Dene's Blog

Acting Like a Child

5/21/2015 0 Comments

“Stop acting like a child!” has become a staple line of many arguments. Yet one time, Jesus said the very opposite.

Verily I say unto you, Except you turn, and become as little children, you shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven, Matt 18:3. Unfortunately, whenever this event in Jesus’ life comes up in Bible classes, we totally ignore the context and instead start listing all the wonderful qualities of children. By the time we have finished, it’s a wonder we can’t find dozens of passages telling us to act like children instead of dozens telling us to grow up! Till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a full-grown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, Eph 4:13. Worse than that, we miss the point Jesus is making.

Look what was happening immediately before. The Twelve were arguing about which of them was the greatest in the kingdom. Surely that had something to do with Jesus’ admonition.

The verse after the one we all quote so often specifies, Whosoever shall humble himself as this little child…(v 4). What was it about this particular child? He had no status or rank, no wealth, and nothing to offer in worldly terms at all. All he did was come the minute he was called and trust the one who called implicitly. Don’t you think that made those men squirm in embarrassment at their previous behavior?

Then Jesus went on to add, But whoso shall cause one of these little ones that believe on me to stumble, it is profitable for him that a great millstone should be hanged about his neck, and that he should be sunk in the depth of the sea, v 6. Here He included those metaphorical children who would come to Him with the same humility and trust. How we treat them determines our fate as much as how we live our lives, or even how we worship or where.

Do you think the early disciples did not need this lesson? Besides their constant bickering about who was the greatest, those early churches had arguments about who had the greatest spiritual gift and who should get the most “floor time” with his gift, 1 Cor 12-14. They bragged about which preacher baptized them, 1 Cor 1. They showed off their wealth in bringing so much Lord’s Supper that it constituted a braggadocio feast instead of a memorial supper, 1 Cor 11. Their women had to be reminded not to dress up to show off their wealth, 1 Tim 2. They were told that how they received guests into their assembly could condemn them as easily as committing adultery or murder, James 2. Clearly, personal humility and acceptance of others regardless of rank was a lesson they needed from the beginning.

Why was that important? Because, as Jesus tells the sheep in that great parable of the judgment in Matt 25, when they wonder how they had served the Lord by feeding, clothing, and visiting him, he answers them this way, Inasmuch as you did it unto one of these my brethren, even these least, you did it unto me, Matt 25:40. Any time we reject a brother because we think we are better than he, whether because of wealth, education, race, or anything other consideration, we are rejecting the Lord for the same reason.

So the next time this passage comes up in Bible class, let’s see if, instead of listing all the sweet things our children do, we can actually get the lesson Jesus intended from it. It’s a whole lot more important than we seem to think.

And he took a little child, and set him in the midst of them: and taking him in his arms, he said unto them, Whosoever shall receive one of such little children in my name, receives me: and whosoever receives me, receives not me, but him that sent me, Mark 9:36,37.

Dene Ward

Chicken and Dumplings

5/20/2015 0 Comments

I was reading a cooking magazine a few months ago which claimed to have formulated the best recipe for chicken and dumplings—one of my family’s favorite meals, as well as a great way to stretch a dollar of the weekly grocery budget. Halfway through the article I found a big problem.

This magazine is based in Boston, its editor from Vermont. I already had a suspicion what their “best” recipe would contain—big puffy dumplings resembling drowned biscuits. In the South, especially the poor rural south, most prefer flat “slicker style” dumplings, akin to noodles or pasta, enriched with egg yolks and sometimes butter, even chicken fat if possible.

   Sure enough, near the end of the article we readers were informed that the panel of tasters greatly preferred the “Yankee style” dumplings (that was their wording, not mine), “except for two holdouts from Kentucky.” Really? Do you suppose if the magazine had been based in Atlanta, with the panel predominantly Southern, that the results might have been overwhelmingly in favor of the Southern style dumplings “except for two holdouts from Connecticut?”

   Taste has a lot to do with your background, what you grew up eating, what your parents did and did not like, and what was available in your area. My boys loved fried okra. Some of the friends they brought home from college didn’t even know what it was, and were almost afraid to try it. We are blessed to live in a society so wealthy that we can choose what we like and don’t like. For most of us, eating has more to do with pleasure than necessity.

   Unfortunately, that spoiled attitude has spilled over into our spiritual lives. We think we can take it or leave it as we choose, without ill effect; and if we take it, we think we can choose how we take it. Our Creator doesn’t get to choose how He wants to be served. We get to choose how, when, where, even if. We get to choose which parts of this law we want to follow, and which we want to ignore. We can even interpret it any way we like, even if our interpretation ignores the context or plainly contradicts another part of it. We get to do all this choosing and He must be satisfied with what we want, and what we like. No wonder anthropologists talk about Deity as something each culture creates.

   Yes, each culture creates gods they want to worship, but that is not Deity. Until we understand that the concept of Deity does not involve our likes and dislikes at all, we will never be approved by that Deity. As long as we think our opinions matter, we are not serving God, we are simply serving ourselves.

   God is immutable. Truth is absolute. Obedience is not a request but a demand. We can choose to disobey, but the consequences will not be pleasant.

Thus says Jehovah, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, Jehovah of hosts: I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no God. And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I established the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and that shall come to pass, let them declare. Fear not, neither be afraid: have I not declared unto you of old, and showed it? and you are my witnesses. Is there a God besides me? yea, there is no Rock; I know not any. Isa 44:6-8.

For the recipe accompanying this post, click > Dene's Recipes page

Dene Ward

Under the Umbrella

5/19/2015 2 Comments

Despite its nickname, “The Sunshine State,” we have a lot of rain in Florida. One moment it is bright and sunny, and the next it is dark and breezy with angry black clouds boiling in the sky. Within minutes they open up as if Atlas himself were emptying a huge bucket over you. It will rain so hard that visitors often stand at the window watching in fear. Many have never seen anything like a tropical downpour. With us, it is just a matter of course. Less than half an hour later, the sun is out, the pavement steaming, and the puddles already soaking through the sandy soil.

   Down here our umbrellas get a work-out. You carry one in each vehicle in case you get caught, and you keep one in the house as well. I have even known a few folks who keep one in the front closet at the meetinghouse. You just never know.

   Yet as handy an invention as it is, umbrellas can be awkward. Trying to hold one on your shoulder with your chin while you lean over to unlock the chain on the gate without getting wet, is a neat trick I have yet to manage successfully. Something always gets wet—my head, my hand ands arms, my legs, or that part of me that sticks out when I bend over. At best it is clumsy. At worst it is hardly worth the trouble at all, so if it’s a light sprinkle, I just leave the umbrella in the car and get wet, but probably not any more wet than I would have gotten anyway. Imagine if you had to carry one all the time. What a nuisance!

   Maybe that is why we so often do without our spiritual umbrellas. However, when I turn my life over to God, it is supposed to be just that—my life. Not just Sunday morning, not just moments of crisis, not just times when society and culture say I ought to act in a more spiritual way than usual. Christianity is an umbrella I carry everywhere. It covers every aspect of my life.

   I am under its umbrella when I marry, when I raise my children, when I interact with my neighbors. That umbrella should be over me when I drive, when I shop, and when I talk with the repairman or the mechanic. I should be under its influence when the wait at the doctor’s office is long, when the order at the restaurant comes out not quite right, and when the bargaining starts at the car lot.

   Having that umbrella over my head can be awkward at times. It might mean that I am occasionally taken advantage of. It might mean that my patience is sorely tested. It might mean that I must yield rights that my culture says I have the privilege to. In fact, I might even be ridiculed for carrying an umbrella in a place where no one else does—including a few card-carrying Umbrellians.

   Living your life under that umbrella of Christianity has a lot of advantages though. An umbrella offers protection, but only if you keep it open. You can’t fold it up and leave it at home when it suits you, then expect it to automatically appear when you need it.

   Do have your umbrella with you today? Is it open?

Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ…For you died, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall be manifested, then shall you also with him be manifested in glory, Phil 1:27a; Col 3:3,4 .

Dene Ward

The Age of Reason

5/18/2015 0 Comments

For various reasons I have found myself remembering my junior high years lately. That time of life can be trying. You are not an adult, but you are not a little child either. In fact, you are not sure who you are.

   Your body is behaving strangely and you have outgrown the cute stage. You are too fat or too skinny, taller than everyone else or shorter, too loud for the adults in your life, but too quiet to suit your peers. Your hair is too curly or too straight for the current style, and you never know what sort of face will greet you in the mirror each morning.

   You begin to feel a need to embrace ideals but you are not sure which ones or why. The ones your peers embrace, even as they strive to rebel from the norm, seem just a little too empty and too “popular.” Where is the individuality they say they crave? The ones many teachers press on you seem to come with agendas attached. Do they teach these because they believe them and think they will help you, or because they want disciples?

   But the thing we need to think about today is, what about us as parents? Of all people, we should be teaching ideals that will make our children’s lives better and their souls secure, but sometimes the things we do make that difficult for a child to see, especially one already confused by his mind and body, and the mixed signals he receives from everyone around him.

   Help him out. Live by the ideals you teach. We tell him nothing is more important than his soul, but does he see that in us, or does he see far more time and money given to recreation and status-building than to the Lord, to worthy causes, to needy souls and spiritual pursuits? We tell him his eternal destiny is more important than physical wealth and security, but does he see us sacrifice spiritual matters for those very things time and time again? Does he ever see us engaged in personal Bible study or is the TV on 24 hours a day? Does he hear us preach honesty then hear us brag about cheating the tax man? Does he hear us talk about setting priorities, about being at the meetinghouse every time the door is open, while remembering that you have not spent any time with him, one on one, talking about spiritual things in the past six months or even longer? As young as he is, he understands that there is more to Christianity than sitting on a pew.

   Adolescent rebellion is not unusual. It is part of discovering who you are—considering ideas, then rejecting them or accepting them. Don’t give your children an easy—and far more obvious reason than you would like to believe—to reject yours.

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 2 Tim 3:14,15.

Dene Ward

Psalm 23--Missing the Obvious Part 2

5/15/2015 0 Comments

Yes, there are more obvious things we simply read over in Psalm 23.

When do you usually hear a reading of the twenty-third psalm? Funerals and deathbeds, right? We have consigned this little gem to those two occasions, probably because of the translation, “the valley of the shadow of death.” Yet, if we had simply done a little study—very little, in fact—instead of just accepting what we always hear and assuming it the beginning and end of the matter, we would have found many other uses for this psalm.

   “The valley of the shadow of death” is actually one Hebrew word—tsalmaveth—and it can mean “deep darkness.” It is, in fact, translated that way in the modern versions. Yes, in Job 38:17 it seems to refer to physical death, but in Jer 2:6 it refers to the wilderness wandering, certainly a dark era for the people of God. In Jer 13:16 it refers to the coming destruction and captivity, perhaps their darkest period. In Job 34:22 I am not certain what it refers to, but it certainly isn’t death. This is important because all of us experience times of deep darkness in our lives. To know that God is with us during those times too, not just at death, is a comfort beyond any other.

   And do notice this, God is the one leading us to and through this dark place. In fact, coming immediately after “he leads me in paths of righteousness” (literally, “right paths”), this dark place is the right place for me to be. It may be a severe trial, but for some reason I need to be there. It is right for me to be there, and God will lead me “through” it. He will not put me there and leave me there. Even something as severe as a losing a child, becoming disabled, or becoming terminally ill, is one He has led me to and through, accompanying me all the way.

   But there may well be other kinds of dark places I must go through, and will realize He has been with me when I get out on the other side. That is, if I have remained His faithful servant, trusting in His wisdom and care. As long as He is with me, “I will fear no evil.” It may be that His presence involves correction or discipline (His “rod and staff”), but I know that He loves me and this is the right place for me to be, and that even in this dark place, “goodness and mercy follows me,” that is, “pursues” me. His goodness and mercy are on the hunt for me, even in the dark places—especially in the dark places.

   Don’t miss out on the gold in this little treasure chest just because you have heard it all your life. Use it to help you navigate those dark places, with Him as your guiding star. Trust Him, as this particular genre of psalms is called, the Psalms of Trust, or Psalms of Confidence—in God.

   You can make it through the dark to a light beyond, which is also implied, for you can’t have a shadow without a light shining somewhere.

The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall. Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident. One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple, Psalm 27:1-4.

Dene Ward

Psalm 23--Missing the Obvious Part 1

5/14/2015 0 Comments

Back in my younger years I was a jogger. If you missed the story, slip over to the right sidebar under “categories,” and click on “Country Life.” Scroll down to “One Fencepost at a Time”—even farther back than “Backwards One Fencepost at a Time”—and you can read about it with its own lesson of encouragement.

   When I finally progressed to jogging on the highway instead of the cow pasture (explained in that previous post), the first time I took nearly twice as long as I should have to jog the same distance. Ordinarily, jogging on a firm surface is easier because your feet push off and the momentum is with you instead of all sinking down into the dirt, sand, mud, or grass of the softer surfaces. That was not what slowed me down. What kept distracting me were the things I had passed every day for three years and never seen before.

   In a car, you usually see the road, the signs, and possible problems—other cars, animals both domesticated and wild, pedestrians, potholes, discarded bottles, trash bags that fell off other vehicles, boards that might have nails in them, pieces of blown tires. You must look for those things if you want to avoid an accident.

   But that morning as I jogged slowly by I found out for the first time that a tiny creek ran through a four foot diameter culvert under the road just past the neighbor by the woods. I discovered a path through those same woods that led to a ramshackle cabin a hundred feet off the road, nearly hidden by the ramrod straight pines. I discovered that another neighbor had a second driveway, much smaller, that led to a shed behind the house. Then as I approached the bridge over the New River, I found a path snaking off to its side, probably used by fishermen looking for bait, or kids swimming in the shallows. All those things had been there the whole time I had, but it was as if I had discovered a brand new place.

   That is exactly how I felt after our ladies’ class studied Psalm 23. I almost skipped that one—everyone knows it. We all memorized it as children. If there is a Bible passage in a movie, it is apt to be that one. Why should we include that in what I hoped to be a study of brand new material for most of us? Because it was brand new material, too. I had gotten out of the speeding vehicle passing through it, and had jogged at a slower pace, seeing the details for the first time. We are going to talk about what I found this time and next.

   Psalm 23 is classified as a Psalm of Trust. I doubt that David, Ethan, Asaph, Solomon, Heman, the sons of Korah, Moses, or any other of the writers of the psalms actually made a decision to write a particular type of psalm and then followed some carefully laid out pattern. No, the elements and patterns have been analyzed by scholars thousands of years removed from them, but it is interesting that they do follow something of a pattern. For instance, Psalms of Trust (some call them Psalms of Confidence [in God]) tend to view God in metaphorical terms. He is variously called a shield, a fortress, a rock, a shelter, a master [of slaves], and in this familiar psalm a shepherd.

   But here is the part I always missed—the metaphor in these psalms is apt to change abruptly, as it does here in verse 5. Suddenly God is depicted as a host. Some of the older commentators do not want to see this change, but please tell me, when was the last time you saw a sheep eating at a table or drinking out of a cup? No, the shepherd feeds the sheep in verse 2: he makes me to lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside still waters. Sheep eat grass and drink water, and the shepherd has fed them exactly what they want and need. Now it is the host’s turn to feed his friend in a brand new metaphor.

   And notice this, the host in verses 5 and 6 is not just an acquaintance fulfilling the obligations of hospitality in the Eastern tradition. He is a close friend. He takes you into his house not just for a meal but to “dwell forever.” Indeed the Hebrew word for “house” often implies “household.” That last verse could easily and correctly be translated “and I will remain in the family of the Lord forever.” We’re not talking about being a pet sheep in the family, but a human member of the family, someone who eats at the table with the rest of the family, the truest sign of acceptance in that culture.

   See what you miss when you just breeze through an old familiar passage without a second thought? You need to get out of the car and walk through it, paying attention to every detail and thinking about every nuance. That’s how you learn new things. And this new thing is nothing compared to the one I will show you tomorrow.

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, Eph 2:19.

Dene Ward

Obstacle Course

5/13/2015 1 Comments

A long time ago when I was a young mother, a wise, older woman made me stop and think with a few words that might have sounded harsh, but which she couched with an attitude of love and concern. I had not taken a meal to a sick or grieving family for a long time; I had not taught a children’s class for about a year; I had not had anyone in my home for several months; I hadn’t even sent a card or made a phone call for awhile. I was a busy young mother. I had laundry to do every day including piles of diapers that never seemed to diminish, meals to fix, a baby to nurse and tend and a toddler to care for and teach, and a home that needed putting in some sort of order if just so we could keep track of where we put things, like the bills that needed paying.

   Had this woman had the same problems years before when she was a young mother? I suppose so, but I never even thought about that—all I thought about was my own problems, all the things I needed to do, how tired I was, and how I could not possibly do any of those other things because of the demands of my family and home.

   She knew all this, but she still asked this simple question. “What if,” she quietly said, “God decided to help you out by taking away all of your excuses?”

   After a moment of shock, I suddenly saw my children and my home in another light. Here I was claiming to love them more than anything else, while telling everyone what an obstacle they were in my life, maybe not in words, but certainly in deeds—or lack of them. Yes, serving my family is also serving God, but isn’t it hypocritical to then turn around and use that service as a reason not to serve others? The last thing in the world I wanted was for God to take them away from me, and I determined that they would no longer be the excuses I offered for not doing what I could.

   No, I could not spend hours and hours away from them, nor several hours caring for others directly, but surely I could pick up the phone or write a note when the babies were napping. Surely I could fix an extra casserole when I made one for my family, and send it with someone else to a home where a mother was too sick to do it and the father was out working all day. Surely, I could find something I could do.

   I think something else happened to my attitude that day, too. I was suddenly aware of all the things that needed doing for others, and looking forward to a time when I could, instead of sitting at home, selfishly wondering when I would ever have “me time” again. My home was where I wanted to be, but I also knew that I wanted to be doing what I could for others, when I could, for as long as I could, just like that kind sister who taught me a lesson with a simple question.

   What kind of excuses have already come out of our mouths today? What if God took them away in the blink of an eye so we could do those things we claim to want to do “if only…?”

But he said unto him, A certain man made a great supper; and he bade many: and he sent forth his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for things are now ready. And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a field, and I must needs go out and see it; I pray have me excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them; I pray have me excused. And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. And the servant came, and told his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and maimed and blind and lame... For I say unto you, that none of those men that were bidden shall taste of my supper. Luke 14:16-21,24.

Dene Ward

Heavy Lifting

5/12/2015 0 Comments

Keith has become my porter. Depending on my condition at any given moment, high eye pressure, foggy vision, post-op, etc, I am not supposed to lift more than 10-20 pounds. The ten pound limit is a real problem. A grocery sack with a bag of sugar and a bag of flour weighs ten pounds. If the bagger adds anything else, I am over the limit. That makes for a lot of trips back and forth to the car.

   So Keith does a lot of carrying. He even insists on carrying my purse sometimes, which I assured him weighs only 4 lbs—I checked it to make sure.

   The Lord has promised to carry our burdens, but we don’t want to turn them over to him. The worries are not that big a deal to give up; it’s all the emotional baggage from the past that for some reason we cannot seem to part with. You would think it was a treasured heirloom.

   Just imagine the troubles the Lord might have had if people had been so reluctant in the first century. Just look at the apostles. How in the world would Simon the Zealot and Matthew the publican have ever gotten along if they had not rid themselves of their “baggage?” These men came from opposite poles in ideology, and Simon was certainly passionate about it. Yet they learned to trust one another and get along.

   Yes, it took a little help from Barnabas for the Jerusalem church to accept their former persecutor, the man who turned them over to their tormentors and executors, but they did. How much more difficult would it have been for the gospel to be preached to all the world if they had rejected Saul of Tarsus? Would we have so easily accepted this former enemy into our midst?

   How many times do we let our pasts affect how we treat one another? Can I not trust a brother because a long time ago someone hurt my feelings? Do I expect the worst of even my brothers and sisters in Christ because in the past someone disappointed me? Do I judge everyone as “out to get me” because at one time someone was? Too many times the people we claim to love have to pay for what someone they never even knew did to us simply because we cannot let it go.

   Jesus expects that when I become his disciple I will put all that extra baggage on him. There may be times when I am tempted to pick it up again, but if I have taken on his burden—take my yoke upon you and learn of me…for my yoke is easy and my burden is light, Matt 11:29,30—I won’t have room for anything else.

   So the question is, are you truly his disciple? Whose burden are you trying to carry today, his light one or your heavy one? If you are having trouble getting along with someone, especially someone you are supposed to love and trust, I bet I know the answer to that one.

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you, 1 Peter 5:6,7.

Dene Ward

Job Part 1--Speaking Right of God

5/11/2015 0 Comments

This is the first in a series on the book of Job by guest writer Lucas Ward. Look for this series on the Monday nearest the middle of the month for the next several months.

We must always be careful when making assumptions about God’s intentions. We can find several examples of times when prophets and apostles both said "who knows, maybe this is what God is doing." If inspired men are unwilling to say definitively what God is doing, then who am I to quickly assert, "God has opened this door for me and is leading me down this path."?

I think a great example of this is found in the book of Job. One of the amazing things I have discovered about Job is that his friends' sayings are so often right. Over and over their arguments parallel the best of the wisdom books. At least twice Job agrees that their statements are correct in themselves but that they don't apply to him. For instance, compare Eliphaz's statement in Job 4:7-9 with Prov. 13:21-22. "Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? Or where were the upright cut off? According as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow trouble, reap the same. By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of his anger are they consumed." and "Evil pursueth sinners; but the righteous shall be recompensed with good. A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children; and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the righteous." They seem very similar, no? Or Eliphaz's description of the fool in Job 5:2-6 and Solomon's in Prov. 13:18-19. Also very similar. Most telling, perhaps, is Eliphaz's statement in Job 5:17 "Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: Therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty." That idea is paralleled in Ps. 94:12 and Proverbs 3. Proverbs 3 is then quoted in Hebrews 12 and the writer expounds upon the idea considerably. So, the general wisdom statements of Job's friends were good, sound wisdom as understood by Job and backed by God's inspired writers.

So, then, how were the friends wrong? Why were they condemned? The easy answer is that they wrongly condemned Job, that they accused him of sin without evidence and assumed his guilt and attacked him for it. That, however, is not why God said He was angry with them. "The LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite: "My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has." Job 42:7. It is not what they said about Job that was so annoying to God, it was what they said about God that got them into trouble. Yet almost everything they said of God was good, accepted wisdom backed up by other inspired wisdom writers!

So where did the friends, and Eliphaz particularly, go wrong? This is a question I intend to pursue as I go on in my study of Job, but here is my first impression of how they went wrong: in trying to fit God into a box. In assuming that, because they knew some good general wisdom about God's tendencies, they understood exactly what He was doing at all times. In basically assuming that, if God were righteous, He MUST do what THEY thought He ought to do. If God did otherwise, then He was wrong. This, I believe, is how they spoke wrongly about God.

Don't you see how this fits in with the original discussion? We know quite a bit of good, general wisdom about how God acts. We know that "all things work together for the good of them that love God." We know that we "can do all things through Christ who strengthens" us. We know that God is protecting us, watching over us, and taking care of us. But when we say, specifically, that God is doing such and such based on these general statements, we are confining God to a box. We are saying that He must be doing this, because this is what we understand as right, and, therefore, if He is doing something else, then He is wrong.

Maybe, in a certain situation, He is blessing us or maybe He is testing us to see if we will come to rely on our wealth instead of Him. We see a door open and assume it is from God, but maybe it is Satan tempting us to go astray. Maybe these horrible things that are happening to us, which we assume are from Satan, were actually sent by God to make us stronger. In the end, I know that I'll be better because of what happens in this life (Rom. 8:28) but I need to be careful about assuming I know the mind of God in every instance. That assumption is not one the prophets or apostles were willing to make (“who knows…?”) and it is one that got Eliphaz and his friends in trouble.

Lucas Ward

Just Filling the Time

5/8/2015 2 Comments

When I did my internship as a music teacher in the public schools, I looked up one day to find my professor walking into the music room behind the fifth grade class scheduled for that half hour. My heart sank. I did have a lesson prepared, but it was not a wow-zer. It taught a valid musical concept, one I could easily build on in future lessons—the first of what educators called a “unit.” I had prepared a lesson plan with appropriate behavioral objectives. It met all expectations and requirements. But to me, it seemed so—well, ordinary.

   I taught that lesson twice in a row with no problems. The students caught on quickly and I met the objectives with no difficulty. After the second group left I approached the tall, slim, dignified looking lady, expecting her to meet me with, at best, a mediocre assessment.

   “Good job,” she said, and when my jaw dropped she added, “Listen: they can’t all be showstoppers. You taught an important lesson and you taught it well. They learned exactly what you set out to teach them and they enjoyed it.”

   I learned something that day, something I keep reminding myself as I approach the computer day after day, struggling sometimes to find something to write. Just do your best. Turn in a good effort, be faithful to the Word God has entrusted you with, and let Him take care of the rest.

   Sometimes I hear from people telling me that what I wrote was exactly what they needed that day. A few times it was a piece I almost deleted because I was so dissatisfied with it. The same thing has happened to Keith. When you preach two sermons a week, every week, you occasionally produce one just because you needed one to fill the time one Sunday morning, not because you were particularly enthralled with the subject. Many times people have complimented those very sermons. At least one of them led directly to a conversion.

   Many times we feel unnoticed and totally useless to the Lord. We think we are doing nothing for God because nothing we do matters. Nonsense. More people are watching you than you know. You need to learn the same lesson I did. Every day can't be a showstopper. Some days are so ordinary as to make you wonder why you exist. You get up, you go to work, you come home and spend time with the family. You pay your bills on time and help the neighbor with his ornery lawn mower, perhaps even mowing his yard for him. You study your Bible, and then you hit the sack and get up and go again the next morning, an ordinary--you think--honest, hard-working joe.

Or you get up and down all night with the baby and barely know you are sending your older ones off to school because you are so tired. But then you still do the grocery shopping and prepare the meals and launder the clothes. You wash dishes and scrub floors and dust the countertops and shelves, change the sheets, then throw together an extra casserole for a sick neighbor, help the kids with their Bible lesson and then their homework, and fall into bed exhausted.

Or you sit at home alone because you are too old and sick and frail to get out any longer, so you watch a little TV, read your Bible, call a few folks on the sick list (besides yourself), write a few get well and sympathy cards, then go to bed and start all over again tomorrow.

And all of you wonder, what good is that to anyone? Well, you never know, especially when you count God into the mix. He can work wonders with the weak, the frightened, and the average. He can take the smallest seed you plant and make a huge tree out of it. Don’t you remember a parable along those lines? In God’s hands, nothing you do is just filling up time.

So get up every morning and do what you are supposed to do in the way you are supposed to do it. Someone out there needs to see you do that, and if you do, God will take care of the rest.

I planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that plants anything, neither he that waters; but God that gives the increase. Now he that plants and he that waters are one: but each shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow-workers... 1Cor 3:6-9.

Dene Ward