When God is Silent

When God is silent--we are to still worship and serve HIM. "Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." (Isaiah 40:28-31)(emphasis mine).

Waiting is not easy. In our wordly lifestyle, we are not always applauded for waiting. In fact, waiting generally costs us something. "Getting things done" is what society requires.

In our walk with Christ, we are to do all things as if we are doing them for the the Lord. (Colossians 3:23-24). Waiting on God does not say that we are to be lackluster and a sluggard in what we do. Instead, we are to prepare our hearts and focus our minds on aligning our will with His. We are to place our trust in God that His plan trumps ours and that He knows so much better than we do on what the future holds.

Waiting on God is an act of obedience on our part. We are saying, in essence, that it is not about my will, but that His be done.

Persisting in Love

No one should be fooled. At times, love can be exhausting. At the end of the day, you come home and think, "I've got nothing left to give, no more problems, no more needs, not today anyway."

Yesterday, was one of those days for me. After a particularly exhausting day, I came home to what appeared to be a peaceful home. We had a nice dinner, then a little down time, then onto a family devotional time with a Family 15 DVD and Discussion questions. Then the frustration began. Things did not go like I had planned. And what should have been an awesome time, turned quickly into a time of frustration. But little did I know that God was still working His plan through our time together.

When things seem to be going wrong, how can you persevere in love? Really, it a simple concept--You get refueled. Though the concept is simple, it's application is sometime tough. God's word provides, "[l]ove never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." (1 Corinthians 13:7 NLT). And He does not leave you to do this on your own (because really you cannot). His Holy Spirit, which lives inside all those who have placed their faith in Him, empowers and strenthens and guides you to love like His word provides.

So, how do we refuel? We start by grasping the concept of God's amazing love for us first. "We love because he first loved us." (1 John 4:19 NIV). When you've had enough and can't imagine showing love to anyone else, remember that God loved you so much that He sent his Son to die for YOU. That's what keeps you going when you just want to quit.

Stay Strong.

Is Your Spiritual Battery Running Low?

As men, we have a lot coming at us everyday. Family concerns, work concerns, church concerns--you name it, and it can all take a toll on us. So, how do we stay spiritually charged up for what is to come.



We can take great comfort in the fact that Jesus, at times, had to just get away from things to pray and rest. He encourages us by His actions and word to do the same thing. His word tells us, "[t]hen, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, 'come with my by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.'" (Mark 6:31 NIV).



Do you feel overwhelmed right now? When we are at the end of our emotional rope, it is impossible to love others and engage in the minisitry that God has for each of us. God's word gives us some habits that can help us recharge our batteries:



(1) Solitude: Many of us have "so many things plugged into" our battery that it goes dead very quickly. You recharge the battery by unplugging certain things even temporarily. We do this sometimes by just getting away for a bit. It does not have to be a lengthy period. Jesus had to do this, so what makes us think that we can do without it.



(2) Play: His word says, "Jesus came enjoying life." (Matthew 11:19 PH). Jesus was very people-focused, and ministry intensive. Yet He took time to have fun. Different activities recharge people in different ways. Find out activities recharge your batteries and take some time to do them.



(3) Laughter: "Being cheerful keeps you healthy." (Proverbs 17:22 GNT). Laughter is good for your health. Take life seriously, but don't take yourself to seriously. Learn to laugh more. Read a funny book, watch a funny program on TV. God meant for us to enjoy our life. Laughter is a part of that enjoyment.



Lastly, remember that the Holy Spirit has taken up residence inside of you. You are the temple of God's Holy Spirit. Allow Him to live through you. Allow Him to recharge your batteries. He's ready, willing, and able to do so. He just wants you to come into agreement with Him.



Stay Strong.

Happiness-fleeting or lasting

Are you truly happy? If so, what is it based upon? Not to be negative, but there are not a lot of things going on in today's wordly economy to be real excited about. If your happiness is based upon your 401(k) balance or the security in your job, you may not be too happy right now.

There are two kinds of happiness. One that is based upon external circumstances and factors--when these factors and circumstances are pleasant--we are happy. But this type of happiness does not always last. What happens when these circumstances turn negative.

The other type of happiness comes from a deep spiritual relationship with Jesus Christ. This type of happiness is characterized by a deep inner joy and peace that survives any circumstance. Interestingly, this happiness may even grow deeper when we experience adversity. We have the knowledge that we are not in control, but that God is. That we do not have to change things around us--that's God's job. Our job is to depend and abide in Him. Does this sound like we just give up--well, yes, it may sound like that. But we are giving up to the creater of the universe, the one who created the heavens and the earth. Don't you think that He can handle what comes your way.

He encourages us to "[d]on't be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6-7). This means we do not have to allow the fears and the frustrations of this world to sape our happiness. We can leave them at Jesus' feet. He wants them, he does not want them to weigh us down. I encourage you to take Jesus up on his promise--really, what do you have to lose, well, maybe just a bit of worry and some frustration. I bet you probably won't miss them anyway.

Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?

As men, we sometimes struggle with a consistent prayer life. There are many distractions that take our focus (and our time) from where it truly should be--on God. Prayer is a means of aligning our will with His. It's saying--"not my will, but that Yours be done."

As you go throughout your typical day, let me ask you this--is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire? Let's take a brief look at this. Think about it--your steering wheel guides you down the road, it allows you to make corrections in our course, and is used to re-align things when we get out of our lane. Without a consistent focus on the steering wheel, we will quickly tend to end up where we did not intend. Even a slight variance can lead us dramatically off course. But our spare tire is something totally different. Many of us rarely even think about our spare tire. Only when an emergency arises do we begin to re-focus our attention upon the spare tire.

So, as it relates to prayer, is it our steering wheel or our spare tire?