Rejoice!

Have you ever been asked to do something you thought was unreasonable - like when your parents told you to apologize for hitting a sibling when you weren’t really sorry and when it was their fault anyway? Or how about when you accepted a job only to discover that you were doing everyone else’s job as well? When God tells us to "Rejoice always," even in the midst of suffering (when all we feel like doing is complaining), it might feel a little unreasonable at times.

One of the most difficult challenges we face as Christians is to rejoice continually. When life is tough and there seems to be nothing good, it flies in the face of common sense and reason to give thanks.  But there's always something to be thankful for, isn't there? After all, who gives you the breath to complain about your circumstances?  Who allows you to wake up in the morning?  Who commits never to leave you or forsake you?  Who promises to transform all your circumstances into something good?  Who has given you his words of life to comfort you in times of trouble?  Who is the one person that not even death can separate you from?  The answer is GOD, and HE is our reason for rejoicing! 

Psalm 119:68 struck me this week.  David tells God, “You are good and you do good.”  If God is good (his nature is good, so it's impossible for him to be anything less) and if he always does good (every circumstance for the child of God is a function of God’s goodness and love), than what more do we need to be thankful for? 

It's no coincidence that the same man who wrote, “Nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God” also wrote, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice!”  Clearly, he had discovered the source of joy.

He is With You

"The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing." Zephaniah 3:17

God rejoices over his children, and I said last week this is not just a truth to be acknowledged but a reality to be celebrated! Part of the immediacy of this reality is that God is in your midst.  The NIV says "The Lord your God is with you."  He's not just off in 'spirit-land', sitting on clouds some place we mortals cannot access.  No, God is here.  My boys have been watching the movie Land Before Time where the dinosaurs sing a silly song about having an "Imaginary Friend."  Well, God is no imaginary friend.  He's real, and He's with us! David acknowledged, "If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there." My older brother Matt recently sent me one of his journal entries from February 6th about his young daughter Ellee's (age 3) recent awareness of God.  I was so inspired by it that I got his permission to share it with all of you.

This afternoon when I went to put Ellee down for her nap, something very amazing and encouraging happened. As I was lying there next to her in her bed, I noticed what appeared to be a sad look on her face. I said, “honey, don’t be sad.” She said in reply, “I’m not sad. I’m praying to God… of Heaven.” I don’t know if that meant she was praying to herself - in her heart - to God about Heaven or was simply telling me that He was the God who is in Heaven. Either way, it was a very cool thing to hear. From there, I said, “it’s good to pray to God honey. He is in heaven, but he’s also here with you. Do you want me to pray with you?” She said, “yes.” I then waited for her to pray. She said nothing (at least not audibly). I then begin to say a few words out loud as she followed. That didn’t last too long until she said, “God walks in my room.” I couldn’t tell if that was a statement or a question, but I said, “yes”. Then she asked, “is He here?” As she pointed to the open space next to her on the bed. I answered, “you can’t see Him but yes, He is there also. God is everywhere and He wants to be with you always and in your heart if you want Him to. He is in Heaven, down here with us, in your room, on your bed, etc.” She then smiled. I then said to her with tears in my eyes, “Ellee, you make me smile and you make God smile. You make God happy. You make me happy. God loves you very much and so do I.” I then hugged her and said, “God hugs you just like this. He loves you.” Then after a while she finally went to sleep… but only after time and time again she asked me to "stay!" as I tried to get up to go take my nap in my bed. She put her hand on my forehead and pushed me back down on the pillow, as if to say (as she does every time I try to leave her as she’s going down for a nap or at night), “Stay, you can’t go yet. I need you here with me.” God is working in Ellee’s little heart; I am sure of it. Thank you Father.

The Ant and the Raven

The Bible is full of apparent discrepancies. This is not to imply that the Bible contains contradictions, but only that God has designed His Word in such a manner that we can't run very far after one truth without being pulled back by another. 

For example, the Bible teaches us to work hard and plan ahead.  Those who work hard enjoy profit and those who are lazy meet with poverty (Proverbs 12:24, 14:23).  Solomon challenged us, “Consider the ways of the ant, and be wise.  She prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest” (Proverbs 6:6, 8). 

Now consider Jesus’ admonition to his disciples in Luke twelve: "Do not worry about what to eat or drink."  He asks us to consider not the ant but the raven, who “neither sows nor reaps, has neither storehouse nor barn.” 

So how are we to be like the ant (work hard, think about the future, store up food) and like the raven (don’t think about the future or store up food)?  The answer lies in a word Jesus repeated five times in Luke 12: Worry.  The Bible clearly teaches us to work hard and plan for the future, but we're also warned not to worry about our future.  Worry indicates a fundamental lack of trust in God.  Jesus was not teaching not to plan, but rather as we work and plan (like the ant), we must remember (like the raven) that it is our Father who blesses us with profit and food.  We may be laboring, but God is providing.

In this matter of work vs. worry, it’s easy to fall into one of two doctrinal errors.  We can easily find ourselves in the ditch on either side of the road. On one hand, we might say, “Look to the ant. Work hard and provide for yourself.  It’s up to you!”  But on the other hand, we may conclude that we should “Look to the raven. God will provide. Don’t worry or plan.” Here’s the reality though:  God calls us to consider the ant and the raven. Both creatures provide Biblical insights and both should be considered carefully.  So work, but don't worry. And remember:  As you toil, as you plan, know that it is your Father who blesses your efforts and provides you with everything that you need.

He Sings Over You

"The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing." Zephaniah 3:17

     I heard a Matt Maher song on my way to work the other morning and he repeats the following words:  "Father, you sing over Your children."  Seems like a simple statement, but it hit me in a new way.  On the spectrum of living to appease God and living to enjoy God, I often find myself trying to appease God.  No matter what my Bible says (i.e., God loves me unconditionally, he sees me as perfect in Christ), I live like God's love for me depends on my performance as his child.  I'm finding that the best way to combat this spurious mindset is with truth.  "The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing."

     As a young boy, I looked up to my dad, mimicked his every move, bragged to my friends about him.  I watched closely as he built fires in the stove. I marveled at his strength. I wondered why he got up early every day to read the same book.  My most vivid memories of him were from hunting trips.  It wasn't because I was hunting that I remember but because I was with my dad.  He had a lot to do, but he took the time to give me his attention.  It's a great tragedy when people have terrible experiences with their father because it inevitably tarnishes their view of the Perfect Father.  Even just the fact that people are deeply wounded by bad fathers proves that we were meant to be cherished, nurtured and loved by a good father. The only way we recognize counterfeit money is because of the existence of real money.

     I want you to stop and think about the fact that God rejoices over his children. This isn't some truth to be acknowledged but a reality to be celebrated!  Go ahead. Smile. God's not mad at you!  He doesn't hold your sin over you. In fact, the Bible teaches that he "remembers your sin no more."  All his records have been destroyed!  The only thing left for him is rejoicing, gladness and singing.  Picture your glorious, perfect Father, so filled with joy and gladness at the thought of you that he bursts forth into loud singing.

     Oh, dearly loved child of God, realize this truth today!  Snap out of your performance trap where God takes notes and scolds you at every misstep.  He delights in you!  So look to the Father.  Enjoy him, even as he enjoys you.  And if you haven't been reconciled to God through his Son, Jesus (see John 14:6), why not?  Our God is perfect, and you'll never find another like him.  Search the whole world over for the rest of your life and you'll never find such a one who will love you, accept you, delight in you.  The greatest sentiment in hell will not be pain or anger or frustration, but regret.  Lost men will meet a glorious, loving Father, and then be separated from him forever!  Oh, what weeping there will be!!  Plead now to be reconciled to God.  Plead now for a new heart. Plead now to know the Father and love him. If you plead now, you will have no regrets on that final day.  But if you wait until eternity to plead, you may be pleading for eternity.