PLANT. WAIT. ENJOY.

Saturday was the day. Our landscape C3 partners were feverishly planting some funky looking things in the ground called bulbs. No one was applauding. There were no cheers. The bulbs are nothing to look at. But a few months from now people will slow down in awe as they do every year on our campus. Parents will plant their children in front of the showy display of color for a photo op. I'll be grateful for the team that took a Saturday morning to do some tedious yet boring work that will result in brilliant beauty.

That's the way so many beautiful things work: plant, wait, enjoy. Consider...

• a beautiful friendship
• a beautiful marriage
• a beautiful garden
• a beautiful home
• a beautiful family

How did it happen? Somebody planted without applause: seeds of kindness, bulbs of disciplined commitment, tubers of respect. They fertilized it and watered it with perseverance, faithfulness, consistency. Then they waited for something beautiful to appear.

So plant what seems insignificant. Like an ugly bulb, in the right conditions, it will spring forth into something beautiful.

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. (Galatians 6:9, NIV)

ALWAYS LOGICAL? Maybe not...

I'm a logical guy. Give me the facts. Show me the map. Let's look at the stats. Not a fan of conjecture, unthoughtful planning, and no strategy. But sometimes, following God is not...logical.

What I mean is that from my point of view, following God, does not always include the next most logical move. It means sometimes God's request of us calls for surrender to His wisdom rather than our own.

Don't some of God's moves defy logic?
Would you choose a man hiding in a winepress to lead an army? God did. He chose Gideon.
Would you entrust the leadership of millions to a man who had only led sheep? God did. He chose Moses.
Does logic lead us to assign the leadership of a movement to 12 guys who don't appear to be team-minded? No. But Jesus did.

Today, Jesus might ask you to do something illogical. Trust Him.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
    and do not lean on your own understanding.
⁶ In all your ways acknowledge him,
    and he will make straight your paths.
⁷ Be not wise in your own eyes...
Proverbs 3:5-7a (ESV)

 

GRITS

One of my favorite stories is of a "northerner" who visits some café in Louisiana. He sees grits in a prominent place on the menu and asks the waitress, "What is a grit?" In a slow southern drawl, with a heavy dose of twang, she retorted, "Grit??? They're grits!! They don't come by themselves." I love it. Maybe it's because I think I've met that server somewhere in Shreveport, Louisiana.

I heard a famous "Christian" comedian lamenting over meet and greet in churches. "Don't want to shake someone's sweaty hand that I don't know." Lots of jabs and laughs followed. After listening for awhile, it seemed to me that he would be happy if he never had to be anywhere but on stage or in his basement home theater. Not sure how much he'll like heaven if he's so opposed to being around people different than himself.

To quote the southern advisor, "Grits don't come by themselves." And neither do Christians. The idea of being a Christian but "not the church-going type" isn't compatible with the NT. Yeah, I know "church is not a building" (Don't write me on that one. I've heard the argument.) But Christianity isn't a solo endeavor either. Check it out. When the Spirit came, He motivated the first believers to devote themselves to meeting in the temple and in homes (Acts 2:40-47). Whether you prefer a house church or a church of thousands with small groups, get in one and be part of the solution.

START ON TUESDAY

When my wife and I built our home and moved in, we went through the phase that everyone goes through: the phase of now and later. We decided the things we must have now: the bed, some clothes, the toiletries, the microwave, the flipflops, the robe and my workboots. The later? Those were things like pictures on the wall, stuff on the shelves, organizing the garage, box of DVD's, etc.

But we wanted to have friends over, to celebrate family birthdays, hold our small group and have houseguests. But...there were those undone things: the boxes still on the floor, the pictures not on the wall, the towel rod in the guest bathroom. We found ourselves saying, "We can have out-of-town guests after the boxes are unpacked...after the pictures are up...after the garage is organized...after the landscaping is finished. Months later, we decided together to quit living in the "afters" and start living now. So what if the boxes were unpacked and the basement wasn't finished.? We love people more than appearances!

Have you put off joy? Maybe you find yourself saying a lot of "afters"...
...after the kids are in school, I'll start my workouts
...after the kids are on break, we'll go camping
...after the kids graduate, I'll start a small group study
...after the holidays, I'll re-start my prayer time
...after we retire, we'll go see those old friends
...after I get through this week, then I'll start next Monday.

Break the trend! Why not start on Tuesday?

How to kill anything slowly…

Maybe it’s just a man thing. But I suspect that it isn’t. Why don’t we ask more questions?

I can’t remember where I read this but here was the concept: Organizations are like people. They start out as children--asking questions and seeking answers,

“Can this be done better?”
”Is there a different solution for this problem?”
“Why do we do this?”

As a result, the organization grows because of its innovation and flexibility. Then, just like children, the organization grows up and gets comfortable. It moves into “if it ain’t broke – don’t fix it“ mode. Growth slows because “We’re grown up. We know this industry.” Bottom line? They stop asking questions and they slowly and sometimes painfully die.

Here's the powerful application to life...

How to kill anything slowly: stop asking questions.

How to kill a marriage? Stop asking beautiful questions like: “How are you, my love? I mean, really, how are you?” “Anything I can help you with, honey?” “How can I pray for you?”

How to kill a child-parent relationship? Just quit asking, “What are you afraid of son? Who’s your best friend? How was your day? How can I pray for you?”

How to kill a conversation?

How to kill an employee’s joy in work?

How to kill a sermon?

A friendship?

Stop asking questions. Stop learning. Stop growing.. and watch it slowly die. Or, breathe some life into those withering, dying things and ask some beautiful, powerful questions.

WHAT DO YOU SEE?

So, a few days ago, I'm in Sitka, Alaska. We're on a pier and we walked by a fish cleaning station.A man is cleaning a halibut and simultaneously I hear voices around me, "Ewwww! That is so gross! That stinks!" The man is gingerly sliding his sharp knife between the skin and the delicate flesh of the halibut. Me? I'm thinking, "Wow! Wonder how he caught that? Just imagine a fresh halibut steak on the grill!"

It reminded me of this truth: what you see depends on who you are.

In John 4, Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at a well. While the disciples go into town food, Jesus does some fishing. The woman is flabbergasted, "How does he know so much about me?" Meanwhile, the disciples get back from town with lunch:

"Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?”" (John 4:27)

It's obvious they don't see what Jesus sees: a woman who is thirsty for something other than water. What do they see? A Jewish holy man talking to a Samaritan woman--something that wasn't cool. He corrects their vision:

"Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest." (John 4:35, emphasis added). 

So what will you see today? 

• A frustrated, unpleasant waiter? Or someone who's really thirsty for living water?
• One more person in your overcrowded office? Or someone you can love and show a kind welcome to?
• Will you focus on those missing from your group Bible study or small group? Or the ones who showed up?
• A rowdy teenager in McDonalds? Or maybe a kid from a broken home who needs some tenderness or silent prayer?
• Another mess your children made? Or a moment, a memory, of childhood that is quickly passing? 

What do you see? It all depends...

Faith is a Fight

Faith is a fight. 

When we receive news, we get afraid sometimes. It’s only human.

In 2 Kings 19, there's a true story about the fight for faith. Here the good king Hezekiah receives a report from the battlefield. It threatens their national security. It’s bold and the dangers from Assyria are serious. In chapter 18 you can read it and you get the sense that it’s meant to intimidate them into retreating and rolling over. When Hezekiah gets the report he gives us an example of what we should do:

2 Kings 19:14 Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. 15And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: “Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God. 17“It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. 18They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. 19Now, Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, Lord, are God.”

Notice what he doesn’t do:

•  Hezekiah doesn’t deny the report. In the past some of us have erroneously been taught that faith is to DENY the report that is discouraging. Sort of like living in a land of make-believe with our fingers in our ears. We were taught to fake our way through to the miracle by saying, “I’m not sick.” Or just, “The devil is a liar.” While it’s true the devil is a liar, Hezekiah shows us a better way to deal with discouraging news 
• Hezekiah doesn’t make threats back to the enemy, like saying, “You’re going down King of Assyria!” He isn’t rash. In fact, in chapter 18, he tells God’s people, “Don’t answer the enemy.” (See 2 Ki 18:36) Some people get into strange areas when they rant at the darkness. We should beware and be watchful. Sometimes we DO get a word from the Lord to command an evil spirit to leave. But notice how Hezekiah is careful with his mouth and urges the people to be still.

What Hezekiah does right:

• He spread out the news before the Lord. (v14) He didn’t deny it. He didn’t fake it. He told God what God already knew, “Lord…listen to the words Sennacherib has sent…” Have you done this? I’ve done it many times. I’ve laid plans, letters, drawings and budgets out before the Lord and said, “Lord, see this. Look and hear us.” Yes, God already knows but it demonstrates where our confidence is—not in ourselves, but in our God. 
• He asks for deliverance for the purpose of God’s glory—not Hezekiah’s glory. (v19) 
• Hezekiah prays a big prayer to a big God: Deliver us!

Well, the end of the story is that God took care of the enemy in a glorious way.

…declares the Lord.34I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.’ ”35That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! 36So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.

Now your story, my story, may not always end like this. Truth is, that until His kingdom comes in fullness, we will all face suffering from time to time and eventually the reality of death. We don’t know how every circumstance will turn out in the temporary, but we do know how things are in the eternal!

  

• We know God can be glorified in everything.

o   He is glorified when we cry out to Him, just as Hezekiah did. It demonstrates our faith and trust in a mighty and benevolent God.

o   He is glorified in the healing, the miracle, or the deliverance as He was here in Hezekiah’s case. (Read the end of chapter 19!)

o   He is glorified in the world’s eyes as the One who defends and stands up for His own.

·      

•  We know His love does not change for us. Whether the end of the story is as we had hoped or it turns out otherwise, we know that nothing can separate us from His love.  We know that God is working all things toward an ultimate good ending for the people of God. (Romans 8:28; Jer. 29:11).   
• We know God is mighty and able to do exceedingly above.

So spread out the news before the Lord. Yes, He knows already but it demonstrates trust and faith.

Pray a big prayer as Hezekiah did: Deliver us mighty God! Pray that He is glorified in whatever outcome.

God is good. God loves us. God is working. God is mighty.

Let us hold to these things in the face of every circumstance.