Brilliant character.......

Seems as if lately the best compliment that can be given to a public figure is to say how very smart he or she is!  Talking heads open news stories with declarations of individual intelligence as if they had read their IQ scores recently. This happens even more so on commentary programs. As an educational diagnostician myself, I am inclined to seek footnotes citing the source of such data. Who tested this individual?  When?  What intelligence test was used and who scored it?  But, no such documentation is ever presented. In fact, school records are almost always ignored.  (As an aside, former teachers or professors never seem to come forward to wax philosophic about the academic performance of these "brilliant" former students either.)

So, we, the public are left with verbal presentations to be taken as fact.  The folks making the comments about intelligence are supposed to "know" this somehow.  In their constant repetition, we are sure to just accept this as fact.  Unsubstantiated, but none the less fact.

OK, so maybe these public figures are smart.  My question, once I get past the undiagnosed declarations of their brilliance, is what kind of character do they have?  Does anyone even care?
Apparently not.

But then we knew that.

"Where is the wise man?  Where is the scholar?

Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?"  I Corinthians 1: 20

"I will meet you on Thursday for lunch."   "I will see you tomorrow."   "I will follow up on that project."  " I will not say that again."  "I will not gossip." " I will not overeat."  "I will go to the gym faithfully." "I will not let you down, I promise."  "I will...."   "I will....."  "I will not..."

Life seems to be full of "I will's" and "I will not's".  So what is our 'will' anyhow?  Think willpower as in determination.  Think willful as in petulant child.  Think "will I?"  Will I really do that thing I said I would?  Or, not do that thing I said I would not?  There is a hint of self discipline and commitment here.

Although our conversations are full of "I will's", how consistent are we?  How true to our word?    Promises. Do we really mean it when we say it and just run out of self discipline?  Or-do we just say it to move the conversation along and look cooperative or sorry in the case of "I will not ever again..."

God's will is another thing entirely.  Or is it? Do we really believe that God means what He says?  Do we really want to know God's will for our lives in decision making, or is that just our Christian-ese for acting like we are open to God's suggestions?  If we discern God's will, will we want to do it?  Easier said than done.  We are willful, selfish creatures with plans of our own.  God's will is OK and all, but if and when it interferes with our plans or daily schedule.....Well perhaps we discerned it wrong and God didn't really ask that of us.

God gave us free will and we cherish that.  We commit to our Lord and Savior and then quickly forget the "Lord" part.  Happy to live as if God were out helper and cheerleader, not ruler.  It is how we humans are made.  We love to be in charge of ourselves.

So, in this proposition of what exactly is our "will", I propose that it is our flesh pushing us and tricking us into getting our own way.  Both when our choice of path is good for us or bad.  It takes several trips around the racetrack for most of us as Christians to grasp the concept of the Lordship of Jesus Christ.  Ah, then try to live letting Him be Lord.

I am discovering that there is discipline and conscious "WILL" involved more than we realize in our daily walk with Christ.  Praying, reading the Word, stopping our obsession with what we want or find comfortable or pleasing ain't so easy in today's world of materialism and comfort.  Spending time with God is real work that requires willpower.  Talk all you want about those top of the mountain experiences wherein one attends a spiritual conference and hunger for God's Word and time with Him seem to come so naturally.  Go home to your daily routine and devotions seem too hard to fit in somehow.

The question is really whether we as Christians "will" give over our wills to our Savior.  Will we want to spend time with Him more than we want to pursue our favorite hobbies or pass times?  Will we do it anyway?  Will we use busy work schedules or families as our excuse?  Will we secretly admit to ourselves that it will take willpower to devote time to our Father that He so richly deserves and longs to spend with us His children?

Well, will we?  

"At their wits' end......."

Have you ever been at your wits' end?  What are wits anyway?  Are you sure we all have wits?  Does it mean you can outwit someone or that you just have a brain?  Regardless of what "wits" really are, you know when you are at your wits' end.

So, again I ask....have you ever been at your wits' ends?  Whether your dog just threw up on your clean laundry, you can't find your wallet and keys, or you just got a serious diagnosis from the doctor, you know when you are at your own personal wits' end. You feel it in your gut.

What can we expect of God when we are at our wits' end?  That is the question for Christians.  We know God is faithful but even some light readings of Scripture or remembered Sunday School lessons remind us that heroes of the Bible didn't have it easy.  Some didn't even survive their crises.  Godly people give testimonials about their faith journey and struggles and we are moved to tears by the grace God shows as He moves them through very serious, difficult, even crushing experiences.  We hear them say that God is more important than circumstances, but do we really believe it?  Do we want to be a hero of the faith or give that kind of testimonial ourselves?  I don't I guess.  I thought I did. Somehow as you age, things become scarier.  Children become more precious and life more fragile.

"They were at their wits' end.

Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,

and He brought them our of their distress."  Psalm 107: 27-8

Scripture is full of promises.  We are promised God is with us always.  He is faithful when we are faithless.  He is able to bring us out of our distress.  Does he fix the circumstances?  Sometimes.  Do we learn and grow through them---yep.  It comes down to faith and trust. What we can expect from God is the very best for us in His way and His plan.  How can we argue with that?  

Tackling Giants.......

David hurried toward Goliath.  Amazing!  He HURRIED toward a giant--a giant with weapons!  When was the last time I hurried towards any problem of mine?  What can I learn from little David?

Goliath was challenging the Israelites.  He was in their territory.  He taunted them.  He cried out twice a day, morning and evening with his threats instilling fear in the whole army and nation.  My problems cry out to me daily.  The most persistent problems are in my territory---my family, my home, my job, my own heart.  Sin and unbelief taunt me daily, often more than twice a day.

The Israelite army was afraid.  The daily taunts, the size of the giant, his weapons....all struck fear.  The worries I have, the things I think I cannot handle, the broken places in the lives of those I love...all seem too BIG and scary and they taunt me and frighten me.  Daily I look at these problems and shiver in fear.

David's brothers and the rest of the Israelite army saw Goliath as a physical threat.  They saw a need to fight in an earthly sense.  They wanted an earthly hero.  Each man wanted someone else to rise to the challenge.

"Coincidentally" Jesse, David's father sends him on an errand right at that time.  David is sent to bring some snacks to his brothers in the army at the battle front just in time to see and hear Goliath's threat.
How often has God purposed something in my life to just "happen" at the exact moment when He has a plan for me that I don't even see yet?  David could have complained at the interruption to his shepherding duties and the need to find someone to cover his flocks while he took this journey.  He went and he found someone to take care of the sheep in his absence.

Aside:  Ever wonder why Saul doesn't fight Goliath?  After all he was the mighty king!  He was well known for his battle prowess.  What scared him off?  What had changed in his view of life?  Did his attitude as leader infect his army?

David spoke boldly to Goliath despite the mocking and lack of support from even his own brothers.  David's confidence was in the Lord God Almighty.  Although I claim to have faith and confidence, do I speak boldly?

David HURRIED toward Goliath and the enemy army!  Do I hurry, confident in faith that the Lord will provide success?  Imagine hurrying into trouble!  Hurrying towards a giant!

When God "coincidentally" puts us in a position to speak His Word, or do His Work I need to hurry forward and speak boldly. If a fourteen year old shepherd who was resented by his brothers and seen as insignificant even in his own family had enough faith to rush boldly forward and slay a giant, how can I hold back?  I Samuel 17:  45--47

Super Heroes...or Heroines.....

Movies are full of them. Comic books have always revolved around them.  You can dress like them at Halloween.  Your birthday party can carry the theme. Toy and department stores are full of playthings and sheets and clothes showing off our favorites.  Playground discussion revolves around who is better among these heroes, each with a remarkable "super power" that we envy and covet.  Perhaps the one we choose as our favorite tells something about what we yearn to be....well, maybe not. Maybe we just like the color of the costume or imagine flying over the city at night taking in the sights as we soar towards the bad guy!

Now me, I don't want to catch up with the bad guy.  I just want to do the flying!  I also covet the perfect figures of the women super heroes and their gorgeous hair!   Ah, but I digress.......

Why are we so fascinated with these super heroes?  Why is the theme continually a block buster in movies and marketing?  We imagine ourselves greater than we are.  I often wonder if we are more excited about being "super" than doing the "super deeds".  We smile as our children enjoy the fantasy of these super characters, but we know it is just make believe.  Soon they will come to understand the limits of human strength, but in the meantime.......

                 "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk, but of power."  I Corinthians 4: 20

Do we as modern day Christians, full of scientific knowledge and superior understanding of what makes the world go around---do we realize that our God is "supernatural"?  What is supernatural anyway?  Seen any water turned into wine lately?  Any members of your neighborhood Bible study walked on water or ordered their grass to grow greener?  Before you get too upset at my flippant attitude, think about it! Do you realize that your God is supernatural?  And, but the way, what does that even mean? 

The Bible tells us over and over again that "with God nothing is impossible". (Luke 1: 37)  That He is the ultimate power.  That there is "incomparably great power for those of us who believe--the same as the power that raised Jesus from the dead"! (Ephesians 1: 19 & 20. Do you feel powerful?  

I don't think I will be donning my super hero costume any time soon, but I wonder if I act and live every day as if I have power from My Father through the Holy Spirit.  Do those who see me live my life realize that there is a power within me that is greater than just being a "nice person" who helps folks in need?  Do I show the optimism of one who knows that a powerful God is in charge and therefore I can have peace despite trouble and pain?  Does the confidence of one who has a Father who created and controls the entire universe show in my choices, my words, my deeds?   Am I afraid of setting God up to fail by claiming His promises publically?  

Everyone wants a super hero.  But everyone doesn't know that they have one in a loving God and Father who sacrificed His Only Son for each of them despite their unworthiness. Can I let the super hero show through me to a world who cries out for saving? And, yes, it is indeed God in me, not me myself who has the power.  How gracious of Him to share it with His children.  xo

My Mother's Hands.........

I saw an episode of the old TV show "Twilight Zone" when I was growing up and it didn't really register then, but lately I am haunted by it. No, it isn't because of scary monsters or aliens. The story was narrated by a pretty young girl who was in love with a wonderful guy and planning her wedding or something very uplifting. Just as the story is about to climax with a happy ending, the woman narrating the story of her life looks down and sees an old woman's wrinkled and gnarled hands. She realizes in horror that those are her hands and she was that young girl, but now she is old and in a facility of some sort, and that joy is just a dream of the past.

WOW! Age alert! I have been looking at my self and seeing my mother since I became a mother myself. As I grew older, I sorta reflected her body style although she was smaller of frame than I am. Now I look at my hands and I see my mother's hands from the days when I cared for her at the end of her life. I see an old woman's gnarled, age spotted, and wrinkled hands. Despite the jewelry worn to brighten them up, my hands are now her hands--the hands of an old woman.

So, I think of that "Twilight Zone" episode and the shock that the narrator feels in realizing that she is at the end of her life and not in Chapter 1 planning her future. Why is this concept of aging so startlingly sad? Why did the author of this story see horror in a woman's discovery that she was old and not still that pretty young girl? Why do I get so misty looking down at my own hands, a reflection of my mom's hands, and not feel proud and wise and stronger because of living a life that has been full and rich and is still going on forward. I still have a future.

If you haven't stopped reading by now or gotten too depressed, let me tell you the other thought that comes to mind when I see my mother's hands in my own. I remember her love, her kind touch, her patience, her gift of teaching, her crazy obsession with saving stuff since she grew up in the depression. I remember that she loved Jesus and taught me to do so also. She made sharing and putting others first fun. We talked and talked and talked and grew together despite our difference in age. We prayed. She touched my children's lives and left indelible marks of distinction. She made me a better wife. Mostly she reflected Christ. Her faith was her core.

Even when she was crotchety and made mistakes, she came back to Scriptural truth, repented, and loved all the more.

I miss her. And so I want to make looking at my old hands and seeing my mother's hands a kind of reminder for the rest of the life God blesses me with on earth. I want to be like my mother, but more so, I want to be like My Father in Heaven--just as she taught me......I see her smile!xo

"And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.

You shall teach them diligently to your children,

talk of them when you sit at your house,

when you walk by the way,

when you lie down and when you rise up." Deut. 6: 6, 7