Lost in the Trees

I have been thinking about God's purpose in the period of trials. I came across this passage this morning about the early persecution of the church. These two verses captured for me what the results of the persecution became.


"But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison. Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went." ~‭Acts‬ ‭8‬:‭3-4‬ (NIV)

Think about this for a moment.

The early church was experiencing a local revival in that small area. If they had not been persecuted and caused to scatter, the message may not ever have left that region. God was able to take that horrible time and use it for the purpose of getting His good news all over the wider area. It was an amazing time.

I know it hurts to be in the midst of trials, and I know we often cannot see beyond it from our perspective of the midst of the shadowy trees.  I know how horrible some of these times can be.

Know this, God is there. When you are hurting and cannot see beyond the pain, remember the character of God. Focus on who He is.  He never changes. He is my rock. He is my home base.  He is my safe haven.

Somehow, when I return to home base, my perspective changes, and I feel like my trials are not as looming as maybe they once felt. I know I will be ok.

So will you. 

Hope Begins in the Wilderness

There are times in my life that I cannot muster up any feelings.  Nothing makes me happy.  Nothing saddens me.  I feel nothing.  Life has no color.  These are the times that I must walk through each day pretending to care.  These are the times I just want to escape.  These are the times I just want to go "home" (my heavenly home).

I have no reason to feel depressed or down.  Life is good.  I have a home, family, friends, job, necessary material things, and a foundational belief in God.  So, why are there these times of my life that I find myself lost in the dark wilderness?  There's really no excuse for how I feel, and yet, here I stand in the dark.

When I get like this, I go to the writings of David and Solomon in the Bible.  These were two men who could describe this feeling, this despair, with such depth.  Consider this passage:

"So I came to hate life because everything done here under the sun is so troubling.  Everything is meaningless - like chasing the wind." ~Ecclesiastes 2:17 (NLT)

It helps to know I am not alone in my despair.  God is always there.  It is when I am here in the darkness of the wilderness that I find my hope.  He alone is my refuge, my rock, my shelter.  When I focus on Him and who He is, then my despair lessens.  I know I can count on Him.

Then, as I spend time in His presence, He begins to show me the light.  He shows me what is good and what is promised.  As I look at life through His eyes, I see what He cares about.  I see who He loves.  I see His purpose for me.  It is when I live my life in this purpose, then I feel right again.

We put our hope in the Lord.

He is our help and our shield.

In Him our hearts rejoice.

for we trust in His holy name.

Let Your unfailing love surround us, Lord,

for our hope is in You alone.

~Psalms 33:20-22 (NLT)

Saved Alone (the story behind "It is Well With my Soul")

This morning, our wonderful children's pastor gave the message about revival can be found in deepest of valleys.  She used a video that illustrated this point, using the story behind the composing of the hymn, "It is Well With My Soul."  The video link is here.

When I heard Lynn give the message, I remembered a recent blog post written by a brother in Christ, Carl Middleton.  What follows is from his blog.

Star Wars Day - May the Fourth be with you!

I don't know when I became such a fan of this series, but the message is clear.  There is good in this world, and there is evil in this world.  Good can become corrupted and become evil.  Evil can repent and become good.

Does that sound familiar?

It should.  The bible is full of examples of men and women who demonstrated difficulty navigating life, who made mistakes, who fell away from God, who repented, and who walks with God today.  

Be aware though, although it is never too late to repent, if you are consumed by the dark side, it will be very difficult to turn back.  This is a famous passage from the Empire Strikes Back.

Yoda: Yes, a Jedi's strength flows from the Force. But beware of the dark side. Anger, fear, aggression; the dark side of the Force are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight. If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will, as it did Obi-Wan's apprentice. 

 Luke: Vader... Is the dark side stronger? 

Yoda: No, no, no. Quicker, easier, more seductive. 

Luke: But how am I to know the good side from the bad? 

Yoda: You will know... when you are calm, at peace, passive. A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, NEVER for attack. 

Luke: But tell my why I can't... 

Yoda: No, no! There is no "why". 

For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters.  But don't use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature.  Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.  For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."

But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another.
~Galations 5:13-15 (NLT)

What Does it Mean to See?

Avatar is a movie that has been playing on cable television quite often lately.  It was originally released in December 2009.  I admit, I did not run right out to see it in the theaters, but waited much later until the Blu-Ray came out.  I was enthralled by the vivid imagery and the storyline.

The story is loosely based on our history of indigenous people of land being forced to leave by stronger or more "civilized" people making them go.  This time, it is a habitable planetoid populated with large blue people, housed over a valuable commodity being raided by futuristic greedy people from Earth (oddly American-like).

I found myself thinking more about the spiritual connection the indigenous people had with their god.  They could "see".  This is what was important to them.  If a body could not see, he was not considered part of their tribe.  What did that mean, exactly?

The scientists from Earth tried to seek ways to connect with the indigenous people.  They had created avatars that could interact with the natives using the consciousness of the humans that controlled the avatars.  The people did not trust these "sky people" saying they could not "see."  But one avatar, Jake Sully, was shown to the people that he may have the capacity to learn to see.  In the end, he was taught.  He could "see."  He could know their god, and he could love.

I believe we have the responsibility to teach the blind how to see.  Consider this verse in the Bible:  For when you see me, you are seeing the one who sent me.  I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark.  ~John 12:45-46 (NLT)

I have considered what God is telling us about darkness in another blogpost, Walking in Darkness.  If we don't let go of the world, we will never see the light of God.  In the movie, Jake Sully had to give up the values of the Earth he remembered to be able to "see."

God sees us.  This actually means He knows us to the bottom of our being, and even knowing that core, He loves us.  I would like to learn how to see others like He sees us.

If the Good News we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing.  Satan, who is the god of this world, had blinded the minds of those who don't believe.  They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News.  They don't understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.  ~2Corinthians 4:3-4 NLT

The Corruption of a Leader

Admiral Marcus

Ok, I know I have already posted about Star Trek's new movie, Into Darkness, but I wanted to reflect on the topic I had planned to discuss before I went to see the movie and became distracted by the overwhelming message of friendship bonds.  I was interested to see how the character that had risen up the ranks of Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets, Admiral Marcus, became so twisted in his thinking patterns and so off track of the original purpose of Starfleet.

Admiral Marcus was so consumed by his hatred for the Klingons that he created a hidden purpose within Starfleet, a supremely military purpose.  He used subversive means to get his hidden agenda across, so that no one was aware of what was happening.  He planned the regeneration of a historic super-villian, Khan, for his ability to craft a super military vessel.  He was going to sacrifice the Starfleet flagship explorer vessel Enterprise to start a war with the Klingons.

How did he get that way?  Does that really happen to good people, and good leaders?  Do we really lose our purpose and go down a dark path?

Yes.

Let's look at a biblical example.  King Saul was given God's blessing to become Israel's first leader.  However, he soon lost the blessing of God, due to disobedience.  God expected full obedience of his people, and was disappointed.  David became the chosen leader of God.  Saul became consumed by his jealousy of David, and then plotted to kill him.  He was blinded by his sins.  I do believe Saul was a good leader for Israel, since God had chosen him, but he went down a path into darkness.  He never recovered.

Christians, and even church leaders are not immune to darkness.  We are often targets of Satan's attacks.  Sometimes the attacks are in the form of things that we want (temptations).  Sometimes the attacks are in the form of hardships, illness, or pain.  If we allow these things to consume our thinking, we will wind up in the dark places of our being, and we risk losing our connection with God.  How do we keep ourselves protected?

We need to stay connected to the Word of God and to His people.  We need to study daily His Word and meditate on His purposes.  We need to stay connected to His people by attending a church that encourages conversation and discussion about the things of the bible.

I encourage you to find a group of people you can study with and discuss the purposes of God, as well as our attacks and responses (both when we succeed, and when we fail).  If you want help finding a small group, please comment.  I would be happy to try to help you.

"For where two or three are gathered together in my name (Jesus), there I am in the midst of them." ~Matthew 18:20 KJV

Walking in Darkness

"Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me.  Since I live, you also will live." John 14:19

I'm taking a detour from my normal posts about Science Fiction to write down a vision I had many years ago.  I'm not sure why I keep going back to this, as I normally don't remember my dreams.  This one was so vivid, that I just felt compelled to write about it.

I find myself standing in a darkly lit room; large; drafty.  It's noisy and there are many people milling about.  They don't seem to be moving toward any specific place and there appears to be no exit from this place.  Just a dark room with people milling about.  I try to figure out what is going on, when I notice each person who is milling about carries a package.  It seems like a heavy package, and it has some kind of wrapping around it, like a gift.  The packages are identical, and every person in the room, milling about carries this package.  I look down, and I realize I am carrying that package too.  I ask someone what is in the package, and they merely look at me, and continue to wander.  The package is compelling.  I wonder what is inside.  I can't wait to open the package.  I find myself obsessing about the package and no longer pay attention to the people.  Then I notice I can't breathe under the weight of the package, and I put the package down.

Suddenly, I see a bright beam of light shining down into the middle of the room! It is a single beam of light.  I don't know why I didn't see it before.  It is so obvious to me now.  I want to go to the light.  I'm tired of wandering around in the dark.  So, I pick up the package and get ready to go to the light.  But, the light is gone.  It is dark again.  Where did the light go?  I am panicking.  I run to the other people and ask, "Did you see it?" But they just look at me blankly and continue to wander.  I want the light.  I want that light so much more than I have ever wanted anything.  I am saddened that it is gone, and I put the package down to get ready to sit down and cry, when the light reappears!

It dawns on me, that somehow, I was blinded to the light so long as I carried that package, but as soon as I put it down, I could see it.  I run to the light, now unencumbered and free.  Just as I get ready to get into the light, I look back.  There they were.  All those people, still burdened by that package they carried.  They could not see what I could see.  I then realize my responsibility is to help those people see the light, so that they may be saved.  I have to help them be free from the burdens they carry.

Let's explore some of the components of this vision.  Ephesians 5:8 indicates that we once were full of darkness, but now have light from the Lord.  John 3:19-20 says that God's light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.  All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed (NLT).  I think the people milling about were carrying the burden of sin, all wrapped up as a package they desired.  Because the sin package was what they focused on and desired, they could not see the light that is God.  They were blind.  What can we do to help people recognize God's light, when they are so consumed by sin?

How can we show them the beauty of God?

"But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants." John 3:21 NLT