Misery Doesn't Love Company

It's been a little over three months since our study in Ecclesiastes (Momentum) began and as of today, we are not even at the half way mark. I know this isn't very long when your going verse by verse through a pretty weighty book, but there are times when you're reading Solomon's thoughts and you feel like you need to take a break from the downer that is Ecclesiastes. Just this passed Monday someone sent in a text message during our Q & A that said, "This is depressing." At first glance, I guess Ecclesiastes can sound depressing.

"Vanity, vanity", "nothing new under the sun", and "meaningless, meaningless, it's all meaningless" sounds an awful lot like the writings of a manic depressive in need of some serious therapy (aren't we all?). I don't know if Solomon's intent was to depress his readers, but I do believe everyone gets depressed at some time or another. Some depression leads to a quick fix of Disneyland or Cold Stone (or both together!), but other types of depression lead into deeper and darker bouts with depression. I can't say that I've been there, but I can say that there has been moments where hope seems so distant. Although I don't believe God abandons us, I do believe he leads us into places so that He can do His best work. I tend to be pretty optimistic, but there are times when I feel like there isn't any hope. There are times when I fight the temptation to want to give up. Give up on doing what I'm doing, give up on pursuing what I'm pursuing and give up on thinking the remedy I choose will actually fix what's going on inside my heart. We're probably familiar with that old adage, "misery loves company." But does it? I don't think it does. If misery loves anything I think it loves hope. I don't even think miserable people love other miserable people. I think they just love to know they're not alone or that maybe there actually is someone who has it worse than they do. But I don't think either loves misery or its company. If we're at all familiar with the book of Hosea, God tells Hosea to marry a prostitute named Gomer (not sure I could be as obedient as Hosea was). Gomer is someone who is struggling with many things, but is most of all completely blinded, wounded, scarred, calloused, and deceived by her own desire to fulfill her pleasure. Ultimately, I believe she's got this idea of what's going to be best for her and lives her life in pursuit of fulfilling the hole in her heart with things never designed to replace that which was intended. It's not until she's lead out into the desert, faced with the reality of her heart, and starved of what she's craving, does she finally realize those things will never suffice. I believe that time had to be a very dark and lonely place for her. What's so beautiful about her story is that we don't see Hosea or God beat her for her actions or demean her for her sinful ways or pile on her with guilt and shame. What we do see instead is God speaking tenderly to her (2:14). He speak meaning and life into her. He breathes into her a new perspective, real joy, and real hope. It even says she sings a song.

Singing songs can bring up memories. For some of us they remind us of people, some remind of a time, and others remind of a place. Some speak directly to us as if the song was written specifically about us. And sometimes the ownership of a song becomes as if you penned it yourself. Sometimes these songs are new and sometimes they're old. Sometimes nobody's ever heard of it, but other times they're songs for many of us to share. It's why I love singing songs with other people especially when they're songs of how truly good our God is. But I also love to sing songs of hope. Because I believe we can all resonate with a song like that. Whether we've experienced hope in our life or we're longing for it's warm embrace, we love those songs because it breathes new life into us. It gives us meaning and purpose. It gives us hope.............something we all need.

Here's a song of hope that I absolutely love by Caleb Clements:

You Are With Me Still

When all is dark and hope is gone

And silence has become my song

When doubt has closed me in, You are with me still

When strength is overcome by fear

Your presence feels no longer near

When sorrow’s night descends, You are with me still

You are with me still, Your love will endure

You are with me still, Your promise is sure

You are with me still, Your mercy remains

You are with me still, You give strength as I wait

Though favor’s touch seems long ago

My calloused heart and weary soul

Will turn in trust to You, You are with me still

You are with me still

You are with me still

You are with me still

You are with me still

Just Let Go

I had a conversation the other day (yes, it was literally the other day and not last year) with a guy that I've only known for about 8 days. I've never seen him before in my life, yet I felt like I've known him for years. Have you ever felt that way with someone you just met? I can't say it happens all that often, but it happened this past week and was glad it did. It's funny because we got on the conversation of Abraham, who was the subject of my last post, and he revealed some interesting things to me that I had never realized about old Abe.

For example, I wasn't aware that although Abraham was very faithful and was praised for his trust in God's call on his life, he wasn't exactly the picture of faith we think of when we explore his life. No doubt Abraham was faithful to God, but his problem was that he had trust issues. His lack of trust manifested itself the way ours do when God presses upon our hearts to let something go and we say "okay", but cling to that one little thing that we think God won't care we hang onto because it's so little (we're so dumb).

Abraham was called to do four things: (1) Leave his family (father, mother, brother, sister, cousins, nieces and nephews), (2) Leave his people (any non-family and servants), (3) Leave his land (in essence his "hood"), and (4) Go to the land that God will show him (nothing specific, just go and God will show you kind of thing).

Not completely sure how long time surpasses from when God calls Abraham to these four things and when he actually obeys, but the reality is that the only thing he does "fully" is leave his land. In essence, he is only being obedient to one of the four things God has called him to do. I'm not going to go into great detail as to how Abraham was disobedient, but let's just say that he never truly leaves his family since Lot comes with him, he never really left his people since Hagar (Sarah's maidservant) is present (Ishmael, hello?), and Abraham goes to Egypt and gets himself into a big mess when God was specifically calling him to not go there.

So, what's the point in mentioning this? The point is that this very specifically parallels my own life. All too often I cling and hold onto areas and ideas that God has specifically called me to let go and in turn I display a lack of trust in his call on my life. As soon as Abraham finally obeyed, God worked things out in his life because at 100 years old he fathers a child (Isaac) that goes on to become the nation of Israel. But it wasn't through frustration, it wasn't without mistakes, it wasn't without heartache and pain, and it wasn't without a long, long, time of disobedience that Abraham finally obeyed in the fullest sense. Probably because he was unsure. Probably because he had trust issues. Maybe because it was risky. I tend to believe it was all of the above. I also believe that I'm no different. I've made many mistakes. I've stopped when God told me to go. I've went when God told me to be still. I've held onto things when God told me to let them go. I can still feel the remnants of those very things in the cracks of my fingers because I've clinged to them for so long.

I've made poor decisions in my life, but nothing is too far gone for God to change for His good. There's a song that I like to sing and the bridge reads like this:

"You make all things work together for my good."

It's a reference from Romans 8:28. I not only believe that God uses our obedience, but even our disobedience to eventually bring Him glory. It doesn't mean we can avoid pain or the consequence of our disobedience, but that He will work through it.

I can't say that I have anything figured out, but I can say that I simply need to be obedient even when the obedient thing to do doesn't make any sense. My friend says it best, "It's my desire to please Him, that please Him."

Enjoy the Ride

There's a student in my class named Calvin. The professor took notice yesterday and probed as to why his parents chose that name. He responded, "They really like Calvin and Hobbs." Of course, who doesn't like Calvin and Hobbs? I think everyone loves that Calvin, but not everyone expresses that same affection towards John Calvin (the French Reformer). This post has nothing to do with whether one holds to Calvinism or Arminianism, but simply truth beyond affiliations. It's why one can read any author objectively and see truths in both because all of its God's anyway (truth that is).

I do enjoy reading John Calvin because of the rich depth and confidence in which he writes. Which is why I'm not afraid to borrow a phrase he used when speaking of Abraham's (father Abraham...the one who had many sons) obedience and faithful reliance upon God's word. The phrase is verbum nudum. It's Latin for the "naked word of God". It's this understanding of God's word that moves beyond our feelings and beyond our understanding. I think we often get caught up in our feelings that we confuse them for what's reality. I can't go a day without wondering, "How do I feel about this? I'm not feeling up to it. I have a weird feeling." Or, "This doesn't feel right." It's ingrained into our language and there's no shaking it. But I believe that verbum nudum supersedes feeling. Not only that but I think it goes beyond what's visible, tangible and visceral.

I notice with almost every area of my life where my faith is tested, I resemble a pathetic individual groping around in the dark trying to see, hear, smell, touch, and taste anything that would give me assurance or security in my faith. But all Abraham had was verbum nudum. He didn't know any details. He just knew what God had said. That's it!

I remember as a kid driving somewhere (I was a young driver, jk)............anywhere really, and always wanting to know if we arrived at our destination. We could be going to grandma's, to the store, to school, and the unending chant would begin, "Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?" As a father, I'm already dreading that day. It didn't take long for one of my parental units to make threats on our lives and say things like, "Don't make me pull this car over!" Or, "When we get home you're gonna get it!" Sometimes, I believe just for the fun of it my parents, without warning, would yank the car to the side of the road in a very threatening manner just to instill panic and fear (I'm pretty sure I need counseling for this). I'm sure my mother would disagree with me today, but I'm positive this is how it went down.

Needless to say, children have a completely different perspective than that of their parents when it comes to their destination including the ride there. I could never see what my parents saw because I was a child. I could never enjoy the soothing background music, the artistic scenery, the beauty of my wife, or the rich conversation during the ride because I was simply too childish to even notice.

What a picture for me in my own life! It occurred to me that this may be exactly what God is communicating to me. He's the Father in the car and I'm the childish son who wants to know, "Where are we going? Are we there yet? Tell me, show me, let me see!" All the while God is telling me, "Can't you just be quiet and enjoy the ride? I'm doing good things in your life. Stop worrying and just enjoy the ride. Enjoy Me!" What I'm realizing today is that in reality......He's the destination. And if we're with Him, well...then....we're already there. We just need to enjoy Him. That's exactly what I haven't been doing lately. I've been so focused on some distant place waiting for some future destination to be happy when He's saying to me, "I'm already here....right here in front of you. The thing you seek is Me."

Being exposed to the naked word of God has not only exposed my immaturity, but it's exposed my heart. It reminds me how fleeting my feelings can be and how unfailing God's is. I simply need to enjoy Him. That's my goal. Maybe then I'll finally enjoy the ride.

Lost In Translation

Have you ever heard a phrase spoken among a group of people and you had no clue as to what they were talking about? You know, like certain phrases or words that only the in-group understands. It almost works as if they were speaking in code so that no outsider could infiltrate their system of communication. I've often felt this way around people who speak Spanish. It makes no sense really when you look at me because based on the color of my skin I should be able to handle the dialect. But to much chagrin I cannot (insert sad face). However, that is not the only place I've felt left out. I remember when I first began to place my faith in Christ and attend a church. There I was pelted with phrases and words that meant absolutely nothing to me at the time. Some of those words included: born again, salvation, saved, sinner, new birth, justification, fellowship, testimony, evangelical, assurance, redeemed, redemption, reconciliation, saved, mission, outreach, repentance, witness, backslidden (that one still bothers me), blood of the Lamb, and spiritual warfare to name a few.

Here me out, I'm not advocating Christians should change these words to make them more palpable. On the contrary, I'm advocating two things: Firstly, Christians should take it easy on these overly used terms unless they explain what they mean (imagine someone speaking only to you in a foreign language and not being told the translation); but secondly, those who are new to their faith should also make a concerted effort to gain understanding because many of these words have great and powerful meaning.

Just the other day I was reading a book titled, Scandalous by D. A. Carson. It' a fairly small book but loaded with depth that I had to slow my pace for comprehension sake. In his book, Carson explains the implications regarding the "blood of the lamb" daubed on the doorposts of the Israelites during the plagues in Egypt. If you're not familiar with this time in history, God has sent plagues over the land of Egypt because of Pharaoh's resistance to God's command of releasing His people from enslavement. Some of those plagues afflicted only the Egyptians, but some of them over the whole land. This particular plague (the angel of death) was going to kill the firstborn of every living thing (animal and human). The only way to avoid this affliction was to daub your doorpost with the blood of a sacrificed lamb. Carson inserts a fictitious dialogue between two different, yet obedient followers of God. Both men having children of their own, Carson imagines a conversation between these two where both men are obedient (daubs his doorpost with lambs blood) but one man is confident in God's promise of protection and the other scared witless. Towards the end of this dialogue after the angel of death passes through the land of Egypt the author asks the reader, "Which one of these men loses his son?" The answer, of course, is neither. Why? Carson asserts that, "the reason is based not on the intensity of their faith nor on the joy of their obedience but whether they hid under the blood of the lamb."

I believe many people hear phrases that make absolutely no sense until they are translated or given context. Like I previously stated, I'm not advocating Christians should rid themselves of their language, but that we should never utter foreign phrases without explanation. Until terms like "blood of the lamb" had a context for me, it was nothing more than a foreign language void of any meaning. But when meaning is put into context as plainly as the author has done, it gives it power and purpose. Not only that, but it teaches assurance and the truth of God's promises.

My point in sharing this wasn't to talk about the importance of understanding Christian terminology, but to emphasize that little conversation buried in Carson's book. When I read the part about how one of those men were obedient yet scared witless, it reminded me of someone.............me. It reminded me of times when I'm scared to step out in faith, when I'm not completely confident, when I doubt God's power, when I second guess His will, and when I've convinced myself that the basis of God's grace in my life is dependent on the amount of faith I exhibit. The difference between those two men in the story was not that one had more faith than the other, but the fact that they were obedient........and in that obedience (however it looked), they were both covered.