Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. – James 1:12 [ESV]

mallet [noun] – mal·let ˈmal-ət 

: a hammer usually with a barrel-shaped head: as

a: one with a large head used for driving a tool (as a chisel) or for striking a surface without damaging it. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mallet

A mallet can be a very useful tool.

When tent camping, the right mallet is ideal for driving stakes into the ground:

When preparing a particularly tough cut of beef or pork for cooking, a meat mallet can work wonders to tenderize your steaks or chops:

When trying to get something through my thick-head, God may use a mallet to get my attention.

Now, you may well ask at this point, “Doesn’t that hurt?”

The answer is a simple but firm “Yes”.

It hurts a lot.

The pain is especially sharp when I fight Him, insisting on doing things my own way and refusing the Lord’s direction and correction.

Here’s how I see it:

1. God is sovereign.
2. God is love.
3. God’s intentions for me are for my good.
4. God will leave the rest of the flock behind to pursue me when I stray away.
5. God will do what he has to do to get my attention.

Jonah tried to sail away from the Lord. God let him intimately experience the digestive system of a large fish.

Solomon was the wisest man in the world. He chose the high life of royalty and made some tragically poor life choices. Read Ecclesiastes to see how that all worked for him.

Adam and Eve started the whole sin-and-death ball rolling with one forbidden bite.

Thanks a lot, you two.

Understand this: when God wields a mallet, He knows what He’s doing. He isn’t the one who hurts us. Any wounds I incur are self-inflicted, the result of my bad behavior. However, much like the prodigal son, I can stop, turn, and run back to my Father, with the full confidence that I can seek and receive His full forgiveness, healing and restoration.

Understand this, too: we have an enemy who also wields a mallet (see the meat tenderizing mallet above). But, while God works to draw us back, our enemy – “the accuser of the bretheren” – uses his mallet to malign, confuse, misguide, injure and potentially destroy us. Know the difference. Know whose voice you’re listening to. (Hint: the voice of our Shepherd isn’t filled with hatred or hopelessness.)

When we’re facing troubles, we have two choices:

1. We can trust God through them, growing in our faith and looking for God at work in our lives and the lives of others, or…
2. Wallow in it, hopeless, helpless, beaten and bloodied and bludgeoned by the wrong mallet.

It’s never too late to start seeking GOD above all things. He will get you through your trials in His way and His time. And, as we go through each and every day, we can confidently keep our focused fixed on Jesus, knowing God is in control and works out all things for the good of those who love Him.

¹⁶ As for me, I will call out to God,
and the Lord will deliver me.
¹⁷ During the evening, morning, and noontime
I will lament and moan,
and he will hear me.
¹⁸ He will rescue me and protect me from those who attack me,
even though they greatly outnumber me.
¹⁹ God, the one who has reigned as king from long ago,
will hear and humiliate them. (Selah)

• Psalm 55:16-19 (ESV)

Good night, dear friends. I pray for you a restful, peaceful night’s sleep. My hope is that you shake off your shackles of fear, of worry, of weakness, of bitterness, of pain, of confusion, of distress, of heartbreak, of lack, of mourning…

I pray you recognize the sovereignty of God our Heavenly Father. I hope you see your worth in God’s eyes – God Who gave His Son as a Perfect Sacrifice to pay for our sin and create a way back to Him.

We can – indeed we are expected to – give the LORD all our troubles.

²² Throw your burden upon the Lord,
and he will sustain you.
He will never allow the godly to be shaken.
²³ But you, O God, will bring them down to the deep Pit.
Violent and deceitful people will not live even half a normal lifespan.
But as for me, I trust in you. – Psalm 55:22-23 (ESV)

Stop for a moment. Consider what’s troubling you. Take that issue and throw it to God.

Then thank the Lord for taking care of you.

Rest in knowledge that He can be trusted to take care of you.

And, when your troubles begin to rear their ugly head again, exclaim aloud, “No! This burden is longer mine. I gave it to the Lord and He will resolve it in His way and His time.”

Then keep on keeping on down God’s path, praising the Lord! Keep your eyes, ears and heart focused upward!

He is great and greatly to be praised!

Jennie and I have been talking lately about our current season of life. I call it a season of fog because it feels like we’re walking through life but we can’t see very far in front of us because of the heavy fog that blankets our view.

The simple truth is we don’t know what lies ahead of us. We don’t know what tomorrow has in store. And it can be very frustrating.

Very frustrating

Especially when we face irrational situations.

Painful situations.

Frightening situations

Unfair situations.

This is why we need to see through eyes of faith in Jesus.

Faith in God our Father.

Faith in our Lord who is sovereign over all.

Who loves us beyond measure.

In Mark 4, Jesus teaches about the different soils where seed is sown. It leapt out at me tonight that the thorny soil, choked by the troubles and cares of this world, is robbed of its ability to take root and grow.

Indeed, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” ( John 10:10 ESV).

If you find yourself walking through a season of fog, take heart! Go to the Lord with your troubles. Trust Him to take care of you. Even when your situation seems confusing.

Painful.

Impossible.

Irrational.

Trust God and walk with trust through the fog.

⁵ Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
    my hope comes from him.
⁶ Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
    he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
⁷ My salvation and my honor depend on God^[c];
    he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
⁸ Trust in him at all times, you people;
    pour out your hearts to him,
    for God is our refuge. – Psalm 62:5-8 (ESV)

⁴ One thing I ask from the Lord,
    this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
    all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
    and to seek him in his temple.
⁵ For in the day of trouble
    he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent
    and set me high upon a rock. – Psalm 27:4-5 (ESV)

David was a man who today would be celebrated by the media as an amazing success story.

He was the lowly slingshot-yielding shepherd boy who slayed the mighty Goliath.

He was the military leader who was forced into hiding by the paranoid King Saul, ascending to the throne after Saul’s death.

He had the hot wife, the royal life… the ultimate rags-to-riches success story.

But David’s legacy isn’t so cut and dry. His story is riddled with troublesome details: poor choices, lust, lies, a murder plot, family dysfunction that these days would make for popular reality or trash talk show TV.

And failure. The crowning achievement of his life should have been building the temple. After all, it was David who brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. He designed the temple, chose its location, ran to the hardware store to get the building materials needed.

Yet God wouldn’t allow David to actually build His holy palace. He had shed too much blood.

Despite all his flaws and failures, God never abandoned David. Instead, the Lord corrected him, redeemed him, restored him. Like Moses, who God allowed to see – but not enter – the Promised Land, the Lord prohibited David from building the temple.

But David learned the true worth of this life. He may have been the Eric Clapton of harpists, the ultimate slingshot sharpshooter, the poetic ruler who could have any beautiful roof bathing woman he wanted…

David learned that only one thing matters. None of the trappings of this life satisfy. All we need – all David came to desire – was God.

God is everything. Without Him we have nothing.

We are nothing.

Without God we are consumed by our wants, our lusts, our ambition, our troubles. Life has no true meaning or satisfaction apart from God.

It was true 3000 years ago.

It’s still true today.

Paul was truly correct when he told his protege Timothy that godliness with contentment is great gain.

“Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” – Matthew 6:33 (ESV)

Here’s some Jesus math for all of us.

Your circumstances < the reality of your life.

God > your situation.

You = who your Heavenly Father says you are.

God = sovereignty over everything

God = purpose

God = truth

God = forgiveness

God = restoration

God = hope

God = love

Never mistake condemnation (from others or yourself) as reality

Never believe you have no hope

Never feel no one loves you

Never see yourself as beyond Jesus’ grasp

None of us can fully comprehend the astonishing love of God for each of us. We have to accept it by faith.

Don’t fall for the lie that you are hopeless or unforgivable or unloveable.

Trust God. Take Him at His Word. Rest in Him and know He is your shelter, your redeemer, your source, your hope, your peace.

⁶ But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” ⁷ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸ Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. – James 4:6-8 (ESV)

It can be easy to want something good so bad that it becomes an idol, a stumbling block between ourselves and our Savior.

We strive for it. We plan and work and face overwhelming odds and obstacles. This is something good. Why is God not filling my vision?

If that’s where you find yourself, perhaps it’s a good time to stop, drop and pray.

I want to encourage you to not give up, but also to consider your motives.

First Things First

Consider Matthew 6:33: Seek first the kingdom of God – His will and ways. What’s more important? God’s will or my plans?

Now consider these verses from Proverbs 16 (ESV):

1 To humans belong the plans of the heart,
    but from the Lord comes the proper answer of the tongue.

² All a person’s ways seem pure to them,
    but motives are weighed by the Lord.

³ Commit to the Lord whatever you do,
    and he will establish your plans.

⁴ The Lord works out everything to its proper end—
    even the wicked for a day of disaster.

When we seek God’s will first above all, we have to recognize His sovereignty over everything. Including the results of our labor.

But What About My Plans?

When what we do is more important than why (why being to purely serve the Lord and bring Him glory) -when we get entangled in the “me” and “mine” aspects our lives – we open ourselves to pride and self-absorption. We feel embarrassed or disappointed or disgusted when plans don’t go our way. We find we are possessive, protective and inflexible over our creation, our baby.

The minute we start thinking in terms of “mine” we need to stop.

Rethink.

Reframe.

Restore proper perspective and priority.

Never make the mistake of assuming that just because our plans are not going our way that they are going wrong. Rather you may be witnessing God’s will – His good and perfect will – being fulfilled right before your eyes.

This is why humility is so important. Humility enables us to see the Lord at work even / especially when things appear to be swirling down the drain.

Whose Way?

Stop and ask yourself: what’s more important? Having my way? Seeing my plans fulfilled? Or seeking God in every step of my life, humbly?

God’s will is far greater than how we see things. His plans trump ours every time. So don’t fight God. Draw nearer to Him so He will draw nearer to you. Seek Him first. Whatever He has planned far exceeds our plans.

Remember… it’s ALL God’s!

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Continue reading →

Surrender.

Ugh.

That word makes my ego spasm and cramp in pain. After all, I know what I’m doing. I know what I want. I have my plans and goals and desires and ideas and routines…

Yet surrender is exactly what we need to do. We need to surrender every aspect of our lives to the Lord.

Why?

Simple. We are called to seek God and His will first and foremost. We can’t do that and follow our egos as well.

Following self leads us off the path Jesus wants us to walk. It misalignes our thoughts and plans and leads us straight into temptation.

When we surrender fully to the Lord, we realize His sovereignty. You see, He is in control of everything anyway. Self determination is an ego fueled misconception that pulls us into selfishness and away from God.

And right into the path of a speeding train.

It isn’t easy to surrender to God. It requires seeing life through eyes of faith instead of only our limited cognitive perception.

It takes time to build trust in the Lord.

It takes prayer and time in God’s Word.

It takes letting go of the things that come between us and God.

Take a moment and consider this: what do I love most? Where do I invest my time and treasure? What keeps me up at night? The answers to these questions may lead us to discovering where we need to let go and give it to God.

The more we surrender to God, the more we trust in His sovereignty, mercy, grace love, the more peace we will have in our lives.

Surrender. Just let go. God has you.