Life on Hold?

The other day I placed a hold on a library book. I can only guess when I will actually get notice that it is ready for me. But unless something drastic happens, I can be pretty sure that I will eventually have my turn.

When I call the phone company and get put on hold (oh the irony!), I can be pretty sure that I will get through to a real person at some point.

I know that if I'm standing in the back of a seemingly endless grocery line, I will eventually be the last person in the cue.

Waiting is a fact of life. And most of the time we don't like that, let's face it. Waiting is not fun most of the time.

People talk about their life being "put on hold" by something unexpected that interferes with their plans.They had to put their vacation plans on hold because the car broke down. Or they say that their life was "put on hold" or "interrupted" by illness.

I don't think this is a theological correct way of thinking, however.

Everything that God gives us is His plan. What He has given us now is what is what He wants us to have. What we have now is His best.

Now we may not be feeling like this is the best--it definitely may not be what we want--but we have to trust that God knows what is best.

I think it is easy to act and talk as though God is holding out on us.

Singles are particularly prone to think this way. I may feel that I'm just flying in a holding pattern, waiting for Mr. Right, Prince Charming, "The ONE" to come along. But I cannot forget that God is not holding out on me--this is His best. This is the life that I need to live now.

Life is everything we encounter. As a character in Letters to Juliet points out, "Life is in the messy bits."

This doesn't mean that waiting is easy. It's not. There are countless Bible verses about waiting, asking "how long?"

One of my favourite verses is about this type of waiting:

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life."

(Proverbs 13:12 ESV)

I like how this verse is about "hope deferred," but yet there is the hope of "a desire fulfilled." It is the paradox of hope that you can't hope for something you have. 

When you really think about it, Christian life is about waiting. God's people have had to wait since the Fall. Hebrews 11 gives us a whole list of what it means to wait. We're waiting now: Maranatha! (1Cor 16: 22)

The great thing about waiting as a Christian is that we can be certain of God's faithfulness. We can trust in His goodness and grace and mercy and love. (His justice and . . . ) We can wait knowing that God holds us in His hand, that nothing happens to us without His will.

Heidelberg Catechism Lord's Day 1

Q.1 What is your only comfort in life and death? 

A. That I am not my own, 1
but belong with body and soul,
both in life and in death, 2
to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ. 3
He has fully paid for all my sins
with his precious blood, 4
and has set me free
from all the power of the devil. 5
He also preserves me in such a way 6
that without the will of my heavenly Father
not a hair can fall from my head; 7
indeed, all things must work together
for my salvation. 8
Therefore, by his Holy Spirit
he also assures me
of eternal life 9
and makes me heartily willing and ready
from now on to live for him. 10

1. 1 Cor 6:19, 20.
2. Rom 14:7-9.
3. 1 Cor 3:23; Tit 2:14.
4. 1 Pet 1:18, 19; 1 Jn 1:7; 2:2.
5. Jn 8:34-36; Heb 2:14, 15; 1 Jn 3:8.
6. Jn 6:39, 40; 10:27-30; 2 Thess 3:3; 1 Pet 1:5.
7. Mt 10:29-31; Lk 21:16-18.
8. Rom 8:28.
9. Rom 8:15, 16; 2 Cor 1:21, 22; 5:5; Eph 1:13, 14.
10. Rom 8:14.

"Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame; they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous."

(Psalm 25:3 ESV)

"Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!"

(Psalm 37:7 ESV)

"But for you, O LORD, do I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer."

(Psalm 38:15 ESV)

"I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;"

(Psalm 130:5 ESV)

Until that Final Day -- Keith Green

My flesh is tired of seeking God

But on my knees I'll stay

I want to be a pleasing child

Until that final day

My mind is full of many thoughts

That clutter and confuse

But standing firm, I will prevail

In faith that I'll be used

Amen, I'm asking once again

Won't You help me my friend

Lord Jesus

Holy Lord Spirit, set us free

From chains we cannot see

Come release us

I wrestle not with flesh and blood

My fight is with the one

Who lost the keys of hell and death

To God's most precious son

One sleepless night of anguished prayer

I triumphed over sin

One battle in the holy war

God's promised me to win

Amen, I'm asking once again

Won't You help me my friend

Lord Jesus

Holy Lord Spirit, set us free

From chains we cannot see

Come release us

My flesh is tired of seeking God

But on my knees I'll stay

I want to be a pleasing child

Until that final day

KEITH GREEN - UNTIL THAT FINAL DAY LYRICS 

Briers and Thorns

"For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. [8] But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned."

(Hebrews 6:7-8 ESV)

The phrases "briers and thorns" and "thorns and thistles" are repeated often in reference to Israel's fruitlessness in the Old testament. 

Briers and thorns are an example of the fruitless crop that sin bears in our lives. They are worthless for us in terms of providing nutrients, they consistently grow exactly where we don't want them to grow, and they are notoriously difficult to eradicate. A shoot, a slip of root, a seed is left behind after we dig them out, and they grow back as strongly as ever. 

Their tenacious nature is really a result of humanity's fall into sin. When Adam and Eve fell in the garden of Eden, God cursed the ground because of their sin, declaring to Adam that 

"cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field."  

(Genesis 3:17b-18 ESV)

Adam's original command from God to work the earth and keep it (Gen 2:15) is still in effect, but he will do his task in pain from now on. It has become really a thankless task--there will never be respite from the battle against the weeds. 

So too is our battle against sin in our lives. We cannot eradicate the evil tendencies of our heart. We are redeemed, but as Paul points out in Romans 7, our old man is still putting forth thorns, thistles, and briers, despite our best intentions. 

The world and its seductive pleasures easy choke the seed of the gospel that is not carefully and painfully tended. If we given up pulling the weeds in our lives or slack off, only doing a weekly weeding, when we should be pulling them out daily, the gospel will end up being choked out in our lives. As Jesus says in the parable of the Sower: 

"Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them."

(Matthew 13:7 ESV)

"As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful."

(Matthew 13:22 ESV)

We must be vigilant and keep fighting against our sin. 

"Thorns and snares are in the way of the crooked; whoever guards his soul will keep far from them."

Prov. 22:5

If we stop fighting the battle against sin, the weeds will take over and our defense against them will break down and fail. 

 "I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, [31] and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down."

(Proverbs 24:30-31 ESV)   

However, thorns and thistles can also be a means of sending us back to God, as can been seen Hosea 2: 

[6] Therefore I will hedge up her way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her, so that she cannot find her paths. [7] She shall pursue her lovers but not overtake them, and she shall seek them but shall not find them. Then she shall say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband, for it was better for me then than now.’

(Hosea 2:6-7 ESV)

The Lord hedges His harlot Bride in with thorns, forcing her to return to Him. He shows His steadfast love for His people, by punishing her for her sin, and yet He "allures" her into the wilderness where He will show her His love by giving her vineyards again (Hosea 2:14-15).

It is clear that briers and thorns are a direct consequence of God's judgement upon His rebellious people. In a passage written by Isaiah at the same time as the one written by Hosea, the prophet gives us the word of the Lord: 

[5:1] Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. [2] He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. [3] And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. [4] What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? [5] And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. [6] I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns shall grow up; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. [7] For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry!

(Isaiah 5:1-7 ESV)

God is extremely patient with us, and as the Vinedresser He tends us, giving us the refining experiences which are meant to produce good fruit in us. However, as Isaiah shows us, God's justice must be satisfied as well. If His vineyard does not bear good fruit after all that He does for it, it will be given up to the Judgement.

Thorns and thistles are spreaders--almost impossible to eradicate. Except by fire, which will burn all the seed away. A drastic step will need to be taken: even if God's people repent of their sin against Him, they will still have to bear the consequences; if they don't repent, they will remain sterile forever and will end up burning for eternity.

If God's people do not bear good fruit, He will ensure that they bear a fruitless crop: as punishment (Isa 5:6). Also--if thorns and thistles are a result, it is also evident that the fruits of disobedience will be difficult to get rid of, like these plants. There are serious, long-term consequences for rebellion against God. We will always be vulnerable to our "pet" sins, despite the grace of God which allows us to fight against them. 

However, we have the victory in Christ Jesus, although we are still fighting the battle here until He returns again. Praise God! Our work is not in vain!

"But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain."

1 Cor 15: 57-58 

Stale Relationships or Living Faith?

Some time ago, I heard a sermon on Exodus 16 by Pastor Charles Price, about the Israelites and the gift of manna in the wilderness, entitled “Manna: the food that didn't satisfy.”

Price says that the manna given to the Israelites in the wilderness is “the picture of the freshness, of the supply everyday. You see you and I are not invited to live on stale relationships with Jesus Christ; we are intended to live on the basis of a fresh daily supply of life and strength and nourishment.”

This is why daily devotions are so important: We can't “live tomorrow or today on yesterday's supply” (Price).

You won't find a relationship with a friend, family member, or significant other fulfilling if you never communicate with them. The same is true for our relationship with God. Although He is always faithful, we will not feel the true power of our relationship with Him if we do not learn more about Him or communicate with Him through prayer.

“Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning.” 

Lamentation 3:22

“'His mercies are new every morning' . . . . God gives us today what we need today; He gives us tomorrow what we need tomorrow. He doesn't give us today what we need tomorrow.”

We also should not try to run ahead of God and spent time in anxious worry about tomorrow. Jesus warns of this tendency too, saying,

“But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.”

(Matthew 6:30-32 ESV)

“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

(Matthew 6:34 ESV)

God wants us to keep us in a fresh relationship with with, resting in Him for all that we need. When we stay in this close relationship with Him, we will have the confidence to trust that He will daily fulfill both our physical needs and our spiritual needs.

The song in the video below really expresses this idea: God truly leads us step by step!

Gleanings--War of Words: Getting to the Heart for God's Sake--excerpt

"War of Words: Getting to the Heart for God's Sake" ~ Paul Tripp

Absolutely a must-read!!  It is an excerpt from The Power of Words and the Wonder of God edited by John Piper and Justin Taylor.

 

So convicted by so much of this. 

Paper Flowers

 I haven't had a chance to go to find myself some yellow mums or some tulips or some other spirit-lifting spring greenery, so I made myself these tissue paper peonies out of desperation the other day. February this year has been a month of what seems like endless grey and I needed some brightness in my life. Yellow flowers, even fake ones, just make my day happier--particularly in the middle of a particularly bleak winter. It feels as though I haven't seen the sun in weeks. We've had snow and rain and drizzle and sleet, and the miasma of cloud above us seems endless. I don't need the heat of summer, but I just need some sun! I feel like I'm wilting here. . . I'm not a mushroom, after all!

My paper flowers are in no way comparable to the real thing. Real flowers have rich colour, satin petals, green leaves, and perfume. They are living things and no fake can compare--that is pretty obvious. But I'm so desperate for flowers, that even a poor semblance of them is acceptable. Even something that I made out of the flimsiest of paper with my scissors and a bit of wire is better than nothing.

While that may be a bit pathetic, I admit,  it is also nothing less than the truth, and that got me thinking.

I know that the sun is somewhere beyond clouds--the fact that I can see without needing a lamp is evidence of that--but knowing it is there and feeling it warm on my face are two very different things.

It is the same thing with other things in our lives. I can know that God has what is best for me planned, but when I can't see beyond the clouds I'm living through now, I don't always feel it. Faith says I can believe it, I can hope in it, can trust that it is true, but sometimes I sing with David, "How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?" (Psalm 13:1 ESV).

The future can seem like one endless grey winter sometimes with only periodic rays of sunshine piercing the gloom. It can make it hard to live with hope. All too often, it seems, we make the mistake of settling for what we can get, the paper flowers of this world. Like children not yet tall enough to see over the wall to the beautiful, sunny garden next door, we grasp at the paper flowers we find on our side, and cry when they aren’t perfumed and crumble away in our hands. Those taller than we are tell us how gorgeous that garden is, but we still live in doubt that it actually exists. If we could only see the other side of the wall, we say, we could make the right choice, we could live in faith, we could be content to wait. But we still clutch at the fakes, only to be disappointed when they don't fulfill us. And that is the problem: paper flowers don't really satisfy for long when what you really want, what you need, is the sun. 

Sometimes I find myself grasping at these paper flowers in a bid to somehow fill the empty spot that can only ever be filled by God. Sometimes it is hard to live without the instant gratification that "things" provide. There are times when I don't run to God like I should, but find other "lovers". In that sense I only too closely resemble Old Testament Israel, particularly as portrayed by Isaiah and Hosea. Thankfully, however, I don't have to rely on myself to bring me back "into true" because I can't do it myself. But just like in Hosea 2:14, God allures me and brings me back and reminds me that I don't have to make paper flowers, that He is the "Sun of Righteousness" and He is always there.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

(Romans 15:13 ESV)

(As I was writing this, the sun peeked through a gap in the cloud cover: I even saw blue sky!! Briefly. Before the sun set and it was gone again.)

Book Talk: Did I Kiss Marriage Goodbye? Trusting God With a Hope Deferred ~Carolyn McCulley

Did I Kiss Marriage Goodbye? Trusting God With a Hope Deferred ~Carolyn McCulley

Disregarding the whole argument of whether or not singleness is a gift, and if it is, what kind of a gift it is (c.f. Barry Danylak's take on this in Redeeming Singleness), this is a very practical and encouraging read. Carolyn McCulley uses the well-known passage on the Proverbs 31 woman to advise single women on how to live their lives now to God's glory.

She outlines how we can learn to approach our relationships as single women in a godly manner and also how we can practically live out our faith in areas such as hospitality, money, service, our words, and more.

This is not just a "fluff" book on what it means to be single in the church or how to get married ASAP, but rather an in-depth guide to living a productive life as a single (McCulley compares this to using our "talent" of singleness--Matt 25).

One I recommend.