Grace and Peace

A kindergarten teacher was helping one of her students, Joey, put on his cowboy boots.  She and Joey struggled with great effort to get his feet into the little boots. Finally, when the second boot was on and she had worked up a sweat, she almost cried when Joey said, “Teacher, they’re on the wrong feet.” She looked down and sure enough; they were.

It wasn’t any easier pulling the boots off than it was putting them on. But she managed to keep her cool as together they worked to get the boots back on; this time on the right feet. When the task was accomplished, Joey announced, “These aren’t my boots.”

She bit her tongue rather than scream, “Why didn’t you say so?”  Once again, she struggled to pull the ill-fitting boots off his little feet. No sooner had they got the boots off than Joey said, “They’re my brother’s boots. My Mom made me wear ’em today.”

Stifling a scream, she mustered up the grace and courage she had left to wrestle the ill-fitting boots on his feet again. Then helping him into his coat, she asked, “Now, where are your mittens?” To which he replied, “I stuffed ’em in the toes of my boots.”

The teacher’s trial starts next month.

Don’t you sometimes feel as frustrated by your circumstances as the teacher in the story?  Life comes at us fast and furious and often tests our resolve, endurance, and patience.  Each of us has “gone postal” at some time or another and perhaps said (or done) things which later we regret. 

Scripture has a good word for us in the middle of frustrating encounters with others:

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:29-32 ESV)

When we are hurting, we often keep our eyes on our desperate circumstances and beg God to change our circumstances. When we focus on our circumstances, we are focused on the wrong thing. Instead, we should be looking for God–to see what God is doing in our circumstances and life. Even though, you may see little evidence of His presence or plan, you can trust His grace.

There’s a great hymn text written by William Cowper that proclaims:

God moves in a mysterious way; His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea; And rides upon the storm.

My favorite stanza is the third:

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense; But trust him for his grace;
Behind a frowning providence, He hides a smiling face.

Even though Job suffered terribly and experienced deep despondency, he never gave up on God. Even though he made some statements that make us think he wanted to die, he never gave up. He never sinned against God by blaming God. He did not curse God and die. He did not try to end his life. He hung in there. He maintained his integrity to the end.

By faith he looked 2,000 years into the future and he saw a Redeemer who would stand as the ultimate King over all of God’s creation. He knew one day He would see God.

For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God. (Job 19:25-26 ESV)

In the beginning, God is there.

All through life, God is there.

At the end, God is there.

If the Lord tarries in His return, we are all going to face death. For some of us, we will be better off dead–it will mean heaven and home for us.

If you don’t know Jesus as your savior you should do everything you can to try to delay that day, because this life is as good as it will ever get for you. Isn’t that scary?

But you can turn from your sins and place your faith in Jesus today, and you can be ready to die.

Job was a wealthy and prosperous man. He acknowledged that everything he had was a gift from God. He praised God in good times and as we read in Job 1:21, he still praised God after losing all that he had: And he (Job) said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

You and I came into this world naked, too. And even if we are buried in a $500 suit, we’ll enter the afterlife with zero material assets. You’ll never see a U-Haul following a hearse, because you can’t take it with you.

Some people think that everything good in their life has come to them because they earned it. There are people who think the world owes them a living, or that they deserve to have all their needs met. The Bible teaches clearly everything good in life is a gift that comes from God above.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. (James 1:17)

In addition to James statement, listen to Jesus words:

He (God the Father) makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. (Matthew 5:45b)

Even those who hate God vehemently or deny His existence are recipients of God’s beneficence.  God is good and He gives good gifts.

On
September 11, 2001 men killed over 4,000 people. They killed husbands and wives, moms and dads, leaders of commerce, doctors, scientists, educators, and people with many other skills and professions.  Most of all they killed individuals loved by those who miss them most.

On September 12, 2001 men killed over 4000 people and again on September 13 and 14 and 15.  Every day men kill over 4000 unborn babies. 4000 each day, 28,000 each week, 112,000 each month and 1,460,000 each year.  Those killed were perhaps future leaders of this nation, doctors who could have saved many, scientists who may have found a cure for cancer, educators who would have trained young minds, and only God knows what else they may have done.

On September 11, 2001 terrorists killed over 4000 people and the outcry for justice was great; the cry of pain was heard through out our Nation. Swift and accurate justice was rendered.

4000 unborn babies are being killed everyday, but I see no weeping, no anger, and no outcry for justice and no one who cares.  These are living babies in their mother’s womb. They are living human beings, created in God’s image. Human beings God has given a purpose in life.  Innocent human beings needing protection and nurturing.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:26-27 English Standard Version)

God created us in His own image.  God creates every child that is conceived in His image. Even while that baby is in the womb, he or she is in God’s image.  What gives us the authority to destroy innocent life?  When did we become so evil, that we send someone to prison for killing a dog, but license the killing of human beings?  God created animals too, but not in His image.  Babies are created in God’s image with a body, soul and spirit. Even the Angels were not created in God’s image. Only humankind bears the image of God by God’s design.

On January 22, 1973 the United States Supreme Court handed down the infamous Roe vs. Wade.  By a vote of 7-2 they declared the “shedding of innocent blood” to be a constitutional right.  Since that time, over 40,000,000 babies have died.  Over 4000 daily continue to be murdered.  When will the insanity stop?

A major problem, for most people, is a lack of direction in their life.  They drift along driven by every current without ever having a goal or vision for their life.  Their situation reminds me of the early disciples after the ascension of Jesus until the day of Pentecost.  They were hidden away, powerless, and directionless.  Then God intervened!

(Acts 2:1-21 ESV) ¹ When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. ² And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. ³ And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. ⁴ And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. ⁵ Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. ⁶ And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. ⁷ And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? ⁸ And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? ⁹ Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, ¹¹ both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” ¹² And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” ¹³ But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.” ¹⁴ But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. ¹⁵ For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. ¹⁶ But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: ¹⁷ ” ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; ¹⁸ even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. ¹⁹ And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; ²⁰ the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. ²¹ And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

Do you see the difference?  They went from mild to wild when God moved in; from just hoping they survived to believing that all could be saved. Therefore, I urge you to consider God’s vision for your life and stop being content with lesser things.

• Set a worthy goal; one that honors God. Your view of God determines how big your goal is. So, how big do you think God is? The issue is not who do you think you are, but who do you think God is?  In your dreams for your life, don’t limit yourself by saying, “What can I do?” Instead ask, “What can God do through me? What can God do in this place?”
  
• Don’t worry about solving all the problems before setting your goal.A good example of this principle can be found in the life of the United States President, John F. Kennedy. Regardless of what you think about his politics, Kennedy stood up one day in the early 1960’s and said, “We’ll put a man on the moon by the end of the decade.” He was clear; he was precise; and the vision was something people could look to. Now, here’s the interesting thing — when he said it, the technology to put a man on the moon hadn’t even been developed. That’s faith.
  
• Commit for the long haul. A guy once told me that he believed that God was calling him to be an evangelist. He said, “I’m giving it six months and if it doesn’t pan out; I’ll try something else.” I told him, “Don’t even bother to try!” We overestimate what we can do in one year, and we underestimate what we can do in ten years or twenty years.   When I came here in ’79, the youth ministry started with just one girl.  She was the only one that really wanted it.  By spring of 1982, we had forty regularly attending youth Bible study.  The trouble with most goal setting is we set our goals too low and try to accomplish them too soon.  Instead we need to set big goals — huge goals — enormous goals — but plan plenty of time in reaching those goals.  It takes twelve hours to grow a mushroom, but five years to grow an oak tree to maturity. Don’t hurry God; let Him plant you in a work and grow you up there.

Most people think of Job as a man who lost it all, but I think of him as a man who came to see that the one thing he had was the only thing he needed.

Job lost his fortune, his family, his fitness, his friends, and he even lost face–but the one thing he did not lose was his faith. He was willing to trust God even if he died. In Job 13:15 he said, “Though he slay me, I will hope in him.”

The secret to victory over the devil is to live a life abandoned to God. Most of our worries stem from the fact that we love our lives and the things and people in our lives so much that we are afraid of losing them. Satan uses this fear of loss to intimidate us. But you can’t scare a dead man.

Jesus said, “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

(Matthew 16:25)  

When you’re fully committed to Jesus Christ, you have already died to self (the hardest loss of all) and you have been raised to a brand new life (eternal life which no one or no thing can take away), so you can be fearless even in the face of death.  Are you at the place in your life where you have turned from your sins and placed faith in Jesus? Then and only then can you experience the blessing of a fearless faith.