Pushing Through To Wonder

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Old King David knew how to get the day started. Before the birds warbled he was already up tuning his 968 Fender Stratocaster guitar, getting ready to belt out a Chris Tomlin worship song that would reverberate through the palace.

Back in those days you could have a lot of wives and I bet every one of David’s were mad when he woke them up with his booming praise and worship at daybreak. That’s my version. Here’s how the Bible says it, ““My heart, O God, is steadfast, my heart is steadfast;  I will sing and make music. Awake, my soul!  Awake, harp and lyre!  I will awaken the dawn.  (Ps. 57 :7, 8, NIV)

And Eugene Peterson’s version : I’m ready, God, so ready, ready from head to toe, Ready to sing, ready to raise a tune:  “Wake up, soul! Wake up, harp! Wake up, lute! Wake up, you sleepyhead sun!” (The Message).

You see, David knew a secret. Often it seems like there’s a curtain between us and God. YOU have to push it back.

The other day I stumbled out of bed. All the shutters of the house were closed and it was dark and I was kind of “uhhhhh!” inside (no caffeine yet). Then, I opened the shutters and suddenly there was sunshine and birds singing (well, really it was car after car passing in front of my house but birds were probably singing somewhere). My outlook changed.

So often we never get to that moment of wonder in our life because we don’t open the shutters of our heart. We live with drudgery, when wonder is just the other side of the curtain.

Here’s how it works. One fellow looks out his window towards the west and only sees the sun going down. Another sees a sunset. I think there’s a difference.

One man takes a walk, all the while telling his boss off in his mind. Trees pass as he criticizes his wife in his thoughts because she doesn’t live up to his standards. She’s not as good as that woman he wished he had married. He doesn’t really enjoy walking.

Another man follows him ten minutes later. A gentle evening breeze caresses this fellow’s face. He listens to a Spring concert as two crickets sing a duet, a lark croons the second voice, and finally a whip-or-will chants a haunting requiem for the dying day. This man loves to walk.

Friend number two knows something. Wonder! Do you see it? To get there you must push through.

One man awakes and says a perfunctory “thanks” for protection during the night. Another greets the Lord with thanksgiving and joy, even before he gets out of bed. And when we see Him in our heart, wonder breaks out.

Wonder is healthy. Wonder heals. Wonder gives meaning to life. Wonder makes life exciting. But, you’ve got to push past “normal.” Anyone can live in normal. Push past and see Him. Then wonder breaks out.

But, How?

How do you do it ? With the help of the Spirit. People who heard the newly Spirit-baptized disciples speaking on the Day of Pentecost proclaimed that there was sense in the strange words they spoke. “We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” (Acts 2:11, NIV).

There’s wonder there and the Spirit helps us see it!

Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would take what’s His and show it to us. And when we see the wonders that Jesus has (and shares with us) our reaction is “Wow!” Maybe, if wonder has been missing from your life lately, you haven’t been pushing in when you pray or you haven’t looked at what the Lord has for you. Check out His Word, especially the New Testament.

Wonder often explodes when I see God’s reflection in what He’s made—the Alps mountains, the Grand Canyon, the music of water rushing over the rocks of  a small stream, the light on a child’s face when he’s happy. Wonder attack!

Don’t just sit there! Open the curtains on God’s goodness. Look, silly! (Don’t look silly but look, silly). Move out of that valley of lethargy and begin to live like someone who is wonderstruck. It’s there for those who look!

Hmmm …
Gratitude is a gift — one we all have, but don’t have to use. It’s a choice.  Jeff Goins

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Our team was struggling a bit. With several other people, we were trying to start a church in Luxembourg City and at one time or other we had team members from at least three different countries helping us in our coffee house/street outreach.

One young lady was going through a particularly tough moment and decided to go home. That can happen to anyone, but I felt that in this particular situation it would be a spiritual setback for her. She needed to fight through.

I talked with her and helpfully gave her a cassette of a message that a pastor had sent me. Maybe this would help her respond in faith to her trial.

The message was called, “How To Run With Horses.” God questioned Jeremiah basically asking, if you can’t run against men how are you going to run against horses? If you can’t win in little trials, what are you going to do in a big trial?

But, I made a mistake and put the wrong message in the plastic box that held the cassette. The box title read, “How To Run With Horses,” but the message taught about the power of praise.

The young lady and her team partner listened to the message, then got on their knees and began to put it in practice. Praises filled their little apartment as they glorified the Lord Jesus with their whole hearts.

You know what? The discouragement left. The young lady finished her term, doing a good job for the Lord. Sometimes trying harder doesn’t get it. We just have to get on our knees and praise the One who made us–our Father.

Sometimes: “Rah! Rah! Rah! We can do it! Put on your big boy pants,” etc is not what we need. We just need to say, “God, I’m so weak. Oh, how I need your strength.” Then begin to praise Him.

There is power in praise. His strength fills us.

“Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand; to execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; to execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the LORD.” (Psa 149:5-9)

Um, maybe instead of trying harding and falling on your nose again, you could just fall to your knees like my friends and begin to love the Lord Jesus. Who knows what might happen!

Do you find that praising God adds power to your life? Share with us how God has strengthened you through praise in the response area below.

Hmmm …

“Some of the world’s greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible.”
~ Doug Larson

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fotolia I recently visited an 89-year old grandmother in a retirement home. You young people, you imagine everyone beyond 60 years old is a mummy looking for an Egyptian sarcophagus to be buried in. You think 40 is the extreme limit of life as you know it. Fifty years? Don’t even talk about it. And beyond that, people are in another solar system. I just smile a big smile and I say, “Wait. You think you’re always gonna be like that, do you? You know what awaits you? Look at me! Yup, this decomposition will happen to you, too. It’s a bit depressing, isn’t it? ” But back to this sister in Christ. She was quick-witted and we had a great conversation. We talked about the goodness of the Lord and she said something that struck me: “There must be another word for it, just for that.” And the thought stayed with me. The goodness of the Lord so surpasses our human kindness that our word ‘goodness’ is not enough. So I said to myself: “Maybe I can invent another word. Hmm … ‘supergoodlificious,’ for example?  Not. ‘Superextragoodlimmenséius?’  No, we won’t be able to spell it. Finally I looked up the word in Hebrew. It is chêsêd. The grandmother was right because the word is so rich that those who translated it into other languages had a hard time agreeing. I found it translated as ‘goodness’, but also as ‘mercy’, ‘love’, ‘unfailing love’, ‘loving kindness,’ ‘faithfulness’ and ‘loyalty’! Since the translators don’t agree on a word so full of meaning, I propose a new word for ‘goodness’ in English. We will say ‘bonté.’ I like the sound of that. This is our new word. (We’ll pronounce it “bon-tay.”) - In Psalm 36 we learn about the bonté (chêsêd) of the Lord. It fills the skies – ” Your mercy and loving-kindness, O Lord, extend to the skies, and Your faithfulness to the clouds.” (Amplified) - It has no price, this wonderful ‘goodness’. (Some of the standard French versions translate the word we’re talking about as “goodness” all through this Psalm.  ” How precious is Your steadfast love, O God! The children of men take refuge and put their trust under the shadow of Your wings. “(Amplified 36:7) - His goodness provides a banquet for those who are hungry. ” They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights. “(v. 10 NIV) - His goodness never fails. ” O continue Your loving-kindness to those who know You, Your righteousness (salvation) to the upright in heart. “(V. 11, Amplified) When I swim in blessings and I have a smile from ear to ear, his bonté is evident. And wonder of wonders, His bonté/ goodness doesn’t change, even when I find myself in circumstances that I don’t want. My circumstances have nothing to do with the goodness of God. He is good! It is one thing that does not change, “O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever!” (Ps. 107:1, Amplified) “And the word ‘for mercy and loving-kindness’ used here? This is our famous word ‘chêsêd ‘, the same word for the word we invented “bonté”! Well, I have a small confession to make. Bonté is not quite a new word. This is the French word for “goodness” for those who have not already caught on. But the big question about this rich, rich word is, “Is it a reality in our heart?” Sometimes we hang on onto hurts, bitterness, worry, fear – and all kinds of flotsam floating on the surface of our heart. And it prevents us from seeing the “kindness, goodness, mercy, unfailing love and loyalty” of the Lord! Do you find yourself in this place now? If so I have a message for you … STOP! Take a little time apart. Stop whining, worrying, and burning calories and acid in your bitter stomach. Focus on Jesus your Lord and his goodness. Start  praising Him for his ‘chêsêd’! Who knows, maybe the Holy Spirit will give you new words to describe his goodness.

Hummm …G.K. Chesterton once said, “An adventure is an inconvenience rightly considered.”

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The other day I was at the Charles De Gaulle International airport, heading for ground transportation to take me back into the city.

I walked quickly because I had a tight schedule to make it back in time for the service that night. Up ahead I saw a crowd and I groaned a bit inwardly. “I hope I don’t have to go through all that to get to the train.”

As I reached the back of the pack, I saw that the police had stopped them and then I heard, “Boom!”  I started looking around for a hiding place because I remembered that when there is a terrorist attack there are sometimes two bombs, one exploding after the other.

It turned out that the police had blown up a bag someone had left lying around. Some fellow’s got some big holes in his underwear and socks now, I imagine.

But, for a moment, after that explosion, I was transported from one world into another.

Let me explain. I’m like you. I watch all these exciting things on television: terrorist bombs, floods, and building collapses and my emotions let me participate. To a point.

When I heard that blast, though, I thought I had passed from the video game, Hollywood- movie world into reality. Hollywood emotion is fun because it can’t hurt you. Yet, several minutes after I heard that explosion I was still a bit shaken, even after I knew it wasn’t a terrorist attack.

Sometimes It’s War And We Act Like It’s a Video Game

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I suspect a lot of us are like that about spiritual warfare. We read: “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” (Eph. 6:10-12, NIV)

And we think about Iron Man or the Avengers.

When I look around this world and see the hurt and brokenness, I’ve got to think this is more than a comic-book battle. This is for real folks. A lot of the hurts we experience, along with our family and friends spring from this battle.

Maybe we should take Paul’s advice seriously. “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” (Eph. 6:13-18, NIV)

Don’t wait until a spiritual explosion rattles your cage. You better get ready.

 Hum …

“The fear certainly helps you do it better. The fear-less one might sleep better, but sleeping well doesn’t always lead to your best work. The fear can be your compass, it can set you on the right path and actually improve the quality of what you do. Listen to your fear but don’t obey it.” Seth Godin

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I always loved those cartoons where someone found a lamp, rubbed it and out popped Robin Williams. Well, once it was Robin Williams. Most of the time it was a magic genie.
And now, boys and girls, what did the magic genie say? You got it. “You’ve got three wishes—and no wishing for 100 more wishes.”

My imagination could shift into overtime thinking about all the loot and goodies I could get with three wishes. Of course it was only play-like.

So, imagine my shock when I stumbled on this in the Bible: “May the Lord grant all your requests.” (Psalms 20:5b, NIV). The Message paraphrase doesn’t sugarcoat this Spirit-inspired wish: “May all your wishes come true!”

That’s in the Bible! Wow! All right! Yes! Oui! Let’s see, what do I want?

Then, I thought, “If God grants all my requests, I had better be very careful about what I request. Hmmm …”

Every “yes” leads us down a road, but that means another path lies untaken, and sometimes that’s the very path we would have loved.

I heard a country song one time about a fellow at a football game who sees his old high school sweetheart from twenty years ago. He had prayed that God would make this person his wife but now as he talked to her twenty years later he said to himself, “I thank God for unanswered prayer.”

“Ask and it shall be given to you,” inspires many prayers, however you better hold on. We might need to pray hard so that we’ll know what to ask for.

If Jesus stopped in front of you and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” as He did for blind Bartimaeus in Mark 10:51, what would you say? Do you know what you want? Are you sure you want it?

Lots of people don’t receive because they don’t ask from God. Often the reason is that they really don’t know what they want. If you don’t know what you want you’re going to wander around in circles in life.

World War Two hero Dwight Eisenhower said, “We succeed only as we identify in life, or in war, or in anything else, a single overriding objective, and make all other considerations bend to that one objective.”

How do you know what to ask for?

1.    Get guidance from wise people who love the Lord. The young lady inflamed the king and his guests with her wild dance. “Ask me whatever you want to–up to half of my kingdom,” the ruler panted. She didn’t know what to say so she asked her vengeful mother. “John the Baptist’s head on a platter.” I’ll bet she regretted that decision more than once. Be careful about who counsels you about what’s important in life, about the things you should be asking for and pursuing.

2.    Get your will in line with His. Notice that when Jesus taught us to pray, we were to surrender our hearts and pray that His will be done on earth as it is done in heaven before we were to ask for anything. When our will is submitted to His, we ask for things that are in line with His will. And He knows what will happen tomorrow. We don’t. “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread.” (Mat. 6:10, 11 NKJV)

3.    Learn to delight in the Lord and enjoy His presence. Just like you love your wife, kids, parents, friends, love the Lord above all other things. If the Lord delights you, the desires of your heart will be what please Him and you can just come out with it … ask for it! “Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.” (Ps. 37:4 NKJV)

The magic genie is busy so he’s not likely to flash out of a lamp and grant wishes to you. But, incredibly, God promises responses to those who ask correctly. Do you know what you want? Are you submitted to Him? Is He your delight?

Then ask, silly!

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People who sit on couches and rule the world were offended by sixteen-year old Gabby Douglas, who won two Olympic gold medals in gymnastics. Their problem? Her hair wasn’t styled correctly.

Come again?

That’s why Gabby is an Olympic champion and these people are couch potatoes. She did the work, and made the sacrifices necessary to be the best in the world in what she does.

Here’s what the mature youngster says, “And hard days are the best because that’s where champions are made, so if you push through the hard days you can get through anything.”

You know, I’d like to be a champion for God, wouldn’t you? Here’s some things that will help you win a ‘gold medal’ from the Lord.
How do we do our best?

—-Just know that Jesus has already won the victory at the Cross. We work for this medal, not so that we can be saved but because we are saved and we want to please Him more than anything else.

–Continually put our heart before Him to be purified.

–An attitude that presses into what God has. An attitude that “pushes through” especially when it gets hard. Those “hard days” that Gabby talked about.

–Hard work motivated by love for Him and a sense of responsibility for His confidence in assigning us a job.

–Hunger and love for Him. Constantly wanting to know Him better.

–Trying to improve and grow.

–Seizing God’s dunamis, His spiritual power He’s promised us through the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. This is a spiritual battle and natural gifts won’t get the job done.

–Hang around people who inspire us to do more; teach us; encourage us; pray with us; balance us by seeing what we can’t; confront us; love us no matter what.

–By helping others do their best, praying for them, lending a helping hand, encouraging.

“The foundation is laid already, and no one can lay another, for it is Jesus Christ himself. But any man who builds on the foundation using as his material gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay or stubble, must know that each man’s work will one day be shown for what it is. The day will show it plainly enough, for the day will arise in a blaze of fire, and that fire will prove the nature of each man’s work. If the work that the man has built upon the foundation will stand this test, he will be rewarded. But if a man’s work be destroyed under the test, he loses it all. He personally will be safe, though rather like a man rescued from a fire.” (1 Cor. 3:11-13, Phillips)

Our job isn’t to compare ourselves with others, it’s to know what God has given us to do, seek Him with all our heart for the tools to accomplish that job, and to do it persistently and passionately until the Day we stand before Him to report. (1 Cor. 4:6, 7)

And if you do that, it doesn’t matter if you have a nappy haircut.

Hmmm …

The natural flights of the human mind are not from pleasure to pleasure, but from hope to hope. –Samuel Johnson

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The other day I was reading about a professional basketball player who had become a free agent and signed with another team. He had been a substitute most of the time so his statistics weren’t wonderful, something in the neighborhood of an average 3 rebounds and 2 points per game.

If memory serves me correctly some suckers–oops strike that–some team paid him three million dollars a year to come play with them.

Which got me to thinking. They ought to hire me. Now, I may not get three rebounds per game but I could stand back out of the way and the law of averages says that at least one ball per game would accidently bounce my way. And I could probably get fouled once a game so if I made one of my free shots I could average one point and one rebound per game.

And here’s the good part. I’d play for this generous team for just one million dollars per year. They would get nearly as much out of me and only have to pay a third of the price. If any pro basketball teams are reading this, just hit, “reply,” send me your proposition, and I’ll be glad to consider it.

Strange Priorities

I love sports but when I see the billions of dollars which get sunk into them, I get a sick feeling in my stomach. Or have you seen the megabucks that wacko movie stars and singers get? Something is wrong in our culture.

One of the biggest causes of death in Africa is inaccessible and impure water. I read a statistic somewhere which said that we could dig wells and solve the water problem there for about ten billion dollars. “Oh, that’s a lot of money!”

The ‘needy’ NFL football players signed a contract two years ago, I think, that promised them nine billion dollars a year to strut and preen (and play football).

You can tell where a man’s priorities are by the way he spends his money (and a culture’s priorities, too).

Strange Churches

There were churches in the Macedonian province during New Testament times who heard of the need of Christ-followers in Jerusalem. They decided to take an offering. Now, these weren’t rich people. They were poor. It was a case of the poor taking an offering for the very poor. But, listen to this:

“My friends, we want you to know that the churches in Macedonia have shown others how kind God is. Although they were going through hard times and were very poor, they were glad to give generously.

“They gave as much as they could afford and even more, simply because they wanted to. They even asked and begged us to let them have the joy of giving their money for God’s people.   And they did more than we had hoped. They gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us, just as God wanted them to do.” (2Co 8:1-5, CEV)

I like that, they “begged us to let them have the joy of giving their money for God’s people.” How we spend our money often reveals our heart. Let’s take a look at our bank statement. What  gives us joy?
________________________________

Hmmm …
Leaders are getting microwaved and not crock-potted. (It takes time). John Maxwell

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I saw this article in the New York Times the other day:

“Obama to Unveil Initiative to Map the Human Brain  By JOHN MARKOFF and JAMES GORMAN

“President Obama on Tuesday will announce a research initiative, starting with $100 million in 2014, to invent and refine new technologies to understand the human brain.”

Actually, I think this should be a two-part study. He needs to allocate 99.99999 million dollars to study the female brain and a buck twenty-five for the male brain. The male brain doesn’t seem to be used too much and the female version is very complicated.

I could do the study on men’s’ brains myself and get rich. I wouldn’t even take 50 million. I’d only charge one or two million. Think of it. What savings! What cost cutting! Congress would be happy. As a matter of fact, I can hand in my report of the male brain already.

The New York Times article could read something like this:
“Porter Completes Study of Male Brain”
“Yesterday famous person, David Porter, reported to the President with his analysis of the male brain.

“Men’s brains seem to be composed of three distinct compartments,” the famous person said sagely. These can be loosely labeled as: “Fun,” “food,” “football””

While admitting that men do other things like work and washing dishes, Porter noted: “their brain isn’t usually engaged in these activities, at least not very much.”

The female brain? That’s way above my pay grade. I wouldn’t even go there without intricate instruments, complicated calculations and a shield to protect myself.

I could author a BIG book called, “What I Know About Women” It would be accompanied by a liiiiittle bitty book called, “What I Understand About Women.” It’s true that I don’t understand everything I know, but after 63 years of wonderful experiences with mama, sister, daughter, friends and wife, I know when to duck. I still don’t know ‘why,’ but I do know ‘when’ and that comes in handy at times.

Still sometimes I say to myself, “If I say that I’m going to catch it. Is it worth it? You bet ‘cha.” (See number 1 above under men’s brain, “fun!”).

We laugh about male/female differences. They are a wonder to the young man and the young woman engaged to be married but they’re often a mystery to this same couple, three months after marriage.

My wife used to wonder how I could watch a game on television, read a book, and maybe listen to another game on the radio, all at the same time. I’m an excellent multi-tasker for stuff I like.

As for me, well, I can’t understand why it seems that ladies want to cry about stuff. The ladies in my life taught me that, “Big boys don’t cry,” when I was a little boy.

If the truth were told, I’m learning to appreciate the female brain more and more as I go through life. And though I’m frustrating, I don’t think my wife always wants me to think exactly like she does.

God made us different so that each of us could bring something to the couple. What a powerful creation, the Christian couple! When each brings what God has given them into the marriage, sure there are sparks because they’re bringing a personality, a way of thinking, and an appreciation of life that the other one doesn’t have. But, there’s power and wholeness in that double perspective.

If God could give each couple two things, I believe the world would be a different place. Those two things are love (Christ’s love) and respect.

“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.” (Ephesians 5, NIV)

In some mysterious way, this husband-wife relationship preaches the relationship of Christ with His Church. The man represents Christ, his wife the Church.

No wonder the Christian couple is taking incoming fire from all directions. But, we can make our marriage work–by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Don’t quit. Fight for your marriage–even when you don’t understand everything you know.

Hmmm…

“Harvard professor Dr. Catherine Snow followed 65 families over an eight-year period. She made this profound discovery: Dinnertime is of more value to child development than playtime, school time, and story time.
“If eating around the kitchen table trumps the benefits of school, then you’ve got my attention. At the table you can affirm, teach, listen, reinforce, and laugh! Life lessons can be learned here. So put away your phone and look into your family’s eyes.” Dave Stone

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If you want to see a strange, scary collection of statues just tour a museum and see how people have imagined their gods over the centuries. Weird.

But, as scary as some of those things are, you know what scares me as much? It’s some of the ideas that we have about God, the One True God. A false idea of God distorts our way of thinking about Him. One of the most famous books in the world tells about a man who loved God, but who honestly didn’t understand Him very deeply.

Job thought he had a case against God. “You’re not fair!” he seemed to be saying when the sky was falling on his head. He knew a lot about God and he and his friends filled up nearly a whole book of the Bible, saying things about God.

Most of what they said was true.

But, then one day, God revealed himself to Job and the man of God hit the dirt and squealed, “…”I’m convinced: You can do anything and everything. Nothing and no one can upset your plans. You asked, ‘Who is this muddying the water, ignorantly confusing the issue, second-guessing my purposes?’ I admit it. I was the one. I babbled on about things far beyond me, made small talk about wonders way over my head.

You told me, ‘Listen, and let me do the talking. Let me ask the questions. You give the answers.’ I admit I once lived by rumors of you; now I have it all firsthand—from my own eyes and ears!

I’m sorry—forgive me. I’ll never do that again, I promise! I’ll never again live on crusts of hearsay, crumbs of rumor.” (Job 42:1-5, MSG)

Job opened the door to a powerful, deep relationship with God when he began to understand how God really is and not just how others say He is. We’ve often constructed a false image of Him in our minds and hearts.

Pastor Bryan Jarrett said, “Your image, concept, perception of God affects everything in your life. You take on the characteristics of what you worship (psalm 115:8). If your image of God is distorted you’ll pray small prayers, accept mediocrity, give little, go little, and do little. When you see His majesty, size and splendor it all changes!”

So, how can I see Him? For sure through His Word. You see Him most clearly in His Son Jesus. His Spirit reveals Him to our heart. We see Him when we take what we go through in life and let Him reveal Himself through our battles.

We see Him in our brothers and sisters. In fact, for the man who is looking for God, He sees Him everywhere.
Indian missionary Sam Maloney says, “The size of my prayer depends on the size of my God…

How BIG is your God?

What are some of the distorted ideas that you’ve had of God in the past and how did he help you overcome them?

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I stopped by the supermarket on my walk the other day. Then on my way home, I started to pass an elderly lady on the sidewalk but I stopped because it seemed she was having problems.

She had been to the supermarket, too, and she had a big plastic shopping bag full of groceries. Her optimism had outstripped her good sense and she was trying to get her breath back before going further with her load. In addition, she drug a foot, the result of a stroke a year or two before.

Since she seemed to be going in the same direction as me and I wasn’t in any special hurry, I volunteered to help. I’m not a Boy Scout but I am a Christian and it’s the sort of thing the Lord told us to do. That shopping sack of hers seemed to have lead in it. She would never have made it home because it turns out she lived about a kilometer away.

I had to change hands more than once before we got to our destination because the plastic sack was cutting into my hand. Finally, as we had slowly walked and shuffled and were nearing her destination she said to me, “I guess it wasn’t wise to buy that melon.”

“Melon!” She had a melon in the bottom of that sack. No wonder my arms had stretched an inch longer than the other one. Under all those groceries was a melon!

Well, I left the sack at her door and walked back home. And I felt good. Why is it that helping feels good and working just makes you tired? Why is it that giving exalts you and spending just worries you? There is a difference between giving and spending. Have you learned it yet?

Those are principles that God set in the world. They are counter intuitive. It doesn’t seem like it ought to work like that but it does.

Praise is like that. People who don’t know God, think He’s egotistical when He commands us to praise Him. It’s just because they don’t know God and they are only thinking about how things work in this world.

How can an incredibly great Being like God receive anything from my puny praise? He doesn’t need me to worship Him to boost His ego. That’s ridiculous. God was doing just fine before I showed up in the world and if I were to die He wouldn’t be any less grand.

No, praise helps us enter a privileged relationship with our Savior. It’s hard to explain when you don’t know Him, but when you begin to thank Him, praise Him and worship Him something happens. He’s there. He’s close. You feel Him saying to you in response, “I love you. You are my precious child.”

Now, just like helping and giving seem to take from us, but actually build us up, praise does the same thing. It put everything in place. I think I’m the center until I begin to worship Him, then He’s in the center and life changes.

“Rejoice in the LORD, righteous ones; for the praise of the upright is beautiful.” (Psa 33:1, ISV)

Hmmm …

“You ought to be glad for the troubles on your job because they provide about half your income. If it were not for the things that go wrong, the difficult people with whom you deal, and the problems of your working day, someone could be found to handle your job for half of what you are being paid.

“So start looking for more troubles. Learn to handle them cheerfully and with good judgment, as opportunities rather than irritations, and you will find yourself getting ahead at a surprising rate. For there are plenty of big jobs waiting for people who are not afraid of troubles.” management consultant Robert Updegraff

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