Don't Underestimate God

Call it the tyranny of the urgent, tunnel vision or just the daily-ness of life, most of us are conditioned to think on a horizontal plane. We walk through life as though we were restricted by a set of blinders. We see little more than what we want to eat for breakfast, what we should do for a sinus headache or how to fight the traffic on the way to work. Occasionally, we venture a bit further and think about seasonal jobs like changing tires on the car or replacing the storm windows. But typically, we spend very few moments focusing on major themes of life and eternity.

Such spiritual myopia blinds us to the greater purposes of God. As humans, we jet through our routines on a straight line deployment, comprehending only the next task in the sequence. At the same time, God is busy being God and he fulfills the definition of God in everything he does. God does a billion things at once. He makes all billion of them relate to each other, he sets each of the billion things up, and he crafts each one in such a multi-faceted way that it accomplishes many things simultaneously. He calculates how the thing he does today will impact things that will happen next year or ten years down the road. He works above us, beneath us, behind us, before us and beside us, all on an infinite number of levels, and still manages to relate to us and our finite existence.

For example, when Abram responded to the call of God out of Haran , the greatest challenge in his own mind was to extricate himself from his country and culture and move out towards the promised land. But, as Abram methodically put one foot in front of the other, God was orchestrating an intricate plan that would culminate in the salvation of mankind. He was establishing a nation, surveying a land in which this nation could live, culling out the influence of a Lot , preparing a father for Isaac, securing a lineage for the Messiah, cultivating a friend and setting faith in sharp relief.

When you look too closely at Bible stories, you see only human history. That’s fine, but when you step back and take a look, you are struck by the transcendent plan of God at work. Isaac wanted a bride, but God wanted a Rebecca through whom he could put the attitude of the church on display. Jacob fought to win a wrestling match, but God is no WWF fan. He wanted to change a Jacob into an Israel . Joseph sought to successfully administer the Pharaoh’s kingdom, but God wanted to preserve the family of Jacob during a famine. Jochebed only followed her motherly instincts when she whispered and sang of the one, true God to baby Moses, but God used her to shape the convictions of a leader. Moses fled into Midian for his life, but God wanted to train him for the job of a deliverer. David wanted to protect his sheep from the lion and bear, but God intended to prepare a warrior to fight Goliath, and a king to rule over Israel .

Likewise, when you become too tied to the mundane events that monotonously stretch out before you, you lose awareness of the divine purposes working within you. Your personal assessment of the circumstances of life that drive your prayers and fuel your passions may be far too small. You may think you are merely singing in the choir, but God knows that you are strengthening the church and impacting others with your willingness to worship. You may feel you are plodding along in slavish obedience to the Bible, but God is using you to influence and inspire others who may never say a word to you.

The prayer warriors’ closet becomes God’s war room to win great spiritual battles. Sunday School teachers lessons get repeated by foreign missionaries. Simple acts of kindness set the stage for mighty revivals. Encouraging words are pivotal in salvaging someone’s powerful ministry.

We must develop a sense of the eternal in the temporal. Without it, we will succumb to the existentialist philosophy that increasingly defines our culture. It is a depressing outlook that limits all things to the here and now, the visible, audible and tangible. When we refuse to see God’s transcendent plan, we doom ourselves to negative, discordant and bitter lives. This is precisely why the Word of God teaches us to walk by faith and not by sight. Human sight and human understanding always underestimates the width, breadth, height and depth of God’s plan.

Stop viewing God from a limited, time-bound perspective. Remove your blinders. You will be amazed at all the things he accomplishes through your unremarkable, but faithful acts.

The Good Samaritan Paraphrased

A certain woman packed her kids into the passenger side of her rusty ten-year old Chevy truck, stopped to pump three gallons of gasoline into the tank, and lurched down the far right lane to the downtown concrete canyons of banks, loan offices and courtrooms. There, she fell among loan sharks, stone-faced bureaucrats and shady lawyers, who foreclosed on her mortgage, gave her the run-a-round, and finagled up-front payments and fees out of her until she had nothing left. Fighting back tears from the last encounter, she stumbled out of a glass and walnut paneled office and sank into a big leather chair in the waiting room to collect her senses. She awkwardly tried to keep the jagged rip in her dirty overcoat hidden, and almost managed to hold her frustration in check, but one tear escaped her eyes and dripped off her chin. Preoccupied, she didn’t notice that her kids were making too much noise for business offices.

About that time, a certain well-scrubbed and neatly dressed family walked by—-mom, dad and kids—-looking as though they had just stepped out of a storybook. With narrowed eyes, they steered around this obviously under-budgeted woman, making sure no one thought that they had anything in common with her. They quickly went on to their appointment to finance their new boat. As they passed by, however, the well-dressed lady did have a twinge of gratefulness that she could afford a nicer coat than the one the woman in the chair wore.

Not long afterwards, a type-A business man who strongly believed in making his own way in life, and didn’t mind expressing his opinions loud enough to be overheard came by. He glanced at the woman and registered a look of disdain. Leaning over to another person standing in line to roll over some money into another account, he said, “What’s the matter with people nowadays? They don’t want to work, they don’t want to make their kids behave, they don’t want to dress decent and they don’t have any respect anymore. They just want food stamps, ADC, welfare and grants. And we taxpayers support them.” The woman was sure that someone had shoved a white-hot knife into her heart, judging from the way she felt.

About that time, a sweet-faced lady knelt down by one of the kids and asked if he went to Sunday School. His little sister wobbled over and reached out to the lady with two grimy hands. The lady picked her up and said, “We have a class for you too! Would you like to go to Sunday School?” Then she looked over at their mother in the chair and noticed that all was not well. She said, “You look like you could use a friend. Is there anything I can do to help?”

And now you can guess why the woman and her kids ended up going with the sweet-faced lady to her church.

Love: A Paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 13

“Although I may be a gifted speaker and can pray in tongues anytime, anywhere, and yet I don’t love others, I am only making noise without substance. And though I seem to have an answer for everything and people come to me for my opinions, and I am a dynamo of spiritual power with many spiritual victories, and yet I have no love, I am a zero. And though my generosity is well known, and I have sacrificed all for God with wounds and scars to prove it, yet I have no love, God hasn’t profited from me at all.

“So, how can you tell whether or not you have real love? See for yourself how love behaves by the following list:

“Love smiles through the pain of being hurt, criticized, misunderstood and ignored without constantly complaining. Love never confronts anyone unless it is with a kind, well-considered word without blasting them out of the room. Love doesn’t judge or want what others have—-clothes, car, job, wife, husband, money, personality or even spiritual gifts. It doesn’t go around talking about God being unfair or people being uncaring when the real problem is envy and jealousy. It shuns the limelight and recognition. It doesn’t have “I” problems.

“Love declines to make a scene about everything and won’t make mountains out of molehills. It will not choose inappropriate and disruptive ways to make a point. It doesn’t have to be right all the time and it is slow to get stirred up about every tale spread through the ever-active grapevine. Love doesn’t wear its feelings on its sleeves, and it doesn’t assume that others are thinking, doing and intending the worst. It gives people the benefit of the doubt.

“Love suffers when someone fails or when tragedy strikes. It takes no pleasure in sin or wrongdoing of any kind. It is most interested in the truth winning out, even when the truth hurts. Love lends its shoulder to bear the burdens of others and never breaks their confidence. It believes the best in people and tries hard to trust them. Even when love feels someone is wrong, lying, or making a huge mistake, it still hopes for the best possible outcome. And when love is disappointed and crushed by bearing, believing and hoping, it endures the hurt and embarrassment with cheer and restraint, always continuing to be itself—-love.

“Three great forces motivate the church: faith, hope and love. These powerful attributes are the basis for everything the church is doing in the world today. But even when you narrow it all down to these three, at the top of the list you’ll find love.”

The Whole Enchilada

Okay, the whole nine yards. Lock, stock and barrel. Hook, line and sinker. Kit and caboodle. The farm. Dan to Beersheba . Soup to nuts. The whole shootin’ match. It all means basically the same thing: Take everything there is to take, all inclusive.

Today, the name of the game is options, the more the better. From color to size, from plain to fancy, from cheap to pricey, from thin veneer to the real McCoy, you can have it your way. Now, you can happily and proudly select your long-distance carrier, your cellular phone merchant, your natural gas company and your power service. A dizzying array of merchandise overwhelms the shopper who simply wants to buy some coffee, tea or soda pop. You can pick and choose whatever you like and leave out whatever you don’t. The customer has always been king, but now he is the absolute sovereign.

Religious merchandising types are now imposing their system upon spiritual commodities. Church startups today base their strategy upon market sampling, demographics and customer profiling. The principle seems simple: find out what the people want and then give it to them. Be sensitive, play it loose, cut the pressure, and please the customer. After all, if they don’t like what we give them, they’re sure to be out the door to the next churchy entrepreneur. And we can’t have that, can we?

Just think, if this philosophy had dominated the times of the disciples, the outcome would have been radically different:

The disciples would have worked an eight hour day, three days a week.
Home on weekends, summers off, paid vacations and nine holidays.
Foot travel limited to marketplace shopping.
First class tickets to Jerusalem , king size beds in upscale motels.
Peaceful coexistence with Jewish leaders.
Diet expanded beyond loaves of bread and fish.
No crowd control responsibilities.
No foot washing.
Extra pay for hazardous work.
Parity in discipleship rankings.

What about the early church? Stephen would not have preached until he was stoned to death. Ananias would not have risked his life to witness to Saul of Tarsus. The Judiazers would have dominated the early church councils. James would have capitulated before he was decapitated. Peter would have plea bargained his way out of prison. No long missionary journeys, no Mars Hill, no beatings, stonings, shipwrecks, fastings nor any other inconveniences. It is clear to me that had these conditions been in force during the early church, no one would have done the necessary work to establish the greatest organization on earth.

All the sweet successes we revel in today were borne on the backs of extreme sacrifice and reckless abandon to mission. The pioneers did not equivocate or hedge their way to victory. They embraced—-even welcomed—-pain and deprivation. They searched for the way to get the job done, not the way out.

If our generation keeps inching away from total discipleship to a contemporarily designed, cost-efficient, culturally approved, nominal Christian relationship, we’re done. What ever it took to get us here, will be needed to keep us here! True saint of God, accept the challenge of total mission. Take it all: the good and bad, the pain and gain, the beautiful and ugly, the tough and tender. The whole enchilada.

“But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things… I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” Philippians 3:7-12 (NIV)

Things I Didn’t Think I Needed

I didn’t think I needed a life vest—-until I fell in the water.
I didn’t think I needed a helmet—-until I hit the rocks.
I didn’t think I needed new tires—-until I had a blowout.
I didn’t think I needed gasoline—-until my tank ran dry.
I didn’t think I needed to eat—-until there was no restaurant in sight.
I didn’t think I needed motel reservations—-until there was no vacancy.
I didn’t think I needed a road map—-until I got lost.
I didn’t think I needed an umbrella—-until I got caught in the rain.
I didn’t think I needed admission tickets—-until I was refused entrance.
I didn’t think I needed extra money—-until I went broke.
I didn’t think I needed a friend—-until I felt a suffocating loneliness.
I didn’t think I needed a helping hand—-until I couldn’t help myself.
I didn’t think I needed a smile—-until sadness overwhelmed me.
I didn’t think I needed a kind word—-until I sensed hostility all around me.
I didn’t think I needed encouragement—-until I failed yet again.
I didn’t think I needed family—-until life became terribly empty.
I didn’t think I needed faith—-until my five senses left me without answers.
I didn’t think I needed hope—-until bitter despair smothered me.
I didn’t think I needed love—-until it seemed like everyone rejected me.
I didn’t think I needed truth—-until confusion raged around me.
I didn’t’ think I needed forgiveness—-until the weight of guilt crushed me.
I didn’t think I needed God—-until I understood the brevity of my life.
I didn’t think I needed salvation—-until sin held me in bondage.
I didn’t think I needed the Bible—-until I yearned for spiritual food.
I didn’t think I needed a pastor—-until nobody gave me spiritual care.
I didn’t think I needed the church—-until I was washed up and abandoned.
I didn’t think I needed to watch what I was doing—-until my children did.
I didn’t think I needed to pray—-until everything fell apart.
I didn’t think I needed healing—-until disease invaded my body.
I didn’t think I needed deliverance—-until I knew I had no power to survive.

Isn’t it amazing? We know what we need to do, but we just don’t do it. We know we need all of these things, and more. Yet, we allow pride to rule our lives and throw us into disastrous situations.

It is time to stop engaging in fantasies about self-sufficiency and personal ability. Those who do not forsake their pride will spend the rest of their lives doing damage control. Doesn’t it make so much more sense to admit that we do have real needs and reach out to God for His divine help? To do so is not weakness. It is just being smart where it counts.

Warning Signs for Prayer Abusers

Self-Test for Prayer Abuse: How many of these apply to you?

I probably pray more than I am willing to admit.
I have prayed when I was depressed or to cheer myself up.
I have gone on praying binges of an entire day.
I sometimes pray early in the morning or before work.
I often get up in the middle of the night and sneak into the basement to pray.
I have hidden prayer lists in different places to sneak a prayer without being seen.
Sometimes I avoid friends or family obligations in order to pray.
At times, I pray rapidly to get it all in before others notice I am missing.
Sometimes I re-write prayers when I hear others pray.
I often pray alone.
I have pretended to do something else while secretly praying.
I keep prayer books in the bathroom for a “quick charge.”
I have denied or “laughed off” criticism of my praying habit.
Heavy praying has caused conflicts with my family or spouse.
I am unable to enjoy myself with others unless I have a chance to pray.
I seldom leave my house without thinking of praying.

I find myself needing a quick prayer before dealing with a challenge at work.
When traveling, I have sometimes stopped at a rest area to pray.

I have veered across the center line on the road when praying.

I have received at least two warnings from state troopers about praying while driving.

Strangers in waiting rooms have asked me if I was alright when I have inadvertently moaned in prayer.
At a party, I will often slip off unnoticed to pray.
Praying has made me seek places and companions which otherwise I have little in common.
I have neglected personal hygiene or household chores until I finished praying.
I become nervous, disoriented, or fearful when I go more than half a day without praying.
I have spent money meant for necessities on books about prayer.
I have sacrificed precious time and money to support my prayer “habit.”
I have daydreamed about becoming a great prayer warrior.
I have attempted to pray beyond my allotted time.
Most of my friends are prayer abusers like me.
I have sometimes passed out or woken groggy or “hung-over” after a night of heavy praying.

My elbows and knees sometimes hurt from excessive praying.
I have suffered ‘blackouts’ or memory loss from a bout of praying.
I have wept, become angry or irrational because of something I pray about.
I have sometimes wished I did not pray so much.
Sometimes I think my praying is out of control.

I habitually think of prayer as the only answer to the problems in my life.

If you answered ‘yes’ to five or more of these questions, you may be a prayer abuser. Affirmative responses to ten or more indicate a serious praying problem —seek help now! Fifteen or more “yes” responses indicate a severe or chronic “prayaholic” personality. Intervention is seldom effective at this stage. (Adapted from American Literature Abuse Society)

The “prayer abuse” syndrome is not a wide-spread problem at this time, but experts tell us that a sudden and severe change in global conditions may trigger a sharp rise in its occurrence. Financial collapse, family and marital life disruptions and decline in health may also lead to prayer-abuse. The Surgeon-General has not yet addressed the problem. Strong, inordinate faith in God seems to be the main predisposition to the condition in victims’ minds.

Conflict of Interest

“Draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you.” James 4:8

Getting close to God sounds so simple. It’s like standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon and drinking in the vast copper, clay and sand-toned artistry of the owner of Creative Landscaping, Inc. Or, like feeling the moist, pre-dawn air in your face as you slowly head through the rising mist toward yesterday’s prime fishing spot. Aren’t those the times when we get closest to God? Not really. It’s much more brutal than that.

David said “But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works.” Psalm 73:28. We all understand the value of closing the gap, of shortening the distance between God and us. When we are close to God, we feel better. When we are close to God, we obtain his blessings. When we are close to God, He soothes our feelings. When are close to God, He cleanses us from sin. When we are close to God, He brings peace to our lives. Close is good. Close is also costly. Each step that draws you closer to God makes you forego alternative choices.

This is where conflict of interest comes in. An age-old law states that you cannot have stock in a business if you hold a public office that exerts control over the business. In June of 2001, Treasury Secretary, Paul O’Neal announced that he divested himself of stock in Alcoa, the aluminum company. Watchdog groups hounded him until they forced him into this separation. They knew that a public servant who stands to realize personal gains from his public decisions cannot be trusted to be fair and impartial. Even potential gain from private holdings suffices to disqualify a person from office. Of course, many would-be public servants protest loudly, vowing that they would never allow their holdings to influence their decisions. Sorry, but no deal. The temptation to shape legislation for personal benefit cannot be risked. For the same reason, umpires cannot call plays if their sons or daughters are in the game. Judges must recuse themselves from cases involving a relative. Reporters cannot write the story if the subject means covering their parents. The principle of conflict of interest applies in every case.

God’s standards for getting close to him have to do with eliminating the competition, not exhilarating feelings, enjoyment of nature or aesthetic appreciation. Tree-huggers or nature enthusiasts have no advantage. Neither do mystics, musicians or poets. Nor do philosophers, philanthropists or patron saints. God doesn’t consider any of these areas. He doesn’t ask if you like him, enjoy him, feel good about him, respect or honor him. He doesn’t even want to know if you love him.

What God does want to know is if you love only him…and he won’t take your word for it; He insists on judging your credibility for himself. Anyone who wants to draw nigh to God must simultaneously cut off all the competition. God measures your love and devotion to him in terms of your disavowal of rival suitors. Once you begin to give up things supremely significant to your flesh, God pays attention.

Abraham found the secret. “And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham and said … Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering.” Genesis 22:1-2. God forced a brutal, horrific choice upon Abraham. In a sense, God said, “I will not be satisfied with your profession of love toward me until you show your willingness to divest yourself of every competing influence.”

God’s request seemed cruel, even despotic, but Abraham complied. He journeyed to Moriah, built an altar, bound Isaac and lifted the knife to plunge it into his son’s chest. Only then did God stop him and provided a ram for the sacrifice. He brooked no conflict of interest in Abraham’s relationship with him. “And [the angel of the LORD] said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.” Genesis 22:11-12. When Abraham drew nigh to God through the divestiture of his conflicts of interest, God drew nigh to Abraham.

Stated another way, God’s presence in your life is inversely proportional to the status of all other interests you possess. Less of you means more of him. Don’t measure closeness to God by seeking a mystical, divine ambience in the sanctuary. Don’t confuse it with the resonating chords of a worship chorus. Don’t even mistake a dynamic and anointed service with your personal closeness to God. Only when you set aside any cherished possessions and relationships that displace God’s priorities in your life, does God draw nigh.

The Gospel According To FedEx ®

It’s plastered on all of their vehicles, containers and literature. Their executives have committed to it as a corporate mission and their people, from managers to drivers, from loaders to couriers, make it their daily objective. Simple and easy to understand, it defines their purpose. They have reduced everything they believe, everything they have and everything they do to this one statement. It is their gospel.

“The World On Time.” That’s it.

FedEx pledges to ship products from one point to another, anywhere in the world, at the precise time they agree to do it, or sooner. They dedicate all the resources of their vast assemblage of jets, trucks and distribution centers to this simple mission. Hordes of purple and orange uniformed associates scurry around our neighborhoods and crisscross the globe to get the job done. Clusters of corporate executives meet from early to late in far-flung office buildings devising ways to reach this singular goal more effectively.

Little else matters if they don’t deliver their packages on time. Failure means that their competition would soon overwhelm them, and customer disaffection would soon erode their client lists. If they don’t reach the world, then they are of no value to many of their clients who must have their good shipped to out-of-the-way places on the other side of the world. If they do reach the world, but don’t get there on time, they may as well forget it. Many products lose their value if they are not delivered at exact times.

In a way, it’s too bad that FedEx had to be the one to invent this statement. If anyone should commit to such a goal as, “The World On Time,” it ought to be the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. No product in the world surpasses His gospel in importance and urgency.

The World. Jesus, the Lamb that takes away the sins of the world, did not shrink the scope of his mission to fit only his family, his nation or his race. Emanating from earth’s highest mountain, the waves of his redemptive blood surged ever outward in concentric circles until they included the most remote geographical areas of the planet, and offered salvation to the most unlikely and undeserving human beings among us. If, out of one blood, he made all the nations, then, through one blood, he wants to save all nations. So must our mission match his vision. If our founder’s vision embraced the world of the first century, who are we to impose limitations on the church’s mission twenty centuries later? Petty prejudices or myopic mentalities must not whittle the grand intentions of the Savior down to a fraction of their original design.

The church today must continually reassess and relentlessly pursue its purpose in global terms. Novel trends often seize our imaginations, and, before we know it, we charge off in some purely human direction. Personal agendas sabotage our ordained purpose. Multiple wants and perceived needs draw us into lesser missions. Many of these missions boast noble and attractive results, but they turn out to be mere distractions. After all is said and done, we still have a world to reach. Should FedEx proclaim a vision bigger than that of the church?

On Time. The best product in the world loses its potency if it arrives at its destination too late. While the church may eventually rise to their worldwide challenge, we cannot forget the expiring time. The importance of the gospel lies not only in the efficacious blood of Jesus, but also in the urgency of the need. In John 4:35, Jesus said, “Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.” We have a world of people to reach—-now! Jesus himself set forth this time constraint, and we dare not dismiss it as irrelevant. Notwithstanding the claims of the predestination doctrine, the denial of the historicists, the whitewashing of the multicultural movement or the abdication of post-modern Christianity, the church still has an urgency driving its mission. If we don’t get there on time, others with a lesser gospel will. If we don’t get there on time, even the greatest message in the world cannot save a single soul. A too late gospel equals no gospel at all.

We must commit the resources of the church to reaching this simple goal. Our worldwide network of ministers and people, churches and districts, ministries and programs need to work to make it happen. No objective or mission we presently own eclipses this one in importance—-today, or ever. In the world of package delivery, FedEx may reach The World On Time. In the world of propagating the true gospel, it is the church that must answer the call.