pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: struggle


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Love with All

Reading: John 14: 23-24

When asked by the teacher of the Law what the greatest commandment was, Jesus responded with two and they both had to do with love.  The first was to love the Lord God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.  This is a tall order.  In my mind the Word ‘all’ means 100% of the time with 100% of my being.  I can certainly love God a lot most of the time, but all?  The second was to love your neighbor as self but soon became love neighbor as I first loved you.  In the first form the love was a human love.  When Jesus added “as I first loved you”, it took it up a notch.  Jesus loved all people all of the time.  There is that ‘all’ word again.

In today’s passage, Jesus reveals one of the reasons we are to love God.  When we love God, we obey God.  If this is the choice we make and the path we try to walk daily, then the second command becomes easier.  Jesus promises that when we obey and follow Him out of love, then He will come and dwell in our hearts.  It is a much deeper connection to God when all we do is done out of that love that now dwells in our heart as the Spirit leads and guides us in living love out.  It is miles beyond trying to love God and neighbor because that’s what the Law or other parts of the Bible says we are supposed to do.

And in reality we struggle at times to love God with all that we are.  We drift, we doubt, things don’t go our way, we get too busy.  We also have a hard time loving that guy or a girl like that.  We are unique people and sometimes another’s uniqueness is hard for us to understand or to be around.  The goods news, though, is that when we fall short of ‘all’, it is not the end.  Not even close.  Part of “as I first loved you” is His never-ending promise of love.  It is a love that wipes away our failure and covers it with grace, mercy, and forgiveness.  Whether through prayer, time in the Word, in worship, or any other means that reconnects us to God, we can again walk in His love, feel His Spirit dwelling in our hearts, and again begin to walk seeking to love God with all that we are and to love others as He first and still loves us. 🙂


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The Solution

Reading: John 21: 1-14

In the Gospel of John, Jesus has already appeared to the disciples two times, but they have not yet been empowered.  They are still in the “now what?” stage.  Jesus is indeed risen, but…  Fear of the authorities is maybe a little less now, but it is still real.  In the midst of all this waiting around behind locked doors, Peter announces that he is going fishing.  The combination of knowing Jesus is alive and being couped up for a while may explain his decision.  But for Peter, part of it may be the emotions he is personally dealing with.  Bold and fiery Peter swore allegiance to Jesus at all costs, even death, but had denied even knowing Jesus three times that last night.

So maybe Peter was seeking to return to something he knew, to his roots.  Up until meeting Jesus he had always been a fisherman.  We all find comfort in knowing what we are doing, in the familiar.  Out on the water with his friends, Peter probably found a measure of peace.  Doing something familiar probably took his mind off his guilt.

Sometimes we are not unlike Peter.  After a tough day a big bowl of ice cream or a bag of chips sure can help a lot.  For some, addictive or destructive habits can be where they turn.  We run the gamut with our coping mechanisms.  But our root cause and solution are the same: something has created tension or angst and we want to occupy ourselves somehow, so we reach out for what we know.

When Peter is in the boat and he comes to recognize it is Jesus on the shore, he immediately jumps into the water to get to Jesus quickly.  His fishing trip didn’t really fix anything.  Peter knows Jesus can.  In our times of trial may we too quickly look to Jesus.  May we too go to Him without hesitation.  Jesus is always the solution.  Always.


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Wouldn’t We?

Reading: John 13: 21-33

“One of you will betray me”.  That must have been quite the bombshell.  These twelve men have  invested three years of their lives in following Jesus.  They have stuck with Him, certainly at a personal cost to their families and other relationships.  It has been a sacrifice in other ways as well.  Yet at twelve have remained with Jesus to this point.

In our hearts and minds, we each think we are devout to Jesus.  Until we are not.  How often our faith life is moving along solidly and in an instant we have said or thought something that brought instant conviction?  Surely not I, Lord.  As life is cruising along well and we feel connected to the Son, we do something and the remorse and guilt come flooding in.  Surely not I, Jesus.

In most cases when we have been tempted or stumble into sin, we recognize it quickly.  When we are sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit, we realize our sin quickly and repent and seek forgiveness and restoration.  Then and there we are brought back into a right relationship with God.

We all are never really far from, “One of you will…”. And like the disciples we can also get lost in our own worlds.  When we ourselves are wrestling with temptation or sin or when we have sinned and are struggling with the guilt or our own inability to forgive ourselves, we can be like the eleven – so lost in the ” Is it I?” question that we do not notice the evil around us.  The eleven were so inwardly focused that they did not notice Judas leaving.

If we were there we would have noticed and gone after him.  Wouldn’t have we?  Wouldn’t we?  Maybe.  It is too easy to think of someone who used to come to church.  In our own struggles may we realize that all struggle.  In this realization, may we become more aware of our brothers and sisters in Christ, being vigilant to love and care for one another.  May we each seek out and help the lost or wandering sheep back into the flock.


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Salvation

Reading: Psalm 118: 14

Salvation, as it was often used in the Old Testament, has a slightly different connotation than how it is primarily used in the New Testament.  Whereas in general Christians see salvation as a personal and eternal matter, to the average Jew of the time salvation was more communal and concerned life in the present time and place.

In the Psalm there is a sense of tragedy and despair that God has rescued them from.  During this time the psalmist felt trapped, limited.  It was as if the world has closed in tight and it was hard to breathe.  It is a feeling we all can surely relate to.  For the psalmist, God’s act of salvation rescued them from despair and restored their hope in this life.  Part of this rescue is the liberation from that which constricted or oppressed them so that they can again have the abundant life that God intends for us all to live.  For the Hebrew community, salvation was something that could happen over and over and over again.

As Christians, we also see God’s presence and interaction with us as a regular, daily event.  We also view God as active and engaged in our daily lives.  We see God as present with us as individuals as well as with our faith communities and world.  God listens to our praise, our cries, our thanksgivings, and our pleas.  He responds to our needs and rescues us from trials so that we can live a life that is abundant and joyful, filled with His many blessings.

In both the Old Testament and in the New Testament, salvation has a saving character to it.  In the Old Testament it mostly had to do with God’s hand at work in their world, saving people from their struggles.  For us as New Testament people, we still see God at work doing this, but we also see salvation as the work that saves us from sin, death, and their consequences.  For both of these aspects of God’s salvation, I am thankful.  Praise be to God!


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Our God is Supreme

Reading: Psalm 31: 9-16

There are days and maybe even seasons when we feel like the psalmist – in distress, weak with sorrow, strength failing.  When we are in this place, sometimes people avoid us too.  After a quick ‘hello’ they find someplace else to be.  We must admit that at times we too have at least had this thought concerning others.  It is uncomfortable and awkward and hard to be around someone when they are struggling with life.  For most family and good friends, we will enter into this space when we need to do so.  Yet even sometimes with those close to us, this is a hard step to take, a hard place to be.

It is a step God always takes.  In fact, God usually runs.  He does not hesitate to enter into our hurt and our mess.  God loves to be our rescuer, our comfort, our fortress, our guide, our redeemer.  The psalmist recalls times when God was all of these things.  We too can recall when God was there for us as well.  By recalling these times, we can begin to again find that light in our darkness and we can build up our trust in God as one who is faithful and as one who will not abandon us in our times of need.

The psalmist concludes this section by declaring, “You are my God” and placing full trust in God alone.  The psalmist gives his or her life over into God’s hands.  Like the psalmist, we too can call on God and trust our life into His hands.

We know that hard times and trials will come our way in this life.  We also know that God is always present and that He will remain steadfast.  He will never run away and He will never fail us.  We too may trust in Him fully.  No matter what we face and no matter what the outcome, we know that through Jesus sin and death have been defeated.  He has defeated the enemy and has provided the way to eternal glory.  This life and all of its trials will not have the final word.  In all things, our God is supreme.


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Hope and Grace

Reading: Psalm 126: 1-4

God restores His people.  He brings them our of captivity and they can again dream.  He fills them with laughter and instills in them songs of joy.  Great joy fills the people as they realize all that God has done for them.

All of this joy and happiness is set against a long period of trial.  The people are finally returning to the land that God had promised them after a lengthy period in exile.  Their faith had sustained them in the long period of captivity and exile, but it was not a joyful time, not a time of happy laughter, not a time when they could dream of what could be.

There are times in our lives when we struggle, when joys seems far away, and when we cannot see hope on the horizon.  Like the people in captivity, we too must allow our faith to sustain us.  We may not be able to joyfully praise God, but we can continue to pray with a quiet confidence.  We can choose to lean on Him for strength we cannot seem to muster on our own but that we find when we rest in Him.

We must always hold onto hope.  We find hope inn His promises.  From the great song Amazing Grace, “The Lord has promised good to me, His word my hope secures.  He will my shield and portion be, as long as life endures.”  Like the Israelites, our journey out of captivity, out of our struggle, may be long.  But we too know that God loves us and seeks good for us.  In Him our hope rests secure.  May we rely on His amazing grace, a grace that is always present and a grace that always saves.


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In Desert Seasons

Reading: Psalm 63:1-8

King David finds himself in a desert season.  During our lives, we will find ourselves in just such a place as well.  These times of trial and struggle will come and go; perhaps now is just such a season.  David’s beautiful words give us encouragement and advice for when we find ourselves in a desert season.

David begins by expressing the thirst he feels in the desert.  In the times we find ourselves in a trial, we too must admit our need for God and then we must seek His guidance and presence in our lives.  To reinforce this, David recalls how he saw God’s power and glory in the sanctuary.  To remember how God has always been there in our times of need reassures us that He will be there again.

Next, David does something that may seem odd when one is in a desert place – he praises God.  In verse three he writes, “Because your love is better than life”.  It is such a powerful and moving statement.  We come to God in praise because of His gift and promise of eternal life.  We know that no matter what this life brings, our ticket to eternal life in glory has already been bought.  There is no better reason to praise!

Lastly, David ends with “my soul clings to You”.  Although it can sometimes be hard to sense God’s presence in the midst of a trial, we must nonetheless cling to God.  We are promised that His love never fails and that He has only good plans for us.  In the midst of it all, may we cling to Him knowing that it is Hi slight at the end of the tunnel and that it is really His arms alone that will carry us through.


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In Our Trials

After a couple of underachieving semesters at college, I found myself dismissed from school.  Poor decisions on my part left me with a choice to make.  I could sit in my pity pot and cast blame all around me or I could move forward.  My choice was to attend community college and reapply to the university.  It was both a humbling and necessary experience in my life.

In Isaiah 43 God tells us, “Do not fear, I have redeemed you… you are mine.”  The chapter goes on to tell us that as the waters rise to overtake us and as the fires try to consume us, do not fear because God is with us.  In our struggles and in our times when we have to experience something unpleasant, we must remember that God call us by name, that He has already redeemed us, and that He is always with us.

Perhaps your trial is yet to come or perhaps there are another trial or two yet to come in your life.  Maybe your trial was not with college but was found in words such as “I want a divorce” or “We did eveything we could, but…” or in something equally traumatic.  There are and will be points in our lives when we all will have a choice to make.  Will we allow the event or the circumstances to define us or will we call on our heavenly Father and place our trust in Him?

In our trials, we must remember to claim our identity as a beloved child of God.  As the water rises or as the fire laps at us, we must remember that God does not want us to fear but to trust in Him instead.  The trials are real and they will come, but if we choose God, the fires will only refine us; they do not define us.  In our trials, may we cast all of our fears on Him and lean into God’s loving and protecting arms.

Scripture reference: Isaiah 43: 1-7


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The Voice of God

The psalmist speaks of the power and strength found in the voice of the Lord.  He sees and feels it in the thunder and lightning and wind of a powerful storm that shakes the ground and twists the oaks.  We are also reminded that out of this same might God gives His people strength.  Yet God is not always just in the powerful and amazing.  We too must remember that He whispered to Samuel in the still of the night and was the still, small voice that called to Elijah on the mountain.

At times we too can see God in the natural world.  One can sense His power in a storm and one can also see His presence in a sunset.  Our God is all around us when we take the time to seek Him out and when we are attuned to His presence.

But sometimes, in the midst of our own personal storm, it can be hard to find God.  Sometimes God is not even the first place we turn.  Some may turn to drugs or alcohol and some turn to self-help books.  Some turn to a friend and some choose to withdraw.  Ultimately though, God is the solution.  Yet even though He is all around us, at times He can be hard to connect to.  In these times we must simply spend time with Him.  Read the Bible.  Even though one feels alone, pray.  Experience His love by going out and serving someone in need.

Or maybe you are the friend or even just an observer of someone struggling.  Pray for the one in need.  Ask God’s presence and power and strength to come into their life.  Be with them.  You will not be the solution but your presence and prayers and listening ear are helpful.  But above all, pray.

Scripture reference: Psalm 29


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Christ’s Peace

“And he will be their peace.”  Many people in our community and around the world would love for peace to reign in their lives.  People do not expect life to be perfect.  We all know life naturally has its ups and downs, its joys and trials.  But people need peace in the midst of it all.  People need a rock upon which to weather the storm and also upon which they can share their joys with others.  People need Jesus.

Micah spoke to a people in the midst of a trial.  It was one of many times that the people of Israel had turned from God and were feeling the consequences of their choices.  Yet even in the midst of this trial, God was present.  He was never gone.  The people waited and longed for God to act and restore them.  God remained their hope and peace.  Knowing that made the trial endurable because there is light at the end of the tunnel.  No matter how far away, light is still there.

Jesus himself offers this same light.  As His time on earth drew near to a close, He offered these words to His disciples: “My peace I leave you.”  He knew the struggle ahead as they adjusted to His physical absence.  Jesus also knew the light was coming.  He knew this peace would be restored with the coming of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus’ promise of peace is to us as well.  We can claim this peace as His followers.  His promise was not short-term, but to the end of this age.  Many in our worlds are seeking peace.  As His followers, we are called to share this peace.  As Christ reigns in our lives, may we allow His light and love to shine forth, bringing Christ’s peace to those in need.

Scripture reference: Micah 5: 2-5a