Hit you where you Live

Back when I was a youth pastor in Prescott, Arizona I had the privilege of co-leading a youth mission trip to skid-row in LA. There I met a man just out of prison. We had just finished conducting a service for some of the people in the community and I got to speak to the man afterward. He greatly appreciated the message we brought but he was regretting his life and lamenting that fact that he had wasted so much time. He was overwhelmed with sadness that he had not met Jesus until he was way past his mid-life and wasting away in prison.

I was overwhelmed and at a loss for what to say, but after we talked for a bit God brought this verse to my mind. 

Acts 17:26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us.

I pointed out this verse to the man and explained that God graciously draws us to himself in the situations we are in.  I went on to explain that the verse seems to indicate that not only is God not far from us but that God orchestrated our each and every completely different situations. He not only set out the boundaries of our lives but the locations we would live on the earth.  He did this so that we would respond to him.

In other words God put us in the situations that we are in so that we would have the best possible opportunity to respond to his call. 

Along with the the doctrine of God's sovereignty this shouldn't be too hard to swallow. So I will just place these verses here.

Proverbs 16:9 The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps. 

John 6:44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.

Ephesians 4:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

What this means is there really isn't the situation of the poor tribesmen across the world who doesn't have the opportunity to hear the gospel.  Or for that matter a man trapped in prison away from the possibility of meeting God. He may very well currently have that problem but this verse seems to imply that God is ultimately not far from him. This is not to introduce deterministic language into the mix but for us to recognize God's hand even when we can't see it.

I believe that I am in the best situation to respond in faith to God. I like the idea that perhaps if my situation was different I wouldn't have responded to God's call in my life.  If I lived in The Hamptons and had a cushy life perhaps I would have never have recognized my need for the Lord. Or if I was raised in a poor third world country perhaps I would have simply followed the culture and not been open to other ways of thinking. Or if perhaps I was born in England, I would have been too distracted by mine and my fellow countryman's sweet accents to bother with Christ.

This is not to say people in those situations cannot find God as I previously stated, but for me I am in the best situation for me, so those others will not suit me better. I should not lament what could have been or be overcome with what is, but recognize I am a short prayer from reaching out to him where I am.

After our conversation the man was drawn to tears to learn that God may very well have been drawing him throughout his journey and not delaying him because of it.

God is not waiting for me on the other side of my problems, for me to get my act together, he is graciously drawing me to himself while I am in them. God is not waiting for us to arrive before he gets involved. God hits us where we live.

So when I look in the mirror I should say: "This is who I got to be, this is where I got to be, now what am I going to do with the rest of my life?"

I will leave with a quote from the J.R. Tolkien from the Lord of the Rings.
"I wish the ring had never come to me, I wish none of this had happened".
Gandolf responds. "So do all  who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide, all we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.  There are other forces at work in this world Frodo besides the will of evil..."

thanks

He Didn't Start the Fire

With my birthday around the corner, I am a year older. I have been thinking about this blog and I realized I have an obvious theme going so far. This year has been so trying. This year has been a challenge. This year has been a time when doubt has crept in and I have felt the squeeze. I am a bit older but I feel a bit weaker in my spirit.

But faith does not grow without a little doubt in the mix.  Faith does not grow without a little opposition.
So another year, and more faith for me.

In fact I recently just read a really useful blog post from Douglas Wilson:

"When we have a trouble, and have been praying urgently for deliverance, we should view every day without that deliverance as just another bucket of water on the altar — so that when the fire falls, God will receive greater glory."

Another bucket of water on the altar. He is of course referring to the Elijah incident from first Kings 18. It records that awesome story of God revealing to the people that he was God not the Baals, as the false prophets had proclaimed. Just to emphasize the point that God was there and that he was working, Elijah had many buckets of water to drench the wood that he was going to try and start a fire with. Elijah used twelve buckets of water to cover and soak the offering and the wood, probably to represent the twelve tribes of Israel. One bucket for each tribe that needed to witness the true God.  

Drenched wood, doesn't burn.

Elijah made it clear, this is not a fire that he can start. In other words Elijah was making the point that he couldn't prove that God is God. Only God can prove that he is God and in our midst. Only God can reveal himself to his people. Only God can come and rescue in this dark time. Only God can deliver us from evil. Only God can prove himself to be bigger, better, and stronger than the other gods.

My mess is drenched wood. Only God can start the fire.

The hope at the end of the day is that when God finally does let his fire fall his people will give him praise and him only. Elijah prays when he calls down the fire, his prayer that God will display his power. 
"So these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again."

This is similar to what Jesus says when he raises Lazarus from the dead from the gospel of Luke.  
“Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.”

Jesus makes it clear that this is a display of God's power, this is to validate the message. While some may think it harsh that Jesus waits around for Lazarus to die before he comes to save him, it is made obvious that this was to reveal God's power.

Our struggle may just be so that more of God's power can be revealed. I know that this year I am in a place now where I can only hope on God's power. God raises the dead. God lights the fire. Not Elijah, not me.   

So in the end I am a year older but perhaps God has caused my faith to grow several. 


thanks