Take away the dross from the silver, and the smith has material for a vessel; Proverbs 25:4 ESV
This is a strange journey and one I trust is His plan for taking away the dross and making me into material worthy of shaping into a vessel.
What that vessel will be or how long this journey is, I do not know; so daily (at the office surrounded by chaos and a gazillion minutia) and nightly (at the hotel cloaked in loneliness and quiet) I must trust him with this strange path.
NYC seems a cold and lonely and not-so-soulful city at times. I came here this trip with a bad attitude. Admittedly, my attitude was really bad. Silly as it may seem, it was bad mostly because I had to leave Austin on an absolutely gorgeous day and come here. To where it’s cold. And busy. And crowded. And soul-less.
But God is good.
He is good to remind me that He is everywhere. There is no place I can go away from Him.And that this city isn’t quite so soul-less after-all.
He reminded me in Starbucks when the music playing overhead was a redone hymn, set in an upbeat, folksy tune. He reminded me when I walked into the office, following some colleagues and when the automatic hallway lights came on, they all three exclaimed, “And God said ‘Let there be light’!”. He reminded me yet again that He is at work in this soulful city, as I overheard two people a couple desks away discussing church and worship and what it means to be a true believer.
God is good. And He is faithful to remind me that He is with me. All the time and everywhere. There is nowhere I can go where He is not already there, at work.
Something I’ve been churning in my head lately is this: when times are good, it’s easy to think that things will always be good. We get comfortable. We start feeling entitled to the good times. We feel secure in the easiness and we grow accustomed to it.
But the good times get replaced with troubled times. When this happens, what is our reaction? Do we kick and scream and shake our fist at God? Do we wonder what we did wrong to deserve the trouble? Do we see the hard times as a chance to die to ourselves and become more like Jesus?
What is your theology of trouble? Have you prepared ahead of time what your reaction will be when you begin to experience it? Psalm 27:5 says: “For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon the rock.” David had already prepared his response to when trouble comes – he will turn to God in trust, in hope, in belief that God will take of him.
As Christians, our theology needs to be proactive, prepared ahead of time, not reactionary. We must think ahead of time what our reaction to trouble will be, what God will expect from us, and what God has promised us. Then when the trouble comes, we need to hold onto our theology, which has been prepared head of time. Good theology will take us through the trouble – it will enable us to trust God and it will bring about joy and praise in the midst of the hard times.
Give to the wind your fear
Hope and be undismayed
God hears your sighs and counts your tears
God will lift up, God will lift up, lift up your head
God will lift up your head
God will lift up your head
God will lift up your head
Lift up your head
Leave to His sovereign sway
To choose and to command
Then shall we wandering on His way
Know how wise and how strong
How wise and how strong
How strong is His hand
Through waves and clouds and storms,
He gently clears the way
Wait because in His time, so shall this night
Soon end in joy, soon end in joy
Soon end in joy, soon end in joy
Jars of Clay
John 21 – Jesus appears to Peter
agape love – self sacrificing
philos love – close friendship or brotherly love
Jesus: Peter, do you love me more than these (with agape love)?
Peter: Yes Lord, you know that I love you (with philos love).
Jesus: Peter, do you love me (with agape love)?
Peter: Yes Lord, you know that I love you (with philos love).
Jesus: Peter, do you love me (with philos love)?
Peter: Yes Lord, you know that I love you (with philos love).
Before Peter denied Jesus three times before the crucifixion, he answered Jesus with an “agape love” answer. Then his entire identity as a follower of Christ was shaken to the core when he denied Jesus. Here Jesus engages Jesus and Peter responds with honesty – he reiterates that Jesus knows all things and he is honest about his own (in)ability to love (with agape love). Jesus pushes the agape love issue, then meets Peter where he is at. Jesus asks Peter for philos love and Peter responds with a willingness to do what Jesus asks – to feed His sheep. Even as Peter’s identity is shaken, and he can only respond with philos love, the course of the rest of his life shows his agape love for Christ.
May I, like Peter, obey Christ even when I don’t feel worthy. May I never have false humility that says, “I can’t do that, I’m not deserving of that position, etc.” Like Peter, may I obey even if the core of my faith is shaken.
Matthew 6: 25-34
Matthew 10: 29-31
Ephesians 3: 14-21
Philippians 4: 4-9
II Peter 1: 2
I Peter 5: 6-11
Psalm 139
“While here on earth, we need to make a vital decision … whether to be mere spectators, or movers and shakers for the Kingdom of God… whether to stay among the curious, or take up a cross. And this means: no standing on the sidelines … We’re either in the game or we’re not. I sometimes ask myself the question: If I were to die today, what would my life have stood for… The answer can’t be an impulsive one, and we all need to count the cost before we give an answer. Because to be able to say yes to one thing, means to say no to many others. But we must also remember, that the greatest danger is not impulsiveness, but inaction.”
excerpt from Tony Blair’s speech at Obama’s first annual National Prayer Breakfast
Brilliant Thomas Sowell. Check him out.
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