The Sparrow

Now that the weather has taken a turn for the better, I typically wake up to one of two sounds in the morning.  Some mornings I am slapped out of my slumber by the rumble of mower decks and weed-wackers as the grounds crew attends to the grass.  But on others, the much more pleasant sound of birds chirping provides me with a natural alarm clock.

Last week (on a day that was not mowing day), I woke up to the birds and rolled over to lay in bed for a few more moments.  As I slowly regained consciousness, I laid there for a bit and thought about those birds.  How do they decide where to build a nest?  How do they know where to go get food?  What do they do during a hard rain?  All of these questions revolved the basic necessities of life, and I made up my own answers as a completely uneducated ornithologist.  However far off I may have been, my mind quickly went to a passage in Matthew 6:25-33...

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on.  Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not of more value than they?  And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?  And why are you anxious about clothing?  Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  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.  But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.  


Even though I am a bit scatter-brained at times, there was a point to my bird pondering so early in the morning.  You see, the topic of fundraising was on my mind and had been for some time.  It is usually one of the biggest sources of anxiety and worry in my life.  But on this morning, things were different.  I had recently been blessed by several donors who had come alongside me to help meet my budget goals for the upcoming year.  I had been "fed," just like the birds of the air.

I've heard my fair share of sermons on this passage before, and the message is pretty straight forward: don't worry because God will give you what you need (not necessarily what you want), if you seek His kingdom first.  And I agree.  But through this process of fundraising, I have also had to come to grips with another element of this passage: the time component.  "When" will God give me what I need?  Think about the birds again.  God the Creator causes the right worms to crawl up to the surface of the ground at the right time, so that the right bird can gobble it up.  He does the same thing with the seeds and anything else they consume.  He orchestrates that they would have what they need in the right place and the right time.  He could just as easily give them a big cup full of night crawlers like we buy at the bait and tackle shop and say "Here's your portion for the week."  But He doesn't.  Why?

Because there is no dependency in that.

God is constantly moving us towards a place of increased dependency.  I wanted to have a full year's worth of funding in place months ago and He could have done it without batting an eye.  My mind wouldn't be at ease until I had stocked the barn completely, but it didn't go that way.  The funds came in slowly, check by check, but it was not until I was a month away from moving to Philly that the funds were finally in place.  Each and every donation was a reminder that He was providing the way for me to accomplish this enormous task.  His provision was completely sufficient and His timing was impeccable.  

I suppose it is unrealistic to think that human beings will never be completely rid of worry or anxiety about life's demands, but we can never forget that our "heavenly Father knows that you need them all."  He made you and he knows what you need...

And when you need it.  

Humbled yet again,

MH

He Said That?

I don't listen to the radio much, but a few weeks ago, I was without my iPod so resorted to the local stations.  Somewhere along the way, I landed on a Christian station and a song came on that made me frown.  I'd never heard it before, but the lyrics went something like this...

He said
I won't give you more,  more than you can take
I might like you bend, but I won't let you break
Oh, I'll never, ever let you go
Don't you forget what He said


Really?  He said that?  When and to whom?  Hold on to those questions for a moment and read this...

I hear religious-minded people say all the time with good intentions, "God will never place a burden on you so heavy that you cannot carry it."  Really?  My experience is that God will place a burden on you so heavy that you cannot possibly carry it alone.  He will break your back and your will.  He will buckle your legs until you fall flat beneath the crushing weight of your load.  All the while He will walk beside you waiting for you to come to the point where you must depend on Him.

This paragraph comes from Greg Lucas' book, Wrestling With An Angel.  The stories that tug your heart in this book are birthed from Greg's struggle as the father of a disabled child and its many parallels to the spiritual realm.  It is a deeply moving tale that forces its readers to wrestle with the nature of God and how He chooses to mold us and make Himself known.

Now, let's bring it all together.  My guess is that the authors of this song and those who offered comfort to Greg fell prey to a commonly misinterpreted verse.  I Corinthians 10:13 says, "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.  God is faithful and will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it."    This verse is citing deliverance from temptation.  But temptation and hardship are two utterly different worlds.

You see, I've also had people tell me that God never gives us more than we can handle.  It's a comforting notion and I searched for the passage of Scripture that says so when I was diagnosed with cancer.  But I couldn't find it.  The fact that we have Christian artists claiming God said things that He actually didn't say  just makes the mess even more difficult for struggling believers.  It's true that He will never leave us, nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5, Deuteronomy 31:8).  But as far as giving us more than we can handle... well that's a different story.  Time and time again, we see stories in Scripture of people who face odds so unbearable that they cannot possibly do it without God.  Moses had to lead Yaweh's people out from one of the most dominant empires on the planet.  A young shepherd boy named David had to deliver the nation of Israel with a few smooth stones.  Job had to put his money where his mouth was as his entire world literally crumbled around him.  The apostle Paul encountered so many trials and tribulations that the Lord finally said to him, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."     

Those are His words.  That is the truth that you can cling to and even stake your life on.  This last year of my life has made me realize more than ever that God uses the events in our lives to keep us in a state of constant dependency.  I think Greg would agree (read his story to find out).  He will give us more than we feeble humans can take and it might even break us at times.  But in that brokenness, He is there walking right beside us.  He is ready to consume us with grace when we have realized that we cannot do it on our own.  It is then that we get a glimpse of His total sufficiency and power.  

That is what He said.

Dependent,

MH

Beside Still Waters

Lately, I have found myself in a constant state of stress about the future.  Like a nagging ache that won't go away, I haven't been able to shake it.  To keep this long story short, I'll just share the remedy.  If you are dealing with any amount of stress, anxiety, or worry (or even if you're not), I highly recommend this.  It is just a simple reminder from Scripture that will fix your eyes back on the truth. 

1.  Find a quiet place and rid yourself of all distractions (technology included).

2.  Take a few moments to confess life's current struggles and stresses to the Lord.

3.  Play this song while lying flat on your back with eyes closed.  Afterwards, don't get up right away.  Just rest in solitude beside the still waters...

There is no greater assurance in life's "shadow of death" than being saturated in the truth, spoken in His word.  Jon Foreman just so happens to offer a very soothing and accessible way to do it.    

Restored,

MH