One-Penny Offerings

            “But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. 

            Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ‘I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.  They gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything – all she had to live on.’”  (Mark 12:42-44)           

            Do you ever feel like your contribution to the Kingdom doesn’t really make a splash?  Because it is so small and unflashy, compared to others?  Do you ever feel like your spiritual accomplishments might seem laughable and pitiful?  Like you just don’t measure up? 

            I know I do. 

Rest!

            “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  (Matthew 11:28-30)

            This verse really speaks to my soul right now.  It is exactly what I need.  Rest.  To put down the burdens I carry around with me.  I’m just not sure how to do it.

            A couple days ago, I asked God one of my “250 Questions to Ask God.”  It was “Since You know what’s best for me, what do I need most right now?”  I had been struggling with concerns and frustrations and disappointments.  With God’s silence even.  And I didn’t know what to pray for anymore, but I needed to hear something from God.  So I asked Him this question.  Because I don’t know what I need right now.  I just know I need something.  And for a couple days, He didn’t answer.   

Gifts From God?

            James 1:2-4:  “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

            I am reading a book right now by a woman who lost her mother to cancer.  And she is struggling with the common Christian idea that all trials and tragedies are “gifts from God, meant for our good” and that we are to be thankful for them. 

            Are we supposed to accept infertility, fatal car accidents, chronically-ill children, divorce, disease, cancer, natural disasters, the death of loved ones, etc. as “gifts from God” that He has deliberately given us for our good?  Are we required to push away any pain or heartache or frustration because these are “gifts from God”? 

            I would say “No”!

Those Heavy Crosses!

            Matthew 10:38:  “and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.”

            Oh, those crosses that we are asked to carry!  They can be so awkward, heavy, and discouraging.  Maybe it’s the cross of loneliness or a job you don’t like, financial concerns or a too-small house, a broken family or a difficult relationship.  None of us like to carry these crosses, these burdens and heart-aches.  That’s why we have to be told to do it.  Because our natural instinct is to not carry them, to try to get them off of our backs and take the easy way.   

            And doesn’t it often feel like you didn’t really do anything to deserve some of those crosses?  Like Simon (Mark 15:21), you are just walking along and minding your own business when, out of nowhere, someone grabs you and lays a cross on your back and forces you to carry it.  And the kicker is that Simon wasn’t even one of the people screaming for Jesus’ death.  He was from out of town, just passing through all the hoopla.  He wasn’t part of the group that was crucifying Jesus (as far as we can tell).  And yet, he was the one chosen to carry the cross.  What a shock!  What a change of plans!  What an incredible, unexpected, “unfair” burden!     

"Can" or "Will"

            “When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. . . .

            Jesus asked the boy’s father, ‘How long has he been like this?’ 

            ‘From childhood,’ he answered.  ‘. . . But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.’

            “ ‘If you can’?” said Jesus.  ‘Everything is possible for him who believes.’

            Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, ‘I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief.’”  (Mark 9:20-24)

            “A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, ‘Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.’”  (Matthew 8:2)

            “If you can” verses “If you are willing.”  These are two very different things.  One comes from a place of doubt, wondering if Jesus is really that powerful and if He can do what we are asking Him to do.  And one comes from a place of hope and trust, knowing that He can do anything we ask but that He might not and we will have to trust that He has His reasons.

            Jesus tells the first man that “Everything is possible for him who believes.”  If we don’t believe that Jesus can do something, we don’t ask.  We don’t persevere in prayer.  We don’t take any steps in faith.  Because we’ve already decided that it’s not really possible for Him.  And our unbelief prevents us from getting His help.

The Strong Hand

            “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”  (1 Peter 5:8)

           

            As I have gotten older, I have struggled more and more with “depression.”  And I think I am finally realizing why it keeps hitting me.  As I have grown closer to the Lord and have experienced more of life, I have grown more and more discontent with what life has to offer.  And I long for more of God.  More than He is willing to give me right now.  I want to see more of His glory and power.  I want to hear from Him more.  I want more answers to prayer, and I get confused when it doesn’t happen because I feel like I have grown so much in my understanding of prayer.  (And yet, the more I learn, the more I realize how big and mysterious God and prayer and faith is.)  I want more peace and joy and deep contentment, yet I know I cannot find it in anything this life has to offer.  And so, in a way, my “depression” comes from my deep desire for the eternal, for Jesus to come back again and make everything right and take us with Him to our real home.  I am truly understanding the “they were aliens and strangers” verse (Hebrews 11:13).  I’m just passing through here.  I want to be home!

            Yet, this is where God has me right now.  My job is to be here, to share His love and draw others to Him.  To live Christ for other people so that I can help them find eternal life in Him.  To delight in Him while in a “strange land” where I don’t really belong.  And to do my best to do my best every day, for His Kingdom and His glory.  While it is still called “today” and while I still have a chance to help lost people. 

I am weak and I need You!

            What is it that we always say to encourage people going through a hard time?

            “God won’t give you more than you can handle.”

            But guess what?

            It’s not true. 

            “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered . . . We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we even despaired of life.  Indeed, in our hearts, we felt the sentence of death.  But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.”  (2 Corinthians 1:8-9)

The Heart of Prayer

            “I lift up my eyes to the hills – where does my help come from?  My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.”  (Psalm 121:1-2)]

            “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”  (Philippians 4:6-7)

            “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”  (Psalm 46: 10)

            A couple months ago, I was struggling with prayer, with laying requests down at God’s feet, with asking Him for more.  I just couldn’t bring myself to “ask for more” when He’s already been so good to me.  I felt like an ingrate who wasn’t satisfied with what He gave me, like asking for more would be showing that I didn’t appreciate what He already gave me, like it would say that I wasn’t content or joyful with my life. 

            I found myself tripping over the words in my prayer. 

            “Lord, You have been so good to me.  And I am thankful for what I have.  I’m not asking for something else or something more because I am not thankful, I’m just trying to be honest with what’s going on in my heart.  We are supposed to be honest and lay our requests before You.  But I don’t want to seem like I’m not thankful or content.  You know that I am.   Or at least I really try to be.  But I still think it’s right to go to You with all wants and needs.  So I’m not coming to You with my requests because I’m not thankful.  I mean, You have proven to me how good You are by blessing me so much in the past, by always answering me, even if it’s not the answer I expected or wanted.  But You always listen, always answer, and have always been good.  And so I feel bad bringing another request to You, but . . . it’s just that . . . it’s just that . . .”

18 Questions I Don't Have Answers For (Yet!)

            As I begin reading through the Bible for the 5^th or 6^th time in my life, I am once again struck with certain questions that I don’t have adequate answers for.  I guess you could say these are the things that make me go “Huh?”  Things such as . . .

            1.  In Numbers 22, we read about how Balaam was riding his donkey, trying to make it go down a certain path.  The donkey had seen an angel standing in the road and wouldn’t go forward.  So Balaam beat the donkey.  Then the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth and the donkey said, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?”

"Don't Be Such a Chicken"- December

(If you want to do this Challenge in order, start in January!  It’s where the introduction is.)

December

1.  Ask God to help you find a new “verse of the month” and a new “word of the month.”  Post it where you can see it.  And ask Him to help you apply it.  (And/or ask Him if there is any task/challenge He wants to give you this month.)

2.  Pick two or three new people to pray for this month.  Write their names down, pray for them daily, and ask God if there is anything specific you should pray for about them. 

3.  What are five things about winter you are thankful for?