Apocolyptic

Because today is my day off, I was able to watch the video and each moment's updates of the double disasters of earthquake and tsunami that plowed through northern Japan. It was reminiscent of the 2004 disaster in Sumatra, but even felt more dramatic and tragic because we were live and had so many more vantage points from which to view.

On top of the natural disaster are the collateral effects. As I write there is great anxiety over the prospects of not one but two nuclear disasters as power plants are in danger of melt-down. Already nuclear-laden steam has been released into the air in order to reduce pressure in the core. That can't be good, but should the core overheat it could be even worse. A nuclear disaster, ala Chernobyl could have regional and hemispheric ramifications.

Roads are impassable for first responders. Who knows how many dead are scattered about the landscape, trapped in collapsed buildings or floating in the sea? It is horrible, to say the least.

Not only that, our coast in Hawaii and on the West Coast have been on alert all day for the possibility of seismic sea waves.

And it all happened with precious little or no warning. We woke to the news utterly surprised and shocked.

I haven't seen the movie, but I have a friend who, when news such as birds mysteriously dying, or earthquakes, simply says, "2012", referring to the Mayan prediction of the end of the world. We all chuckle when he says it.

Yet I live daily with the belief that an apocalypse is coming. This planet "groans", the Bible says, waiting for a day of redemption. Jesus predicted earthquakes and disasters, wars and insurrections would be on the increase. Makes me wonder about the rash of political upheavals in the Arab world. John's vision, the last book of the Bible tells of horrible disasters bringing untold loss of life and property.

Who knows when? 2012? I'm not banking on any date setting. But at least we have been warned.

Of course the big question is, "What do you do with the warning?" Or, "Are you prepared?".

I don't live in fear of "the end of the world" because I have a hope in salvation that God has promised and by His grace has made available to all in Christ. These words from Paul to Titus give me great hope that no matter what, I'm secure in that grace. Christ is coming back, and in that I have peace.

For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed. He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds. - Titus 2:11-14 NLT

God Don't Make No Junk

A few years ago in a conversation with an older adult she admitted a weakness in her life and in her own defense said, "I can't help it. It's how God made me." In other words, "Don't blame me for who I am. Blame God."

Well, let me say this kindly: God don't make no junk.

Every one of us are imperfect. Not God's fault. Our fault. When God created humanity and placed a man and a woman in the Garden of Eden they were perfect. But He gave them a choice. They chose to disobey Him and we've been making that choice ever since.

The Good News is God has a way of redemption...a means of reconciliation. If we come to Him through His Son Jesus Christ He transforms us. And the amazing thing is that when we come to Him in faith He accepts us just as we are.

But He doesn't expect us to stay "where we are". His standard for my life is no longer "just as I am" and that's the end of it. His standard for my life now that I have been accepted into His family is for me to resemble His Son. That's a lifelong process that will never be fully realized in this lifetime. But it's my goal...your goal, too, if you're a Christian.

That's what the word Christian means - "little Christ". He's our older brother and the one we aspire to be like. That means I can't be content to remain static. I can't be resolved to give up and say, "It's just the way I am" if God wants me to mature beyond me. God's measuring stick is not who I am today, but am I becoming more like Jesus.

Never accept you cannot change or that God accepts you just as you are. Not if Jesus lives in you. He's started a change process in you. Let Him continue day by day with your transformation. Like Adam and Eve we have a choice. But we can't blame God if the changes aren't happening.

I'm going through changes...changes in my life.
Holding on to good things that I find.
I'm going through changes...changes in my life.
And I'm leaving all my emptiness behind.
- Chuck Girard and Denny Correll

Days that change our lives

Our entire lives can be changed by a single event or by a series of events, and in only a moment, a day or days. I know that the first days of January were life-changing for me (and a lot of other people). And now, each year at this time my mind goes back to those days in 2008 when I saw miracles happen.

At least I call them miracles. Anyway, they were life-changing. And I'm so glad I blogged about them.

So I'm going back in the archives and reading what I wrote just to remind me of God's power and love. You're welcome to join me.

Click here to begin. Scroll down to the first week's posts.

Real Christianity

A few weeks ago a medical team was brutally murdered in Afghanistan by Taliban. One of those killed was the young son of a long-time friend. Below is taken from an email he sent to friends telling about the memorial service that followed.

We did things a little differently in that we had Brian's burial before the memorial service. The idea was to show that we, as followers of Christ, go from death to life. Our pastor gave a 10 minute devotional followed by my family releasing 7 white doves (pigeons actually, but who cares) as a symbol of peace and the Holy Spirit of God, and issued a statement of heartfelt forgiveness to the men who killed these 10 aid workers. I can understand just a little bit how Stephen could say, "Lord, do not hold these sins against them". They are men who are lost and have acted only on the sin nature that we all possess. Yes, they are guilty of murder and if caught, they will be dealt with. Without Christ, they are already condemned!! They were mere pawns in the hand of the Almighty to wake up thousands of sleeping Christians and challenge unbelievers as to why a young man would knowingly and willing risk his life serving the ungodly.

It's Friday, But Sunday's Coming

Narration is by the late Pastor S. M. Lockridge of San Diego, CA. Video is from the film "The Passion of the Christ".

Note: I was privileged to hear Lockridge preach in person while a college student.

Imagine that!

Growing up the love of my life was baseball. I lived for the arrival of spring and the smell of saddle soap being rubbed in my glove and the crack of the bat. (This was before the use of metal bats that “ping”). At night I would take my transistor radio to bed and listen to the broadcasts of the Washington Senators games (so you know imagination was crucial) until I fell asleep.

Baseball brought my imagination to life. I pictured myself striking out the side or making the spectacular play in the field. But my favorite “dream” was probably what every ball player imagines: being up to bat with two outs in the bottom of the last inning. The bases are loaded and my team is three runs behind. With a full count I hit a walk off grand slam, winning the game. It’s like the ultimate scenario on the ball field.

Maybe you watched it Sunday night, but in the College Softball World Series that’s pretty much what happened to Ali Gardiner of the Florida Gators. Against their fiercest rival Alabama, and against the nation’s top senior pitcher, with two outs in the bottom of the last inning she hit the walk off grand slam that eliminated Alabama and propelled her Gators forward. It was one of those almost unbelievable-can’t happen-but did moments in sports. I’ve watched a lot of ball games in my life – thousands I guess – and it ranks right up there as one of the greatest endings imaginable.

(Ali Gardiner rounds the bases after her game winning grand slam.)

What makes the story even a bit more thrilling is that the walk off game winner was Ali’s first hit in the Series. She had been hitless in her last 9 at bats and was only 3 of her last 34. As her team mates watched her last at bat they knew like she did that she was in a slump. But this was the opportunity every ball player dreams about. And this dream came true.

But I’m not a sports writer, so there must be a parallel here to living with God’s purposes. Do you ever imagine what God must be like? Or do you imagine what He might be able to do through you to make a difference in this world?

Job wrote that, “We cannot imagine the power of the Almighty, yet he is so just and merciful that he does not oppress us.” Isaiah quoted God as saying, “My thoughts are completely different from yours,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”

That doesn’t mean imagining is pointless; it simply means no matter how great our imagination might be, God is greater still. Your ability to imagine or envision or dream – however you want to put it – is part of God’s creativity in your life.

Just because we can imagine it, of course, doesn’t mean it will happen or even that God approves. Our imaginations can “run wild” in the wrong direction, too. But still, it’s OK to dream about God doing amazing things in your life. Paul had this to say to the Philippian church, “But in every situation let God know what you need in prayers and requests while giving thanks. Then God's peace, which goes beyond anything we can imagine, will guard your thoughts and emotions through Christ Jesus.”

Could it be that people of faith never reach their full potential in fulfilling the purpose of God in their lives because we don’t imagine enough? Are our “dreams” so small that they stunt our faith?

In my lifetime I hope God allows me some walk-off grand slams for Him. I think that’s what this verse in Ephesians 3:20 means. “Glory belongs to God, whose power is at work in us. By this power he can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine.”

Rick Lawrenson is the Lead Pastor of Nags Head Church.
© 2009 Rick Lawrenson

There is no comparison

I've directed readers to this blog before. I find it so totally mind-blowing amazing. I also am so humbled by it and wonder how faith can be so strong in such crushing circumstances.

So I challenge you to give it a read for yourself. See if you, too, don't wonder how and why. And don't say I didn't warn you.

Goodbye Kayleigh. For now, anyway.

The Morning Everything Changed

After the Sabbath, around dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to take a look at the tomb. Suddenly there was a powerful earthquake. For an angel of the Lord had come down from heaven, stepped forward, rolled the stone away, and was sitting on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were as white as snow. Because they were so afraid of him, the guards shook and became like dead men.

But the angel said to the women, “Stop being afraid! For I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here. He has been raised, just as he said. Come and see the place where he was lying. - Matthew 28:1-6 (New Living Translation)

And if Christ was not raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your trust in God is useless. And we apostles would all be lying about God, for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave, but that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless, and you are still under condemnation for your sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ have perished! And if we have hope in Christ only for this life, we are the most miserable people in the world. - The Apostle Paul to the Corinthian church (1 Corinthians 15:14-19)

Paul and the other Apostles, with the possible exception of John, all died because of their belief in the resurrection. They claimed to be witnesses of the risen Christ. Who would knowingly die for a lie? And if they chose to die for a lie, were they all deluded? I would say that is harder to believe than to believe they were telling the truth.

Our choices are limited to two: believe or reject that Jesus Christ was who He claimed to be and rose from the dead, validating His diety and everything He said.

So Easter is not just another religious holiday. It is the day that changed everything for everyone who believes.

Peace in the storm

Auburn Swimming/Diving coach Richard Quick and his take on inoperable brain cancer.


334-742-5224 is the number for his prayer pager. Call and follow the prompts.

And what were my problems today?

There's a place up ahead, and I'm goin'

(In case you read my previous post and got the sense that I'm all gloom and doom - not so. Everything happening points to "the blessed hope". So to keep with the CCR theme from the last post, I offer this.)

There's a place up ahead and I'm goin'
Just as fast as my feet can fly
Come away, come away if you're goin',
Leave the sinkin' ship behind.

Come on the risin' wind,
We're goin' up around the bend.

Ooh!

Bring a song and a smile for the banjo,
Better get while the gettin's good,
Hitch a ride to the end of the highway
Where the neons turn to wood.

Come on the risin' wind,
We're goin' up around the bend.

Ooh!

You can ponder perpetual motion,
Fix your mind on a crystal day,
Always time for a good conversation,
There's an ear for what you say.

Come on the risin' wind,
We're goin' up around the bend.

Yeah!

Ooh!

Catch a ride to the end of the highway
And we'll meet by the big red tree,
There's a place up ahead and I'm goin'
Come along, come along with me.

Come on the risin' wind,
We're goin' up around the bend.

Yeah!

(words by John Fogerty)

No sting

This week I attended two funerals, both of men who were in the church I serve.

The first service was at the graveside. Bob was one of our first elders here when we moved to a pastoral team structure in our church. He and Patti moved to the western part of the state years ago for retirement, but we've kept in touch. At his service I was one of the attenders. His son-in-law Joe, a pastor, did a marvelous job in sharing about Bob's life, loves and faith.

The second service was here at our church. I led the celebration but many others, including friends and family, participated. Paul had lived his last few years with the disabling effects of a stroke. But he refused to allow his limitations to cripple his spirit or his infectious humor and love for life. Instead of becoming bitter he became better.

Both men left legacies of family and faith. Both services were filled with confidence that these men, because of their relationships with Christ, are now enjoying a new home in God's presence. You walked away from both funerals feeling good and thankful that death for the Christian is a new beginning, not a sad ending.

(Bump) In the vise

(In celebration of Gwyneth's six month birthday, this is a re-post of what I wrote shortly before Tricia went to surgery for a tracheotomy and the result was an emergency C-section. A lot has happened in six months...)

In a few minutes they'll be taking our daughter-in-law down to surgery to intubate and ventilate her, hoping for a few more days before delivering her baby girl. My son just came out to the little waiting room where we're gathered. He looked at Gail and I - "Tricia wants to talk to you."

She and Nathan have to make a choice just in case. If it comes down to saving one or the other, which one will it be? Never in all my life have I had to make a decision like that. In all my experience as a pastor and a public safety chaplain never have I had to advise anyone about such a decision. And now my son and his wife are asking us for assurance they're doing the right thing.

Our hope, and all indications are, that such a decision won't have to be made. But it is their choice, not the doctors'. And they've made the choice. She just needed assurance from us.

I can't describe the emotions I felt in that ICU room a few minutes ago. She asked me to pray. I gave it a feeble effort, I'm afraid. But earlier today God led me to this passage from Romans.

"In the same way the Spirit also joins to help us in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with unspoken groanings. And He who searches the hearts knows the Spirit's mind-set, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God". (8:26-27 HCSB)

Again, like my previous post, I've always believed what those verses say. I've just never had to rely upon them like I just did.

How big is your picture?

Human nature is finite as is our natural comprehension of life and all that goes with it. When life throws us curves it is our natural tendency to react with anxiety and fear. That's normal.

This morning I'll sit at a table and peer out over the Atlantic Ocean. A relatively few miles away will be the extent of my ability to see. The horizon in my sight is the limit. But I know that the ocean goes much farther to my east - all the way to other lands in Europe and Africa. I just can't see them. It was that limited vision that brought our forefathers to the conclusion that the earth was flat, and that if you ever hit that edge of the world you would fall off.

How silly is that theory to us today? But it was a real, natural conclusion because of their limited sight and experience. Then one day a "new world" was discovered and the fear of falling from a flat earth was vanquished by new vision and the experience of standing on a previously unseen soil.

How is it that Nathan and Tricia can hear the words "cancer" and "lymphoma" and not have their spirits plummet into angst? When people ask me and I tell them and then say, "But this is just a bump in their road", they look at me like I'm nuts. It's the "C word for Pete's sake!".

That depends on the size of your picture; on whether or not you think the boundaries of your ability to see are the edge of your world or that there are new worlds to discover. Tricia and Nathan's picture has been greatly enlarged by two factors: faith and experience. They've gone over the horizon more than once, trusting in Someone whose vision is infinite to lead them. And they've discovered that however fearful that next step may be, there is a new world beyond what they can see.

Don't let the horizons in your sight fool you. Hoist the sails, take the risks and turn over the wheel to the Pilot who sees eternally.

The picture is bigger than you think.

Making Marriage Work

Friday night and Saturday eleven couples sat in on 9 hours of teaching and interactive exercises with the goal of building stronger marriages. We used the "Making Marriage Work" video seminar featuring Drs. Les and Leslie Parrott.

It's really good stuff, both practical and biblically based. We were challenged and at the same time had a lot of fun and laughs, too.

One of our core beliefs at Nags Head Church is the sanctity of marriage and family. So it's our vision and desire to strengthen marriages, families and homes. To us it is appalling that the marriage failure rate among evangelicals is just as high (if not higher) than that of others who are not.

Weekends like this past one can help stop the bleeding. We plan to make this not only a repeated offering for couples in our church and community, but also to make it a prerequisite for being married by a NHC pastor.

If we really believe that marriage is sacred, we need to hold it in the highest esteem.

(Bump) How do you pray for a transplant donor?

I'm bringing this one back to the top because Tricia's transplant could be at any time. Last night was a "dry run", but there was a donor and a family who is grieving.

[On my son's blog this was recently posted. He asked me if I could respond here.]

Just out of interest, how do you pray for the donor? Do you pray that there be a donor soon? Or do you pray for peace for the donor's family? Even though I know it's absolutely necessary for transplant patients, like your wife, to live it's hard for me to think about praying for a donor to come soon. Or it's hard for me to think about not being on the donor list for very long because in essence, that means we are praying for someone else to die. I guess with my finite mind and my new faith, I just don't know how to pray for something like this. It seems both right and wrong. Maybe you can share your thoughts on how you pray for the donor? I am honestly at a loss.

Good, honest questions. Who among us who know someone in need of a life-saving transplant hasn't wondered the same things? In my role as a public safety chaplain I frequently speak with surviving family members about the subject of organ donation. It's surprising to me how many have never considered it.

The obvious fact is that for one person to receive donated organs someone else has to die. A second inescapable fact is that everyone dies sometime. Some sooner, others later. A third fact is that many people think beyond themselves and so desire to help someone else live that they make a conscious decision to give what they no longer have use for so that someone else might live, see or have a better quality of life because of their unselfishness.

Jesus said that there is no greater love than to give your life for a friend. While organ donation isn't quite "giving your life" in the sense of dying for the purpose of saving another, it isn't far removed from that. So when a person decides to be an organ donor they choose a very noble thing.

The key is that God chooses when death occurs, not us. Surely we don't pray for someone to die, and even if we did, I don't believe it's a prayer God would answer. The shortage in organs for transplant isn't that there aren't enough people dying. It's that there aren't enough people who have chosen to donate upon death.

But we certainly can thank God for the donor God has chosen who has unselfishly made a life giving provision. Thanks God for that person's family, who will endure the grief of loss, and that they will see the blessing of their loved one's "life" continuing through their donation.

The questioner is right. Our minds are finite and our understanding limited. So like everything else in life, we simply trust God for His will, both in the donor and the recipient. Life is sacred. It's a beautiful thing when one family's darkness from loss can be brightened and tempered by the generosity of such a wonderful gift, transforming another family's darkness into a new day.

The Church and the Boy Scout motto

Recently while meeting with our church's leaders I said something like this: "I don't know what God's going to do in our church this year, but I expect great things and I want us to be ready."

That's so not like me/us. We're supposed to be the leaders. I'm supposed to be the "lead pastor". Aren't we supposed to know just what we expect God to do?

Since the first of the year I've learned a bunch of God things. One of them is that we don't have to know all the answers; all the next steps; all the stuff. And the reason we don't have to know them is because He already knows them. It's His call as to whether or not He shares our future, whether it's tomorrow or next November with us.

Our call is to be prepared to follow; to act; to obey. And for Type A's like me, that's asking a lot. I'm the leader. I want to be able to say, "Here's what God's going to do". Wait a second. I'm really not the 4th person of the Godhead, am I?

So what do I expect God to do? I expect God to be Himself and to show Himself in and through us IF we'll allow Him to do His thing through us. Because if we don't, I also expect Him to find someone else to do it through.

So, hold up your right hand. Bring your pinky and your thumb together at the palm. And say, "Be prepared".

For what? I have no idea. But I know His plans are good. I also know they're often surprising. And that's what makes it so intriguing.

Raise your hands if you're sure

Following a recent memorial service the following observation was made (not to me directly, but it was relayed to me):
"One thing about you guys - you really seem confident in what you believe and that you can know for sure about heaven. I belong to the ________________ Church, and you don't get that kind of confidence there."

He's right. I had no problem telling the crowd assembled that day that the one we were saying goodbye to was in heaven.

Here's what I said, "And it would be real easy for someone to think that [she] is in heaven today because she was such an incredibly good wife, mother, friend. But we can’t do that either, because although she was all that and more, that’s not why she’s in heaven today. She was a saint, but not because she was so good. She was a saint because was given the goodness of Christ."

There's the catch. Most religious people and frankly, many, if not most churches teach that heaven is a place where good people go. If that were true, no one would be there but Jesus. It's not goodness that God's looking for, it's perfection. And Jesus was the only one qualified.

The Good News is that He provided a means for us - and none of us are that good - to receive eternal life. But it's not by being religious or even obeying the Big Ten or keeping some list of "holy" acts. We can be religious, but we can't perfectly keep those ten, can we? And the means God provided was His Son Jesus, who lived a perfect life, then was put to death by people who didn't understand who He was or what He came to do. Then 3 days later He rose from the dead to prove He was qualified.

The simplicity of it is its beauty. All that is required of us to get in on His gift of eternal life is for us to believe that Jesus was who He said He was and that His sacrifice did everything necessary for us to acquire His life.

Amazingly simple. That's why it is so roundly rejected. We want to think that there must be something we can do. But we can't. Think about it, why do you think "Fat Tuesday" precedes "Ash Wednesday"? It's the idea that today I can live like hell, but over the next 40 days I can somehow fix it. It doesn't work that way.

However, if we believe - that means to trust completely - in Jesus and Him alone, we can be confident in our eternal status. It's not self-confidence. It's confidence in a promise God made.

Here's what the Bible says - These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life... (1 Jn. 5:13) That word "know" is huge, isn't it.

God doesn't want us guessing; wondering; worried that maybe we are and maybe we aren't. He wants us to know.

There will be tamales in heaven

Today the mother of my best friend moved. Since the late 1950's she had lived in the same house on a quiet street in Orange, CA. There she reared 5 children and then cared for what seemed like an endless parade of grandkids. Even though most of them are now grown, too, they somehow show up for her Mexican cuisine, just dropping by whenever they're hungry. And amazingly she always seemed to have food on the table for them. How did she know they were coming?

Thirty five years ago I was a house guest for a couple weeks following my high school graduation. My family had moved back to Virginia the summer before. So right after graduation my sister and I flew back to California to spend the summer with friends. My first day back we went to the beach (of course) and I got a brutal sun burn on my legs. It was so bad that for 3 days I lived on Mrs. Z's living room recliner, only getting up to painfully walk the few steps to the head. I think she was the only one in the house who didn't laugh at me! And she gave up her chair for me. Whenever I look at my shins and see all those freckles, I think of Mrs. Z's chair.

After Gail and I were married we moved to that same town where we lived for the first 15 months of our life together. I will forever be indebted to Mrs. Z. Gail would go over to her house and she taught her how to make enchiladas, Spanish rice and the best refried beans in the world. Mrs. Z should have opened a Mexican restaurant like her brother Fidel. But she used her culinary skills to serve others. A few years ago our church worship team from NC attended a conference in CA, and Mrs. Z had us all over for dinner. Cooking was her gift to the body of Christ.

It will be hard to walk into that house on Sycamore and not see her puttering around in the kitchen. Her recliner will sit empty. But the lives she touched, the husband, children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren who are blessed to be her family, the friends at church and in the neighborhood have all lived fuller lives because of her quiet and humble influence.

Mrs. Z moved today from her home of 50 years to her home for eternity. She's with her Savior, whom she so looked forward to seeing for the first time. I don't know this for sure, but I feel rather confident that there will be tamales served at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb in Heaven. And I promise, you'll find me standing in that line.

Please, Lord, let her make her homemade salsa, too. You'll like it.

Lessons from the Waiting Room

My hours in a hospital waiting room lately don't compare with some other members of my family, but still, they've been adding up. While Tricia was in ICU for about 4 weeks we were blessed with a little room directly across the hall from her that was christened "The Hole". Most of my time there was with others, friends and family. Occasionally I was alone (but never without my laptop!).

In my other life as a pastor and chaplain I've spent countless hours with others as well. Some are church family; some are (until that moment) total strangers. All are there because of a medical crisis of some kind. And all have that one thing in common: waiting. Waiting for the surgeon to come and say "It went well" or "I'm sorry". Waiting for the waiting room attendant to make a fresh pot of coffee or for someone with the remote to please find something other than "The View" and Regis to watch. (Please give the remote to a man!)

And lately I've been thinking about things I've learned in those waiting rooms. They have been among the most real life and at the same time surreal experiences of my life. But out of them I'm learning many things about what it means to wait, and that waiting time doesn't have to be wasting time.

An oft quoted verse these past weeks has been Isaiah 40:31. But those who wait on the LORD will find new strength. They will fly high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. (NLT)

I'm not an "omen" kind of guy. But on successive trips to visit Tricia, Gwyneth and Nathan, at the same spot on the highway a bald eagle flew directly over my vehicle. And God used that to remind me of that verse and the time I had spent and would be spending in waiting.

As I have time, I hope to write down some of those lessons. Maybe they'll be an encouragement.

A Question of Will: Thin Ice or Firm Foundation?

A few years ago a friend whose son had a very bad type of cancer. The father was a believer and like any father he wanted more than anything else for God to heal his son.

A committed believer and church member, he was also involved in a men’s group where some well meaning Christians convinced him that God wanted to heal all who are sick. Not only that, they encouraged him to “hear” from God about his son. So he prayed.

Now, prayer’s not a bad thing, is it? Of course not. But what is the basis of prayer? Is it our desires or is it God’s will? What did Jesus say in Matthew 6 – what we commonly refer to as “The Lord’s Prayer”. You know that line that says “Thy will be done”?

Yet Jesus also said, “Ask what you want and it will be given to you”, right? So which is it? God’s will or my will? Or can it be both?

As a result of his prayer he was convinced that God told him his son would be healed. And with that thought he became really positive about his son getting better. After all, he believed God had showed him in a dream or something, I guess, that things were going to work out OK and that his son wouldn’t die.

What’s the basis of your faith; your prayers? Is it right to trust your own understanding and hope that your feelings are God given? What if they’re not? Can’t we convince ourselves that God has spoken? That God has revealed something to us? That we’re praying in God’s will when maybe we’re not?

One of the old Gospel songs I grew up with was “Standing on the Promises of God”. You probably remember that song, too. But if not, the words talk about standing on the promises of God that cannot fail.

Paul wrote these words to Titus: “This truth gives them the confidence of eternal life, which God promised them before the world began—and he cannot lie.” He cannot lie means He always is truthful; always faithful to His Word and His promises. And His promises to us are found in His Word.

My friend’s son died. When I heard the news I went to see him and he was crushed. It wasn’t the normal grief a father would have (I’m not sure normal is the right word), it was grief compounded by both the loss of his son and his faith.

The problem my friend had was that his wishful thinking became a substitute for God’s Word in his circumstance. His faith in believing that his son would recover and live wasn’t really faith in God’s Word, it was faith in his own desires; in his own will – not that there was anything evil or wrong with those desires. But apparently his son’s healing was not in the will of God.

I know that there are some who disagree with that last statement. They’ll say, “But when he arrived in heaven he was healed!” But (hypothetically), what if he didn’t get to heaven? Or they’ll argue that “It’s always God’s will for people to be healed.” Then please explain funeral homes to me. We live in an unredeemed body and physical death is a reality. Sorry, death is the result of no healing. You can’t have your cake and eat it, too.

It was very sad when he asked me why God would go back on His promise. So I explained to him that it couldn’t have been God who spoke to him about his son living, because God is faithful. God never makes a promise He doesn’t keep. God’s Word is as good as gold. You can take it to the bank.

Sometimes I’ve been guilty of doing the same thing as my friend – convincing myself that what I want is what God wants. But that’s thin ice if we’re going to stand strong as men and women of God. The best place – the only sure foundation - for us to stand is on His Word.

Does that mean I shouldn’t pray for God to give me the desires of my heart? No. Of course not. Especially if there is nothing in your desires that violates God’s Word. But sometimes for our good and for the good of the big picture we can’t see, God doesn’t give us what we want. Our understanding is limited. Our desires can be flawed. But His will never is. And if He doesn’t answer your prayer the way you want, don’t get mad. It just means that the way He wants is going to be better somehow in the long run.