the center of your life and you will discover all that God has intended your life to be. And you will be able to rejoice all the days of your life.

——————

[1] William Moses Tidwell, “Pointed Illustrations.”

[2] L. Nelson Bell.  Christianity Today, Vol. 1, reprinted Vol. 40, no. 10.

[3] Henri J. Nouwen in “Moving from Solitude to Community to Ministry”, Leadership (Spring 1995).  Christianity Today, Vol. 40, no. 13.

[4] Fleming H. Revell Company, 1961, p. 229.

[5] Walter Brueggemann, Finally Comes the Poet, in Christianity Today, “Reflections,” Vol. 44, no. 9.

[6] Martin Luther King, Jr., in The Words of Martin Luther King Jr., compiled by Coretta Scott King. Christianity Today, Vol. 43, no. 1.

[7] Thomas Merton in He Is Risen. Christianity Today, Vol. 43, no. 5.

[8] Sermon Outlines For Seekers by J. Michael Shannon.

[9] C. S. Lewis (1898–1963)

[10] Alice Caldwell Rice