God Will Help Us Succeed

We are in a time like that of Nehemiah, a man called by God to rebuild the broken walls of Jerusalem. Behind the scenes and without the permission of potential dissenters, Nehemiah rallied allies and began the project as doubting eyes looked on. 

When his plan was finally discovered,  Nehemiah explained why he was taking on the project and why it would be successful.

 

“Then I told them about how the gracious hand of God had been on me, and about my conversation with the king. They replied at once, 'Yes, let’s rebuild the wall!' So, they began the good work” (2:18). 

 

Like those who initially thought reconstructing the walls was an impossible task, it only took a single word of hope to turn the tide. All creative work begins with an expression of hope.

 

To the natural eye, our culture may appear headed for disaster and social collapse. Still, for those with ears to hear the word of the Lord and vision to see God’s plan for restoration, this is a season of tremendous opportunity.

 

Reformers and restorers do not work from consensus. They work from revelation. Put aside the doubt and fear that has been deposited in your heart and mind and open your thinking to the possibilities of Heaven's environment being expressed on Earth. 

Against impossible odds, Nehemiah carried with him a victorious word of hope. He spoke that word to the listening crowd, “The God of heaven will help us succeed” (2:20). That is our hope as we venture into our culture to rebuild the broken walls of our nation and the broken walls of human hearts. God will help us succeed.

 

Not Overwhelmed

Events are amassing on a global scale that could become a historic moment of transition. In August, I could sense a gathering of these events taking place. At that time, I wrote a blog post about something called Singularity. Singularity is a moment when seemingly disconnected events happen simultaneously with such rapidity; the human mind perceives them as a single event. As these events take place in unison, an unprepared mind could become overwhelmed.

In the middle of the wildfires, hurricanes, Covid-19 issues, and an upcoming election where in some quarters dire predictions of social unrest are predicted no matter who wins, we can forget that a broader global context is transpiring. Just this morning, I read a note from a friend who is a missionary in Asia. He said China is on the verge of famine. My friend said sources within the nation revealed the government is demanding its citizens to reduce food consumption by a third. Nervous countries take desperate actions to survive, not only with their citizens but with surrounding nations and beyond.

 

Perhaps at no point in my lifetime have I seen such a need to prepare the equivalent of a spiritual and emotional go-bag. Like a go-bag in the natural, that is light and mobile and only contains the very basics needed to live during short seasons of displacement due to a natural disaster, so it is with a spiritual go-bag. 

 

Today, before the possibility of a life-altering moment of global singularity could become a reality, gather with those you love and prepare your go-bag of faith. Keep it simple. If anything does not meet the standard of loving God and loving people, leave it behind. Any excess items will only slow you down when you need to move at the speed of faith while following the leading of the Spirit.

The Fair Wind of God's Spirit is Coming

We are in the middle of a climate change – a change in the climate of our culture. This climate change is stirring up winds that will move us past our current reality pushing aside the fog of deception. This wind is beginning to blow across our nation, steering us away from the headlands of false promises and the shallow waters of overreaction. The common sense of the common man and woman is about to take the helm of our vessel, aligning our course with the wind of God’s Spirit.  Under an adjusted course heading provided by the Master Mariner’s navigational map, we will steer away from the shoals of failure and despair and turn our course toward the wide-open sea of a flourishing future. Stand at Heaven’s helm alongside the Lord and look toward the horizon with hope. The climate is changing. Fair winds are coming.

The Focus of Our Hope

Habakkuk, the small book of prophecy seems to address where a believer can find themselves today as our culture continues to struggle. I read Habakkuk this morning and overlayed its content over the current season. It is a beginning-to-end portrait of faith in times of difficulty.

Regarding what we are seeing and feeling:

 

“How long, O Lord, must I call for help? But you do not listen! ‘Violence is everywhere!’ I cry, but you do not come to save. Must I forever see these evil deeds? Why must I watch all this misery? Wherever I look, I see destruction and violence. I am surrounded by people who love to argue and fight. The law has become paralyzed, and there is no justice in the courts. The wicked far outnumber the righteous, so that justice has become perverted” (Habakkuk 1:2-4).

 

Regarding what God has planned that we do not yet see:

 

“For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn’t believe even if someone told you about it” (1:5).

 

Regarding the delay of a promise and what to do in the waiting:

 

“If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not delay” (2:3).

 

Regarding what attitude we should possess as life unfolds:

 

I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!” (3:18).

 

Regarding the end of all things:

 

“For as the waters fill the sea, the earth will be filled with an awareness of the glory of the Lord” (2:14).

 

All of this, the pain, sorrow, and division we see taking place will be drowned by the increasing glory of the Lord. Everything will eventually be submerged in His presence. That should be the focus of our faith and where we place our trust.

 

Entrusting Love

When my daughter's husband-to-be asked me for her hand in marriage, I said, “My answer is ‘yes.’” I told my future son in law my "yes" was because I could entrust my daughter to him to love and care for her now and long after I am gone. Entrusting someone you love to another person is the highest affirmation you can ascribe to another person. May we be that kind of person in all our relationships.

 

 

Repairing a Frayed Faith

With so many opinions and demands pulling at us during this unfamiliar time in history, it is easy to feel like a worn garment coming apart at the seams. This fraying can produce a thin faith that will rob us of the pure essence of our relationship with God.

I never think of Paul, the great and fearless apostle, as ever being afraid of anything. Yet, he told the Corinthians he was afraid of one thing. "I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ" (2 Corinthians 11:3).

Unpacking the language Paul used to frame his comment, he described our faith as simple. Simplicity here refers to our focus. In all the cultural debris being tossed at us, a simple focus on Jesus is our greatest defense against deception. Paul described this simple faith as pure. In other words, unpolluted by any outside source no matter how noble or timely it might appear. He also said our faith should involve devotion to Christ alone. This is a phrase in the original text that means to enter into something, to move towards.

If you feel frayed and the seams of your faith are becoming threadbare, the only remedy for repair is to lay everything down and move once again toward the Lord as your only focus. Embrace the simplicity that you encountered when you first met Him. As you move toward Him, the pollution of other agendas will fall away, and a new clarity will come. A rewoven faith is a wise faith and a faith able to endure the harshest fraying abrasions that come from living in a challenging season of life.

 

  

Wait For The Good Report

A good report will always prevail because God is faithful. He will perform what He promised if we choose to believe and respond accordingly. If you haven’t heard the good report yet, wait for it before you act. All your future decisions will be affected by how you interpret your current reality in light of that word.

Writing a Letter to Your Future

This morning while arranging some books and correspondence, I came across my daughter’s 50-Year Letter. It is a letter I asked her and her then-fiancé to write in preparation for their wedding last month. The letter would define what they hoped their marriage would become. In the letter, there was no mention of bank accounts, fast cars, opulent houses, or social status. It was filled with expressions of faith, relationship integrity, and lives yielded to the purposes of God.

When I was a pastor, each time I was asked to officiate a wedding, I had the couple write out a letter outlining their hopes and dreams. I used that letter to counsel them before their marriage and drew from its contents to craft my message during their ceremony. I also asked them to pull out that letter each anniversary and ask the question, “Are we still moving towards these goals and aspirations?” If not, I asked the couple to get some help from trusted friends and counselors so that none of their hopes and dreams would fall by the wayside and become unfulfilled.

 

As I held Anna’s letter in my hand, I felt a nudge to ask some of you, “Have written a letter defining the prophetic promises God has made over your life, your marriage, business, ministry, or your children’s or grandchildren’s future? If not, it may be time to write such a letter. The letter will become a promise-anchor that will keep you from drifting in times of fear and despair when your life and dreams seem to be wandering away from fulfillment.

 

When you write and read your letter in the years to come, you will be prophesying to the original promises made about your future. Just as someone might read God’s word to gain hope, so it is when we have allowed the desires of our hearts to be infused with promises made by God to become a statement of faith that will lead our unfulfilled desires to a place of fulfillment. 

 

Just One Person

The prayer of one person can change the course of a family's history or the destiny of a nation. God does not rule by consensus. He is sovereign above all things, even our determined, yet short-sighted understanding of His ways. A single prayer uttered at a strategic moment can alter the course of human history to align with the heart of God. Stop wringing your hands in fear and despair at the things you see and hear, and the hopeless future those reports project. Listen to the Spirit and follow His leading. Your obedience will lead you to an altar of prayer where God will pray through you His heart for the future. Place your hope in the words you hear and pray at that altar. They will be your place of confidence when life is unstable the future seems insecure.

Soon To Savor God's Goodness

Tonight, I did a bit of dinner prep for tomorrow. I prepared chicken and coated it in kale pesto and garlic. Then cut a bed of scallions and thin-sliced potatoes. The ingredients are resting overnight, blending their goodness in olive oil. When I finished the dinner preparation and cleaned, the kitchen the Lord spoke a word. Some of you are going to bed tonight, not knowing what tomorrow will bring. There are some significant issues you are processing. You don't have a precise word or direction. As you prayed and pondered, God was preparing a meal of revelation for you. He has formed that word and the place in your life for it to reside and prosper once delivered. Go to sleep tonight and choose not to worry. The Lord has prepared a meal of His goodness that you will soon savor with joy.

An Approaching Moment of Singularity

I listened to an interview with a scientist describing the concept of Singularity. Singularity is a moment in history when seemingly disconnected events happen at the same time with such rapidity, they seem to the human mind as a single event. It would be like all the scientific and technological advancements made in the last 100 years happening in a single moment. It will be an overwhelming experience to a mind not accustomed to such rapid revelation.

A moment in human history is approaching that will challenge our understanding of life and how the future will unfold. When this time comes, the Lord will be the only safe harbor as these events unfold, seemingly out of control. 

This is not another end-times scenario. It is a moment of transition where the Church will be revived and reformed to engage culture with hope and offer solutions that will solve many of the struggles faced by humanity. The opportunity these events offer will become gateways into Ephesians 3:20 moments in human history where God will accomplish more than we could imagine. These events will lead us to a hope-filled future.

On the world stage, events are beginning to cluster into what will become a moment of singularity. The prophets have spoken of these events many times but as isolated revelations. A moment of singularity is being formed that will bring together the fulfillment of multiple prophecies that seemed wild and questionable at the time of their initial delivery. This single moment of mass fulfillment will create confusion and in some cases, delusion for many whose eyes are not focused on the Lord, even among those whose faith appeared strong in the past.

 

As this moment of singularity appears, there will be only one way to survive emotionally and spiritually. As the psalmist said, “I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken” (Psalm 16:8). As the world shakes in a moment of unexpected singularity, we have an opportunity to live with an unshakeable faith in the One who is never shaken by the turmoil and transitions of humanity.

 

Politics and the Kingdom of God

Recently, someone asked me for advice on how, as a follower of Jesus Christ, they could wisely navigate the emotional terrain of the upcoming presidential election cycle. The person asking was sick and tired of the games both sides were playing as displayed on the various news outlets, 24/7.

I said, “Look at the platform of each party and align your vote with the issues of the platform that most accurately reflects your values. Don’t focus on the antics of any candidate who stands on a particular political platform. Antics are a diversion.” I went on to say, “Once you make your choice, don’t put your hope in the outcome of any election. The Lord will still be sitting securely on His throne after the election no matter who wins, and He will remain there for the remainder of human history and beyond. The Lord is able to exercise His will no matter how dire or disappointing the outcome of an election might appear.”

 

I ended our conversation by telling the person the only thing they had control over was their response to the issues of life. I said the mark of maturity for a follower of Jesus Christ is the ability to speak and live the truth in love. Once they have said and done all they could do, they had one more choice to make - to rest in the faithfulness of God. 

 

I remember many years ago a word spoken by Jack Hayford to worried congregants assembled the Sunday after the November election. Someone was elected to the office of President that most evangelical believers did not support. Jack said from the pulpit, “God didn’t lose the election. He wasn’t even running.” That message will still preach.

Chasing After God

There has been only one principle that Jan and I followed when needing to discover our next step in life. That principle has been to follow the Lord at all costs. We had a few times when we stumbled, but when we finally stepped out in faith, that single principle has led us without fail in the last 47 years of marriage and 40 years of service in God’s Kingdom.

At times chasing after God made no sense financially or logically. It created challenging times with good friends who did not understand. It changed how people viewed us, and in some cases, radically altered the trajectory of our lives.

As someone on the last lap or two of life, I can look back over the previous four decades of life and say, following the leading of the Lord has been the single most important decision we have ever made. It has been our key to fulfillment in all areas of our life. Today, Jan and I have no needs, but if tomorrow should a need arise, we know that in Christ, we lack no good thing. 

If you want to know your next step in life - chase after the Lord. His is the calling of your life, not what you do to express that calling. Follow Him wherever He leads no matter the cost or the jeopardy that choice creates. The place where God is leading you and how you will execute that calling will be the by-products of obeying His voice. That choice will challenge your faith when your doubts and the counsel of others tell you to take a safe and predictable course. 

Each day, Jan and I wake up and thank God for our life together, knowing we did not get here on our own or by our wisdom. We were brought to this place by a faithful Lord who invited us to follow Him. He is waiting to take your hand and show you how to move forward to something you could not imagine. Take Him up on His invitation, and you will never live with regret.

Your Future Faith-Self

In the Spirit, you have already made it through this difficult time, even though many challenges still surround your life. You cannot see or feel that completed transition yet, but your future faith-self has already made it through in the realm of the Spirit. 

All of the difficulty you face has been overcome by Jesus. Scripture tells us we are currently seated with Christ at the right hand of the Father. That is both a future and a present reality. Your assignment now to live out the implications of that victory in faith. The Lord is inviting you to move forward by exercising your faith when you encounter a lie that tells you, giving up is your best option. 

By faith, we can join ourselves to a future that seems beyond our ability to imagine and bring the vision of that future back into the moment we are currently living. That single decision has the potential to change the trajectory of our lives. Faith births hope and hope gives us the spiritual and emotional strength needed to keep moving forward and not give up. With God, all things are possible if faith is present.  

The Arrival of Unexpected Miracles

To those of you who lead anything - a business, a church, or a family – God knows what you are facing. You are giving it your best, and yet you still have a lingering suspicion that your best might not be enough or that somehow you have missed an important step along the way. Everyone, this writer included, has opinions about what you should do, but not all we offer is the opinion of God. Sometimes, sadly, our opinions may not reflect the heart of God. 

The Lord knows what you are facing. While you struggle trying to discover your next step, the Lord has a hidden miracle planned, something secreted away from your current understanding. It will arrive unexpectedly and seemingly out of nowhere. These hidden miracles are hovering over businesses, churches, families, and even nations, waiting for deployment. When these miracles arrive, they will reveal the love of God in astounding ways. Choose to live in that expectation. It will bring you the hope you need to wisely lead in this very challenging season of life.

Imagine If You Will

Cops, soldiers, and situationally aware people imagine. They imagine scenarios and practice mental defensive solutions. It keeps them alive when trouble comes. They train to be proactive, not reactive.

This imagining mindset also applies to our faith. Imagine that two years from now, churches are still not allowed to reopen and operate at full capacity. Imagine masks are still being required. Imagine the person you gave almost messiah-like status – no matter your party affiliation - is not sitting in the Oval Office. Imagine more innocent blood is being spilled in our cities. What will your faith look like if that time should arrive?

Our faith must be simple and unattached to negative outcomes so we can move through all the seasons of cultural change – the good and bad, the lean, and the prosperous. – with hope. Hope is the power and sustainability of true faith.  This hope is what kept the first disciples alive spiritually, many who became martyrs. That kind of hope was only possible because it was not sourced in outcomes. It was sourced in a Person. 

When we follow fear or rebellious invitations, we move away from the simplicity of true faith because our hope was displaced.  Hope sourced in Jesus Christ alone empowers our faith no matter what is taking place in the world around us. In all that is happening today, imagine Jesus.

Crushing Our Opinion

As I prepared our lunch of wild salmon, I used a mortar and pestle to crush together the ingredients of garlic, cilantro, and green onion to create a rub that would be applied to the salmon filet.  I began to imagine the flavor they would bring in harmony when all the ingredients came together.  Atop the paste, I laid a layer of chopped pecan halves to create a beautiful crust.

The mortar and pestle reminded me of something. Maybe we need to rethink the social conflict taking place in America. We all want our distinct ingredient in the cultural conversation to remain independent and not lose its singularity. That might be what is contributing to our current problem. None of us is meant to be a standalone ingredient. God is crushing our individual opinions along with the insight provided by others to create a flavorful and fragrant topping meant to adorn the broader culture-wide conversation. If we are not willing to have our opinion crushed under the loving hand of God, we will not taste the good thing He is preparing.

As a postscript - the salmon was excellent. So were the Parmasssean cheese cauliflower florets and green salad.

A Time to Trust

No matter how dark or despair-ridden a moment of history might appear, God will always remain faithful and true to His word. In these tense and challenging times, one of our greatest enemies is cynicism. It robs us of hope and steers us away from the very things we need to overcome obstacles that can appear insurmountable. No matter what is taking place, God is never hindered from revealing His goodness. He can still part a sea to reveal the way forward or raise the dead and call forth new life. We just need to trust Him.

Following Our Frustration

Following a feeling of frustration is like the Chinese symbol for a crisis. It offers both danger and opportunity. As I look over Church history, I see believers who followed their unsettled frustrations under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and encountered unique moments of revelation that became turning points in history.

Everyone with a pulse will experience frustration at some point in their life. A religious spirit will tell you to walk around your frustrations because they are the fruit of a rebellious spirit and will create discord. A religious, controlling spirit will speak that way because if not curtailed, a frustrated explorer might actually discover and experience something that will disrupt the status quo.

Today, I would suggest that you follow your frustrations. It is a dangerous path filled with opportunity. It will be a safe journey if you allow God to do the leading and not follow an undisciplined emotion or the groupthink of a crowd. 

Every step of this journey must be protected by a willingness to remain humble and receive correction from the Lord and trusted friends.  If you can do this, you will arrive at a place where your frustration will transform into a revelation. The transformation required a journey of discovery to clarify a message not fully understood when you first began to explore the origin of your frustration.  

Our Seat of Righteous Dissent

In recent months, discussions have taken place about when the rights of a believer-citizen should be exercised, or not. There are valid points on both sides of the conversation and worth hearing. One camp says a believer should never demand their rights and just take what comes as an example of a submissive and sacrificial love. Others stand immovable in their rights believing they are gifts from God. Which one is right? It is hard to tell sometimes. Maybe it’s a both/and kind of thing. On one occasion, the apostle Paul appealed to Caesar demanding his rights as a Roman citizen. On other occasions, he did nothing and just took what came and praised God in the process.  

One of my personal heroes is Rosa Parks. Rosa was a black seamstress living in Montgomery, Alabama in the 1950s. She was a devout Christian. Rosa would become an iconic symbol in the civil rights movement for not giving up her seat on a city bus to a white person. She was arrested during that event and her arrest was one of the ignition points of the civil rights movement.  In a 1956 interview Parks said of that day on the bus, "I would have to know for once and for all what rights I had as a human being and a citizen.” 

On Sunday, December 4, 1955, just days after her arrest, plans for the Montgomery bus boycott were prepared. The announcement for the boycott was made in black churches in the city. The boycott brought national attention to the evil of segregation. Some in today’s faith/politics conversation might not approve of what Rosa Parks did because she was asking for her rights to be honored not only as a citizen of the United States but as a human being created in the image of God. 

Today, we are beset with a shaming spirit that has entered our social discourse, sadly, even within the Church. That spirit and its demand for a one-size-fits-all response of social commentary, on either side of an issue, can be easily offended if its ideas are not accepted. History has shown us that there is not always a simplistic one-size-fits-all answer in God’s Kingdom. While we may see the same social issue playing out, we will not always see the same remedy or take a similar course of action. In December of 1955, Rosa Parks exercised her rights as a citizen and human being, and history was changed. 

I wonder where we would be today if four young black men at the Woolworth lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina had not remained seated at the counter after being told to leave or if Martin Luther King Jr. did not have the courage to walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama because his actions might upset another believer not convinced that King's actions were the right kind of witness for his faith. What if these individuals had allowed a shaming voice or threats to silence their peaceful dissent? Their lives and legacy have become gifts to all of us, modeling how our faith can be expressed in the public arena beyond just silence and submission. 

After all these years, we are still trying to learn how to live with each other in honor and peace. One of the challenges we still face is knowing when we should remain seated or when, under the impulse of God's Spirit, we choose to not give up the seat of our personal commitments before God, no matter who might disagree with that course of action.