In business there is a saying, "Timing is everything." In other words, having the right product or service is useless if it is not presented or provided at the right time. This rule holds true in farming as well. Planting the best seed in the best soil will not result in the best crop if not planted in the best time. Relationships are no different. It is important to remember your anniversary, but disasterous when you remember it was yesterday.
In fact, all of life falls under the banner of "Timing is Everything." And yet, we consistently fail in this area, on purpose, time after time. For instance, when is the best time to begin eating healthy? The answer is today. When do we normally choose to begin? Tomorrow, Monday, next week, after the holidays, someday, just not today.
When should you begin to exercise regularly? Today. When are you going to? Not today. When should you give up cigarettes? Now. When do you intend to? Not now. Is this beginning to sound familiar? Have I hit on your "timing issue" yet? If not, put yours in this blank, "I should ____________ and I will start ____________. The I should part is much easier than the I will part. We know we should and we intend to but just not now.
Timing is also critical in responding to the Lord. When a ministry opportunity is laid on your heart, when should you say, "Yes Lord, I'm coming"? Someday? When I get more time? When I get things in order? When I retire? Now!
Listen to what Jesus said to one who was given a ministry opportunity and asked for a time waiver: "Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead" (Matt 8:21-22).
Jesus wasn't lacking in compassion or being dismissive of the man's desire to wait until after his father's death and he fulfilled his responsibility to attend to his affairs, Jesus was simply saying that the ministry opportunity to go with him and his apostle was now, not someday.
An opportunity to minister to someone in need is when the need exists, not someday. Saying yes to Jesus isn't always about salvation, it is often about service. Opportunities to servc are there when presented, not someday. Life opportunities are there when they arrive, not someday. Jus' Sayn.
Nearly everyone has experienced the "Green-Eyed Monster" we call jealousy. It is something we find irritating in others even as it may be raising up its ugly head in ourselves. It can be very dangerous. Many a relationship has been smothered to death by it metaphorically and some people have killed others because of it in actual reality. Rarely is jealousy seen as a good thing.
Rarely, but not never. Most women find it sweet when their husbands of many years still have just a tinge of jealousy for them, that boyish yearning to be the center of her attention. Too much and its a total turn off, but just a bit can be attractive in a mate. And, for most men, a little smigin of jealousy from their wives tends to feed that omnipresent male ego, while too much gets the Bubba in them a bit ranckered.
Jealousy, rightly held, is actually not just a good thing, but a God thing. While it may surprise you to hear this, "For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God" (Deut 4:24). God is jealous for his children, not in an over-bearing lover's kind of jealousy but that of a loving parent.
As a parent, haven't you found yourself jealously guarding your children from attractions of the wrong sort? Didn't you worry over the kinds of friends they might choose or the influencers they may allow into their lives? Hasn't it been your desire that they choose to continue in the faith in which you raised them? Don't you want them to always hold you dear in their hearts? Don't you want, even your adult children, to be safe from the dangers of certain relationships?
God does too. He doesn't want us following after false-gods who will leave us dry and empty. He brissles at the thought of us being sucked in by the Evil One's lies and caught up in his snares. He does not desire that any of us be lost from Him as only he can give us life, only He can offer us eternal love and blessing.
God wants you wholly unto himself because only he can make you whole, only he can save you, only he is God, only he is good. To turn away from him, rises up his righteous jealousy because he knows that there is no life without him, no hope, no future. Jus' Sayn.
I recently read an article labeling this generation as "The Most Financially Stressed Generation." The study showed that 69% of the participants labeled financial stress and conflicts as the number one source of their problems. Other studies I have read indicate that upwards of 80% of divorces cite finances as the prime mover in the demise of their relationship. It would seem that the reverse side of the love of money, the fear of not having enough money, is the root of all kinds of evil as well.
Jesus' warnings about money are very vivid, leaving no doubt as to how dangerous it can be to our very existence. "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God" (Matt 19:24). What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul" (Matt 6:26)?
This concern over and desire for money ends for many in spiritual bankruptcy and a life void of its true currency: Relationship with God. "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faitth and pierced themselves with many griefs" (1 Tim 6:10).
Jesus came that we "may have life to the full" (Jn 10:10) but, so often, man turns to money for that abundant life, which is both elusive and fickle. Money comes and it goes. With it peace waxes and wanes. If your peace depends on something as volatile as money, it will be a roller-coaster ride at best. And, in the end, when everyone's bank account is zero-balanced in death, it will leave you bankrupt.
But, if your peace is in the Lord, "who does not change like the shifting shadows" (James 1:17), then you have a life that is stress-proof and, in the end a spiritual bank account that is filled with unlimited resources lasting for an eternity.
So, what's your choice? Upon what will you bank? Jus' Askn.
For the Christian, giving is not an optional pursuit but rather a foundational part of who we are and what we are called to do. Our very existence as children of God is due to the fact that "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him should no perish but have eternal life" (Jn 3:16).
Jesus' direct words on the matter are anything but ambiguous: "Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you" (Matt 5:42). Clear, consise, Christ-like: Give. Give to the one, not to someone or sometimes, but to the one meaning everyone, every time. Really? Really!
But, I don't have enough money to give to everyone, every time. No, you don't. But, Jesus did not say give what the one asked you to give, he said "give." Peter and John were asked by a lame beggar for money in Acts 3:1 following, but instead gave him the ability to walk. What he asked for was not what he needed most - the power of the Christ within.
A beggar may be asking for money you do not have but you do have lunch you could share with him. A friend may be asking for a monetary bailout that would only lead to more fiscal irresponsibility, instead you provide her with a financial plan. Cash may be what someone needs but everyone needs Christ for certain. In giving cash, are you giving the gift of His Spirit or getting yourself off the hook, or perhaps setting the hook into the one asking?
What I'm saying is that while handing out cash might be the thing to do, if you have it. But, you may not have it or it may not be the thing to give. We need to be careful and prayerful when asked to give so that we always give but always Christ first in our giving over cash.
Did you notice I said "we?" I almost always want to hand over the cash someone asks or to someone I seen in financial straights, but my inclination has not always been right. But I have never been wrong when I take time to listen to someone and seek to share the heart of Christ with them. Jus' Sayn.
I have so often heard it said, "There are no guarantees in life." Whatever you are planning may just as likely run aground as run its course. As the Scot poet, Robert Buns, penned, "The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men, Gang aft agley, An' lea'e us nouht but grief an' pain, For promis'd joy!" In other words, things don't always work out the way you planned them - there are just no guarrantees.
And it would seem, given the many times you and I have seen our plans go up in flames, that there would be no argument to this open and shut case. Except that there is. Among other places, it is found in Proverbs 16:3, "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans." Notice the "will" instead of might?
You might object seeing as there are innumerable cases where a Christian's plans, even good, decent plans, did not pan out. I cannot not argue otherwise but I can argue that their plans were not ordained by God. Notice that the condition of God establishing our plans is that they are committed to Him. If that is so, then the outcome we are looking for is the one He desires for us.
Instead of the promotion you had in mind, God may have in mind a needed humbling. Instead of silencing your advesary, God may choose to teach you long-suffering. Instead of bringing grandma through the surgery, God may desire to take her home. Committing to the Lord whatever we do, leaves the outcome in his hands willingly, even desiring God override our small thinking to establish his grand desires in our lives.
I should note verse 4 to help amplify the meaning of verse 3, "The Lord works out everything to its proper end …" When we commit what we do to the Lord, he takes our plans, refines them and brings about what is properly needed instead of just what we might fancy.
When we are seeking after and accepting of God's will for our lives, we are guaranteed to be successful in seeing his will accomplished in our lives. Jus' Sayn.
In Matthew 14:22ff, we read the narrative of Jesus approaching the disciples, walking on water while their boat was being tossed by the storm. Peter calls out, "If it is you Lord, ask me to come out on the water" and Jesus does and Peter begins but sinks as his fear overcomes his faith. But, before drowning, he calls out for Jesus to save him, which he does. Interesting story? Yes, but much more - it is a call to faith for us all and a pattern for living life to it's full.
All of us find ourselves in the various storms of life from time to time. Our little boat of self determination and personal ability is buffeted by the winds of adversity and trials to the point of taking on the waters of over-burden or defeat. While tempted to cry out for calm seas and clear sailing, there is the alternative of asking Jesus to empower us to face the over-powering waves of circumstances and walk on the troubled waters with him by our side.
I don't think it evil to ask for either, both reflect a faith in the power of Jesus. However, one is more challenging and adds muscle to our faith and courage to our living in a way the other does not. Asking for calm reflects our faith in Jesus, asking to walk on the water empowers us by the Spirit to face the storm. Although, it doesn't guarantee we will face it fearlessly, Peter didn't. But face it he did and when you look at Peter post-crucifixion, you see a faith empowered to face any and every trial with Spirit-filled courage.
I know it is scary to ask God to let us walk on stormy waters with Him rather than for him to calm the storm, but "He can do more than we ask or imagine according to His power at work within us" (Eph 3:20). Walking on water is scary, but it's also faith building, life expanding and courage increasing. Jus' Sayn.
The story is told of a boy who was being baptized by an old circuit preacher. The preacher plunged the boy under the cold waters of the river and brought him up asking, "Have you found Jesus?" The boy, uncertain of what he meant replied, "No." The preacher plunged him under again and held him longer, bringing him up asking again if he found Jesus to which the boy sputtered, "No." The preacher took him down a third time and held him even longer, asking again as he raised him up, "Have you found Jesus?" The boy, coughing and spitting out water frantically responded, "No I haven't but I'm pretty sure he's not down there!"
I first heard someone ask that question when I was 18 and an Airman First Class. She was a civilian nurse working at the military hospital I was assigned to. She asked virtually everyone she encountered, "Have you found Jesus?" Since that time, I have heard that question posed many many times. But I have never asked anyone that question. Not because I'm not concerned with whether one has Jesus in his/her life but because I don't believe we find Jesus.
You see, the Bible is clear that Jesus is the Shepherd and we are the sheep (see John chapter 10). If there is one thing I am certain about it's that lost sheep don't go looking or find the shepherd, it's always the shepherd who seeks after them. The sheep simple answer (or not) when he calls.
We find this scenario inthe Old Testament: "For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him" (2 Chron 16:9) and we read it again in the New Testament, "The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost" (Luke 19:10).
You don't have to find Jesus, he will find you. You have to answer his call and come to him. As John records of Jesus, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them" (Jn 6:34). The Lord does the seeking and the finding and the calling, our part is to do the responding, to come out from our hiding places and follow his voice home. As Jesus clearly said, "My sheep listen to my voice, I know them, and they follow me" (Jn 10:27).
Is He calling you? Have you wandered away? If so, He is looking and He is calling. Are you ready to answer? Jus' Askn.
