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. NIV
We read in this that growth and maturity come through times of trials and testing. How does this maturity happen? A desert father wrote: “Adversities do not make you miserable, but they disclose to you and teach you what you were already.” Guigo I; Meditations.
The times of struggle are times when God just might be revealing to you what is in your heart. We will begin to realize that we are not as strong in faith as we thought we were. God is showing us how much we need to depend upon Him.
In the midst of this time of struggle we begin to see the truth of who we are and what God offers us, yet it is still difficult to completely trust in God. “There is usually a good span of time between our first awakening and complete faith. During such days we pray the same prayer the sick boy’s father prayed: ‘I do believe. Help me overcome my unbelief.’ In other words, this prayer means, ‘I am no longer in darkness. My soul has seen Your light. But I am not yet able to believe completely. The light is dim. Lord, help me.’” Francis DeSales; Living in Love.
This is the place where perseverance comes into play. Will I keep going and keep trusting God or will I give up? God takes us like a bow that He stretches, and at a certain point we say, “I can’t stand this anymore.” But God does not heed. He goes on stretching because He is aiming at His mark, not ours – we must hang on until God lets the arrow fly. Then we will discover the target that God has placed in front of us. At this point we begin to discover the power of trusting God and allowing Him to walk us through the struggle.
Let me leave you with a couple of thoughts from the desert fathers who have walked in this path of hardship:
The best source of help is the one that most exercises our faith, puts to shame human wisdom, makes us simple and humble and undeceives us in respect to our own wisdom.” Francis Fenelon; the Best of Fenelon.
“When you suffer in any way, whether through fear, anger, hatred, or any kind of grief, you should only blame yourself for it – your craving, ignorance and laziness…Your injury and grief bear witness to your sin, for by abandoning God you have plainly fallen in love with something that can harm you.” Guigo I; Meditations.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Monday, February 19, 2007
Growing Old
The professor challenged his students to get to know someone they didn't already know. One of the football players felt a gentle touch on his shoulder and as he turned found a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at him. A smile lit her entire being. She said, "Hello handsome. My name is Rose and I'm eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?"
He laughed and enthusiastically responded, "Sure you can Rose!" and he was given a giant squeeze. He asked with a twinkle in his eye, "Rose, why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?"
Immediately she responded, "I'm here to meet a rich husband, get married, have a couple of kids, and then retire and travel."
"Seriously, why are you here? What's motivated you to take on this challenge at your age?"
She said, "I always dreamed of having a college education and now I'm getting one!" she told him. After class they walked to the student union building and shared a vanilla milkshake. They became instant friends. Every day for three months they would leave class together and talk nonstop. He was mesmerized listening to this "time machine" as she shared from her vast experience and practical wisdom.
That year, Rose became a campus icon and made friends easily. She loved the attention the kids blessed her with. Her life was full. At the conclusion of the semester Rose was invited to speak at the football banquet. She taught them an important lesson. One could tell that she was a bit nervous and frustrated and a bit embarrassed. Her jitteriness caused her to drop her note cards on the floor. She looked at her audience and said, "I'll never get my speech back in order so let me just tell you what I know."
As the audience laughed she cleared her throat and began, "We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing. There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy and achieving success in life. You have to laugh and find humor everyday. You've got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die.
“We have so many people walking around who are dead and don't even know it! There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don't do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old. If I am 87 years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn 88. Anybody can grow older. That doesn't take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding the opportunity in change.
“Have no regrets. The elderly usually don't have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets."
She concluded her speech by courageously singing, "The Rose." She challenged each of those students to study the lyrics and live them out in their daily lives. At the end of the year Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those years ago. One week after graduation rose died peacefully in her sleep. Over two thousand college students attended her funeral in tribute to the wonderful woman who taught by example that it's never to late to be all you can possibly be.
He laughed and enthusiastically responded, "Sure you can Rose!" and he was given a giant squeeze. He asked with a twinkle in his eye, "Rose, why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?"
Immediately she responded, "I'm here to meet a rich husband, get married, have a couple of kids, and then retire and travel."
"Seriously, why are you here? What's motivated you to take on this challenge at your age?"
She said, "I always dreamed of having a college education and now I'm getting one!" she told him. After class they walked to the student union building and shared a vanilla milkshake. They became instant friends. Every day for three months they would leave class together and talk nonstop. He was mesmerized listening to this "time machine" as she shared from her vast experience and practical wisdom.
That year, Rose became a campus icon and made friends easily. She loved the attention the kids blessed her with. Her life was full. At the conclusion of the semester Rose was invited to speak at the football banquet. She taught them an important lesson. One could tell that she was a bit nervous and frustrated and a bit embarrassed. Her jitteriness caused her to drop her note cards on the floor. She looked at her audience and said, "I'll never get my speech back in order so let me just tell you what I know."
As the audience laughed she cleared her throat and began, "We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing. There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy and achieving success in life. You have to laugh and find humor everyday. You've got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die.
“We have so many people walking around who are dead and don't even know it! There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don't do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old. If I am 87 years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn 88. Anybody can grow older. That doesn't take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding the opportunity in change.
“Have no regrets. The elderly usually don't have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets."
She concluded her speech by courageously singing, "The Rose." She challenged each of those students to study the lyrics and live them out in their daily lives. At the end of the year Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those years ago. One week after graduation rose died peacefully in her sleep. Over two thousand college students attended her funeral in tribute to the wonderful woman who taught by example that it's never to late to be all you can possibly be.
Monday, February 12, 2007
The Fire of God's love
In Proverbs 17:3 we read: “The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the LORD tests the heart.” NIV
The Lord uses fire to test us and reveal what is in our hearts. St. John of the Cross talks about this. I present to you a personal summary of a section of his book.
When fire begins to work on wood, it first must dry it out. Then it blackens the wood, making it dark and unsightly and even small bad. As the fire works it begins to drive away all the flaws. Finally the fire kindles the wood, gives it heat and light and transforms it into itself. The wood has now taken on the properties of the fire.
God’s love is like the fire. His love works in our hearts and on our lives. When we allow his love to work it begins driving out all the unsightliness within our hearts. This makes the situation seem worse that before. Our hearts are beginning to perceive themselves as they really are. God’s love is working through hardship (the crucible and the furnace) to remove the dross that exists within our hearts and lives. We are now seeing the imperfections and darkness that reside within us. Observing them now allows God’s love to begin to burn them all away.
As our hearts and lives are purged and purified, they are becoming more and more enkindled with the love of God. In essence we are taking on more of the character of God’s love. Our hearts and lives are becoming hotter and containing more divine light. (St. John of the Cross; The Dark Night of the Soul; pages 127-131)
The crucible and the furnace are doing their work!
The Lord uses fire to test us and reveal what is in our hearts. St. John of the Cross talks about this. I present to you a personal summary of a section of his book.
When fire begins to work on wood, it first must dry it out. Then it blackens the wood, making it dark and unsightly and even small bad. As the fire works it begins to drive away all the flaws. Finally the fire kindles the wood, gives it heat and light and transforms it into itself. The wood has now taken on the properties of the fire.
God’s love is like the fire. His love works in our hearts and on our lives. When we allow his love to work it begins driving out all the unsightliness within our hearts. This makes the situation seem worse that before. Our hearts are beginning to perceive themselves as they really are. God’s love is working through hardship (the crucible and the furnace) to remove the dross that exists within our hearts and lives. We are now seeing the imperfections and darkness that reside within us. Observing them now allows God’s love to begin to burn them all away.
As our hearts and lives are purged and purified, they are becoming more and more enkindled with the love of God. In essence we are taking on more of the character of God’s love. Our hearts and lives are becoming hotter and containing more divine light. (St. John of the Cross; The Dark Night of the Soul; pages 127-131)
The crucible and the furnace are doing their work!
Monday, February 05, 2007
Change the Diaper
Growth in our Lord can be difficult, for it involves change. For many of us change is difficult. We tend to like things the way they are even if it means struggle.
Mark Twain said: “The only person who likes change is a wet baby”
Some one else said: “If your religion does not change you, then you should change your religion.”
Charles Kettering is quoted as saying: "The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress."
One of the major factors that God uses to bring change is adversity, struggle and pain. How many want to change when things are progressing well and there is prosperity?
God tries in many ways to get us to change and grow and when we don’t, He is forced to use trials to get us to wake up and look up and listen up.
God seeks to get us to yield everything in our lives up to Him and allow Him to take where He knows we need to be. This can be scary! Like Abraham of old, we discover that each next step is given to us only at the present moment. The entire plan of God is not spelled out for us in detail. “The reality of life for Christian men and women requires that they leave what is nailed down, obvious and secure and walk into the desert without rational explanations to justify their decisions or guarantee their future. Why? Solely and simply because God signals His movement and offers his promise.” (Brennan Manning; The Signature of Jesus; page 18)
Are we truly convinced of the reliability of God? Do we really believe He has our best interests at heart? Are we ready to grow and be changed into the image of Jesus?
Mark Twain said: “The only person who likes change is a wet baby”
Some one else said: “If your religion does not change you, then you should change your religion.”
Charles Kettering is quoted as saying: "The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress."
One of the major factors that God uses to bring change is adversity, struggle and pain. How many want to change when things are progressing well and there is prosperity?
God tries in many ways to get us to change and grow and when we don’t, He is forced to use trials to get us to wake up and look up and listen up.
God seeks to get us to yield everything in our lives up to Him and allow Him to take where He knows we need to be. This can be scary! Like Abraham of old, we discover that each next step is given to us only at the present moment. The entire plan of God is not spelled out for us in detail. “The reality of life for Christian men and women requires that they leave what is nailed down, obvious and secure and walk into the desert without rational explanations to justify their decisions or guarantee their future. Why? Solely and simply because God signals His movement and offers his promise.” (Brennan Manning; The Signature of Jesus; page 18)
Are we truly convinced of the reliability of God? Do we really believe He has our best interests at heart? Are we ready to grow and be changed into the image of Jesus?
Why we need God
An old Indian, after living many years in sin, was led to Christ by a missionary. Friends asked him to explain the change in his life. Reaching down, he picked up a little worm and placed it on a pile of leaves. Then, touching a match to the leaves, he watched them smolder and burst into flames. As the flames worked their way up to the center where the worm lay, the old chief suddenly plunged his hand into the center of the burning pile and snatched out the worm. Holding the worm gently in his hand, he gave this testimony to the grace of God: "Me. . . that worm!"
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
