Marginalizing God

By Carin LeRoy  –

The recent event at Sandy Hook Elementary school in Connecticut was a horrible and unthinkable tragedy. As a nation, we were stunned by the fact that one person could burst through the safe environment of a school and commit such an act of brutality on innocent and trusting children. We wonder, “Could that happen to my child?”

The carnage that left a school and community suffering, lives destroyed and families devastated makes us ask, “How could this happen? What has gone wrong in our culture that people have become so heartless? Is it violent video games? Do parents work too much? Is it latch-key kids? Is it mental illness? Were drugs the reason? What is it?”

We ask, “Why would God let this happen?”

I don’t know the answers in this situation or the mental stability of the perpetrator, but I do know that as a culture we have left the foundations that this country was built upon. A nation that began with Biblical principles and chose to proclaim on our currency “in God we trust,” is now a nation that seeks tolerance and justification for sins which God hates. We no longer want to recognize God’s laws or commands. We’ve become a nation where many lack moral direction, compassion and empathy. Some children grow up lacking hope and purpose in life, and the scores of broken homes haven’t given our children the stability they deserve. Some polls record that less than 20% of Americans attend church on a regular basis. That leaves about 80% – many who probably do not have knowledge or recognition of God in their personal life.

As a nation we have marginalized God more and more by allowing God’s principles to be forced out of our society, yet we wonder “Where was God?” As our moral decay increases, so will such tragedies. But as believers, we know that God is sovereign and that He still reigns – even with evil in the world. Psalm 73:26 reminds us that “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (NIV)

Not only were we stunned by the events that day, but I believe God grieved too. He gives a solution when He says, “If my people will pray…” Let’s ask God today that our nation will not seek worldly answers from society, but that we will seek God for answers and ask Him to heal our land.

PRAYER: Lord make us a people of prayer. Help us to live lives that will be a testimony to others who do not know You. Make us a light that shines in a dark world.

“If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land,” (2 Chronicles 7:14 NIV).

Inside Out

By Cheri Cowell –

Today I met a friend for lunch and through our conversation she learned that I indeed wore a southern belle gown and big picture hat for my wedding. For proof I pulled the picture from my purse. As she looked at the picture she said, “Funny, I didn’t picture you as the southern belle type.” To which I replied, “You’re right. I guess I was filling a role I thought I should play.” Come to think of it, I have played many roles in my life that were not accurate reflections of my inner self. Jesus can see beneath the surface and calls us to be who we really are.

The Pharisee had invited Jesus into his home, but Jesus knew that the man’s heart (his motives) were not pure. In Luke 11:39, we read that in order to reveal truth to the man, Jesus spoke of the inside and outside of a cup. True giving comes from what is inside, He tells the man, implying that his invitation to Jesus to dine with him was not given from a pure heart. He was just playing a role. His true character was revealed. Are you living a role that does not accurately reflect your true character? Jesus is more interested in lives lived from the inside out, and gifts given from a pure heart.

When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table. 38 But the Pharisee was surprised when he noticed that Jesus did not first wash before the meal.39 Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40 You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? 41 But now as for what is inside you—be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you. (Luke 11:37-41 NIV)

PRAYER: Father, Thank-you for tenderly revealing my inner self to me so that I can live a life that is clean from the inside out. Help me to clean the cup from the inside so I may accurately reflect Your image to the outside.

Perspective is Everything

By Liz Cowen Furman –

“He is acting so awful!” said my oldest of my youngest while home from college for Christmas. “Ahhh, almost exactly like you did at 17,” was my reply.

I find it amazing how things that seemed so awful or important at the time have dimmed now that I am almost looking in the rear view mirror at our three sons’ growing up years.

Oh, some highlights of their childhoods stand out, but mostly I remember the good times. The amazing fun we had and how much I love them. Time gives an amazing perspective.

One such memory still makes me laugh. When our oldest (now 21, then a little over 3) was having a very difficult time potty training, I was at my wit’s end. We tried every tactic anyone offered, and there were plenty, to no avail. I had visions of him heading off to kindergarten in pull-ups. I am a kindergarten teacher so that would not do!

My friend Lis, whose four children were about eight years older than mine, very wisely commented while we were chatting one day. “You know Liz, I wish I had had my third child perspective when I was working with my first child. Things would have been much easier for both of us.”

Her comment gave me pause. As I drove home, I decided to back off. Completely. I would not mention the potty training issue again for a while. You know what? Two weeks later, Martin decided to potty train himself.

I could not believe it. Apparently, I thought Martin’s ability to learn to take care of himself rested squarely on my shoulders. After all, I am his mother. I guess what I should have said is that I was having a very difficult time trying to potty train my son. He was not having a problem at all.

I wonder if my Father and best friend, Jesus, ever waits to respond to my pleas for help when He has already answered, or has given me what I need to solve a problem. Since He is all wise, all knowing and completely in control (see Psalm 33:1; Proverbs 16:9 and Revelation 3:7) I could imagine Him doing that.

Don’t get me wrong! I am a firm believer that if it is important to me, it is important to God. But, once in a while I cry out for help when the problem is either already in the works of being solved, or I have the ability to fix whatever is broken.

Because of this revelation, I have resolved to resist mistrust of my best friend when He seems to not be listening. Rather, I will look around and see if maybe I missed something. Maybe dig a bit deeper to look for a solution that might already be there, even pray for Him to open my eyes to see it.

However, if I don’t find it, then pray on I will. I know that He loves me, listens to me and answers my prayers, so I have complete confidence in my Savior to help me when I need it ~and you can too!

The Missing Metaphor

By Rosemary Flaaten –

Using the word “as” indicates a simile which, according to my fourth grade teacher, is a figure of speech similar to metaphors. In both cases, one thing is explicitly compared to another to suggest a resemblance. While reading a familiar Psalm, I was struck by my propensity to miss this two letter word and in doing so I missed a very important comparison.

The Psalmist David starts Psalm 63 by verbalizing how his soul hungers for God as if he has an unquenchable longing for God. Verse five goes on to say “ My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods” (NIV). It was this verse that stopped me in my tracks and made me realize that not only had I misread this verse but I was living out my mistake.

Loneliness, sadness or discontent are fed with chocolate and Doritos in an attempt to soothe. The tyranny of my emotions is like hungry lions and I try to placate those emotions with succulent food. The problem is that my soul was not created to be satisfied with food. The deep needs of my soul need to be met with the life giving sustenance of my heavenly Father’s love and grace, not sugar and salt. By extracting the word “as” from Psalm 63:5, I had chosen to attempt to satisfy my emotional needs with the richest of foods.

This has made me wonder how many other tangible things I have attempted to use to satisfy the spiritual needs of my soul. Have I attempted to use relationships to feel satisfied? How about shopping? vacations? accomplishments? None of these things are wrong in and of themselves but trying to feed them to my soul to create spiritual and emotional satisfaction is pointless.

By putting back the metaphor into this verse, my emotional needs will be met through a dependency on God which will have the same effect as feeding my physical body the food it needs.

PRAYER: Lord, forgive me for replacing your presence with temporary created things. Help me to keep You in first place, allowing You to fill and satisfy me as only You can.

Psalm 63:1,5 “You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods. (Psalm 63:1,5 NIV)

Wake Up Call

By Jane Thornton –

Molly sighed, plumped her pillow, and rolled over again. Hank’s sigh echoed hers. After stilted conversation at dinner, she had lingered in the bath, debating ways to heal their marriage. She hated the arguments alternating with silences full of mutual hard stares. Her mother’s advice resounded through the years: “God can heal anything; He can restore a romance.” Molly humphed. I still feel romance—when I’m not angry or hurt or tired. Does Hank?

So she shaved her legs, slathered on musky, floral lotion, put on her not-too-obvious shorty nighty, and here she lay. She chanced to bump her smooth, silky leg against Hank’s hairy, hard one. Molly sighed again.

She heard Hank inhale and felt his calloused hand rest on her forearm. Molly turned invitingly. Hank stared at the ceiling. He released his breath only to draw another. “I think we need to see a counselor.”

Stunned, Molly sputtered and bit back a cry. Oh, God! Oh, God! She screamed in her head. She managed a breathy, “You do?” as all the fluid in her body rushed to gather behind her eyes and at the top of her sinuses.

“Yeah. I got a name from Steve Dell.”

Molly felt herself shrinking. “You did?” she choked.

“Yeah. What do you think about it?”

Failure crashed in and strangled her. “I guess that would be okay.” She managed a whisper, then held her breath. Hank seemed so calm, breathing evenly.

Silence reigned for a few moments. “I’ll make an appointment then.”

****

The previous passage is a snippet from my first—unpublished—novel, Menace. You know what they say: Write about what you know.

Eighteen years ago, I was much further into denial than my character Molly. We had two very young children. Tired and stressed at times, I still would have rated our marriage at a sevenish. Wes’s request sent my world reeling. The only people I knew who had been to marriage counselors were divorced.

Intellectually, I believed the advice of Molly’s mother, and my own, that God can heal anything. I’d been blessed with a mom who shared enough of her own story to know that marriage doesn’t bloom without watering and pruning.

But a counselor? My husband’s suggestion shouted to my shaken soul that I wasn’t giving him enough water, that I needed pruning, that I had let our marriage wither. I had been rolling along content with a measly seven rating, and I was crushed to know I’d been oblivious to Wes’s misery.

Nowadays, Wes would probably call misery an exaggeration, if only to spare my feelings, but I needed the shock to call me back to my priorities. We went to counseling. We learned to talk. We kept learning. A few years later, we attended the His Needs, Her Needs seminar where we forced ourselves into more soul searching and more communication.

And now our marriage is a ten, and we’ve lived happily ever after.

Truly, God used our Christian counselor to strengthen our commitment. He has used several seminars through the years to grow our relationship with each other and Him. We’re not perfect, but we’re doing better at living up to the pledge engraved on our wedding rings—committed to love.

“So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder” (Matthew 19:6 RSV).

Comment prompt: Will you share any wake up calls that improved your marriage?

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