Complacency

We've all experienced it. We all become quite comfortable with it. Things are going okay. Life is "working." We're "getting by." But is there danger in becoming too comfortable? With being so okay with where we are and what we know that we cease to strive for something greater? What if we're hanging onto what is good - or even what isn't so good but it's what we know - because of the fear of what we will have to endure in order to reach what's better?

I've been reading "A Passion for the Impossible," a fantastic biography on Lilias Trotter, a single missionary to Algeria in the late 1800s/early 1900s. The following is an excerpt from her journal:

The martens have been reading me a faith lesson... one slept in my room last night and another darted in at the open window before I was up, swept round and out again.

Their faith lesson is this - that their wings need the sense of "an empty void" below to give them a start - their leg muscles have no spring in them and when they perch by accident on a level place they are stuck fast - poor things we did not know that natural history fact in the past and when we have found them on our flat Alger roof with its parapet protection, we have thought they had got hurt somehow, and more than once we have tried to feed them till they died, instead of doing the one thing that they needed - tossing them off into emptiness.

So we need not wonder if we are not allowed to stay longer in level sheltered places - our faith wings are like the martens and mostly need the gulf of some emergency to give them their start on a new flight. We will not fear when we feel empty air under them.

Because God knows we are fearful and weak, He sometimes provides whatever is necessary to take us out of our comfortable complacency, put us on our knees, in His arms, and fully dependent on Him. Only then is He able to accomplish through us that which we could never do on our own.

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." - (Ephesians 2:10)

It may be frightening to step out of that comfort zone now, to adjust our lives to grow closer to God or to make an all out "leap of faith," but just as the marten has a confident hope in the ability to take flight after a leap into an unknown void, "we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Sprit, whom he has given us." (Romans 5:3-5)

Mary, Did You Know?

I don't know about you, but one of my favorite Christmas songs is "Mary, Did You Know?" If you're not familiar with it, here is the first verse:

"Mary did you know, that your baby boy, will one day walk on water?
Mary did you know, that your baby boy, will save our sons and daughters?
Did you know, that your baby boy has come to make you new?
This child that you delivered, will soon deliver you."

The song goes on to tell of more of the amazing things that Jesus did, ending with the line, "this sleeping child you're holding, is the great, I AM."

What the song does not ask, is "Mary, did you know, your baby boy would have to suffer death on a cross in order to save the sons and daughters?" It doesn't tell of the pain and persecution he endured - it doesn't ask if she knew of the lashings He would receive or the nails in His hands. How would she have acted if she had known? Would she have begged Him to reconsider following God's plan for His life so she wouldn't have to lose her baby boy for the salvation of the world?

We don't know the conversations Jesus had with His earthly parents regarding God's purspose for Him. Did they plead with him, suggesting He spend His life as a carpenter or perhaps a priest? When Joseph and Mary took 12-year-old Jesus to Jerusalem and Jesus lingered behind, their parental concern was evident:

"His Mother said to Him, 'Son, why have You treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.'" His response: "'Why were you searching for me?' He asked. 'Didn't you know that I had to be in My Father's house?' But they did not understand what He was saying to them." (Luke 2:48-50)

How did they react, when 21 years later their precious Son was being led to Calvary? Had they come to terms with Jesus' purpose on the earth? Did they even understand it? Looking back after His resurrection, did they regret the times they pleaded with Him to change His course? Did they see God's ultimate plan for the salvation of the world? Were they proud of His humility and sacrificial love -- or ashamed by the thorns and nail-pierced hands?

It's not easy setting aside our wishes for those we love in order to make room for God's plan for their lives. We find ourselves wishing they remain close to us and fulfill our plans for their lives. It isn't necessarily selfish -- but rather a lack of eternal perspective. Mary may not have known that her baby boy would "one day rule the nations," and she may especially not have approved the means for Him getting there, but He went. He fulfilled God's plan for His life and even though it may have been hard on Mary and Joseph, think of the consequences for all of us had Jesus decided not to follow His Heavenly Father's will because His loved ones here on earth wished to keep Him safely with them.

Though letting someone go so they may follow God's will may be hard, "all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28)

Praise the Lord that Jesus stayed the course and followed God's ultimate will for Him in order to give us salvation from our sinfulness, even if it is only in hindsight that His beloved friends and family could understand the necessity of His brutal death on the cross.

Powerful Prayers

I've been reading 2 Kings in my daily devotions, and I recently read about Hezekiah, one of the last kings of Judah.  Unlike many of the kings that came before him, and all of the kings of the northern kingdom of Israel, Hezekiah was regarded as a good king.  Actually, he was not just a good king.  Second Kings 18 says that he was righteous as David was righteous.  And, by Bible standards, that is quite the compliment.


As I read through this chapter, I was particularly struck by verses 5 and 6, quoted here from The Message:


Hezekiah put his whole trust in the God of Israel. There was no king quite like him, either before or after. He held fast to God—never loosened his grip—and obeyed to the letter everything God had commanded Moses. And God, for his part, held fast to him through all his adventures.


The New American Standard version says that Hezekiah "clung to the Lord".  He clung to God, never loosening his grip.  His faith guided him, even when the Assyrian army came knocking on his door, threatening to destroy the kingdom.


Perhaps the part of the story that impresses me most comes two chapters later.  In 2 Kings 20, Hezekiah is said to be lying on his death bed.  When Isaiah (yes, the same one after whom the book is named) tells the king that his life is almost over, Hezekiah does what he knows to do... he turns to God in prayer.


When faced with death, he prayed.


And God answered.


Before Isaiah had even left the grounds of the palace, God told him to turn around and tell the king that God would restore him to health and give him another 15 years.


The Bible says that God hears the prayers of those who trust in Him (see, for example, James 5:16).  Prayers are indeed a powerful gift from God.  By speaking with God, battles are won, souls are saved, and lives are changed.  By the power of prayer, the impossible can be accomplished.


As the end of the year quickly approaches, we are praying that God will work in a mighty way.  We have recently plateaued in raising our support, but we are praying that God will bring us to 25% of our monthly pledges.  That would be approximately another 5 individuals pledging to give $50 per month each.  We believe that, though this amount may seem big to us, it is not outside of God's ability (really, He could raise it all!).

Will you join us in this?  Will you pray with us that this goal may be reached, and even surpassed, by the beginning of the new year?  We hope you will!