Inspiration and Hope -

Time with God Cannot Be Hurried

Forgive the cliché, but in a “fast food world” and in an America where men would like their cars fast from 0 to 60 in 3.9 seconds, I suppose many of us regard prayer in the same way. Fast is okay, we think. Let’s just get our prayer done and get the show on the road. Besides, God will understand. I am busy, and I will have fulfilled my daily prayer obligation.

How many of us actually think that way? I got up this morning, downed my cup of coffee, said a few prayers and was off to work. But hold on a minute! “I think I just blew past my exit”, or at least in the sense that I missed God’s exit. God says, “Time with Me cannot be hurried. When you are in a hurry your mind drifts aimlessly back and forth between Me and your tasks at hand”.

I recognize that prayer is often times difficult, especially when our thoughts are not focused on God to start with. My mind is running a mile a minute when I get up in the morning. But even with our busy schedules, God would ask, “could you not carve out from your busy schedule some time to pray to Me?”

Too many people I have spoken to, either because they are too busy or because they can’t focus, do not strive or persist at prayer and give up after 5 minutes. One person, I know, went to her pastor after trying to set aside a time to pray, and said to her pastor that it was too hard and that she was giving up. Here is what a mom was quoted as saying “Another race against the clock with only seconds to spare for a few “popcorn prayers” shot up to the Lord throughout one more busy day in the life of a mom” (2004, Welchel’s Busy Mom’s Guide to Prayer xii).

How many of us compensate, for lack of unhurried prayer time, by having “popcorn prayer time” or “flash prayers” throughout our day as a substitute? Please do not take this the wrong way because I believe sporadic prayers throughout the day are all well and good, for we are instructed to pray morning, noon, and evening; but I also believe God wants us to find some time alone with Him to pray. When we do, we will be filled with His Presence, peace, and joy.

God wants more than anything for us, to spend quality time with Him. And when we take the time to seek His face, only then can we commune with Him and transcend both time and circumstances.

Prayer: Lord, in my busyness, help me to stop and pray to You. Help me to set aside a dedicated time to You that is unhurried, a time that I can sit and listen to Your still voice without the clutter of busy thoughts.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE TO READ – “Lest We Forget”

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Ducklings remind us to never give up

My niece Tracy Hutzel and Jason David posted to YouTube a video of ducklings trying to climb stairs in order to be united with their mother who was just ahead of them at the top of the stairs. To them, the stairs were their Mt. Everest. The video went viral and has over 3 million views. You will enjoy this short video.

ABC News reported, “These little ducklings are the perfect reminder to never give up on your goals, big or small”.

Similarly, we too should never give up on our deepest desires, and our quest to be victorious in prayer. Sometimes, however, things just don’t come easy, and I too am challenged by the steps I need to ascend. For me, as an example, it might be when I pray for something and it seems that God does not hear my prayers. I am impatient. But God would encourage me to keep persisting, just as we are reminded in the video of the ducklings who never stopped trying until they achieved their goal of being re-united with their mother who stayed near, and who never abandoned them.

What do you strive for? What is your Mt. Everest? For me, God also reminds me to pray fervently and keep at it. But my mind flitters back and forth between Him and my tasks for the day, my concerns and worries. Sometimes I don’t know what to pray, and prayer is seemingly dry and unproductive. Be encouraged though, and don’t give up. Paul encourages us to “strive to pray” (Romans 15:30). Whether you feel like it or not, just do it! That is half of the battle won. “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God for you” (I Thessalonians 5:16-18).

Many people I have spoken to, either because they are too busy or because they can’t focus, do not strive or persist at prayer, and give up too easily. One person I know, went to her pastor after trying to set aside a time to pray, and said to her pastor that it was too hard to pray and that she was giving up; not like the ducklings who in the video persisted and persisted until they conquered their Mt. Everest.

Interestingly, the mother duck in the video waited just ahead of her flock of ducks until all were united before moving on. She never abandoned them. God too is faithful and waits for us, for it says in Deuteronomy 31:8 that “the LORD is the One who will go before you. He will be with you; He will not leave you or forsake you. Do not be afraid or discouraged”.

The Fumble

Ever had that “uh-oh” moment, that sinking feeling? We all make mistakes, and sometimes those mistakes lose games, so to speak. In our minds and hearts, we often know what the right thing to do is because God speaks to us through our minds and hearts; but sometimes, our stubbornness, self-sufficiency, and self-reliance get in the way and cause us to listen to a contrarian voice. It’s “my way or the highway”. How many times have I made things worse because “I did it my way” or because I did not heed the promptings of the Holy Spirit or my heart?

It wasn’t just any fumble, it was “The Fumble”. There are only certain words that can describe the jaw-dropping sinking feeling that I felt when the ball was fumbled: anger, shock, despair, and disappointment. In a football game that will go down in history as one of seismic proportions was the game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Giants, in 1978. I was watching the game. The Giants were leading 17-12. All they had to do was take one more snap and kneel with the ball, and the clock would run out. It would be a huge upset over the Philadelphia Eagles that would put the Giants in a possible playoff picture if they won.

With 30 seconds to go in the game, Joe Pisarcik called the snap.
“Brown right, near wing, 65 slant!”
Pisarcik took the snap and went to hand it off to fullback Larry Csonka.

So, as the credits rolled on the television broadcasting system and Giants fans streamed out of the stadium with a seemingly sure 17-12 win, the unthinkable happened.

What was Coach Joe Gibson thinking when he called that play? The playbooks would say to just kneel and run out the clock. Logic would say don’t flirt with disaster. Even a Football 101 Guide for Beginners would say to take the knee and run out the clock. But contrary to logical thinking and common sense, right reasoning did not win out.

Sadly to say, the Giants did not win the game and would not have a chance at earning a berth in the playoffs. The play called for fullback Larry Csonka to take a handoff from quarterback Joe Pisarcik and run it in for a touchdown, but the play was botched with Eagles cornerback Herman Edwards picking up the loose ball and running it in for an Eagles touchdown instead. If quarterback Joe Pisarcik had only taken a knee, the Giants would have won the game.

Instead of jubilant celebration, there was a mood of despair and a sickening feeling that prevailed over the Giants and their fans. Angry Giants fans demanded that someone be held responsible for this debacle. Needless to say, Coach Joe Gibson was fired the next day. The “I did it my way” reasoning would have a severe and lasting impact. So great was the stigma attached to this one decision that Joe Gibson made, that he would never work at any level of football again.

The play will always be remembered by the Giants as “The Fumble”. To this day, Joe Pisarcik is still asked about it. Joe is quoted as saying 35 years later, by Mark Di Ionno, columnist for the New Jersey Star-Ledger, “People come up to me and actually say, ‘Hey, do you remember that play…?’ I feel like saying, ‘No, I’m only reminded of it 89 times day.”

Could Joe have reversed Joe Gibson’s play call? Well, what people don’t know, is that a couple of weeks before, Joe Pisarcik did change one of Coach Gibson’s plays and was severely reprimanded for it. According to Mark Di Ionno, Coach Gibson screamed at Pisarcik, “Don’t ever change a play I send in, ever again! Pisarcik said. So when the (fumble) play came in, the guys in the huddle were like, ‘Joe, don’t do it. Just fall on the ball.’ I said, ‘No way, I’m not going to get yelled at again.’” Final score: 19-17, Eagles over Giants. Joe Pisarcik’s legacy would be sealed in stone forever.

All of us have fumbled at one time or another. I can personally relate to this. For me: All I needed to do was apologize, but instead, I had to argue and defend myself. All I needed to do was listen, but instead, I had to open my big fat mouth. All I needed to do was be patient, but instead, I rushed into a situation before planning, and as a result, the outcome was less than desirable or even disastrous; all because I had to do it myself without listening to or hearing from God.

One thing that we can learn from our “uh-ohs” is to do it God’s way the next time. And when we do it His way, we will always come out the winner, for if Christ lives within us and we are in tune with His Holy Spirit, we will be victorious.

Romans 8:5-17; Ephesians 3:16-19

Prayer: Dear Lord, help me to be sensitive to the promptings of your Holy Spirit in matters of my heart and in making daily decisions. Help me to do it “Your Way”.

REFERENCE:
Mark Di Ionno, “35 years later, ex-Giant Pisarcik takes The Miracle at the Meadowlands in stride”, December 23, 2013, http://blog.nj.com/njv_mark_diionno/2013/12/35_years_later_nfls_pisarcik_t.html

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My Way or God’s Way post …

My Way or God’s Way

My Way or God’s Way

When you feel stressed or encounter difficulties, do you let those stresses and difficulties alert you to your need for God, or are you quick to solve them yourself?

One Saturday morning during a Pause Ministry men’s meeting and breakfast, a title on the book shelf caught my eye. It was “The Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual”. Of course, this was a complete guide to fixing and maintaining anything and everything around your home. But it made me ask the question, “How many of us have that Do-it-yourself mentality when it comes to fixing that which is broken in our inner self? How many of us are quick to give advice or solve a problem before hearing God on a matter? How many of us do it “My Way” and not God’s way?

Some trivia – In 1968, Frank Sinatra recorded a song entitled “My Way”. It was also the title of a record album, for those of us who remember record players, and a song that hit #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. It became so popular that, just to name a few of the dozens of artists who recorded it, there was Elvis Presley, Paul Anka, Tom Jones, Luciano Pavarotti, Andy Williams, Gipsy Kings, David Bowie, and U2. The Three Tenors performed the song on July 22, 1996 during their concert in East Rutherford, New Jersey at Giants Stadium. The version by Elvis Presley even went Gold in the U.S with over 1,000,000 recordings sold.

And now, the end is here My Way Frank Sinatra
And so I face the final curtain
My friend, I’ll say it clear
I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain
I’ve lived a life that’s full
I traveled each and ev’ry highway
And more, much more than this, I did it my way.

Yes, there were times, I’m sure you knew
When I bit off more than I could chew
But through it all, when there was doubt
I ate it up and spit it out
I faced it all and I stood tall and did it my way.

For what is a man, what has he got?
If not himself, then he has naught
To say the things he truly feels and not the words of one who kneels
The record shows I took the blows and did it my way!

We are in a world today that stresses self-sufficiency. You can find almost any type of self-help literature for fixing things, but so few of us go to God first. Although self-sufficiency is acclaimed in our society, the “I can fix it myself” mindset does not bring the peace of God, nor does it bring abundant living in Christ.

Just out of curiosity, I did a Google search with the keywords “I can fix it myself”. The query returned a number of self-help book titles such as You Can Heal Yourself, or You Can Heal Your Life, and other mind over matter titles. All were definitive guides to managing our own spirituality and energy without God. Many of these titles can also be found by querying the keyword “spirituality”. Spirituality, according to one definition, is the “progressive unlearning of the strange ideas about God you’ve been taught…”.

Another definition of spirituality and in a Biblical context, the term means being animated by God (Waaijman, 2000), to be driven by the Holy Spirit, as opposed to a life which rejects this influence (Wong, 2009). Such spirituality emphasizes dependence on God. For those it is the belief that Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. If we abide in Him and He in us, we will be fruitful and productive and at peace in Him, for apart from His Way we can do nothing (see John 15:5). God did not instruct us to deliver ourselves from our stresses and difficulties and our brokenness. Rather it is God on whom we should set our hope, whom we should rely. It is He who will deliver us (2 Corinthians 1:10).

We are a society that is emotionally driven. Our decisions are a mix of our feelings and of our thinking, and because we are human, we are this way. “The mind is the most restless, unruly part of mankind” (April 21, “Jesus Calling”). The Bible, however, teaches that successful resolution of problems and difficulties is not the product of self-dependence, but instead the product of surrendering our difficulties to God, and by being grounded in biblical principles.

Prayer: Dear Lord, help me to come to you daily for deliverance from all my cares and worries, fears, and sorrows. Help me to rely on You for answers to life’s problems. Help me to do it “Your Way”.

The Power of Words

“In the beginning was the Word …” (John 1:1). “The plainest reason why the Son of God is called the Word, seems to be, that as our words explain our minds to others, so was the Son of God sent in order to reveal his Father’s mind to the world.” (Matthew Henry’s Commentary).

Every transaction in life between man and man is carried on by words whether it is spoken or written. As long as our words are used as God intended them to be used, we live in peace, but when we in our sinful nature communicate, words have the power to destroy. Of what persuasion are your words?

It is so easy to react badly in situations where we have been offended, or we have been abused, or we have been treated unkindly. As a result of an offense, many of us get into a war of words. Whatever the offense against you, it has its way of taking the life out of you, taking your health, and especially your fellowship with God.

So what then must we do when our emotions get in the way? Words spoken in anger or hatred for instance can have a crippling effect on you, so much so that it can cause you panic, cause you confusion, despair and hopelessness; it can cause you undue duress; cause you emotional sickness and instability; and you can also feel physically sick. Do you let another person’s words dictate your actions and attitude, or do you move in the opposite spirit? Are you quick to listen and slow to speak, or do you get sucked into the person’s war of words by reacting in the same way? It’s easy to be nice to people who are nice to you, but it is not so easy to react in a sweet spirit to people who are mean and hurtful. I think, in all honesty, most of us would say that we have lashed back, insult for insult.

Here is a story of just such a confrontation. I am sure that all of you can relate to it in some way. Justin had just gotten off the phone with a colleague of his, and with whom he had just completed rolling out a successful software release for his company. The colleague was happy the project was completed, and was in a good mood. Kudos were in order. Everyone would be celebrating. But the next day, Justin’s colleague Patricia became entangled in a vicious war of words with another colleague on the project team, Samuel Remington. They called him Remi. Remi, short for Remington, and appropriately nicknamed for his explosive temper (Remington Arms Co. is the largest producer of shotguns, rifles and ammunition in the U.S.), was in a shouting match (or should I say shooting match) with Patricia. Apparently, Remi thought he was not given proper credit due him for his work completed on the project, whereas Patricia was receiving much of the commendation and credit for the successful rollout. There was nothing private about the brawl either for a good many in the office were witness to it. It was a downright ugly blow for blow slugging match between the two trading insult for insult. Justin’s colleague Patricia checked herself into the hospital shortly thereafter with chest pains. Patricia, fortunately was okay. It was all stress related.

Because many of Patricia’s colleagues were privy to the confrontation, Justin tried to intercede on behalf of Patricia and Remi to see if he could contain the conflagration from spreading to upper management. Was Patricia the only victim? Perhaps Remi was also a victim and was suffering as a result of some unresolved hurt unbeknownst to anyone in the office. Perhaps the issue itself was not the real issue. Many of us often engage in a war of words with others for many reasons, and oftentimes those reasons are not apparent. Perhaps it could be as simple as, the initiator didn’t sleep well, or more often than not he was feeling the stresses of life, and was as a result feeling lost or sorry for himself. When this happens, many of us know no other way to express ourselves than by lashing out?

“Psychological projection was conceptualized by Sigmund Freud in the 1900s as a defense mechanism in which a person unconsciously rejects his or her own unacceptable attributes by ascribing them to objects or persons in the outside world (Wikipedia)”. Here is an excerpt from an email to Patricia in which the initiator’s admission reveals a deeper emotion than the original issue itself. “It has come to my attention that you do not want anything to do with me”, said Remi. “You’re not the only one sick of me, but so also is my wife. She has moved out on me and has taken the kids with her. Good, I hope she’s happy!”

What would you have done in this situation? Would you have traded insult for insult, or would you have sought God’s wisdom and have been restrained? Here is what Proverbs 10:19 says – “When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise”.

God instructs us to live in harmony with each other (Romans 12:16). That means taking responsibility for our own actions and attitudes and words. Justin too had been a recipient of Remi’s ire. Although the project was successful, Remi would also find fault with Justin. In an email to Justin he blamed Justin for leaving the office every night on the dot at 5:00 p.m. when additional hours were needed to ensure that the project deadline was met on time. In the email, Remi shared “Once when I regularly ducked out of the office early at another job, I was fired.” Why was he projecting on me now, Justin thought? “We did get the project in on time, and it was a major success”. Justin did leave the office at 5:00 to pick up his kids from day care, but he often came back into the office late at night to finish his work. Justin could have gone on the defense and retaliated with harsh words, but he chose restraint. He immediately defused the situation by simply replying with a soft answer rather than trade harsh words should it stir the pot of anger already boiling (Proverbs 15:1). The next email that Justin received was apologetic, for Remi replied “Sorry for taking my anger out on you Justin. I’ve been pretty stressed-out lately. I knew you were working late. Thank you for your support. Feeling so much better today.” Funny how things work out when we seek God’s discernment, and reply with a soft answer, rather than going on the defense.

The Bible is full of examples concerning communication with each other. I counted over 100 verses. Here are just a few words of wisdom concerning God’s counsel regarding living in harmony with one another and regarding the power of words.

Proverbs 10:19 When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, But he who restrains his lips is wise.

Proverbs 12:18 There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

Proverbs 17:28 Even a fool who remains silent is considered wise, and the one who holds his tongue is deemed discerning.

Proverbs 18:2 A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, only in expressing his opinion.

Proverbs 18:22 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.

Proverbs 15:1 A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Proverbs 16:24 Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.

Proverbs 16:32 The wise heart is called discerning, and sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness.

Romans 12:16-18, 20-21 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud…. Do not repay anyone evil for evil …. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone…. ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

Ephesians 4:32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Prayer: Lord, help me to live in harmony with others and not to repay evil with evil and insult with insult. Lord, forgive me for harboring any resentment and bitterness towards those who find fault with me or whom I might have offended, and should they be correct in their assessment of me, please humble me to do what is honorable and right in Your eyes by asking their forgiveness and by making amends. Next time before I act or speak in situations that anger me, may You give me a discerning heart to know when to speak or when to listen; and may I take no pleasure in retaliation, but may You control my feelings and emotions.