Why Doesn’t God Use Me?

In a world where so much need exists, what are you doing about it?  We are often overwhelmed by all the pain, unkindness, and need that exists around us.  I suppose we collectively think, “One person can’t really make much difference anyway.”  Then we go on about our business, living as we wish, generally seeking our own good in a world that would benefit from our sacrifice, not our self-satisfaction.

I just returned from the Dominican Republic and had the opportunity to visit ministries that work with children there.  It’s appropriate that I mention South Texas Children’s Home (STCH) International – an organization committed to seeing God work in the lives of children in that country, as well as in the US, Peru, and Costa Rica.  (https://www.facebook.com/stchm.international/).  Their efforts are making a difference for Christ, but I want to focus on two Dominicans with whom STCH has partnered that are individually making a difference. 

Raquel is a lovely woman who has a heart for the poor and those who need to know Christ who began tutoring children on the street.  Her ministry expanded to the chicken coop on her father’s property and continued to grow.  Now she leads a beautiful two-story school that educates 178 children, helping them know the love of Christ and expanding their learning opportunities.

Cesar used to be a taxi driver, but when delivering his clients to their restaurant destinations, noticed orphaned boys waiting to search through the trash for their next meal.  God impressed on Cesar that the boys needed more than physical food – they needed to be loved and cared for in the name of Jesus.  He enlisted other faithful followers of Christ to help and began an orphanage for boys, now caring for twenty, ranging in age from 3-18. 

As I write their brief stories, I have to wonder why God hasn’t done something amazing through MY life?  It’s at this point that we all start to make excuses or point out the small things that may have been accomplished by those of us who are mildly committed to making a difference for Christ.  But why not more?  What is different about Raquel and Cesar?  They are poorer, less-educated, and haven’t left the area where they were born.  Yet they have seen God work through them and around them in ways most of us can’t imagine.

This passage in James 5 always has baffled me:

¹⁷ Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! ¹⁸ Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops.

Elijah was human, just like me.  Just like Raquel and Cesar.  Yet God accomplished big things through their their lives.  Certainly, prayer was a huge part of the process for each of them, so I can be convicted about that!  But the biggest difference between them and me (and perhaps you) is that they DID SOMETHING in response to God’s revelation of need.  When God shows me a need, I usually expect someone ELSE to do something about it.  Or I just change the channel.  Maybe it’s time to get up and do something – anything – that will point people to Jesus.  Then when I ask myself, “Why doesn’t God use me?”  The answer will be, “He is.”

Jacob

Does Christmas make you feel Optimistic? Or Hopeful? There IS a difference!

The glass.  You know the one.  Psychologists think you either see it as half-full or half-empty.  That distinction, they say, determines how you view and experience life.  But for some of us, it’s neither.  Instead, our “life-glass” might seem nearly or completely empty.  Or worse still, it seems like life has stomped our little glass to smithereens!  How optimistic can you be then?

Optimism, you see, is based on your assessment of your circumstances, both present and future, in view of your personal expectations.  Optimism is then dependent on at least “seeing light at the end of the tunnel”, so to speak.  We can be optimistic even when life seems to be against us as long as we believe it will get better.  But it’s tough to be an optimist when you discover you have terminal cancer.  Or worse, that your child does.  It’s tough to be optimistic when your finances have tanked just when your job disappears.  Is hope really any different?

While optimism is based on OUR thoughts and feelings and assessment of our futures, hope is based on something outside of ourselves.  When we can believe in something greater than ourselves or our circumstance, HOPE can flourish.  That’s what Christmas is all about.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.   John 1:1-5

THERE is the light at the end of the tunnel you were looking for!  Since before time began, the God who made everything determined to also make Himself personal and knowable to us.  He determined HE would be the Light when there is no other light in your life.  HE would be Life for you when your own life seems to betray you.  And no matter how dark things get, even when optimism fades, HE does not.  Instead of optimism, God brings Hope.

Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.² Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.  ³ We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. ⁴ And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. ⁵ And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us….   Romans 5:1-5

When we celebrate the coming of Jesus this time of year, we tend to focus on four promises that the Christ-child brings: Love, Joy, Peace, and Hope.  When Paul wrote these words, I doubt he was thinking specifically about the birth of Jesus.  In fact, the books of Matthew and Luke that describe the birth of Jesus were still years from being written when Paul penned Romans.  But the truth of what Jesus brought us has been there from the beginning – before time began.  Hope, you see, is based on something outside ourselves.  Because the One who offers us hope is the same One who offers us His love from the foundation of the world; His peace through Jesus’ sacrificial life, death and resurrection; and His joy even in the midst of those dark nights when we can’t see any light at all except for His.

Is hope better than optimism?  Absolutely.  Because no matter what, HOPE doesn’t disappoint.  We can hope because God is faithful – even if the glass is shattered.

Celebrating the hope we have in Jesus Christ,

Jacob

Don't Stop Short of Christmas

Do you always use a GPS-enabled navigation system to find your way when you're headed somewhere new?  A few months ago, I relied completely on one while traveling in another country.  I ended up in the middle of a cow pasture.  Literally.  I was faithfully following the directions the system was giving me because I had no idea where I was going!  Now I'm convinced a map would have been a better idea.

Over two thousand years ago some wise men, or Magi, took off on a long trip not knowing exactly where they were headed.  They didn't have a map or a nav system, but they had something better.  They were, of course, being directed by the Star appointed by the Creator God to guide them to His Only-Begotten Son.  What was the star?  There's not really enough time to deal with that here, but there are certainly other lessons to be learned from the journey of these travelers from the East.  The story is only recorded in the gospel of Matthew:

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”…and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  (Matthew 2:1-2;9-11)

You know the story as you’ve seen it portrayed in countless Christmas pageants - three young guys dressed in bathrobes and paper crowns presenting gifts to the baby in the manger, surrounded by mini-shepherds, angels, and anthropomorphic animals.  Though the church pageant scene doesn’t exactly jive with the Biblical account, it all fuses into an amazing story of worship.

So were there three wise men?  The Scripture doesn’t say.  Three gifts mentioned gives rise to that idea.  Some middle-eastern church traditions say there were twelve.  Did they have names?  I’m sure they did, but we don’t know them.  Where were they from?  The word in the Bible literally says “from the rising of the sun” - somewhere in the east, most likely Persia or Babylon or even Yemen.  Their knowledge about the coming King was likely influenced by Jews, like Daniel, who were held captive in the region 500 years before.

But getting back to the stellar GPS they followed, I must ask, “Why does the story say the Magi stopped in Jerusalem?”  They had followed that amazing star for a 1,000 miles, yet they stopped in Jerusalem instead of following it all the way to Bethlehem where the Child was born.  After traveling that far, they stopped SIX MILES short of their destination!  Why did that happen?  Because they took their eyes off the star.  They had “seen His star” but there they were, asking directions from the wicked king, Herod, because they assumed the King of Glory would be living in a palace.  Once they looked for the Star again, it was right there to guide them to Jesus.

This Christmas, make sure YOUR spiritual GPS is fully functioning.  Don’t stop short like the Magi.  Instead, remember to look up instead of looking around.  After all, where else would you expect to find the Star of Christmas, the Bright and Morning Star? (Revelation 22:16)

Jacob

Do You Want to Bet on It?

In the last week, people all over the country have stood in line at convenience stores and gas stations to purchase a lottery ticket for their chance at becoming King Midas-rich.  The lure of a billion-dollar prize is apparently too great to pass up.  No, I did not buy a ticket.  Why not? 

Blame it on Blaise.  Who you ask?  Few of us remember the name of Blaise Pascal from our days in either math or science class.  Pascal was one of those over-achieving over-thinkers who paved the way for both modern science and mathematics.  Like most of the great thinkers in history, Pascal also dabbled in religion and philosophy, which prompted him to derive what he considered a reasonable, logical, approach to living life – “Pascal’s Wager”.

The Wager was his probability-based argument to mankind that since God either exists or He doesn’t, we are all betting our lives on whichever reality is true.  So, he reasoned, why not bet your finite life, behavior, and wealth on the premise that God DOES exist in the hope that you will gain an infinite eternity in God’s presence if you are correct?  Pascal was trying to encourage others to live unselfishly to gain eternity with God.  Though his encouragement to good deeds and sacrifice won’t get anyone to heaven without faith in Jesus, at least he was betting on something that was worthwhile!

But real truth about how we should spend our lives comes from the Author of salvation, Jesus:

Don’t collect for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But collect for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  Matthew 6:19-21

If putting our earthly “treasures” to better use than our own selfish wealth accumulation doesn’t get us any closer to heaven, then why does Jesus admonish us to do so?  Because in Jesus’ view of things, our accumulation of whatever can waste or rust away is short-sighted.  He isn’t just saying to take all the money and possessions you have and somehow “invest” them in heavenly things.  I believe Jesus’ Admonition is all about PERSPECTIVE.  Instead of working more and more hours to make more and more money to buy more and more stuff in the here-and-now, why not understand what James wrote to us?

You don’t even know what tomorrow will bring—what your life will be! For you are like smoke that appears for a little while, then vanishes.  James 4:14

James wasn’t trying to discourage us, but instead trying to drive the truth home that this life is such a little part of the whole of our existence.  We need to remember that in Christ, we are eternal and so it makes lots of sense for us to spend our days “working” with an eternal perspective.  How do we do that?  By remembering that the greatest treasure we have is our knowledge of the Gospel – the promise of God to everyone who might believe in Jesus.  So, we “work” to live lives that honor the sacrifice Jesus made for us; we share the Truth we know with those who need to hear it; and we find a way to love the people God puts in our path while we walk this earth so they will know God loves them, too.  That all adds up to heavenly dividends!

Pascal’s Wager might seem like a good bet, but Jesus’ Words can change your life.  For eternity.  That’s what I’m betting on!

Jacob