16But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!”
17They said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.”
18And He said, “Bring them here to Me.”
Matthew 14:16-18 (NASB95)
28Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”
29And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus.
Matthew 14:28–29 (NASB95)
No one has to get psyched up for “comfortable.” Characteristically though, comfortable is on many people’s bucket list. They share it with me from time to time. They are working for a few more years so they can retire comfortably. They upgraded the car to be more comfortable. They switched jobs to make a more comfortable living or to have a more comfortable work environment. But…and this is my loaded question…is comfortable the place where we see God move?
In case you are wondering, I am not commending asceticism. I am committing to doing uncomfortable things for a greater purpose. Comfortable is walking by a needy person while looking at our phone. Uncomfortable is stopping to listen to their story and to introduce Jesus. Comfortable is staying put with a maintenance workout program. Uncomfortable is setting a goal and leaning into it.
What’s true of the Scriptures is that most often, the ones who saw the power of God revealed were in an uncomfortable situation. The disciples watched Jesus feed five thousand men and their families with a single sack lunch. Peter defied gravity. The blind, the infirm, and the grieving…all experienced the extraordinary power of God…by choosing the uncomfortable.
In Experiencing God, Blackaby challenges us to find where God is at work and join Him in it. Where is the Lord at work around you?
Perhaps this resolution connects in your heart and you would be bold enough to join me in making it.
“Lord, show me where you are at work so that I may, by your grace, join you in it. Show me someone each day that I can share your goodness with. Invite me to step out of the boat as you did with Peter. Give me courage to pursue the uncomfortable for your glory. Amen.”
Check Back on Monday for the Fourth Resolve of 2025! Have a great weekend!
Yesterday, I shared the first of my 2025 Resolves/resolutions/objectives. You can see it HERE if you wish.
Resolve #1: I will present a more beautiful picture of Christ. Instead of focusing on declaring what God is against, I will focus my time on the beauty that God wants all people to experience. I resolve to present the hope of Christ in such lofty and expansive ways that someone would have to be crazy to decide against it!
Now for the second resolve for 2025-
Resolve #2-
I resolve to pursue understanding and represent the positions of others well.
In our soundbite and “gotcha” oriented norms, particularly regarding social media, there is an inherent reward in sensationalism. If you can catch and clip a soundbite of someone saying something that is shocking…or present someone’s view as out of touch, you gain approval from everyone else! For years, this has been a burden.
At a church I served many years ago, one of my staff members soundbited a sermon and accused me of He did not speak to me directly, only began circulating my alleged error among people. When I confronted him, he repented, immediately resigned the church and started a new one down the street with several families that he was close to.
Now I will admit that my statement was imprecise. It was an impromptu illustration using a song lyric from a Southern Gospel group. While factually accurate on its face, the statement was not responsible. It did more to obscure than illuminate and clarify. Consequently, some trusted men in the church examined the statement against the body of my teaching and determined that the allegation of heresy was unfounded. I continued to serve that church for many years.
The point is, I implied something about the artists’ intent that I could not know. It was unintended, but I did it, nonetheless. Second, my staff member stated something blatantly in error and incredibly serious about me…without ever seeking clarity. GOTCHA! That was the name of the game.
In a world that celebrates the sensational over the actual, we, as believers, can differentiate ourselves tremendously by taking time to understand another person’s position. Seeking to understand and then represent the concern accurately is not a burden, but a privilege and a Christian responsibility (Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor…comes to mind. Exodus 20). Understanding and truthfully representing someone else does not demand agreement or alignment. I want to understand people I disagree with clearly. I want to represent their position in such a way that they would say, “Absolutely, that is precisely what I believe.” I want them to walk away from an interaction with me with a higher and more charitable view of Jesus than ever before. And I want the watching world to see the difference Christ makes in this area of communication.
Perhaps you’ll join me in this resolve. Let’s turn the communication world upside down with good manners, a commitment to truth, and kindness toward others, to the glory of God.
As we anticipate the New Year, it is not inappropriate to update our resolutions. I know, I know…resolutions can be a crazy process. I can’t tell you how many times I have sworn them off. Usually it is because of the little voice in the back of my head that reminds me how I did on the last ones.
Funny, I rarely hear the voice remind me of times that my “resolution” yielded incremental progress. I mean, maybe I didn’t lose the whole twenty pounds…but should I discount the five?
The fact is, having a target is helpful. Proverbs 29:18 reminds us that without a vision, we will live without restraint. We cannot really argue with that! That’s how I gained the twenty pounds to begin with!
So, I have adopted a few goals. I will likely keep some of those to myself. Some are motivated by an internal desire. Maybe you have that too. Perhaps you want to go back to school, finish that project, or attempt that 10k race you’ve been side-eyeing for the last few years. Maybe this is the year to make a run at it.
Other goals (and I would argue, more eternally significant ones) may be driven by an impression in your time with the Lord. I have those, too, and will share some of them over the next few days.
Still, others are driven by things that break my heart as I look at the current times. Of course, I mean the culture, but more than that. I am speaking of what I see in the windshield and in the mirror. What if this is the last year someone has to experience the gospel? What if you or I are the last ones who will have an opportunity to gain a hearing for Jesus in the heart of a neighbor? What if this is our last year, or month, or even days before WE meet Jesus? How do we want to live the next few days in light of that possibility?
If you’re still with me…thanks for following along. Here is my first Resolve:
Resolve #1-
I will present a more beautiful picture of Christ and the Gospel.
There are a lot of voices declaring what they are against. They can tell you why something is wrong, why it offends God, or violates His Law (by letter or in principle). They can preach with a strong prophetic voice against any number of legitimate sins. I wonder, though…is it making a difference? After all, the person choosing that particular action is making a choice that they seem to think will work out better for them.
Instead of our (ok…MY) default prophetic warning, let’s choose to explain why trusting God with obedience is better and more beautiful. That’s what I want to do. That’s what I choose (by God’s grace and in His power). I will choose to present the hope of Christ in such lofty and expansive ways that someone would have to be crazy to decide against it!
Let me offer one example in closing:
There is no doubt that abortion is wrong. It is clearly against God’s Word. No genuine objection can be made to that reality. But simply preaching that it is wrong isn’t stemming the tide. In fact, some preliminary findings are indicating that abortions have increased in the US since they became more restricted last year!
I am going to choose to point out that God wants us to choose LIFE because He wants us to experience the joy of holding a child, the peace in knowing that God has got us and our little ones, and the grace of His provision. He doesn’t want us to miss out on Kindergarten plays and Middle School dances, and College graduations. He wants us to experience the pride of knowing that our children change the world…something we would miss out on if we rebelliously short-circuited the process. God has a plan and purpose already laid out for our babies that bear His image. He is entrusting us with world-changing children. He is allowing us the privilege of preparing them for greatness and the joy of knowing His provision in their lives.
Do you see what I mean? Now, insert any issue that tickles your fancy. God’s way is better, more glorious, and yields greater joy than any detour we could come up with.
If this resolution interests you…then you can adopt it, too. And if you check back in tomorrow, I will share the next resolve in a far briefer manner!
1Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; 2And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; 3And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” 4So Abram went forth as the Lord had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
Genesis 12:1–4 (NASB95)
Have you ever found yourself to be “unsettled?” Maybe it was in a position of indecision. Maybe you were in a move or launching into a new season of marriage. We all find ourselves from time to time in between where we were and where we are going. We struggle to understand the uncertainty and instability of the land between those two points.
One of the questions I seem to answer a lot these days is, “How are you settling in?” I’m kind of a “word nerd,” so against all good “Southern conventions” of just responding, “We are doing great,” I find myself responding that we are blessed and experiencing something new nearly every day. In other words, we are not yet settled. Meditating on this reality recently, I was drawn to Abraham’s experience in Genesis 12. The passage may be familiar to you but consider it once again. God told Abraham to leave his home. Home (particularly in that day) represented security, stability, and power. In Haran, he and his family were known. They had possessions. They had property. They had family. It was outlandish for anyone to leave the security of home.
These promises were not based on a place but on a Person. It was not in the ground but in the God who rules sovereignly. Furthermore, the cost Abraham was to bear would be paid upfront and amounted to a wholesale surrender by faith. Faith to leave. Faith to listen. Faith to follow. We see in just a few pages that Abraham did not do this perfectly. The human side of man struggles to release control to anyone, including God. I, for one, am encouraged that perfect faith is not the price of entry but the byproduct of entering into God’s promise.
By the way, God’s fulfillment of the promise was not fully realized by Abraham. God fulfills promises across the generations, not just in the present moment. One of our shortcomings as people is expecting God to just microwave a fulfilled promise according to our timetable. He does not. And the fact that He doesn’t do so in no way diminishes the validity or reliability of His promise. He is still God, and He is still true to His Word.
So, where are you? Are you in between? Maybe you have heard from the Lord, but the outcome has not yet come clearly into focus. Perhaps you have shifted in your career, and the new place has not yet felt like you have arrived. Perhaps you have started a journey with Jesus, and you realize that you have a long way to go to look like Him. You are in between. I want you to know that God does some of His best work in between. It is there that you learn about yourself. It is there that you are confronted with your shortcomings and start to get a glimpse of your strengths. It is in the land in between that you learn to lean in and lean on Jesus for things that you thought you could do alone when you were back home. It is in between where you develop the patient longing for the other side.
Remember that the land in between is often the longest part of the journey. It is the most difficult. It can seem insurmountable. It can feel lonely. It can provoke anxiousness. It can wear on your soul. You cannot speed it up. All you can do is continue to move forward as you progressively traverse the land in between on your way to the promise of the other side. You are not alone.
The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.
Proverbs 16:33, NASB95
It’s a coincidence!
What are the chances?
It just worked out!
Each of these phrases describe our human response to circumstances. From our perspective, it is like the matters of life will at times randomly just align and everything is better. But is that true?
Solomon, the wisest man to live, had a way of looking at the world. He believed that what appeared as random to us was actually the work of a knowing, loving, and powerful God. The theological term for this view is Providence. It is the belief that God is working in and through every circumstance in a world He sovereignly rules to accomplish a prescribed purpose. From our perspective, things just happen, but from God’s perspective, these same occurrences are shaped and moved into alignment to bring about a result He designed all along. Providence.
Solomon illustrates his view of Providence in this proverb. An event as seemingly random as the rolling of a dice or the casting of a lot is actually controlled to the minutest of details by a good and reigning God.
Some view this perspective in a negative light. They think, “If God is controlling everything and it only comes out as He is planning, why should I even bother?” That’s a fatalistic view of the world. It sees us with no control over anything. However, God providentially gave us a manner of control. We call that Free Will. It is our ability to make choices based on our understanding of the matters before us. In other words, we do not simply jump in a car, rev the engine, and tear down the street with our eyes closed and claim, “Whatever happens is God’s providence!” While the outcome is fully known to God, He has providentially given us the ability to process information and given us a compass within (conscience for all…and for believers, the Holy Spirit) that helps us to choose how to act in light of the circumstance. This ability to choose freely, according to our own will, is part of God’s providential design.
Instead of declaring some fatalistic ramblings as the cause of everything good or bad in the world, we would be better served to ask the questions as we weigh out circumstances before us: “What is God doing or showing me at this moment? What would God desire for me to do in this instance.” When we begin to see ourselves as active agents of the Lord and as stewards of moments He provides, we are able to exercise the freedom of choice He gives us to act in a manner that glorifies Him. Furthermore, we can rest in the confidence, that God is not surprised or limited by our actions. They too are part of His good and providential design.
Lord, help me today to see every event, every circumstance, every interaction as a moment to act as your agent of reconciliation in a world that you love, while resting in the fact that while I may cast my lot into the lap, the answer comes from you. Amen.
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