Finding God in the Hard Times

I missed Finding God in the Hard Times the first time it came out in print. Previously published in 2005 under the title Blessed Be Your Name, this book by Matt and Beth Redman is an encouragement to praise God despite the circumstances. 

Using the Matt Redman song, Blessed be Your Name, as a lead in, the couple look at life and all it's hardships. They don't shy away from sharing their own story and they address serious issues of pain, suffering and death. Throughout the book there is a sense of hope in the God who sees! 

Each chapter ends with reflections questions and the book closes with an effective study guide for use in small groups.

Having personally dealt with a lot of hard issues this year, I found this book to be inspiring and encouraging. It actually arrived in my mailbox at the perfect time. I devoured the book in just a couple days. I finsihed with a renewed sense of God's love and care in the midst of hardship.

I would encourage everyone to have a copy of this book on their shelf!

"This book has been provided courtesy of Graf-Martin Communications and Baker Publishing in exchange for an honest review."

Plowing Hope

"...That he who plows should plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope."  (1 Corinthians 9:10b)

I recently read this passage of Scripture, found in the latter part of 1 Corinthians 9:10, and it has been rattling around in my head ever since. 

The thing that stand out to me is the word 'hope'.  Plowing in hope.  Threshing in hope.  Partaking in hope.  I love that word hope.  Day after day I am reminded that without hope, we have nothing. 

Romans 12:12 says, "Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer."

I have been a believer for over 30 years and I have seen the Lord move in mighty ways.  I have seen people rise off their sickbeds.  I have seen instantaneous healing.  I have seen unexplainable miracles.  I know God is real.  I know He is active, calling, wooing, seeking, saving and setting people free!

Even when life seems at it's worst, when I have moments of doubt, I go back to those milestones and my hope is renewed. 

That hope stirs me, fills me and I am challenged to share that hope with others.  Too often we dwell on our mistakes or have our mistakes continuously pointed out to us.  The truth of the matter is we all sin.  We all make mistakes.  The Bible is very clear on that.  It is also clear that we are called to love God and love our neighbor.  We are called to share what Jesus Christ did on the cross.  I will share hope, I will share truth in love, I will speak life.  This world is not the end.  I have a hope of eternity.  That eternal hope causes me to rejoice today.

Suffering will one day end, pain will be no more.  Life is more than it appears, God still moves today.

I can't worry about tomorrow.  What comes will come.  Today, today I will rejoice in hope!  Tomorrow is a new day, and again I will rejoice in hope.

Live hope, breathe hope, speak hope and let the peace of Jesus Christ reign in your life forever!

A Glorious Dark

A Glorious Dark is a new book by author A.J. Swoboda.  With Good Friday, the silent Saturday and Easter Sunday as the backdrop, Swoboda tackles tough questions about faith, doubt, suffering and pain.

I found this book intriguing because we hear so many sermons on Good Friday and Easter Sunday but rarely will one talk about the silence that was Saturday.  What must the early believers have gone through that day Jesus was in the grave.  What would they have been thinking?  I don't know what was on their mind but I sure know what goes through mine when it seems God is silent.

As I read through A Glorious Dark, I found myself curling back page corners so I could go back to certain points again and again.  I started reading those snippets to my wife and really found them encouraging. I think the author did a great job of bringing light into some dark corners of life.

Confusion, fear, it all gets addressed here.

A great book for those who struggle with doubt and fear, an encouragement to those who need hope, and a blessing to those who believe God still changes lives today.

"This book has been provided courtesy of Graf-Martin Communications and Baker Publishing in exchange for an honest review."

The Cross

My wife Sarah wrote this for an upcoming prayer service:

The Cross 

More than the place that mends our brokenness,

or a bridge to reach God's holiness,

the cross is death to sin-soaked flesh

and life that lasts, brand-new and fresh.

No more addiction, no more shame;

no more bondage, no more chains.

Christ has taken all the blame,

covered us and made us clean.

More than a place to lay our past,

our dreams, our hopes, our circumstance,

the cross is where we learn to stand

in triumph over sin's demands.

The power of God is free for us,

won with thorns and drops of blood.

Redeeming Love and Salvation,

release us from all condemnation.

The resurrection of our King

means hope and joy and strength and peace.

Now at the cross we die to live,

transformed by Him who conquered sin!

Traveling Home

Occasionally I will hear snippets of words or phrases when my kids are playing or chatting and they just resonate with me.  This past summer, the words spoken by my children had me thinking about eternity!

Not too long ago, my son was learning time and measurement. Holding his hands wide, he asked his sister if that was how long forever was.  My daughter's response was, "You can't measure forever!" Truer words were never spoken. 

When you think about eternity, it is hard to measure with our finite minds. As a pastor, I speak of heaven and hell...but I do not know if I convey eternity in the way that my daughter did that day.  We live in a world of time and measure.  When we think of spending eternity with God in heaven, I do not think our minds can conceive the true reality of it all.  How do you measure the immeasurable?  How do you quantify the unquantifiable?  Eternity is a mystery we won't completely understand until we stand before the Father! 

But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9)

In fact, the Lord has set eternity in our hearts!

"He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end." (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

I think the joy is in the journey.  Which can be a problem for me!  I'm not a patient traveler.  I enjoy the destination but not the journey there.  I don't know why that is.  I get in the car and I want to get to my destination. As we traveled on vacation this summer, my son kept asking how long it was to various destinations. As we talked about how long it would take to our next stop, he said, "No matter how long it takes, we will be there soon."

Life on this earth is fraught with problems.  Some days it seems like you take 1 step forward and 3 steps back before getting hit by a bus. Perseverance is not a sexy word.  It sounds hard and--well,--hard!  My son's words reminded me that life is short. The older I get, the faster time seems to fly. My journey will be coming to an end. I will be there sooner rather than later. I am traveling home! 

As I said, the joy is in the journey.  I have become more eternally focused.  Not in a maudlin, depressed sort of way but in an excited-to-sit-at-the-feet-of-Jesus kind of way.  I also want to see those around me take the same journey and travel home to the Father as well.

Traveling home...a road trip I can get excited about.

Let's Get Real!

Life is hard and sometimes it feels like we are on the losing side.  It's hard to get on top of life's battles.  Discouragement and disillusionment seem to be nipping at our heals.  

Let's be honest...that sounds like a typical day for some of us!

This week I was encouraged by a Psalm of lament. 

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, lest my enemy say, "I have prevailed over him," lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken. But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, because he has dealt bountifully with me.  (Psalms 13:1-6)

There was a man who sounded like he was suffering and yet He trusted in the Lord, the one who restores his soul!

Here is another Scripture with a similar theme.

Habakkuk 3:17- 19, Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.

I remember sitting on my balcony in Croatia years ago.  I was in a bit of a funk and looking up, saw dark clouds rolling across the sky.  I decided to put down my feelings in a poem.  As I neared the end, the sky began to clear.

I Need Clear Skies 

I need clear skies

Lord, I need clear skies

I need a ray of hope

To start shining through

The winds are getting strong

Dark clouds are rolling in

And now the rain

The rain is coming down

Things don’t look good

A gloom is setting in

Help me Lord

Let it not affect my mood

Off in the distance

I see some brighter clouds

Oh please let them

Start to come my way

Finally here they come

Sunshine is on the way

The winds are calming

The rain has gone away

I see clear skies

Lord, I see clear skies

I see a ray of hope

It’s shining on my heart

I read that poem, thanks to translation via a Croatian friend, at an evening of poetry and song a few days later.  A lady came up to me afterwards and asked how long after I wrote the poem did I become a Christian.  I told her I wrote it last week!  She was stunned because she was not used to hearing Christians speak of discouragement and gloom.

In the midst of the storm, it is hard to keep our eyes on Jesus.  Distractions come to easily.  We lose our focus and look at the storm itself.  Yet it is only Jesus who can lift us up above the storm and calm the wind and the waves of life.

Sometimes my prayer is simply "Lord I believe; help my unbelief!"  (Mark 9:23-24)

The great thing about Jesus is He hears and answers those prayers as well!

Hope Rising

I usually avoid books on alleviating poverty as I find that many are either unrealistic in their approach or the author heaps on so much condemnation you want to just give out of guilt or give up out of frustration.

What drew me to this book was the fact that it was written by Compassion International's Senior VP of Global Advocacy.  Though I was not familiar with the author, Scott Todd, I was very familiar with Compassion.  My wife and I have sponsored children via Compassion since 2001 and we love the organization and the work they do.

So, with that out of the way, I wasn't sure what to expect from Hope Rising.  What I found was a book that definitely fits the title.  I found that hope truly was rising within me.  The basic premise is that EXTREME poverty can be eradicated.  Scott Todd speaks about our low expectations that extreme poverty can dealt with and then goes about showing how much has truly changed even in the last 20 years.  I did not know so many inroads have been made in the war of poverty.  I found myself encouraged to do my part.

I really enjoyed Scott Todd's look at Matthew 26:11.  This oft-quoted verse on poverty has just as often been misquoted and Scott looks at the entire passage in context.  If anything else, this chapter should be required reading for anyone who feels nothing can be done re. poverty!

I highly recommend this book for every believer who believes God can make the impossible possible and wants to do their part in seeing lives forever changed!

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I received a free copy of this book via the Booksneeze review program

Glimpses of Hope

Wars, floods, hurricanes, famine, tornadoes, poverty, sickness and pain.

You can't follow the news without seeing a daily does of all of the above.

I have heard for years that in reference to the news: If it bleeds, It leads.

What we don't often hear though are the stories of hope.

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope."  Jeremiah 29 :11

It may be hard to have hope in the midst of hardship, yet if you look for it, you will find the stories of those who are looking to a future beyond the suffering of the present.

At times during my teen years, hope was the only thing I had.

By the early 80's we were a middle class family.  My Dad had his own business, we owned our own home and though we had other problems, poverty wasn't one of them.

My folks moved to Tennessee when I was 14 and we all gave our lives to Christ within a few months.   Within a couple years, the bottom fell out of our middle class life. 

My Dad's business wasn't doing well, then we lost our home.  We moved and moved again.  Then we got behind on the rent, and our electricity, and before long we were in a deep, deep hole.

The church we were attending wondered out loud what "sin" we had committed to go through this suffering. 

As for me, I found it a struggle to have joy.  I tried to remain upbeat but the continuous blow after blow began to take it's toll on my faith.  Where was God?  Why did we suffer like this?  Was there any way our circumstances could change?  Well change they did, as we had to leave our most recent home and were driving around in our van, homeless.  We found a one room cabin for a month and then it was on the road again looking for another home...and another.

At the lowest point, all I had left was the little glimpses of hope God provided in the midst of the struggle. 

Like the lady who offered to pay for me to go to Bible College.  (I didn't at the time.)
Like the fact that we always had a place to lay our head.  Even if that place wasn't our home.
Like the time God provided for me to go for a week to California to volunteer at a missions base.

In the midst of all this, I saw God provide, one day at a time, day after day. 

Hope.

Now, looking back on my life, I see how God was always there.  He never left me, even in the darkest hours.

He is a God of Hope!