Tag Archives: hope

May 17, 2013 · 7:44 AM

What Determines Your Worth?

I read an article yesterday about a server at a Steak ‘n Shake who got a $446 tip. The lady was clearly excited to receive it. She said some of her other tables had been giving her a hard time and she thought that was the reason behind the tip. In the article, she said something that stuck out to me. She said, “I didn’t think I was worth $400, but that customer does.” She valued herself at less than $400. I started thinking, “How many people value themselves so little?”

If you don’t know, let me be the one to tell you that you are worth well more than $400. How you see yourself or how others see you does not change your worth. It may affect your self confidence, but not your worth. You are a priceless work of art created by God to fulfill a purpose that only you can fulfill. You are valued by God above all other created things. Don’t let your mind or anyone else keep you from seeing that.

I can say that because God didn’t sacrifice His son for any other created being. Think of the angels and how highly we regard them. When Satan got a third of them to rebel against God and God cast them out of Heaven, did He pay a price to redeem them? No. Yet for you, He paid the ultimate price of sending His son to this earth to pay for what you and I do against Him.

Why would He do that for you and not for an angel? It’s because you are worth it to Him. Your life matters. What you do matters. Even if no one else around you values you or who you are, God does. Ultimately it’s His opinion that matters. I know it’s difficult to see when everyone around you values you less than $400. It’s easy to get that mindset when you’re verbally and physically abused. It’s not hard to believe that when those you love don’t appreciate you.

It’s hard to fight those thoughts and believe your worth doesn’t depend on others when everything around you is making you feel lower than dirt. I know. I’ve been there. I used to allow others to determine my worth. Not anymore. I find my worth and my value in who God says I am. I’ve learned to combat those thoughts with the Word of God. I’ve had to recognize when those thoughts come in so I can stop them and replace them with who God says I am. It’s a battle, but one that is worth fighting.

Your worth doesn’t depend on a tip, what someone else says or how they treat you. It depends on the price that God put on you and that’s a high price. You can not be replaced. There never has been or never will be another you. This is your time on earth to do what you were made to do. You have a purpose even if you haven’t found it yet. Keep looking. Keep believing. Keep trusting in Him. You are loved beyond measure and worth more than all the gold in the world.

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May 14, 2013 · 7:55 AM

Fire Drills and Escape Routes

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Have you ever been in a fire drill? I’ve been through plenty in my day. The worst one was when I was 32 floors up in a skyscraper. Walking down 32 flights was not easy for me. Why do offices, schools and other building conduct those? As much of an annoyance as they are, they’re to teach us what to do in case of an emergency. The Fire Marshall knows that in a panic situation, you may not make the right decision unless you’ve rehearsed in your mind and with your body what you are going to do.

It’s really a great concept when you look at the reason for it. It’s got me thinking, “Why don’t we have spiritual fire drills? Why don’t we rehearse what we’re going to do when we are tempted?” We need to think through our evacuation route from temptation. We need to have them posted on the walls of our heart, look at them often and rehearse in our mind and with our body what we will do when temptation comes.

Temptation shows up anywhere and it’s typically unexpected. We are rarely prepared for it which is why we give in to it so easily and so often. Each of us are tempted. Each of us sin. Some temptations we are good at resisting and others catch us every time. If you think about the ones you are good at overcoming, they’re the ones that you’ve prepared an escape route from. It’s the ones that catch us every time that we haven’t prepared for.

I Corinthians 10:13 says, “But with the temptation He (God) will always also provide the way out (the means of escape to a landing place), that you may be capable and strong and powerful to bear up under it patiently.” God has provided an escape route from every temptation there is. How does He know the route? Hebrews 4:15 says we have a God who was tempted in every respect we are, yet without sinning. He’s been in our place and rehearsed the escape route for the sin that easily ensnares you. He’s calling out, “This is the way out.” Because we haven’t prepared, our focus is moved from the escape route into the sin.

How do we prepare then? Jesus demonstrated one way out of temptation and that was to quote God’s Word when we are tempted. Psalm 119:11 says, “I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” Knowing God’s Word is the primary escape route. Placing it deep in our heart and not just in our mind is the important part here. When we fill our hearts with His Word, we are able to win the battle of the mind.

The alternate escape route is to run. Yes, physically run. If you find yourself in an area that breeds temptation, run. Get out of there! Don’t stick around and see how close you can get to the fire without getting burned. That’s just stupid. In Proverbs 7, Solomon is looking out his window and sees a naive (void of good sense) man walking down the street where he knew a prostitute was. He crossed over to walk on her side. He didn’t turn around and run. In verse 22 it says, “He followed her like an ox to the slaughter.”

Temptations are around us every day. It’s part of life. How you prepare beforehand determines how you will react when they come. If you wait until the time of temptation to react, you will more than likely fail. If you prepare by putting God’s Word in your heart and knowing how to react when temptation shows up, you will escape. What escapee routes do you need to plan for in your life? What are you doing now to prepare for the ones that get you every time?

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May 10, 2013 · 7:37 AM

Handling Disappointment

How do you handle disappointment? Think of a time recently when you were really wanting something and then it didn’t happen. Did you cross your arms, stick your bottom lip out and stomp around? I know that’s how kids handle disappointment, but are we really that different when we grow up? We still like to have our pity parties when things don’t happen the way we think they should. We may not be stomping around on the outside, but we are on the inside!

Jonah is a prime example of how a lot of us handle things. When God was able to get him to obey and to go to Nineveh, he was hoping they wouldn’t repent. When they did and God showed mercy on them, he was furious and threw a temper tantrum. In Jonah 4:5 it says, “He went out of the city to the east and sat down in a sulk.” While he was sulking, God arranged for a leafed tree to grow up to provide him with shade from the blistering sun.

That night, God sent a worm to eat the leaves. The next day was hot. With the shade gone, Jonah sulked even more and said he was better off dead. I love verses 10-11. God said, “How is it that you can change your feelings from pleasure to anger overnight about a mere shade tree that you did nothing to get? You neither planted it or watered it.” When I read that, it made think, “Do I really have a reason to let my disappointment turn to anger?”

Disappointment is a part of life. What you do with it is your choice. You can choose to sulk, stomp around, be depressed about it or you can learn from the situation, see it from a different perspective and move forward. Some of the greatest people in history faced huge disappointments. It was how they handled it that made the difference. They took the opportunity to learn from the situation rather than to be upset.

While we cannot control the circumstances around us, our attitude is our choice. We choose whether to stomp off like Jonah or to say, “God, that isn’t how I saw that happening. I’m not happy how it happened. What can you show me in this situation to help me in the future?” It’s ok to not be happy that things didn’t go according to plan. It’s not ok to throw a pity party and think that life is over because it didn’t.

God sees your life beyond today. He sees the path ahead of you and often allows things to happen in our lives to help us get to the destination of His choice, not ours. When our plan doesn’t match His, disappointment is the result. The good news is that God still loves us when we are disappointed or even disappoint Him. He still has a plan for us and uses those times to shape us into who He wants us to become. So, again, how do you handle disappointment?

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May 9, 2013 · 7:12 AM

You Are Not Forgotten

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I was talking to a friend last night at church about how he was doing since returning from our trip to Haiti. He, like many of us who went, has had a hard time readjusting to life here. He said, “In the first few days back, I kept trying to process the poverty and devastation that I saw there. It was overloading my mind and I couldn’t take it. I finally had to quit trying to process how people just like you and me live in that devastation and still get up, get dressed in a shirt and tie and go to work.”

He’s right. I’ve been to a lot of third world countries and seen poverty. Haiti was somehow different. I don’t know if it was the worst I’ve seen or that it just seemed like the worst because most people there seemed to have no hope. The unemployment rate is above 50% and the ones that do have jobs only make between $2 and $5 a day. Most of us make more in an hour than they will all week.

With hopelessness comes the thought that God has forgotten you. People here experience that. I know I have. You probably have to at some point in your life. If you are there right now, you’re not alone. Not everyone has been in your exact circumstance, but plenty have felt that they’ve been forsaken by God. Jesus felt that way too. When He was hanging on the cross, he cried out, “My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?”

I’ve never given much thought to Him saying that on the cross because I knew what was going to happen 3 days later. He wasn’t forsaken and neither are you. He had to go through that so that He could identify with us when we feel forsaken. I Peter 4:1 says, “Since Jesus went through everything you’re going through and more, learn to think like Him.” He knows what it’s like to think you’re alone in this world and to even be forgotten by God.

Since He knows what you’re feeling, He won’t leave you in that place. What I learned in my own life is that had I not gone through that time of thinking He had forgotten me, I couldn’t fully rely on Him now. Psalm 139:7 tells us that there is no where on this earth that we can go to get away from God’s presence. Even if you can’t feel or see God, He’s there with you in that dark place. He has not forgotten you. He has not forsaken you. Rest in the hope that He will bring you out of that valley and bring you into His marvelous light. He did it for Jesus. He did it for me. He will do it for you.

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May 7, 2013 · 7:22 AM

He is

I had the opportunity last year to meet William Paul Young, author of “The Shack”. In that time, he shared his heart and how that book came about. He also talked about the controversy that was created when in his allegory the person who represented God was a female. His message was simple, “Don’t put God in a box. He is who we need Him to be at the moment of our need.”

As I was reading the Bible this morning, God directed me to Ruth. As I was reading about Boaz being the kinsman redeemer, my mind went back to an old song called “He Is” by Aaron Geoffrey. In my mind, I heard them sing, “In Ruth He is our kinsman redeemer.” The song goes through every book of the Bible and says who God is in that book. All of a sudden it clicked. God truly is everything we need Him to be for us.

To confine Him to a box of male or female would be ridiculous. That’s the point that William Paul Young was trying to make. He was forcing us out of limiting who God is in our lives by trying to define Him with something that has limitations. Our minds want to grasp who He is, but don’t have the ability to so we try to compartmentalize Him. We try to make Him fit, but we can’t.

The song illustrates that in the Bible God is who each person needed Him to be. All throughout the scriptures God is sufficient to meet the needs of the people. He is sufficient today to meet your needs as well. He is more than able to be who you need Him to be when you need Him to be it. To David, He was a strong and mighty tower when His enemies came after Him.

Who do you need Him to be today? Are you worried and stressed out? According to Isaiah, He is the Prince of Peace. Have you lost your dad and are in need of fatherly advice? Psalms 68 says that He is a Father to the fatherless. Are you in desperate need of healing? He is the God that heals you. Are you in need of forgiveness of things you’d rather not talk about? He is the God who not only forgives, but casts your sins into the Sea of Forgetfulness.

The Bible is full of scriptures that show God as the One who can be who you need Him to be. Wherever you are, whatever you need, He is able to be and do abundantly above and beyond all you could ever ask or think. He is not confined to be only the God of the box we try to fit Him into. He is the King of Kings and The Lord of Lords. He is deeply concerned with your life and knows the number of hairs on your head. He knows what you’ve done and what you’ve been through and still loves you. He is all you will ever need. He is.

Here’s a link to the YouTube video of the song I mentioned.

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May 1, 2013 · 7:06 AM

Shoveling Through a Mountain

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I haven’t been able to get this image out of my head. What you see is the same picture, but one is a close up. That is a man shoveling through that mountain one spade full at a time. We encountered him on the road from Port au Prince to Gonaives on our second day. Ever since then I have thought about him and the work he is doing. At first I felt sorry for him. Tackling a mountain with a shovel is a huge task. He may never get through it, but that isn’t stopping him from shoveling.

Each of us face mountains in our lives. Few of us have the faith it takes to say to that mountain, “Move and be thrown into the sea.” So we sit in the valley and wait. We lack the strength or courage to go over it. So we don’t accomplish what God has for us to do. We make our home in the darkness of the valley. We forget what life in the light is. We forget what joy is. We loosen our grip on our faith and wonder where God is.

Not this man. He looked at that mountain and said, “I may not have the strength or ability to go over you, so I will go through you!” He picked up a shovel and started digging. I imagine it has taken years to get this far. For him, the first few shovels, the first week, first month and year may not have seemed like he was making progress. I’m sure all he could see was that mountain and not what he’d moved.

Recovery doesn’t come quickly. Healing is a process that can take years. There will always be scars from our past. We can choose to embrace them or we can keep them hidden. Jesus didn’t choose to hide His scars, so why do we? In fact, He encourage others like Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound on my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!” Others find hope in your scars. They find faith in your wounds.

If God has brought you through a mountain of pain, share your story to help others believe they can make it. If you’re shoveling through your mountain right now, don’t give up. You are making progress that you may not be able to see from your perspective right now. If you are camped in the darkness, looking at your mountain thinking, “I’ll never get through this,” there is hope. God’s Word is your light in that dark place. Speak scriptures out loud. Look in Psalms and read there. David went through some dark times too.

Your life is precious to God and others. Don’t let that mountain block your vision of what God has for you. He is greater than that mountain and if He is with you, what can stand against you? Certainly not that mountain! Let hope arise in your soul today. You are a child of God made for victory. You’re going to have to pick up that shovel though and start digging. It takes time and effort. You can do this. You can shovel through this mountain.

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April 30, 2013 · 8:15 AM

True and Undefiled Religion

On day four of our trip to Haiti, we got up early because we had a lot to do. We ate breakfast and split into two groups. One group would head to the market for an experience they’ll never forget and the other went to the hardware store to buy the supplies we needed. All around us were a sea of people who continuously walked by like waves coming on shore. Busses, taxis, motorcycles, trucks and cars added to the madness as they weaved in and out of the people.

Upon arriving at the orphanage, we said our hellos to the staff while the kids were in school. It wasn’t long before word got out that we were there. Kids and locals started showing up quickly. We began to work on the things that needed to get done. Not long after, it was time to go to the Roboto feeding center. We packed up and headed over knowing what we were going to, but not understanding what we were about to experience.

As the trucks drove through Gonaives, it was clear we were moving into an area that was so poverty stricken that it made the place where we were working look like a good part of town. Houses were no longer built out of concrete and mortar. These houses were built from scrap wood, tarp and tin. People stared at us as we slowly made our way through the broken roads.

When we arrived at the feeding center, the sound of children singing filled the air. You could hear the joy and anticipation in their voices. The building was simple, yet sufficient. We walked in to see around a hundred children piled on top of each other. Many were seated at a long table while others were stacked three and four deep around the table against the walls. They were excited, but patient as they waited until it was time to eat.

All of the children bowed their heads as the prayer over the food was prayed. A shout of “amen” came from the children and the food began to be distributed orderly. Plates with nothing more than beans on top of rice were handed to the kids. They quickly ate and made way for the next group of children to eat. Children with their brothers and sisters fed their siblings first even if they never got a bite. This could be the only meal most of these kids would eat that day.

We headed back to the orphanage with our hearts full. We finished building a cabinet for the kitchen, leveled a table in there too, built a stool, poured a slab of concrete in the stairwell and did various other maintenance. At the end of the day, it was time to say goodbye to these children who had captured our hearts. We gave them pillows, food, supplies and new underwear as we left. The ride back to the guest house was full of tears.

God was able to do exceeding and abundantly more than we thought we could on this trip. I’m not sure whose lives were changed more, theirs or ours. We saw God move and plant seeds on this trip. We got a taste of what God calls true religion. It’s hard to go back to religion as we knew it. This was pure and undefined religion we experienced. Anything less simply won’t do.

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April 29, 2013 · 12:44 PM

Spiritual Poverty

On day three, we went to a remote area outside of Gonaives. After traveling down a dirt road for a while we finally arrived at Myan. We hiked a small hill that allowed us to see the entire area. One of the first things that hits you is the stark contrast between the beauty of the land and the extreme poverty that almost overpowers it. As we began to pray over the orphanage being built at Myan, several locals hiked up to meet us.

After praying we went down, got a quick tour of the orphanage being built and then started helping out where needed. They were pouring the footings and part of the foundation on the third building. I saw a guy carrying two 5 gallon buckets full of water. I took one from him and hauled water the rest of the day. Some of the other men moved mounds of dirt and others moved rocks.

As all of that was going on, the rest of the group disappeared into the cactuses that surround the property. A couple of hours later, I went to check on them. There were more than 30 kids from the community around them singing songs and hearing the Gospel preached. Different members from our group would get up and share from their heart about God’s love for the kids. One of our drivers, Kinson, helped with the translating.

The workers at the site wrapped up around 2 since it was a holiday. With nothing more to do there, we went to the other orphanage in Gonaives to love on the kids. We also worked on a plan for the next day to get a lot of the maintenance that needed to be done. We got a list of what supplies we needed and went back to playing with the kids and the locals. After wrapping things up, we headed back to the guest house for dinner and devotions.

God came down and met us that night like only I’ve experienced a few times in my life. We had a powerful time there on that balcony that attracted a crowd of people who wanted to see what was going on. Each of us called out to God on behalf of Haiti that night. We warred for the lives of those orphans and for the people of that country. When people live in poverty they often think that God has forgotten them. We want them to know that God loves them and has not forgotten them.

I’ve learned that even in a land of plenty, there is spiritual poverty. There are people all around us every day that are suffering from spiritual malnutrition. That malnutrition leads to the belief that God has forgotten them too. It’s our responsibility as Christians to show them God’s love. We need to be the channels that spiritual change comes through to those who cross our paths every day. Just as we met the physical needs of the children in Haiti, we need to meet the spiritual needs of those around us.

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April 26, 2013 · 6:18 AM

Where Do You See Jesus?

We made the five hour drive from Port au Prince to Gonaives yesterday. The trucks aren’t big enough to house the entire team so many of us rode in the beds. I prefer to ride back there since it helps me to take in the sights, sounds and smells. It brings me closer to the country when I see the people interacting in their daily lives. There is something particularly humbling when you drive through tent cities.

The tents are made of tarp and are duct taped together. Thousands of them side by side in a field or on the side of a mountain. Their homes were destroyed by the earthquake a few years ago and they can’t afford to get a new house. The unemployment rate here is astronomical. Those who do work make less than $5 a day. People walk the streets selling what they find or grow. Doing what they can to make a living.

We stopped at the mass grave site where tens of thousands of bodies are buried. So many died during the earthquake that they couldn’t embalm or bury the dead. They drug the bodies into the street, burned them to prevent the smell and carried the bones to this site. As we stood there, I couldn’t help but wonder, “How many knew Jesus?” Who had come before to tell them of His love? Who had obeyed?

When we arrived in Gonaives, we stopped at the guest house to drop off our luggage and then headed to the orphanage. When we arrived, the gate was closed. TJ, the missionary with us, looked through the hole and knocked on the gate. As they came to open it, the children were shouting his name. It has been months since he was here. He ran and hid behind the truck. The gate slid open, a rush of kids came pouring out and their smiles quickly went away. They couldn’t find him.

When he appeared from behind the truck, 30 kids attacked him with huge and smiles. They climbed over each other and on us to get to him. For several minutes they poured out their love on him. They sang him a song they had learned just for him. It was beautiful. After the song, they instinctively crawled into our laps and hearts to get a refill of love. Each person on our team had several kids in their laps.

Loving them turned into playing with them. They playing spilled over into the street. There is a basketball court nearby and we all ended up there. Several locals showed up too. The next thing you know, we’re locked into a game of hoops. As one person from our group noted, there were people from Haiti, the US and the Philippines playing a game together without being able to speak each others languages.

At the end of the night, God came and met us on the balcony of our guest house. TJ asked us to share where we had seen Jesus throughout the day. Each person had seen Him somewhere and in different places and ways. It got me to thinking, “How often do we Jesus in our daily lives?” Better yet, how often are we looking for Him? He’s involved in our lives daily, but we’re so distracted by our busy lives that we fail to see Him.

Today, start your day with the intent of looking for Him. It could be in any encounter at work, school or at the store. It could be in someone you don’t know, but you see what they’re doing and God points something out to you. This is something we should all be in the habit of doing. God is not far off. He’s working for you and in you each day. Keep your eyes open, you may even look in the mirror and see Him there because you were His hands and feet to someone.

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April 25, 2013 · 6:27 AM

Peace. Hope. Love.

As I’m sitting on the roof, watching the sun rise in Haiti, I’m reflecting on yesterday. We arrived to chaos which, if you’ve ever been to a third world country airport is normal. Horns blaring, cars weaving in and out of people, others are trying to carry your bags for you and all the while follow the leader through this crazy maze. We get to our vehicles, load up all our luggage into the back of these quad cab trucks and half of us climb on top of the luggage to ride in the back.

As we make our way through Port au Prince, we are a sight to be seen. Some people wave and others have a look on there face of “Did that just happen?” Red lights and green lights don’t matter. Stops signs are just a decoration on the road. Horns are the language of drivers here. It took me back to my time in Egypt. We fought the traffic for what seemed like more than thirty minutes. I was enjoying it. I must have had a huge grin because the dust in the air caked my teeth.

All of a sudden, we arrive out our first destination. An orphanage for babies and toddlers with HIV and AIDS. Peace. The chaos stopped. I didn’t hear the horns anymore. My heart began to fill with love. My eyes with tears. As I sat down, I was talking with another person from our group. A little boy named Alfred came over and sat in my lap. He grabbed the phone out of my hand and started moving my apps around. Still in conversation, I hadn’t realized that my mind had made no distinction between he and my own son.

He soon ran off and another child climbed on my lap. I kissed her on the cheek, hugged her tight and tried talking with her. French Creole is not a language I speak. While I couldn’t speak the language, I could speak love and life to her. One after the other, the kids came up, climbed on me and it was as if I were home. There was love. There was peace. There was hope. There was life.

There was a book with several of the kids in it. Each page had a picture and a story. One little girl’s mother had died. Her father, who has HIV, went away to live in a tent city. The girl was given to her grandmother who was using her to beg and get money from strangers. A pastor came to her rescue and took her to that home. She’s getting food and the medical attention she needs now.

It’s a lot like us. We were abandoned in our sin. But God came and rescued us from that place and brought us into a place of peace, hope and love. He looked past our terminal disease of sin and brought us in. His Son’s blood provided the ointment for our spiritual healing. While we live in a world of chaos, He brings order and meaning to our lives. He is the One we can trust in a cruel world.

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