Understanding Depression's Lies & Finding Comfort in God's Voice

Recently our family has begun walking through a journey of a loved one dealing with depression.  In that journey, we've learned that people who are depressed can find their thinking so clouded that they believe the lies about themselves and often open up channels of voices speaking cursing into their life because it confirms the emotional feelings that they are being slowly strangled by.  And that they will then turn the volume up on those voices that confirm the mess they think they are.

In the process, they also turn down the volume of God's voice, and the voices of those speaking God's message of blessing and identity into their life.

It's a powerful captivity that Satan loves to keep people in.  If he can destroy your understanding of your identity, he can choke the abundant life that Jesus has for you right out of existence.  He can close the pathway to your purpose and eliminate the glory that your story will bring to God and the blessing it will bring to others.

To those dealing with a depressed loved one, it can often inflict emotional wounds on you as well.  We don't fully understand the hurting that the loved one is trapped in and we don't always remember to view their responses to us accordingly.

Often in our plan to help, we can become stumbling blocks or even unwitting messengers of Satan.

That's why Psalm 23 is so iconic in the faith community.  It speaks to the deeply felt truth that God doesn't always deliver us from evil, but He walks with us through the valley of the shadow of death.  He fills our cup in the company of our enemies, not after removing them.  He allows us to continue on our journey through the valley of the shadow of death, but He comforts us with His presence in every step.

We often pray that God will deliver us from circumstances of pain and suffering.  He absolutely can, and He often does.  But sometimes He doesn't.  And it's in those moments that we need to be the most intentional about turning up the volume of God's voice when everything inside of us seems to confirm that we should close the God App and start live streaming the voices of the enemy confirming our deepest fears and justifying our pain.  Walking through depression is typically a "valley of the shadow of death" kind of Psalm 23 journey.  It takes time.  It takes trust.

The same book of Psalms that contain the famous 23rd Psalm, also intentionally gives us a vivid depiction of depression in the previous chapter,  Psalm 22:

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from my cries of anguish?
My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, but I find no rest. Or night, and am not silent
Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the one Israel praises.Or Yet you are holy, / enthroned on the praises of Israel
In you our ancestors put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.
To you they cried out and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by everyone, despised by the people.
All who see me mock me;
they hurl insults, shaking their heads."

 "Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help."

"I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
it has melted within me.
My mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me in the dust of death."

 Those are just some excerpts, but it seems to me that they pretty vividly depict the agony of someone going through the valley of depression.  The torment.  The pain.  The distorted view of identity.  The seeming silence and distance of God.  The hopeless despair.  God understands it all.

I don't have answers.  I don't understand yet fully the journey we are on.  Reading Psalm 22 and 23 together, however, gives me greater clarity of my role and my burden to be a voice of blessing and not cursing.  It gives me greater insight into the experience of one dealing with depression.  It comforts me to know that God is in the midst of that pain, that God is walking through that pain, that God included passages like this in the Bible to show His heart and compassion for those walking through the valley of the shadow of death.  It speaks to my heart that God is good and that He is a loving Father to those shackled with the chains of depression and anguish.  It comforts me to know that Psalm 139 promises:

Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

Nothing and no one is beyond the reach of a loving Father.  God is always there, reaching.  Even if we are in the pit of depression's hell, God is there.  He doesn't leave us or forsake us.  I pray and believe that on the other side of this journey our story will be one of victory and of bringing praise to God for a purpose re-found, an identity restored, and a faith expanded with the knowledge that we are who God says we are and that He delivers and sustains us and turns our mourning into dancing.  If that's you or your family, be encouraged that a loving Father sees each tear and knows each pain.

He is there.  Always.

Get Spiritually Woke, Church!

It’s time to get spiritually woke, church.

For those of you who don’t frequent social media or work with young people, telling people to “get woke” or “stay woke” is a new slang for being aware of what’s really going on in your community and in the world.  As “woke” grammatically is what you become after the act of waking up, it’s a state of being awake and fully engaged.   It is usually used in connection with social justice issues.  Today, we are going to appropriate it to being aware of what’s really going on spiritually.  It’s a challenge that Jesus gave us in Matthew 25.  It’s has been a long-standing challenge to the church through various periods of war, hatred, and the worst moments of humanity but also in the lulling comfort of financial security of “First World Problems.”  

In short, it’s time to be active, to really see what’s going on around us, and to be actively pursuing our Savior as even now He prepares the final chapters of human history.  It’s time to become active characters in the story that God is telling in our chapter of history.  

Matthew 25 has Jesus sharing two stories--one about 10 virgins with lamps and various amounts of oil and another about some apparently rich dude who leaves to go on a journey and gives his talents (also known as money) to 3 servants in varying degrees based on ability.

Now, most people in this day and age that read these passages have no idea what we are talking about.  Virgins with lamps and oil and some dudes with bags of talents.  It’s enough to make a hipster scratch his beard in confusion.

I’ll let a Google search or a chat with your local theologian fill you in on all of the details of why virgins needed lamps and oil, or what the heck talents are.  The point in both stories, however, is clear.  It speaks of being spiritually “woke.”  In the first story, 5 of the 10 virgins were ready for the bridegroom by having already prepared the oil for the lamps, and 5 were not despite all 10 knowing that the bridegroom could return at any time.  In the talents story, 2 of the 3 servants doubled the amount of talents in preparation for the master’s return.  One just buried it and waited in fear for the master’s return.   In all cases, they knew who the master/bridegroom was, and that he was returning.  That part was not a shock for any of them.  Some of them prepared for that and worked actively toward his eventual return and some did not.

As you are not likely to be in a gaggle of virgins lighting lamps or in a fellowship of servants  burying gold in your backyard, you might be wondering what this has to do with you.  Let Jesus break it down:

“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.”  (Matthew 25:13)

This speaks to awareness that our time here is limited and that Jesus could return at any moment.  

It goes beyond just watching the clock though and standing ready for Jesus to return.  If you were playing in the Superbowl and you knew that the clock was running out and you still needed to score a winning touchdown, you wouldn’t just stand there watching the clock run out.  Spiritual awareness is good, but it needs to be paired with action.  

If you finish Matthew 25, you see that this is the famous passage where Jesus talks about separating goats from sheep and tells a bunch of folks that they left Him starving, homeless, and without any clothing.  Of course, this came as a shock to many of them.  Questioning when exactly it was that Jesus came to their doors, they are confronted with this powerful truth:

“Truly I tell you, whatever you did for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me...Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.” (Matthew 25:40,45)

Many Christians are aware of what the Bible says, what their salvation hinges on, and many of the

core Biblical truths of the Bible.  That’s not the full definition of being spiritually “woke” though according to Jesus.  Jesus wants followers who aren’t just looking for the reward at the end.  Jesus isn’t looking for hands waiting to receive, He’s looking for hands ready to give out of His abundance.  The Christian life isn’t about you.  Not even a little bit.  You are redeemed for a purpose.  And that purpose isn’t just something to make your ego feel better.  God redeemed you to empower you to help redeem and serve others.  You are now part of God’s big story and there are no extra characters.  Each redeemed life is written for a purpose to advance God’s story here on earth in this chapter of history.

Following Jesus also means seeing others the way that God sees them.  Jesus walked that out for us in his time on earth.  He loved the unlovable, the forgotten, and the outcasted.  He broke social barriers and challenged the status quo.  He made every moment of His earthly life about serving God and serving others.  He didn’t have a fancy home, a great car and a cool online social media presence.  That stuff didn’t matter to Him.

The lesson of the virgins and the servants with the talents is clear--God wants you to live out your faith and to continue in the work He has for you to complete.  And the call to action is bigger than just avoiding getting caught slacking when Jesus returns.  Jesus’ call to action is about what your apathy does to you and to the others your apathy leaves naked, starving, and afraid in a world of darkness.  If your faith consists of just attending church you are doing it wrong.  Faith demands action.  The Bible is very clear that faith without works is dead.  It’s not a call to legalism or works based salvation.  It’s a call to a faith that permeates every aspect of your life and to being “woke” to the call on your life and the very specific part in that work that God redeemed you for.  

Finally, look to Peter’s example.  Peter is famous for two main things--walking on water and denying Christ 3 times right before the cross.  When Jesus returns and meets with Peter, though, it’s about restoration.  Jesus asks him 3 times if he loves him and each time he answers in the affirmative. Jesus then links it to others: “Then feed my sheep.”  The 3 times of affirmation are certainly a bookend to the previous 3 denials and as such, they bring wholeness and restoration back to Peter.  But it doesn’t stop there.  Jesus very clearly links Peter’s restoration and declaration of love for Christ to serving others.  If you love Me, you will serve others.  That’s what it means to be spiritually woke.

The servants in the story were rewarded because they took what the master left them and they doubled it.  God wants to double the redemption and grace at work in your life to spill into those surrounding you.  Don’t miss what God has for you and for those you are meant to serve.

Get spiritually woke, church!

Activate A Child's Faith: Every Kid Needs a Champion

Every kid needs a champion.

In nearly fifteen years of teaching in a public high school, and ten years of leading children’s ministry at church, I’ve had a wide range of experience.  From pre-school to graduating seniors, I’ve been involved in every phase through either my church life or my work life.  Being the father of three kids also helps.

And one truth that is undeniable throughout my years of experience is this--kids need a champion.

The children and teens that I’ve worked with who have been the most successful in achieving success have been those who had a champion rooting for them, encouraging them, and helping guide them through the minefield of life.

While this concept of a champion is not necessarily a shocking revelation, it is unfortunately far less common than it should be.

And in the age of social media, true authentic relationships are often drying up and replaced by the fake, surface level digital facades.  

Psychologists will tell you that human beings have a deep need of community and a sense of belonging.  And studies are showing that social media is having the opposite effect.  While we might know more about our friends and acquaintances (like what they ate for dinner!) we KNOW them less.  We know more about the life events big and small, but less of their heart.  And the inevitable comparisons contained in the filters, platforms, and messaging of the various social media platforms can have a tremendous hindering impact on our self-esteem creating depression and isolation.

Today’s generation is the first to be truly immersed in digital citizenship from birth on.  Toddlers are playing games on tablets and young kids are making duckfaces for selfies.  

By contrast, I had a pager during college so that I could call you from a pay phone if you really needed to get ahold of me and my computer made weird squawking bird sounds when it took about 20 minutes to connect to the internet.  

Children today are growing up in a world where learning how to develop an authentic relationship is a skill that they have very limited practice with.  And with the central role that relationship plays in activating an authentic faith, that’s dangerous ground.

That’s why kids need a CHAMPION.

GENERATIONAL FAITH: PAUL & TIMOTHY

The book of 2 Timothy is a great picture of a godly mentorship.  The older Paul is writing to his younger colleague in the ministry to encourage him.  And everything about the passage speaks to relationship.  In chapter 1, Paul reminds Timothy that it was because of his grandmother and mother than he came to faith and that Timothy is but the latest generation in a link of faith.  He encourages Timothy to continue in the faith and activate the faith of the next generation by investing in them as his mom and grandmother did for him.  

Then Paul CHAMPIONS Timothy to stay in the faith and contend for the faith.  He also reminds him of the example of his own life:

“You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, 11persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.” 2 Timothy 3:10-11

Paul didn’t just teach Timothy theology.  He showed up.  Big time.  He modeled an authentic faith.  He walked through the doubts and persecution with him.  He was a CHAMPION for Timothy.

WHAT ABOUT PARENTS?

Parents are the biggest influence (present or absent) in their child’s life.  Period.  

They are uniquely positioned to influence their child in positive or negative ways through their relationship, their habits, their personality, their words, and their example.  They have the greatest capacity for being a CHAMPION of their own children.

Parents can’t always be that champion for every stage, however.  For example, during the teenage phase, kids are much more willing to share things with other leaders, mentors, teachers, and coaches rather than their own parents.  It’s just reality.  And it’s a reality that my wife and I are learning now that our oldest is in high school.  Parents need to be intentional about establishing those kinds of relationships with adults who will reinforce what they would say to their child if they could.  Churches need to be intentional about providing them with “Pauls” for this very purpose.

WARMTH & CONSISTENCY

Being a champion doesn’t necessarily mean being the coolest and most trendy old person on the scene.  It just means showing up with a willingness to engage.

That’s why most children’s ministries are now embracing a small group-based model with a consistent leader who will show up every week in the life of their few.  When you “lead small” you are actually making a big impact.  Churches have for many years just tossed whatever unwitting fool was standing in the doorway into their children’s and student’s ministry environments.  They’ve been willing to schedule folks around their convenience and only ask for a limited commitment or sporadic scheduling for fear of not having enough volunteers.

Our kids deserve better.  As Reggie Joiner says, “never put the needs of an adult above the heart of a child.”

Having a consistent adult in their lives will provide them with the safe place to share their doubts and questions about their faith, and allow them to have someone other than their parents that knows them.  This is tremendously important to developing a vibrant faith that they can own and activate in their daily life.

I would guess that most of my former students would probably not remember a great deal of the specific lessons that I taught.  (Although our games of Survivor were pretty epic during the Lord of the Flies unit, and I’m not sure they will ever discard the importance of color symbolism after our enthralling chats on The Great Gatsby.)  I do think that I’m a good communicator and teacher. But if I’m honest, the most meaningful impact that I’ve made in the lives of the kids entrusted to me has not been academic.  It’s been relational.  What does last, hopefully, is how I made them feel and how I helped spark their belief in themselves or their curiosity in their purpose.  Hopefully during our time together, they knew that I was there to cheer them on to success.

Each person is unique and uniquely gifted.  Each person has a temperament and learning style that differs from their peers.  The “one size fits all” approach to education or developing an authentic faith in Jesus never works, but the one consistent factor is RELATIONSHIP.   

Here’s what I know:

1. CHILDREN ARE NOT ALL THE SAME--even within families--so no approach or model can be applied exactly the same to every child in exactly the same way.  What works with one child, doesn’t work with another.  It takes RELATIONSHIP to understand that and employ the right approach.
2. CIRCUMSTANCES DEMAND FLEXIBILITY--there will be times in that child’s life where the circumstances of life (family dysfunction, dealing with the death of a loved one, personal relationships, substance abuse, depression, bullying, etc.) overshadow what the lesson plan for the day is.  A champion will recognize this and use the circumstances to help grow the child in some way.   That doesn’t always mean teaching.  Sometimes it means just showing up and being present.  During a particularly challenging day in my teaching career, we had a student killed in a car accident which several other students were involved in (as drivers and passengers.)  Most of the school day was spent standing in the hallway with students collapsing into uncontrolled sobbing masses.  We didn’t teach academics that day.  We didn’t try to talk them through it.  We did the only thing we could--grabbed a box of tissues, hugged desperately hurting students, modeled love and support during a time of intense tragedy.  The same is true in growing faith.  God often uses circumstances in our lives to grow our faith.  A consistent leader will be able to pour into our kids during those times when they really need it--and be fully aware of the backstory and bigger picture in that child’s life to help them gain perspective later on.
3. GENERATIONS ARE NOT ALL THE SAME--growing up today are not the same as kids growing up in the 1990s, or the 1980s, or the 1970s, or any decade prior to that.  If we want to influence them and their faith, we need to get to KNOW THEM.  Consistency is key in that.  As Reggie Joiner says, “you can’t influence someone you don’t know.”

It’s the job of the church to partner with families to ensure that every child has a CHAMPION.  

And how can you be a champion?  It doesn’t require training, or academic finesse.  It doesn’t hinge on your communication skills.  It’s as simple as this:

1. Show up.
2. Care deeply.
3. Listen intently.
4. Pray fervently.
5. Know them genuinely.
6. Impart truth regularly.
7. Model faith authentically.
8. Encourage liberally.

When you show up to be a CHAMPION in the life of a child, you are changing the course of a life, the destiny of a family, and the reality of future generations.  It’s worth it.  Show up.

Involved in student ministry?  Children’s ministry?  Teaching?  What are some of the ways that you’ve SHOWN UP to be a CHAMPION for your entrusted few?  How have you LED SMALL?

Helping The Next Gen Grow Their Faith Through Relationship

Our church has been doing a series challenging us to live out intentional generational faith.  A faith that is passed on and encouraged from one generation to the next.  And as someone involved in family ministry for 10 years now, my heart was glad.

It's a message that is so important.  Faith isn't transferred to the next generation through a classroom.  It's not a program or even a great series of lessons.  It's transferred when it's lived out.  Together.  In RELATIONSHIP.

In a passive society where stuff matters more than others and we prioritize ourselves over all, it's becoming a revolutionary act to pursue an active faith and impart that to the next generation.

So, as we begin this series to talk about helping the next generation win, I thought it was time that I look back and thank those who helped me win.  Here are three of their stories:

MY MOM

My mom took a lead role in all things spiritual in our house.  She's the person who instilled in me a deep love of Jesus and church.  She showed me the power of serving.  She demonstrated the power of unconditional love to a son who sometimes struggled to even like himself.  It is through her undying love that I managed to survive the turbulent teen years.  She also served as my youth leader.  Literally nobody else in the church wanted us.  And so she stepped out in faith.  At the time, it was a little awkward.  Having your mom as your youth leader can be a problem.  She didn't have a degree.  She wasn't an expert on teenagers.  She simply had a willing and loving heart.  She loved us teens and walked through the mess with us.  And while it probably seemed to her like many of her lessons during this time fell on deaf ears, it was largely because of this investment in my life that I am where I am spiritually.  And where my children are spiritually.  And why I serve the next generation in my church with such passion.  She is also where I get my love of holidays and celebrating family time.  She also has been the prayer warrior in my life.  There wasn't a day that went by that my mom wasn't praying for us.  I was blessed to have two parents who loved me, supported me, and provided for me.  Not everyone gets that.  I'm thankful for my mom's commitment to our getting involved in church and for prioritizing our walk with Jesus at a young age.  It changed the entire trajectory of my life.

PASTOR JACK

Growing up I was beyond blessed with the pastor that served my church.  Jack Hamilton was a joyful man who radiated unconditional love to everyone he met.  He taught me that Jesus likes to have fun.  He helped make church a place that I wanted to be.  He showed me how much of an impact living life with joy and a smile can do.  He showed what the heart of a pastor looks like.  Late night phone calls & visits to troubled families, round the clock visits to the hospital, spending time with shut-ins, he did it all.  His boundless joy could not be contained.  It was a force of nature that left a permanent mark on my life.  There was simply not a person that Jack didn't love or share Jesus with.  His influence went beyond just me personally, his influence on my family and the direction our family took together in the faith is largely because God brought Jack Hamilton int our lives at just the right time.  Attending his funeral bore witness to the influence that he had as person after person stood to share what Jack meant to them.  We even heard one last audio recording from Pastor Jack made on his death bed.  As he said good-bye to us, he shared the Gospel message one last time to those in attendance.  That's the kind of Christian that I want to be.

MRS. WILEY

Mrs. Wiley was a fun old lady.  She was my Sunday School teacher circa 4th-6th grade.  She had to be at least in her seventies when she taught us.  Physically she somewhat resembled Doris Roberts from Everybody Love Raymond.  And she had the voice of Edith Bunker.  She was a little bit eccentric, but she really loved us.  That a woman that much older than us would still be serving faithfully in Sunday School stuck out to me.  And she didn't make an impact because she was super trendy or hip.  In fact, she was pretty much the opposite of that.  But she was someone willing to still have fun and laugh even in her later years.  She may have been old chronologically, but she was certainly young at heart.  Her example taught me to embrace the fun in life.  It also taught me that sometimes being the coolest or most talented person in the room isn't all that counts.  She taught me that everyone can make a difference just by sharing their love and joy with another person.  I couldn't tell you specifically any lessons that I learned with Mrs. Wiley in church, but I can still feel the warmth of her presence.  She loved us unconditionally even when we disobeyed.  She had fun with us instead of scolding us.  She showed me the love of God personified.

LESSONS FROM MY LIFE

The lesson that I can take away from these shining examples and others is that the key to helping the next generation win is RELATIONSHIP.

Reggie Joiner would put it this way:

"You can't influence someone that you don't know."

Helping the next generation win means connecting them to an active and authentic relationship with Christ.  In order to do that, we will need to be warm and relational.  My top 3 influences didn't impact my life because they were the best communicators that I've ever known.  Their lasting impact on me was borne through the relationship they created with me.  That RELATIONSHIP allowed them the INFLUENCE and LEVERAGE to speak life and truth into my life.

As a result, I was more open to what they had to say and who this Jesus that they followed was.  By modeling a warm and genuine relationship with me, they helped me understand the kind of relationship that God wanted to forge with me through Jesus.

As followers of Christ, we owe it to the next generation to be a model of RELATIONSHIP and to leverage that to point them toward the source of all hope--JESUS.

As you look back in your own faith journey, who were some of your biggest champions?  How did they leverage their relational warmth with you to stoke the fire of faith in you?

Thank God for those who poured into your life to help you win and ask Him what you can do to help the next generation win.

Feel free to hit the comments and share!

Worldview Lens: Faith or Fear?

There's a rather funny moment in the classic 1991 film, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.  This is the movie where Kevin Costner plays Robin Hood and makes no attempt to speak with a British accent whatsoever.  Everyone else around him speaks the Queen's English, but nobody seems to notice or mind that Robin talks like a Yankee.  (To be fair, Christian Slater's "accent" isn't much better.)

In the film, the apparently American Robin is introduced to a crude magnifying lens, a sort of handmade telescope, by his Muslim friend  played by Morgan Freeman.  His first look through the lens at the attacking forces in the distance causes him to dramatically reach for his sword and prepare for attack as he interprets their larger image through the lens to indicate that they are right in front of him.

It's a funny moment, but also a telling illustration.  The lens we choose to see the world with will dictate the identity we embrace, the actions that we take, and the truth that we understand.

MIRROR, MIRROR

Much like our physical sight, we all look at life spiritually through a sort of lens.  The Bible likens it to a mirror in 1 Corinthians 13:12:

For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

This comes during a discourse of our finite ability to understand things.  During the course of this chapter, we're described as "knowing or understanding in part" while comparing our current state to that of "thinking like a child" until the "completeness" comes and we can understand in full.

There is no limit to who this applies to.  This applies to everyone this side of heaven.  We don't see clearly.  We can't fully understand.  And if we're not careful, we will apply the wrong lens and warp the vision that GOD has for us.

Like Robin Hood, if we don't allow someone to slap the mis-applied lens of FEAR from our eyes, we will not see things clearly.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE, ELIJAH?

This was certainly true of a whining Elijah, who was focused more on his persecution and loneliness than on the provision and power of the God he served.  In 1 Kings 19:2 we see how Elijah loses hope:

Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep.

Now, Elijah's despair occurs one chapter AFTER his triumphant smackdown with the prophets of Baal.  You'd think dude would be strutting around and dabbing in the end zone.

This is not some weakling of the faith.  This isn't some helpless creature to pity.  This is Elijah.  God's man with the plan.  The one man standing against the plethora of false prophets.

Sharing this moment of Elijah's life reveals some very important truths regarding the role of fear and faith:

1.  FEAR isn't limited to weaklings.  Elijah was one of the most powerful prophets of the Old Testament.  A real man of God.  For Elijah to lose heart like this reveals that FEAR can warp the vision of any believer--and in an instant.

2.  FEAR can cause us to amplify the problems in the foreground to something larger than God.  For Elijah this was Jezebel.  The man who humiliated the prophets of Baal and demonstrated the power of God just one chapter before with such magnificent FAITH swagger and confidence, was reduced to a quivering mess because Jezebel threatened him.  In this bleak landscape, Elijah saw Jezebel as larger than his LORD.

3.  FEAR does the opposite of what FAITH would do every time.  In the previous chapter, Elijah was viewing the scene and acting out of a vision of FAITH.  His confidence was not necessarily in himself or the natural world.  His confidence was in the GOD who promises to be with us.  In this chapter, however, Elijah is hiding and praying for death.

FEAR never leads you to a productive action or decision.  It always weakens you.

It also leads to the dark side according to Yoda.

FEAR can lead to a lot of things--from depression and suicidal despair, to sickness, to immobility and spiritual, physical, and relational paralysis.  Like Peter teetering on top of the surf, our vision of CHRIST must be our guide.  Once we allow FEAR to distort the waves and wind into something more menacing than Christ is comforting, we lose the battle.

NEED VISION?  STAND IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD

There's no simple answer to combating FEAR.  It will creep up on you over and over again.  It's not something that you can just vanquish forever like Robin Hood did to the Sheriff.  There is HOPE though. In the midst of Elijah's despair, GOD stepped in in verse 11:

The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”

FAITH casts out FEAR.

LIGHT casts out DARKNESS

LOVE casts out HATE

By spending time in the presence of GOD, we can renew our strength, right our vision, and restore our path in life.  Read your Bible.  Pray.  Meet with fellow believers to discuss your situation.  Let the LIGHT of the FATHER pierce the darkness around you so that you can see clearly.  JESUS wants to set us free from the prison of FEAR.  He wants more for you.  FEAR always wants you to do the opposite of what you should do.  Be BOLD.  Walk in FAITH.

Beautiful Sunset: A Lesson on Faith

Sometimes following Jesus is like a rainy day on a vacation.

Let me explain.

We all know that FAITH is believing in something that we can't see, and yet most Christians I know are constantly looking for signs or confirmation about things. Even the most certain of Jesus followers will find a need for confirmation at some point.  We want to know that we are right.  We want to know that God's real.  We want to know that He hears us.   That He cares.  That there's really a plan.

And sometimes we can read too much into things and come to the wrong conclusion.

The enemy KNOWS that your Father God has CREATED you with a PURPOSE.  And God's purpose for your life is not something that Satan will enjoy.   As a result, FEAR and DOUBT will often obscure your view and cause you to hunker down at home and miss GOD's BEAUTY.

We're currently on vacation in Naples, Florida.  It's beautiful here.  I'm pretty sure heaven will look like this.  One of our favorite things to do is to go to either the Marco Island or Naples beaches at night and watch the sun set over the Gulf.  It's truly breathtaking.  On my birthday we went to dinner on Marco Island and planned to see the sunset afterward, but it had been raining all afternoon.  It was still cloudy and foreboding.  We didn't want to pay the $8 to park if there wasn't going to be a sunset.  

We finally decided to just go for it.  And the sunset was a truly unique sunset.  It was unlike any other sunset we've seen.  The water almost looked light gray.  The sky was filled with clouds, but as the sun sank on the horizon it became partially visible near the horizon.  It looked like a painting.  It was so colorful and so beautiful that it didn't look real.

We were so focused on looking for signs of a sunset that we almost missed one of the most beautiful ones we have every seen.

A woman who was healed by Jesus probably had the same experience.  The Bible tells us that she had been "subject to bleeding for twelve years" and that she suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors.  I don't know about you, but this doesn't sound like your best life now.

This woman's life was one of suffering and frustration.  All of the signs told her that her case was hopeless.  She should just accept her life of misery.  But she heard that Jesus was in town and she ignored the signs because she KNEW that He could help her:

A large crowd followed and pressed around him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. 

At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” 

“You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?' ” 

But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”    MARK 5:24-34

I never considered this story from this perspective until I either read it or heard it in a sermon recently, but the reality is that the woman was healed just by touching Jesus' robe.  That could have been the end of the story.  And it would have been miraculous.  But Jesus stepped into her life in the most unexpected way.  He wouldn't let it go until she came forward and admitted that she touched Him.

Why?  It's not as if Jesus didn't know who did it.  Much like Santa, he sees everything and knows all.  So then His questioning had to be for her.   It was so that she would have a face to face conversation with her Savior.  It was so that she could shed her old identity of the sickly, downtrodden hopeless gal  and emerge as a daughter of God.

That wouldn't have happened for her if she read the signs and stayed home.  GOD has a beautiful sunset beyond your current storms.  Don't miss it.

Heart GPS: Consider Your Paths

I'm a sucker for a good road trip story.  Frodo and the gang on the way to Mordor.  Luke and the gang on the way to destroy the Death Star.  Chief Brody and the gang looking for a great white shark.

In the Bible, however, we see that our hearts are often linked to a journey.

Jesus and the Bible talk about the heart a lot.  We are to guard it for some reason.  It is where our treasure is. Out of it flows our true nature.  And the peace of God will guard our heart if we lean into Him.  The heart is somewhat like a GPS for our life.

Now a GPS system is great.  We use them all the time on road trips.  And usually they are good.  Sometimes--not so much.  Ours has gotten us lost before. Especially around Washington D.C.  For some reason our GPS has no idea what roads are there or not when in the DC area.  We often end up taking some random offramp into the slums of DC and driving around in circles until we find our way back with no help from our GPS.

And of course, every time we drive near DC we say "let's try to remember what the correct road is this tie because the GPS will be wrong."  And every time, we've forgotten so we follow the GPS into the heart of DC one more time.

So the damages of past hurts, of fear and doubt, can screw up your heart's GPS system and send you meandering through places you don't want to go to.

Consider the call of wisdom in Proverbs:

"I walk in the way of righteousness, along the paths of justice, bestowing a rich inheritance on those who love me and making their treasuries full." Proverbs 8:20-21 

"The prudent keep their knowledge to themselves, but a fool’s heart blurts out folly... Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up...In the way of righteousness there is life; along that path is immortality." Proverbs 12:23,25,28

Now, as an English teacher, I enjoy a good motif.  Notice that in these verses that our life here on earth is likened to a a journey.  It's a path.  We either move on a good path that leads to life and immortality and a good inheritance or we move on a path of folly, anxiety and destruction.  If you're like me, you are probably humming "Life is a Highway" right about now.

So much can be said about how to end up on the right path, but the simplest directive can be found in Proverbs, and reiterated by Jesus in Matthew:

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6 

Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ Matthew 22:37

And like most things in the Bible, those statements are tremendously profound and true, and seemingly simple to do and yet in practice they are often so very hard to do.

And there's a reason for that.  In pop culture, you pretty much know if someone is told "whatever you do, don't do (insert instruction here)" that sometime during that movie they will do that thing.  Walk off the yellow brick road.  Feed Gremlins after midnight.  Leave before the Jedi training is done.

As human beings our heart has tremendous potential for good but it is also easily ensnared in emotions and damages that war against your very soul.  The very thing that helps us to identify God and lean into Him can also be the instrument of our undoing.

And there is no quick fix.  Yes, pray early and often.  Yes, read your Bible daily.  Yes love God and love people.  And yet, there is still something askew in the inner sanctum of your heart.  And when you least expect it, it can pop up and rip you from the path you were on.

Like Michael Scott from The Office, it can direct you to drive your car into a lake.  And that can turn you into a Michael Scott rage-monster.

The truth is like those verses in Proverbs suggest, life is a journey.  Faith is a journey.  And we usually follow our heart in determining which path to take.  Oh, and SPOILER ALERT, the Bible tells us that ALL OF US will fail at some point.  That none have succeeded in this whole right path thing for the entirety of our lives.The best thing we can do is to seek God with all of our heart, mind, and strength.  If we lean into Him and not our own understanding, we increase the likelihood that we choose the path of life.  And that's because of our own heart being strengthened by proximity to God and because of the promise in Philippians 4:7:

"And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

There is protection for our hearts and our lives in leaning into God instead of our own understanding and emotions.  There is a reason why God's peace will guard our hearts and minds for us.  It's because we are incapable of doing it ourselves.

The fact is, you are ALWAYS on a path to somewhere. You are never STAGNANT.  You are either skipping down a PATH OF LIFE or stumbling down a PATH of DESTRUCTION.  And sometimes, like a faulty GPS, your heart can't tell the difference.  What seems right to you in that moment, later will be the right that sent you into the lake.

Consider your paths.  Guard your heart.  Seek God and lean not into yourself, your feelings, your conceptions of people, places and things.  Let God sort it out for you.  He will guide you and make your paths straight.

Heart Wounds: Fear Leaves A Mark

Recently, I said some very harsh things to someone that I love dearly.  It was a tense conversation and something that probably needed to be addressed long ago, but as the conversation progressed, I found an intense anger rise up within me.  I ended the conversation with very angry words that I regretted saying the moment they came out of my mouth.

As I continue to strip away the damage that FEAR has done to my HEART over the years, I have discovered that FEAR generally damages your HEART in THREE MAIN AREAS:

• FEAR distorts how you SEE GOD and how you RELATE to HIM.  Fear will destroy any real intimacy you have with GOD because it will prioritize other problems and things above God. It DENIES GOD access to the broken places in your HEART and stops up the access to healing.

• FEAR damages your conception of YOURSELF and breaks the God filter that allows you to see yourself as God does.  Instead you focus on how horrible you are and allow yourself to sink into depression, and into a personal spiritual and relational paralysis.  FEAR will destroy any real self-reflection of yourself and will cause you to see yourself in a skewed light.  Instead of being able to see your flaws and learn from them to get better, you will see them as unfixable messes that make you unworthy of love.

• FEAR mutates how you see OTHERS.  You will no longer see them as God sees them.  You will see their worst qualities.  You will mock them,  You will not be capable of COMPASSION because your focus is always on yourself and your own problems.  FEAR will destroy any intimacy you might have with others.  It will make them a punching bag for your own hurt heart.  

And although I've begun to break the cycle of FEAR in my own life, I've discovered that breaking free from FEAR is a lot like becoming a Christian.  Yes, you can become a Christian in an instant, but it also will take a lifetime to actually work out what that means.  In the same manner, you can break free spiritually from FEAR in an instant, but it will take time healing some of the wounds that were inflicted on your heart from that fear.

JESUS deals with this in Matthew 15:17-19:

“Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”

The things that come out of a person's mouth come from the heart.  And these defile them.

The focus is so often on external things, but Jesus refocuses us onto the HEART.  And the things that fly out of your mouth come from that heart.  And there's a reason.

So when you find yourself lashing out at someone and can't seem to understand why you can't control that anger, there is a reason for that.  There is an unaddressed hurt.  There is a wound that needs healing.  The same is true of others who might lash out at you.

And here's the thing--just because you've overthrown FEAR from ruling your heart, it doesn't mean that the damage is completely undone.  Just like following JESUS is a relationship that needs daily tending and leaning into Him, so does our heart need time and healing.

Too often, however, we choose to hold on to the hurts.  We don't want to let go.  We don't want to resolve it.  It's just who we are.  Deal with it.  We tell it like it is.

God's plan for you is so much bigger than that.  There's a reason that Jesus famously tells us in Matthew 6:21 that, "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  What you keep in your heart and refuse to let go becomes your treasure.  It's like Gollum's "precious" in the Lord of the Rings.  If your heart's treasure is not GOD, it will destroy you.

That's why God tells us in Ezekiel 36:26 that,  "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh."

GOD wants to give us a new heart.  He wants to heal us from our past hurts.  He wants to restore our view of OURSELVES, our view of HIM, and our view of OTHERS so that we can embrace the plan that He has for our lives.

For some of us, we find it impossible.  God couldn't do that.  He can't use me.  He can't heal me.  This won't ever get better.  Well, that's the wounded heart speaking within you.  That isn't the voice of God.  That's the lie of the enemy planted in the fertile soil of your wounded heart.

The truth is found in 1 John 3:20: "If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything."

GOD is greater than your heart.  LISTEN to HIM.  Pray to enjoy healing in your broken parts.  In fact, your restoration is meant to not just benefit you but also others.

American author Ernest Hemingway put it like this, "The world breaks everyone, and afterward many
are strong in the broken places."  The broken places of your HEART are fertile ground for GOD's HEALING and RESTORATION not just for you, but for the wonderful hurting folks that God will place in your path.  You will become STRONG in the BROKEN PLACES if you allow God to work.

It's my prayer for my recently revealed wounds.  These are wounds carried around by nearly 40 years of submitting to FEAR.  And these are wounds that can't be worked away.  They can only be LOVED away by the perfect and unfailing love of the FATHER.

Begin your path to healing today by allowing GOD to make you STRONGER in the BROKEN PLACES of your HEART.  FEAR has no place in your life.  You were born for a purpose.  Break free.

God's Got It: 2013 & Isaiah 25

The nation is abuzz with talk of fiscal cliffs, the stench of the slaughter of innocents from the Sandy Hook school shooting still hangs stagnant in the air, and millions of Americans are out of work indefinitely.

January 1 is typically of day of tremendous promise and hope.  A new year.  A new beginning.  A fresh start.  A do-over.

And yet two weeks after the Mayan apocalypse, many find that hope elusive this year.

Many of us had a not-spectacular 2012 and find believing and expecting for something better in 2013 difficult to do.

And yet God is good.

Praying and reading the Bible in the early hours of this new year, the Lord has directed me to Isaiah 25:8-9"

"He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces; The rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; for the Lord has spoken.  And it will be said in that day: 'Behold, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us.  This is the Lord; we have waited for Him; we will be glad and rejoice in His Salvation."

And just like that the Lord refocuses my sight on Him.  He IS my God.  I need only to wait for Him and trust in Him.  Government is not the answer.  Church leadership is not the answer.  Financial provision is not the answer. A life of comfort and ease is not the answer.  Every day is not a Friday in the way that this world defines Fridays.  Every day IS a FRIDAY as God defines it.  That does not always promise ease and comfort in this life.  It does, however, promise PURPOSE, HOPE and a step closer to HIM spiritually and chronologically.  

He has swallowed up death forever.  He will wipe our tears.  He will take away our rebuke.  He will deliver us and HE HAS WON OUR SALVATION.

There is much to hope in indeed.  Christ is Lord.  And HE IS OUR GOD.  We will wait for Him and He will save us.

To that end, let us seek Him in the new year and join with countless citizens of America in praying for our nation the prayer of 2 Chronicles 7:14:

"If my people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land."

Let us pray and seek Him.  Let us put Christ first and let all concerns pass away.  We were chosen for such a time as this. Now let us redeem the time that we've been given by surrendering it back to Him and trusting Him to guide our steps and secure our future.

Hope indeed.  Happy 2013.