WHEN IT GETS HARD AND HEARTBREAKING!

Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing.

Psalm 143, verse 10; from the New Living Translation (NLT)

This morning is one of those morning’s I don’t like! No, the coffee pot didn’t fail me, thank God! Yesterday afternoon was busy for me. I packed my bags for a trip I don’t want to make. My wife Debbie’s cousin, Michelle, is in a hospice center in Auburndale, Florida. She is dying from a rare and rapidly advancing form of cancer. We are leaving this afternoon for that 12 hour trip to be with the family. A little background here. Michelle’s Dad, Wiley, has been and is more of a Dad to Debbie than her own Dad. So Wiley’s daughters are more like sisters to her. So they are like sisters-in-law to me. We just need to be there.

We are in a very hard moment of life. And though I am “just” an in-law, some may say “outlaw”, they are my family, too. And their friends are our friends. I’m trying to process all this pain, and yes some anger, and it’s. . . well it’s just plain hard! So I’m reminding myself that sometimes life IS hard. It’s the nature of this fallen world we all live in. And even after 66+ years of living here, I still don’t like it.

And is it OK with you if I’m honest with you? Well, I’m going to be honest with you, like it or not! I am struggling right now. More than struggling, I’m in a quagmire. Now I’ve got a choice: I can wallow in this quagmire like a pig wallows in mud. Or–I can do something different. Being covered in this muck isn’t desirable for me. I’m not the brightest person in the world, but I sure ain’t the stupidest either. So, the only option is to do something different. And what would that be? I’m so glad you asked me this question.

I can do what the most prolific song writer ever did when he found himself in the mud hole of life. “Teach me to do your will, for you are my God.“ I know this thing called cancer isn’t His Will. Sorry fundamentalists and Calvinists. Not everything that happens in life is God’s will. It’s OK to disagree with me on this point. But you’re still wrong. And I am going to be blunt with you: I haven’t a clue as to what God is teaching me in this hard and difficult season!

But there is something I do know. I know that God is Good! I know that He loves me. I know that He is faithful to me. He proved it to me on that Cross and a gazillion times since then. And I know that whatever it is He is teaching me, it’s good, good for me, and will bring Him honor and glory. What am I doing right now? Checking the list of things we need to pack, making sure they will get into the car, and I am saying the very same prayer David did when he was in the muck and mire of life as it happens: May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing. God, I sure need some firm footing right now! And if you can spare the time, please pray for our family and that I will be a good student of Jesus–paying attention to Him and applying what He is teaching me!

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⁷ I can never escape from your Spirit!
    I can never get away from your presence!
⁸ If I go up to heaven, you are there;
    if I go down to the grave,^[a] you are there.
⁹ If I ride the wings of the morning,
    if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me,
    and your strength will support me.
¹¹ I could ask the darkness to hide me
    and the light around me to become night—
¹²     but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.
To you the night shines as bright as day.
    Darkness and light are the same to you.

Psalm 139, verses 7 through 12; from the New Living Translation

Rather than my ponderings, reflections, and musings–you get to write today’s blog. At the risk of sounding like an English teacher, write your essay–in your heart and mind, and in the comments below if you are so inclined–write an essay answering these 4 questions:

1. Where are you seeing God today?
2. What is He saying to you today?
3. Where do you see God at work today?
4. Where is He asking you to join in with Him today?

HANDCUFFED!

Have you ever been handcuffed? Well, maybe not by law enforcement officers–but if you’re honest, you have been by life. Handcuffs are meant to subdue a subject to make it safer for the one who put on those cuffs. This is the image and thought that the Holy Spirit sent to invade my thoughts this morning.

There are forces other than law enforcement that want to handcuff us–and for the same reason. Those forces want to subdue us. Call them Deputies Of Fear, The Guilt Police, or a thousand other names (remember that demon name Legion from the Bible?), their intent is all the same. Handcuffed, we fail to experience the life God designed for us, and that Jesus paid for us on the Cross. And like those literal handcuffs, the more we struggle against them, the tighter they grip and hold us.

There are other sources that want to handcuff us. The news media–my, oh, my–they want to handcuff us to their views. The beast called cultural norms, which is about as abnormal as it comes, want to handcuff us to its values. And dear Lord help us, there are the handcuffs called political parties–they want to take us hostage and make us experience the Stockholm Syndrome. This list goes on ad nauseam. My point is whoever or whatever put those cuffs on us had made us their prisoner.

What are we to do, what CAN we do when we find outselves handcuffed? Unless we’re the reincarnation of Harry Houdini, we’re locked into those cuffs. What we need is someone with the key that will unlock them. Would you believe there’s a true story about this? In the Bible??? In Acts chapter 16, two guys, Paul and Silas, were more than handcuffed–they were bound by chains. Neither of them was a Houdini, so it seemed hopeless to the outsider. But they weren’t hopeless on the inside.

Around midnight Paul and Silas began a prayer and praise service. And do you know what happened next? Not only did their cuffs fall off, but their prison door flew open. How did that happen? Easy! They continued to operate and live as if those cuffs didn’t affect who they were and what they were doing. They didn’t pray and praise in order to get rid of their cuffs. They prayed and praised because that’s who they were! And you, too, can do the same. Maybe your cuffs won’t fall off and the prison door swing open–but you will find Jesus right there with you. And His Presence opens the doors to more opportunities than you can imagine. I leave you this morning with this song: