Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.  Isaiah 41:10

During the advent season, many are looking forward to time shared with family and friends, however, others of us may find that this time of year has more challenges than pleasures.  Gatherings present various issues for me.  The biggest challenge is food.  I have to navigate what is available so that I eat enough without getting so sick that I can’t enjoy myself.  Clothing is another challenge as I am very sensitive to both fabrics and temperature.  What may work one day may not on another.  An additional hurdle is a heightened “flight or fight” response.  Consequently, my physical response to uncomfortable social situations and personality differences are often exacerbated.  While I will enjoy those with whom I celebrate, there are many others that I wish the celebrations would include, but will not; they will be sorely missed.  There are also uncertainties in our life making this holiday season less than carefree.  I am not alone in any of this as I recognize that many will find it difficult to enjoy the holidays this year due to their own health issues, the rigors of travel, the loss of loved ones, family conflicts, etc.  Yet in our trials, we should still seek to experience the peace, hope, and joy that our Savior provides. 

With all of the activities of this year, I am already spent so I must admit that I am less than enthused with respect to any more activities that make significant demands of me.  However, I realize that celebrating the incarnation of Christ and the time spent with family will have benefits both spiritually and emotionally.  I believe our ever gracious Savior understands my weakness and placed Isaiah 41:10 before me in light of the advent season as a reminder of my true source of peace, hope and joy.

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My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73:26

Yet again I find myself failing.  I have done what I can to pace myself, but my body is weak and does not seem to be up to the task these days, therefore, this will be brief. 

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The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.  Lamentations 3:22-23

As we study scripture, we learn about God. It is one thing to intellectually understand God’s faithfulness, His promises, His character, the sacrifice and intercession of Christ, the work of the Holy Spirit, etc.; however, it is something altogether different to experience them.  Knowing that Christ died for our sins does not save us…it is accepting His atoning work on our behalf that provides salvation.  Similarly, knowing about God intellectually does not develop a relationship with Him.  Rather, it is through reliance on Him throughout our life experiences, recognizing His work in our lives, and seeking to live for Him alone that we develop a relationship.  It is experiencing God that takes us from an intellectual understanding to a relationship that allows us to mature in faith.  Further, when we acknowledge God at work in our own lives, we provide edification and encouragement to others. To experience God and not share that fact with fellow believers would be remiss.  Consequently this week’s post is about testifying to God’s faithfulness as an experience.

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“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”  Psalm 73:26.

I’m taking it easy this week. Due to the the holidays, traveling and my normal responsibilities, my body, mind and soul need a rest.  Consequently, I thought I’d use the opportunity to provide some personal background for this blog, and for those who are unaware, share my passion.  It’s not my norm.  My history tells me not to trust, but my Lord says to be transparent to help others.  Further, I prefer to focus on the positive to keep me from dwelling on the negative.  With those disclaimers in place, let me open up a bit for you.

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Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.  Hebrews 10:23

For several years after I became seriously ill, I didn’t plan any events in my life.  I had no confidence that I would be around for the long haul, therefore, planning was out of the question.  The problem was a lack of hope.  While I still had the hope of eternity, I had no hope that God would sustain my body or that I could endure.  Eventually, that lack of hope made my soul sick.  Thankfully, God sustained me and slowly began to educate me on the finer points of living well before Him.  One of those lessons was that there seem to be two kinds of hope: jubilant hope and steadfast hope.  While I had witnessed plenty of examples of jubilant hope e.g. the hope that comes with: salvation, marriage, or a healthy newborn child, and the like, I had no living images of steadfast hope to lean on.  The culture in which I was raised didn’t deal kindly with people who openly discussed their problems and therefore, was devoid of discussions regarding God’s use of trials to mold, shape and equip them.  In that light, let’s consider a few images of steadfast hope, specifically hope that is: teachable, observant, patient, resilient, faithful trusting that God is enough.

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“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”  Joshua 1:9

My wife and I went to a dinner theater last week with my aunt, uncle and a few of their friends.  Shortly before the intermission, one of the ladies in our group collapsed into the lap of the woman sitting next to her.  Admittedly, given her symptoms, most of us thought that she was dying.  Thankfully, by the time the ambulance arrived, she had recovered enough to walk to the gurney.  After spending the night in the hospital, she was released with a heart monitor.  Aside from the obvious concerns for those involved, it raised a deeply rooted fear of my own.  As much as I accept God’s will in my life, the thought of a public medical emergency still haunts me…and I’ve had a few.  For many of us, it raises concerns about embarrassment, image, and acceptance.  Ultimately, we cannot control the events of our lives, but we can control our response to them with a bit of truth.

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For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of your name as followers of Christ, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward.   Mark 9:41

Our family spent the weekend with my aunt and uncle at their lake house.  Saturday morning our older daughter asked if I would go running with her so I agreed.  I can usually run a short distance without much problem, however, this time it seemed as if everything was against me.  In the end it was a couple of miles of pure frustration.  It left me unsettled with a few questions: is this an anomaly, will I no longer be able to enjoy a good run, or is this something that I will recover from?  Further is it may be yet another loss that I must accept and another limitation to undermine how I feel about myself?  In any event, I kept moving one small step at a time…sometimes running, but mostly walking.  In the end it became an object lesson about living well and led to a conversation with God about life and faith.

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“Trouble and anguish have come upon me, yet Your commandments are my delight.  Your testimonies are righteous forever; give me understanding that I may live.”  Psalm 119:143-144

Anguish is the inward response to trouble.  For those with a balanced perspective, anguish is reserved for extreme circumstances.  The Hebrew word used is derived from the word for a narrow place.  Therefore, in this context, the connotation is a place of confinement or disability.  That’s exactly what anguish does to us mentally; it makes us feel hemmed in and incapacitated.  It is both suffocating and immobilizing.  Even so, the writer of Psalm 119 expresses delight in God’s commands when faced with trials.  While at first blush it may seem odd to experience both anguish and delight in the same circumstance, as Christians, there are several reasons to be delighted in dire situations.

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“Trouble and anguish have come upon me, yet Your commandments are my delight. Your testimonies are righteous forever; give me understanding that I may live.” Psalm 119:143-144

Trouble…it seems like a simple enough word to understand.   However, when looking at definitions from secular sources, those provided were vague and had more to do with how trouble affects our comfort level or convenience rather than anything significant.  In contrast, “Vine’s Bible Dictionary” states it clearly as:  tribulation or affliction.  Trouble comes in many forms.  At times it is the result of a personal attack while at other times it is and “random”/general attack that we’re caught in.  It may be an external threat or an internal one such as mental or physical illness.  The point is that, as those living in a fallen world, we are going to experience trouble throughout our lives from the trivial to the monumental.  We will enjoy a more peaceful existence if we learn to view it as God does and trust that He is ever faithful to care for us.  One of the mental hurdles for us is that from our perspective, God’s care for us appears to be inconsistent.

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For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.  Hebrews 12:3

I went out for a run the other day and struggled through most of it.  Somewhere in the last half mile, I decided it might be wise to walk the remainder of the way home.  Shortly after I started walking, I met a young woman running in the opposite direction.  As we met, she cheerfully encouraged me to start running again.  As tempting as it was, I declined as my choice was not a matter of giving up but rather a bit of prudence for a few reasons: I have asthma and had forgotten to use my inhaler before running; my body is recovering from injury, and I’ve been pushing myself to meet various demands and have not been getting the rest that my body needs.  In better circumstances, the encouragement would have yielded the desired effect of the other runner. However, under these conditions, I had to allow reason to overrule desire.  As we endure in our walk of faith, we need be intentional as well. 

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