Waiting

Tomorrow I have 2 weddings to officiate. The first one is for a long time friend from the 911 Center and the other is a "wedding vow renewal" ceremony. Both are people that I have great respect for and am honored to be a part of their services. Tonight I find myself restless, reviewing the details for both services and putting together my sermon notes for Sunday's church service. I am not stressed or worried, I am content that anything God desires will always work out for the best. But as I assess my restlessness, I finally realized, I feel like a quarterback sitting on the bench, waiting for the coach to put him in the game. I love the moment when everything comes together and it is time for me to go to work. I imagine a quarterback practices 1000's of hours and reviews miles of training tapes and memorizes the playbook, for that moment when the coach slaps him on the head and says, "Get in there, you get the ball". What is interesting is, it doesn't have to be a church service, or a funeral (which I officiated one yesterday and another one today), or a wedding. I get just as excited when God allows me to sit down with 1 person and answer questions about life or God's Word or confusion about church. It honestly doesn't matter to me as long as I know God is using me in His service, in any capacity. Then there is another perspective that I find interesting. It is difficult for me to turn it off. Often I try to convince myself that I need to "slow down" or "take a break". But when you love what you are doing, it is difficult to shift down or kick it into neutral. If you love what you are doing, what do you do for recreation when you stop doing what you love? So this is when I step back and say, "Lord, your will be done, not mine". And I log off and the good Lord gives me the peaceful rest I need to complete His plans for me tomorrow. God bless and keep you. "As slaves of Christ, do the will of God with all your heart.   Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do, whether we are slaves or free." Ephesians 6:5-7

Self Fulfilling Prophecies

My dear ol dad (as he likes to call himself), has a favorite saying (actually he has about 500 favorite sayings that my wife calls his "Jim-isms"), "A lot of what you see, depends on what you are looking for".

My point is this, if you look for the worst in someone, you will find something to criticize. If you look for the worst in a situation, you will find something that irritates you. If you look for the negative -- then trust me -- you will find the negative.

For a moment, I am going to get "preachy" so roll your eyes back in your head and get comfortable. Yes, I know that is what you do because I see you do it every Sunday at 11:30 am when I climb into the pulpit to preach.

A few months ago I was getting seriously depressed and negative about our nation. I had become obsessed with collecting as much negative news as possible about the direction our leaders were taking us.

Then one night as I was getting ready for bed I asked myself, "Exactly what can I do to influence any of these problems that I have myself so twisted up about?"

I know this will shock most of you but, NO ONE in Washington DC has called me this week for advice on how to handle foreign trade relations. I know, I know, I too am shocked by this.

And the "Occupy Colville" warriors, they might as well move their base of operations to Cedar Lake. No one in government leadership gives 2 hoots about protesters in Colville. And just in case you are curious, Cedar Lake is about as far north as you can go in Stevens County without crossing into Canada and speaking French. You sorta have to be lost to get there.

OK, I am climbing off my soapbox and preparing to take up an offering so reach for your wallet. Sorry, that was pastor-humor.

So let me share a couple observations on how I began to adjust my perspective.
(a) Always base your happiness & joy on things that please God.
(b) Always view circumstances & people in light of "God is in control".
(c) Beware of doomsday prophets. Ask yourself, "Do they have a solution or are they simply devil sniffers?" If they are preaching God's Word and attempting to bring people to God, then encourage and support them. But if their sole purpose is to steal your joy and depress you, then open your Bible and ask God for guidance.
(d) Finally, keep a balance on your NEWS intake. By "balance" I mean, for every minute you view the NEWS, spend a minute reading your Bible. You seriously need to view today's issues in the light of God's Word.

D.L. Moody said, "The best way to study God's Word is to have a Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other".

“But I assure you of this: If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods, worshiping and bowing down to them, you will certainly be destroyed. Just as the LORD has destroyed other nations in your path, you also will be destroyed if you refuse to obey the LORD your God." Deuteronomy 8:19-20

Rough Storms

My friend Shauna had a FaceBook post that I loved, “sometimes God calms His child and sometimes God calms the storm”. 

As I read Shauna’s post, my mind was transported to a boat being thrashed around in a terrible storm. “Then He got into the boat and His disciples followed Him.  Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat.  But Jesus was sleeping.  The disciples went and woke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”  He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?”  Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm"               Matthew 8:23-27 

Before God calms the rough storms of our life, He takes the opportunity to build our faith.   Pastor Rick Warren often reminds us that God is more interested in building our character than our happiness.  Jesus was fully aware of both the storm and their fear.  So, He used this as a teachable moment.  Jesus taught His followers that part of life is sailing in storms.  He then pulled back the curtain and gave them a God perspective moment and taught them that He nature obeys His every command.    

If God were to calm us first, then our faith will not grow because we would trust either luck or circumstances. 

Bottom line:  In God’s presence we should not be afraid. 

“When you pass through the waters,
   I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
   they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
   you will not be burned;
   the flames will not set you ablaze”

Isaiah 43:2