Category: Curveballs

What’s God Doing When Everything Goes Wrong in our Lives?

Lisa M. Price1 Comment

Do not sin; meditate in your heart upon your bed and be still. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and trust in the Lord-  Psalm 4:4-5 NASB

In Exodus twelve God gives instructions for the Passover. His instructions are insanely specific. This feast (like all the feasts) was not intended to be a DIY kind of a deal. The main dish was a lamb. The lamb was to be one year old, in perfect condition with zero blemishes or defects. It was to be roasted, no boiled or raw meat allowed. The sides were also precisely dictated. Bitter herbs and unleavened bread were the only options. The meal was to be eaten in community. No one was allowed to eat alone. If there were not enough people in a household to eat a lamb, then they were to invite their neighbors to eat with them. The meal was to be eaten fully clothed. No lazing around shoeless or beltless. EVERYONE had to be ready to hit the road at a moment’s notice.  Then comes the crazy part:

Whatever is left of it until morning, you shall completely burn with fire- Exodus 12:10b

When I got to that verse I did a double take. The people of Israel were leaving the country. God knew they were leaving the country. God just spent elven chapters orchestrating their departure. Furthermore, it wasn’t a small group. There were six-hundred-thousand men plus women and children (Exodus 12:37). They would all be leaving Egypt for a destination known only to the Lord, and NO ONE was allowed to pack a lunch. 

What? 

The command feels insanely counter intuitive. Surely,  God would want His people to have a nice lamb sandwich to eat on the road? It just makes sense. But then it occurred to me that God actually does this sort of thing all the time. He tells His people to do something hard and then He makes it harder (Genesis 22, Joshua 1, Jonah 1-3, Matthew 10:5-10). 

It’s all about trust. 

God wants His people to trust Him. Because God has a critically important end goal in mind (more on that later) He almost never makes it easy to do so. This means that at some point in our faith journey we will come up against a situation where it will make zero sense to trust God or do it His way, but we need to do it anyway.  Our crazy situation might be a job loss, marriage troubles, kid troubles, betrayal, or some other horrible loss or trial. Only God knows what it will be, but it will happen. It’s the nature of living in a fallen world. Following are four things to watch out for when the going gets tough and God is asking us to trust Him. The first is:  

Making an Ishmael-

Unless one is a hardcore Calvinist it is hard to argue against the notion that Ishmael (Genesis 16) was anything but the sad byproduct of two people who did not trust God to do what He said He would do. Abraham and Sarah’s hasty decision nearly broke Hagar, damaged poor Ismael and caused geopolitical complications the world still feels today. Anyone can make an Ismael (metaphorically speaking). An Ismael is always the byproduct of running ahead of God in a fit of mistrust and “taking care” of situations in our own understanding and wisdom (Proverbs 3:6-7). This sort of thing happens frequently in the realm of marriage. Someone prays for a godly spouse and when the prayer isn’t answered quickly, they find someone, anyone who is willing marry them. In these situations, the marriage often becomes an Ismael: a source of pain and complication in the person’s life. The good news is God will use the messiest, most messed-up Ismael we can make to grow us and shape us into the image of Jesus (Romans 8:28). It’s just never the preferred route. 

Fear- 

Fear is more than just a feeling we experience when life gets hard or scary. Fear is an indicator. Our fears tell us what (or who) we trust to give us security, peace and a sense of belonging and purpose (job, reputation, financial security, relationships, possessions). This means that whatever we most fear losing is probably the very thing God most wants us to learn to trust Him with (Psalm 20:7, Jeremiah 17:5-9, Isaiah 49:10, Joshua 1:9).  

A bitter root-

Anytime we are called to trust God there is always a danger of a bitter root developing in our hearts (Hebrews 12:15). This is because there always comes a God time where it looks like God is either doing nothing to help us; or conversely it looks like He’s doing the exact opposite of what needs to be done to keep disaster at bay. When this happens, all we can do is believe God is good (Psalm 34:8, Psalm 100:5, Isaiah 41:10, Jeremiah 29:11, Philippians 4:19, James 1:17). Then we wait for the storm to pass and the blessings to be revealed. 

And finally, we must make sure:

We don’t miss the end goal- 

The end goal of trusting God is not trusting God, nor is it obedience simply for the sake of obedience. The end goal of our learning to trust God is for us to become people God can use for His glory and the good of others (James 1:2-3, 1st Peter 1:3-9). Learning to trust Him is how He gets us to that place.  It was true in Exodus. God wanted the Hebrews to trust Him because trusting God with hard things would mold them into a nation that would reveal His glory (and the Messiah) to the whole world.  Unfortunately, it took them forty years to become those people. Don’t be like the Israelites (James 1:6-7).

Jesus’ Two Rules for Surviving Crazy Times-

Lisa M. Price1 Comment

Those who have insight will shine like the glow of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever- Daniel 12:3 NASB 

We live in weird, scary and truly unprecedented times. 

Seriously. 

Believers and even some unbelievers are stupefied at the rate culture is changing and the direction the world appears to be headed in. Governments are becoming more authoritarian. Robots are taking over. People are more calloused and attitudes and behaviors that were once thought to be totally out of bounds are not only accepted, but defended and even celebrated with wild abandon.  

Sigh.

Some believe all this craziness this means are living in what the Bible calls “the end” (Daniel 8:17-18, Daniel 12:9, Daniel 12:13, Matthew 24:3, 1st Peter 4:7). 

I don’t know if we are or we aren’t. 

Seriously. I don’t. 

No one does. It will be tough to tell for absolute certain if we’re living in the end times until Jesus shows up or doesn’t (Matthew 25:31, Matthew 24:36-42). 

That being said.

 In Matthew twenty-four Jesus gives two commands or rules for those living in the end times. Both are excellent advice for anyone living in weird, scary and or unprecedented times. This is because the temptations will be the same whether one is living in the end times or in just really weird times. These “rules” precede everything else Jesus says about what will happen just prior to His return. This means if we don’t take these two rules seriously at all times we will be done for when the really crazy-town stuff starts to go down (Matthew 24:4-27, Daniel 12, Revelation 13-18)

Jesus’ two rules for surviving scary times are:

See to it that no one deceives you- Matthew 24:4 NASB

See to it that you are not afraid- Matthew 24:6 NASB

That’s it. 

Jesus’ instruction tells me God totally has the inside scoop as to what our go-to’s are as human beings. God knows we need routine reminders not to turn our brains off and let fear run the show.  There are at least three different ways people can be deceived about Jesus and at least one really good reason to not give into fear (Isaiah 41:10, Romans 8:15).   

It’s critical we remember anyone can be deceived about Jesus’ true identity (2nd Corinthians 11:4, Galatians 1:6). There are all sorts of folks who have a relationship with a really nice, really cool Jesus who is ultimately nothing more than a figment of their imagination. All humans tend to create gods in their own image, it’s kind of our thing (Romans 1:18-23). The closer we get to the end the more prone people will be to proclaim and worship a Jesus who bears no actual resemblance to the Jesus of the Bible. The real Jesus is offensive to those who don’t want to submit themselves and their desires to God, so instead, they construct a new (and in their minds) improved Jesus who is totally affirming of all sorts of attitudes and behaviors the Bible calls evil. It is incumbent on anyone who calls themselves a Christian to make sure the Jesus they worship looks and acts like the Jesus found in the gospels. The real Jesus would never be okay with or bless anything the Bible calls sinful (Galatians 5:19-21, 1st Corinthians 6:9-11, Colossians 3:5-11). 

People can also become deceived about what Jesus is all about, meaning there will be those who claim Jesus’ main purpose in coming will be political in nature. Some will actually claim they are the savior of the world. They will get people to follow them rather than God.  Others will circumvent religion altogether and attempt to construct secular governments (kingdoms) they promise will create a heaven here on earth. In exchange for access to these kingdoms, people will be forced to swear their allegiance to the leaders of these governments. Christians are told to pray for earthly leaders and to obey any laws that do not contradict God’s commands but Christians are never to worship or swear absolute allegiance to a human leader (1st Timothy 2:1-3, Matthew 22:21. 

 Another common deception revolves around the coming of Jesus, or the lack thereof. The Bible makes it clear that even some of His followers will claim Jesus’ return is a myth or a fairy tale that will never happen. Others will say they are really Jesus and should be worshiped. Still others will say the return of Jesus has already taken place and therefore its nothing to worry about (Matthew 24:4-5, 2nd Thessalonians 2:1-3, 2nd Peter 3:1-10).  The problem with denying the second coming is that it causes us to become like the servants Jesus warns about at the end of Matthew twenty-four. Writing off the return of Jesus as a myth causes us to doubt God altogether and become focused on money, pleasures and self. This inevitably leads to sin and the exploitation of others (Matthew 24:42-51).  

Yikes. 

The biggest issue with fear is it turns off the logic center of our brains. When we embrace fear, we forfeit our ability to think clearly. This causes us to doubt everything we know about God and the Bible. When we are afraid and walking in doubt rather than faith, we will do anything to make the fear go away (Hebrews 11:6). Anything includes sin, worshiping humans and swearing our allegiance to people and ideas that are in direct contradiction to everything the Bible calls good and life-giving. 

No wonder Jesus was so opposed to fear. 

The Truth about Trials and Hardship-

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

Our momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison – 2nd Corinthians 4:17 NASB

Okay, so.

Unless you’ve been hanging out in a cave with no access to the internet for the last decade or so, you have likely picked-up on the fact that our culture defines love entirely in terms of “being nice”.

Love is not love unless it is expressed in a completely non-judgmental manner. It is no longer loving to show even a smidgen of disapproval. It is categorically not okay to rebuke or criticize anyone, nor, is it okay to ask someone to do anything hard.  

This whole messy muddle has impacted how we understand God. Many Christians see God as the ultimate gentle parent. God is typically presented as sympathetic, mild and super worried about the feelings of humans. Most believe God would never do anything insensitive or harsh. He for sure would not ask anyone to do anything they were not were super ready to do.

Well.

 I definitely had some of those beliefs challenged this week. It happened as I was reading through Matthew fourteen. I came to the story where Jesus (and Peter) walk on water in the middle of a violent wind storm (Matthew 14:22-26). 

Truth-be-told there were a couple of things in this story I had never really noticed before, despite having read it umpteen times.  This first thing that caught my attention is that Jesus made (NKJV, NIV, ESV) or insisted (NLT) the disciples get into the boat. I read it in a bunch of different versions and it’s clear: Jesus didn’t suggest, encourage or recommend their late day jaunt across the lake. Jesus literally compelled (NASB) them to get in and row. 

I also noticed that, after making get onto the boat, Jesus left. He jetted. Seriously. He flew the coop. The text says after getting the disciples settled in the boat He went up to the mountain to pray by Himself. 

As evening rolled around some brutal winds started to toss their little boat around. Jesus showed up sometime between 3:00 and 6:00 in the morning, He apparently just sauntered out onto the lake, scaring the bejeebers out of the disciples and then He (rather ironically) tells them not to be afraid. 

Then Peter, always the showoff, says to Jesus:

“Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water”

So, Jesus commanded Peter to go onto the water. Apparently, everything was cool for a little while, until Peter took his eyes off of Jesus, looked at the wind and got scared. His fear caused him to sink like a stone. The minute Peter asked for help Jesus stepped in and pulled him out of the water. 

However.

Jesus did not do what one would expect a gentle parent to do. Jesus did not give Peter a cookie and a hug and tell him he did awesome in spite of his lack of success. Instead Jesus says:

“You have so little faith,” “Why did you doubt me?” (NLT)

It feels a little harsh Jesus. 

This story got me thinking about all manner of things. 

Mostly, I spent a lot of time wondering why Jesus would force his disciples/friends onto a boat headed for a storm and then criticize them for their fear and lack of faith. After all, I would not classify Jesus as a big meanie, so, there had to be at least one reason for what appears to be a serious lack of compassion.  

I also wondered if there’s some personal application we might glean from this story. 

It occurred to me that because Jesus is God, He knows and knew EVERYTHING.  Therefore, it is logical there is more to the story than meets the eye.  It’s interesting to note that four chapters earlier Jesus explained to His disciples in no uncertain terms that tough times were coming and that they would need to be ready (Matthew 10:17-23). 

Maybe, just maybe, Jesus wasn’t being mean or insensitive or cruel. Perhaps, Jesus was simply preparing the people He loved most for some much harder things He knew were coming. Things like leadership positions in a messy new movement, opposition, jail time, harassment, persecution and even martyrdom (Acts 8:1-3, Acts 10-11). Maybe, as Jesus watched Peter flailing around on the water He was thinking to Himself: “dude, you think this storm is scary? Just wait till you’re standing in front of Nero”.  Maybe, forcing the disciples into a storm really was the best way for them to learn to trust Jesus in the even tougher stuff that was coming? 

Let’s say this is true.

Then the implications for us are fairly obvious. God is not the quintessential gentle parent, that said, He is the best parent ever. He sees what’s coming and he does everything in His power to prepare us for what lies ahead and like a truly great parent God is far more interested in what we become than in our immediate comfort and ease. 

It’s our job to cooperate with God. 

We do that by choosing to view our trials and difficulties as a gift from a loving Father rather than punishment or something to endure (James 1:2-4, 1st Peter 1:5-7, 2nd Corinthians 4:17, 1st Thessalonians 3:3). When we do, we willfully position ourselves to be transformed into someone truly glorious (2nd Corinthians 3:18, Romans 8:28-30). 

The Superpower of Spiritual Warfare-

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Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for- Hebrews 11:1-2 NIV

Faith. 

It’s a big stinking deal in the whole Christian experience. 

Faith in Jesus saves even the vilest sinner from their sins (Romans 10:10, Ephesians 2:8, Hebrews 10:39). It is faith and faith alone that made sinful people righteous even before Jesus came on the scene (Romans 1:17, Romans 4:1-12, James 2:21-23). Without faith there is no way anyone can please God no matter what they do or don’t do (Hebrews 11:6).

That being said    

As critically important as those things are, faith is even more than all that. Faith is also one of the most powerful defensive weapons we have as we do battle against the powers of this dark world (Ephesians 6:12).

Ephesians 6:16 tells us how it works: 

In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

Satan wants to hit us where it matters most from a spiritual perspective. If we don’t have confidence in God and belief in His goodness we are more-or-less done from a spiritual perspective. Therefore, Satan wants us to replace our belief in God’s goodness with doubts and our confidence in God with fear.

Faith is the anecdote to Satan’s assaults on our trust in God. 

Faith is critical to success in the spiritual battle because faith keeps the enemy from stealing, killing and destroying our trust in God and His goodness (Matthew 13:3-9)

Here’s the thing though. 

Faith is a fragile thing in a world as broken as ours. When bad things happen (and bad things happen all the time in a fallen world) the enemy plants doubt in our minds concerning the goodness and sometimes even the existence of God. These flaming arrows of doubt can be devastating when we are not holding firmly to the shield of faith (Mark 4:14). Because faith is such a fragile thing it is something we must intentionally cultivate in our lives.  We nurture and cultivate our faith when we:

Remember all the good God has done for us personally- 

From the beginning God’s people have constructed monuments to remind themselves of God’s faithfulness in their lives (Genesis 12:6, Genesis 28:18-22, Genesis 31:35, Genesis 35:14-20). Making the choice to be ruthlessly intentional about remembering the goodness of God is critical to maintaining and growing our faith. Satan’s arrows are doubts he plants in our mind concerning God’s goodness and ability to do what needs to be done in our lives. The habit of remembering God’s faithfulness in the past keeps us from being shaken in the present when life is hard or God feels far away (Psalm 42:2-5, Psalm 77:10-12)

Intentionally sow the spiritual in our lives- 

Our world is governed by the law of sowing and reaping (Job 4:8, Proverbs 11:18, Galatians 6:7-8).  This just means we all typically get back what we give or do, usually in a greater measure than we sowed.  If a person plants a potato they harvest a whole bunch of potatoes—not a single potato or a bunch of turnips. The law of sowing and reaping is every bit as applicable in the spiritual realm as it is in the physical. When we are intentional about sowing prayer, Bible reading and worship into our lives and then put what we learn into practice; we inevitably harvest more faith AND a steadiness to our faith that keeps us standing firm in the worst spiritual storms Satan and life throw at us (Matthew 7:24-29). 

Routinely hear the word taught- 

Romans 10:17 tells us one way we acquire greater and nurture the faith we already have is through hearing the word of God spoken and expounded on. This is one more really great reason to be firmly planted in a church where the word is faithfully taught week-in and week-out (Hebrews 10:24-25, 2nd Timothy 2:4)

Pray for more faith- 

In 1st Corinthians 12:9 the apostle Paul tells us faith is more than just a belief in something we cannot see it is also a spiritual gift. Like all spiritual gifts we are free to ask God to give us the gift of faith. Because faith pleases God more than anything (Hebrews 11:6), asking for more faith is not a request God typically denies those who ask for it with a sincere heart (Matthew 7:7-11, 1st John 5:14). 

Practice gratitude- 

Thankfulness is noticing. The more we choose to notice all the things God has done for us and in us, the more our faith grows (Colossians 3:16).  

Choose to live life in Christian community-

Being in community with other Christians grows our faith because God uses His people to love and care for one another in times of need (John 13:34-35, Romans 12:10, Galatians 5:13, Ephesians 4:12, 1st Peter 1:22). When we are loved and cared for by God’s people our faith in God’s love for us is increased. Being in community is also where we here stories about God’s provision and care for others. Hearing stories about God’s care for others increases our own faith in God’s ability to care for us. 

Faith is believing all the promises of God even when we don’t see those promises fulfilled in the here and now (Hebrews 11:6). Our faith renders Satan powerless over us. When we are walking in faith God uses us to lead others into greater faith in Jesus. This realty literally makes faith a spiritual super power. We keep our super power in working order by nurturing it and trusting God to grow it.

How do we Process our own Personal “Day of Evil”?

Lisa M. Price3 Comments

Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm– Ephesians 6:13 NASB

Ephesians 6:10-18 is, in my humble opinion, one of the most interesting and useful passages in all of New Testament. It focuses on the spiritual realities of being in Christ. Paul wants Christians in every age to understand we are living in a world at war. There is a battle raging all around us for the hearts, minds and souls of people. 

This battle the apostle Paul describes is real. 

It’s not metaphorical or allegorical or symbolic.

There is an actual war taking place all around us in a spiritual realm we cannot see or touch but is every bit as real as the world we can see and touch (Daniel 9:12-14, James 2:19, Mark 1:34). Paul wants Christians to understand that at some point in our Christian walk this war will land on our doorstep in a very personal and painful kind of a way.  

In verse thirteen Christians are instructed to put their armor on and pray diligently because at some point in our lives we are all guaranteed to experience a personal “day of evil”.  The words Paul uses in the phrase “day of evil” poneros (evil) and hemere (day) when used together mean a time (season, period, term) full of trouble, sorrow, evil, affliction and calamity. 

A “day of evil” is a personal attack from the enemy of our souls that will hit us out of nowhere in places and in ways that will cause us extreme difficulty, anxiety, pain, confusion and possibly even create a crisis of faith. If we go into our “day of evil” unprepared due to a lack of prayer or lack of information we will almost surely become casualties of the war. 

It’s that serious. 

Every Christian’s own personal “day of evil” is uniquely theirs. The book of Job tells the story of one man’s “day of evil”. Like Job, our “day of evil” may involve any number of ugly and uncomfortable events that could include but are not limited to:  personal loss, financial loss, betrayal by a friend, spouse or fellow Christian, abandonment, a personal illness or the death or illness of a loved one (Job 1:1-22). A “day of evil” typically involves a whole lot of really awful things striking in quick succession. Every day feels like a new hit. 

It is possible to survive a “day of evil” with our faith intact. In fact, if we handle it right there is a really good chance we will come out of the whole ugly muddle stronger, wiser and with an even deeper understanding of our faith (1st Peter 1:3-9).

However. 

In order to make that happen there are a couple of things we have to keep in mind. First, you cannot allow yourself to fall into the trap of trying to figure out what exactly you did to “deserve” whatever weird and horrible situation you’re dealing with.

 You won’t figure it out.

 Job never did and you won’t either (Job 42:1-5). The harder you try to make sense of why this (whatever “this” is) is happening to you the more confused and bitter you will become. Besides, the answer is probably “nothing”. The enemy will remind you of every awful thing you have ever done in your life.  Remember, Jesus paid for all that so you wouldn’t have to.  It’s also absolutely critical you understand GOD IS NOT TRYING TO PUNISH YOU. That’s not His gig. He doesn’t punish His children for things they don’t understand. 

God is not a jerk. 

You are experiencing whatever it is you are experiencing because you live in a fallen world and terrible things happen even to Christian people in a world as fallen as ours. Compounding that reality, you have an enemy who hates you. He wants to destroy you emotionally, psychologically and spiritually. Satan wants to hurt you so badly you are rendered useless for the Kingdom of God. He knows if he can bring enough discouragement, pain and unfairness into your life in a short enough period of time, there’s a pretty good chance your faith in the goodness of God will collapse like a house of cards in a hurricane (Luke 8:11-14). So, stop trying to figure it out. Asking “why” is a pointless waste of time. 

Instead, of asking God why questions spend time with Him every day and ask Him some what and how questions:

What do you want me to learn from this, God?

How can I be molded into the image of Jesus through this? 

What do I need to understand so I can grow right now?

How can I become more compassionate as I go through this?

 God does not cause horrible things to happen. However, He will use EVERYTHING we experience in this life (good or evil) for our growth and His glory as long as we are willing to cooperate with Him through the pain and confusion (Romans 8:28). 

Remember:

God does not call us to do great things in our “day of evil”. All He really asks us to do is “stand” (Ephesians 6:13). We do that by running to God with our pain and confusion instead of running from Him.

Why is Life so Stinking Hard?

Lisa M. Price1 Comment

 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me~ 2nd Corinthians 12:9

  I hate doing hard things.

Seriously. I just do.

If I have an option between something easy and hard I’m picking the easy route. Every. Single. Time. I don’t think I’m weird in that way. Most humans hate hard things. The spiritual explanation for this phenomenon is simple: we are both fallen and we were created to live in a world with far fewer problems and stress (Genesis 2:4-24). Our fallenesss makes it difficult to care about the benefits of anything that isn’t easy and our souls long for what we were made for. On a personal note: it doesn’t help that I am a spoiled first world-er who is just accustomed to easy.  

Sigh.

All that being said, the older I get the more I see the benefit of not always taking the easy path. There are all sorts of really good reasons why hard things shouldn’t be shunned (Galatians 6:9).

Including:

   We can’t escape hard things in a fallen world- 

Hardness in life is never an accident of fate, nor is it always a result of sinful choices. Hardness in this world came about as a result of sin (Genesis 3:14-19). Until sin is dealt with once and for all (Revelation 19-21) hard things will simply be an integral part of life in this world. The whole messy mess is complicated by the reality that Christians have an enemy (1st Peter 5:8, Ephesians 6:11) who has a vested in interest in making life harder for God’s people (more on this in point 4). Because hard things are inevitable in this life it just makes sense to lean into the hard rather than to try and fight them.

Doing hard things prepares us for harder things- 

I am currently reading through the book of Exodus. In chapter five God sends Moses to Pharaoh for the first time.  Moses tells Pharaoh that God wants Pharaoh to let the Hebrews go so they can worship their God. Pharaoh did not react the way Moses hoped he would. He laughed at Moses and cruelly increased the workload of the Hebrew people. The very people Moses was trying to help turned around and laid the blame for the whole messy muddle squarely at the feet of Moses. By the end of the chapter Moses was clearly bummed-out and was what the heck-ing God. He says:  

“Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.” Exodus 5:22-23

Because I have the advantage of knowing how the story ends, I was struck by the thought that if Moses had realized at that moment that he was actually doing the easiest leadership task he was ever going to have to do he probably would have laid down on the floor and cried like a tired child. Moses didn’t know it yet, but the mission in front of him was going to be hard in ways he could not even begin to imagine. Before the whole thing was over Moses would be an expert in how to deal with both difficult people, intense disappointment and intensely disappointed difficult people.  Mercifully, God did not tell Moses exactly how tough things would eventually get. Instead God just used the hard thing (dealing with Pharaoh) to prepare Moses for the harder thing (leading the people through the wilderness). God does the same thing with us. He gives us hard things to prepare us for harder things that will have a bigger impact on this world (see point four).

God has a special place in His heart for people who do hard things- 

The Christians in Smyrna (Revelation 2:8-11) did the hardest things Christians are ever called to do. They suffered and some even died for their belief in Jesus. God had nothing but positive things to say about them and the sacrifices they willingly made. In the text God tells the Christians in Smyrna that He understands their pain and difficulty and then praises them for standing strong in the face of intense adversity. He gently and lovingly encouraged them to continue to stand strong and be courageous as they waited for the relief that would come in time.  Throughout the Scriptures God exhibits a heart of compassion for those experiencing hard things. God is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). 

And finally:

The hardest things in life have the biggest potential to impact eternity in some way. Seriously. It’s just true.Things like sharing our faith, living honorably, speaking hard truths in a gentle way, raising decent kids, having a healthy marriage, going the distance in ministry and laying down our lives for others are hard things. They suck-up our energy, eat away at our free time, cost us money and try our patience. Sometimes those things feel like they will break us.  However, hard things also grow our faith, give us wisdom, make us better people and have the potential to change someone else’s eternity. Changing eternity for others is the very best thing and worth all the trouble that comes with it (Matthew 25:21, 1st Corinthians 3:7-9, Ephesians 6:8, Colossians 3:24).

Every. Single. Time.    

The Fast-Track to Becoming Spiritually Useless-

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Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up. You will increase my honor and comfort me once more~ Psalm 71:20-21 NIV

 There are a few sins unique to a few seriously creepy individuals. Normal people might joke about murder. However, very few people actually kill people.  Even fewer people joke about cannibalism or human sacrifice. 

 Then there are the other sins.

 Those irksome little sins that sprout-up like weeds in a garden. The ones we all struggle with (1st Corinthians 10:13). There is simply no one in all of human history who has not grappled with lust, inappropriate anger, jealousy, hatred, selfish ambition and the inclination to gossip (Galatians 5:19-21, James 3:14, Colossians 3:5-6) at some point in their lives.

 Bitterness is another.

Scripture clearly instructs Christians to avoid becoming bitter and remaining bitter (Ephesians 4:31, Hebrews 12:15). That being said, most of us (if we’re honest) will admit to wallowing around in the sin of bitterness at some point.  

Here’s the thing:

Most people do not become bitter without at least a semi-valid reason. This inevitably leads people to feel justified and even righteous as they embrace the anger and resentment that ultimately leads to bitterness.  I am well-acquainted with the sin of bitterness. I learned first-hand over the course of several miserable and painfully unproductive years bitterness is one of those sins that hurts us far more than it hurts the people who have sinned against us.

 It is critical we understand God does not forbid bitterness because it is not a defensible, logical or understandable reaction to certain situations. Sometimes bitterness is all of those things. God forbids bitterness because bitterness gradually undoes every good thing God has done in our hearts, minds and spirits.  At the root of a bitter spirit is unforgiveness. Unforgiveness causes us to miss the grace of God and prevents us from experiencing the Christian life in all its beauty and fullness (Matthew 6:14-15, Hebrews 12:15, Luke 17:4).

 The paths that lead to bitterness are endless.

Something as small and seemingly insignificant as being offended or ignored can cause a bitter root to develop in more sensitive people. An unfaithful spouse, a duplicitous friend, a truly tough childhood or ongoing, unrelenting injustice can cause a root of bitterness to sprout-up in even the most thick-skinned of people.  

 Because bitterness is such a common sin and because it is something we are cautioned to avoid at all costs there are at least four things every Christian needs to understand about bitterness.

 Bitterness makes spiritual growth impossible-

 It does not matter how many sermons the bitter person hears (or preaches). Nor does it matter how much of the Bible a person can recite verbatim. There is something about the choice to remain bitter that makes it impossible for that person to apply the truth they are taught or are teaching to their own life. Any learning that does take place is typically just empty academic agreement (head knowledge) rather than a full emotional and intellectual adoption of truth we have understood and embraced (heart knowledge). Satan celebrates every time a Christian becomes bitter because bitterness keeps Christians stuck in a cycle of obtaining knowledge without actually growing (2nd Timothy 3:7).

 Bitterness halts clear communication with God-

 Bitterness is a sin (Ephesians 4:31, Acts 8:23). It just is.  Sin impedes communication with God. It just does. Repentance from sin is the only way to restore clear and unrestricted communication with God (2nd Chronicles 7:14, Daniel 9:1-19). Sadly, bitterness blinds us to the lack of communication we have with God, making it more difficult to hear His voice and get right Him.

 We have a responsibility to prevent our own bitterness-

 There will always be situations that come into our lives that have the potential to make us bitter. Some of those situations are one-hundred-percent unforeseeable and therefore entirely unavoidable. That being said, the author of the book of Hebrews tells the readers of the book to “see to it” that no “bitter root grows up”. The writer is instructing Christians to process and forgive offenses as quickly and completely as humanly possible.  Likewise, Christians should be very careful about voluntarily placing themselves in situations where bitterness is an obvious and foreseeable end result of said situation (Hebrews 12:15, Ephesians 5:15).

 Behaving in a way that causes others to become bitter is as sinful as bitterness-

 The New Testament clearly teaches a principle of mutual accountability when it comes to sin (Matthew 18:6-9). For example: Christians are clearly forbidden from committing adultery (Exodus 20:14, Mark 7:21). However, spouses are also cautioned against refusing one another other sexually because doing so could tempt their spouse to commit adultery (1st Corinthians 7:1-5). Obviously, a lack of “IT” in a marriage does not make adultery acceptable to God (Hebrews 13:4). However, it does make the other partner accountable to God for their refusal to obey Scripture.  Similarly, each person is responsible before God for their own choice to become bitter. However, we have an obligation to live in such a way that we do not give people just cause to become bitter. If we don’t we will be accountable to God for our sinful, selfish or evil actions.

 Finally. There really is only one path to getting free from the sin of bitterness-

 We have to forgive.

 Seriously.  It’s that simple. We have to let go of the hurt and bitterness we are holding onto and let God be the judge and jury of the other person. 

 It’s His job (1st Samuel 24:12, Hebrews 4:13, 1st Peter 4:5) and it makes us free to do what He has called us to do. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Four Keys to Staying Sane when Life Hits You with an Unexpected Curveball-

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

My days have passed, my plans are shattered. Yet the desires of my heart turn night into day; in the face of the darkness light is near~ Job 17:11-12 NIV

 Regular readers of this blog know that I typically write out of my own personal experience and only very rarely tell the stories of others. There are numerous reasons for my reluctance to tell other people’s stories.

 First, I feel really weird telling other people’s stories and I really hate feeling weird. I also worry excessively (probably neurotically) about violating the privacy of others. Moreover, I only know what I know, not what other people know, so I am reluctant to assign motives to others and it’s hard to tell some stories without assigning motives. And finally, I avoid offending others unnecessarily and there is no quicker route to provoking an offense than to tell someone else’s story and get it wrong or to assign the wrong motives.

 Sigh.

 All that being said, this week I feel inclined to share what I gleaned from watching someone else live out a really unpleasant chapter of their story with honesty and grace.

 I have a close friend who has been through more tough stuff in the course of the last two weeks than one could reasonably expect to experience in a decade of living. In the interest of protecting my friend’s privacy, I will spare you the nitty-gritty details of her private hell. I will tell you that the situation manifested itself suddenly and with no warning. Within days it morphed into the kind of nightmare we all secretly fear will happen to us and pray never does.

 Life has hit my sweet and strong friend with some nasty curveballs in recent days.

 I define a curveball as any situation we were not expecting that abruptly alters our life in an unpleasant and unanticipated way. Curveballs are frustratingly common in this life. No one, no matter how well they manage their personal affairs, makes it through this life without experiencing at least one season of curveballs.

 Curveballs come in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes they come in the form of an unforeseen job loss, a financial or health crisis, divorce, affair, or the death of a loved one. In truth, the details of said situation matter less than how we handle them.

 Today I am going to share four strategies for managing the curveballs of life I picked-up from observing my friend this week.

First:

 Run to God rather than away from Him-

 Alas, the first instinct many of us have when trouble strikes is to get mad at God. We do this because logic tells us that God is the omnipotent maker of the universe and if anyone is capable of preventing trouble, it’s God. While that may be true, it ignores a couple of vital truths. First and foremost, trouble and hardship are a sad but inescapable consequence of living in a fallen world (John 16:33). Even Jesus experienced hardship and trouble in this life (Hebrews 2:10). Secondly, God wants to be there for us and give us comfort in the midst of our trials. And finally, God sometimes uses hardship and trouble to shape us into the people He has called us to be and to prepare us to minister effectively to others. God cannot do any of the things He wants to do in us or for us if we push Him away in anger.

 Accept help-

 God does some of His best work through His people. Anytime someone offers to help in a crisis we should view that person as the hand of God reaching out to offer practical support in our time of need. It’s essential we take the help that’s offered.

 Own what you need to own-

 With a few notable exceptions, curveballs rarely just appear out of nowhere. Many times, there’s a history of choices that led up to the life-altering mess. It’s crucial we take responsibility for any part we may have played in creating the situation that led up to the curveball. Taking ownership of mistakes and failings keeps us from blaming God and will ultimately set the stage for us to make better and wiser choices in the future.  

And finally:

 Find someone you trust and be as real as you need to be about how you feel. Talking is the ONLY way to stay sane in a curveball situation. Sadly, we simply cannot be honest with everyone because not everyone is worthy of trust or equipped to deal with the negative emotions that accompany a curveball. So find the one or two people who will listen, pray, and offer wise counsel without judging and share what you need to share to preserve your sanity.

 

 

  

 

 

Surviving Unwelcome or Unplanned Change-

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

 

Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there~ Genesis 39:1 NIV

There was a time in the not-so-distant past when I believed with all my heart I was one of those unicorn-like individuals who actually liked and even thrived on change.

 I now know I was an idiot (Proverbs 29:20).

Seriously.

I’m pretty sure I  aggravated the decency out of anyone unfortunate enough to have a conversation with me about the subject. I suspect there were a large number of people who sat quietly contemplating homicide, as I waxed eloquent on my love for change and my nearly superhuman ability to adapt to whatever came my way.

Insert gagging sounds here.

 Then about five years ago I had an unpleasant reality check in the form of at least a dozen different changes I did not like, want or understand.

 Sigh.

 The good news is that I got to be a lot less annoying really quickly as I figured out that I, like all normal people really only like change I have a level of control over. Change is wonderful in the abstract or when you’re contemplating something fun, like a move to a new city, a new baby or a job promotion.

Change is just not nearly as thrilling when it is thrust upon you like an ugly blind date, completely lacking in social skills. Or when it shows up uninvited in the shape of something awful and unwanted like a job loss, a car accident, a death in the family, a grim diagnosis or a divorce you didn’t ask for.

Sigh.

 However. As Christians we have the confidence that nothing enters our lives without God’s foreknowledge. We also understand that if we choose to live for God, even in the midst of circumstances we do not like or understand, good will eventually come out of even the ugliest of situations (1st Corinthians 7:17, Romans 8:28). Because I truly believe those things to be true, I came to terms with the fact that God had a purpose for the changes disturbing my peaceful reality.

 I learned some hard lessons during that period of my life; and not just to shut my pie-hole about circumstances I didn’t fully understand.  I also learned that whether or not we barely survive changes or thrive in the middle of it all depends on whether or not we understand and live-out these four truths…

 Unwelcome change brings losses that should be grieved-

 I am not intimating that the trauma of a married woman’s unplanned pregnancy is somehow equal to the trauma of the death of loved one. However, both changes involve loss and all losses deserve at least a quick trip through the five stages of grief. Taking the time to feel the feelings that come with loss, rather than pretending those feelings don’t exist, or worse, putting on a happy face that’s basically just a lie will prevent emotional problems (such as depression) and spiritual problems (such as bitterness) in the future (Hebrews 12:15).

 Guard your heart against bitterness and hate-

 The greatest danger in unwelcome change is bitterness. We can easily become embittered towards the people who wronged us, didn’t see our value or who betrayed our trust in some way. We can also become bitter towards God for not working our circumstances out in a different way. Bitterness towards anyone is poison to our souls and must be dealt with decisively by grieving the loss, forgiving the jerks that hurt us and choosing to accept the new normal (Ephesians 4:15, Psalm 71:20, Colossians 3:13).

 Embrace the opportunities change brings-

 I hate trite sayings. Truly I do.  However, it’s just a fact that when one door closes another one opens and it only makes sense to bloom where we are planted (Jeremiah 29:4-12) That being said, we can get so caught-up in what we are losing that we don’t see the opportunities that opening up right in front of us. If you find yourself in the messy middle of unwelcome change, ask God to show you the doors He’s opening on your behalf. I guarantee there will be some (Isaiah 43:19, Philippians 2:13).

 Unwanted changes are a time for reflection and self-improvement-

 God did not bring unwanted change into my life because I was doing anything wrong or sinful. However, in retrospect I was really bad at being assertive with certain people. As a result I was going in a direction others had chosen for me and I had little inclination (or time) to do the things I was actually called to do (Ephesians 2:10). That period in my life gave me the downtime I needed to self-analyze and eventually become a lot more assertive when I needed to be. I also got to know God and myself a whole lot better. In the process of all that reflection I figured out who I really was and what I was really good at.

 Joseph (Genesis 37-50) is the poster-child for surviving and prospering in the midst of unwelcome and unpleasant change. He was sold as a slave by his brothers, jailed for a crime he didn’t commit and forgotten by the person who had the power to rescue him. Through all that he never stopped learning, growing and trusting God. As a result of his willingness to embrace the opportunities that came with unwelcome change he literally transformed the future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What to Do When You Don’t Know what to do-

Lisa M. Price2 Comments

Be strong and have strength of heart. Do not be afraid or shake with fear because of them. For the Lord your God is the One Who goes with you. He will be faithful to you. He will not leave you alone~ Deuteronomy 31:6-7 NLV

 I do not pretend to know everything there is to know about everything.

 I freely admit that there is more I don’t know than there is that I do know. Moreover, I am well aware that even after more decades on this planet than I like to talk about I probably still don’t know what I don’t know.

 Sigh.

 That said, there are some things I am convinced are true. The first is that God is a good God. He always has our best interests at heart, even when our feelings or circumstances tell us something different. The second is that spiritual truth simply does not change or become untrue because the culture in which we live tells us otherwise. God’s opinions do not “evolve”. If something was true from a spiritual perspective two thousand years ago then it is still true today. Notwithstanding all the reports you have likely heard to the contrary.

 And lastly, I am persuaded that every human being who walks through life on this silly, sin-sick planet has or will experience the frustration and confusion that comes with not knowing what to do or how to respond to a particular situation or problem. Sadly, there are times in this life when education, wisdom or extensive personal experiences still leave us thoroughly ill equipped to handle the junk life throws at us.

 An unpleasant and sometimes overwhelming sense of defeat generally accompanies these times. The muddle is further compounded by the fact that the stuff that vexes us most in life is generally profoundly personal and often deeply painful. This ends up leaving even the best of us feeling bewildered, vulnerable and peeved with God (Psalm 10:1, Psalm 13:1, Psalm 27:9).

 Which leads to doing a whole lot of nothing.

 I am convinced that the nuts and bolts story of how we got to this place in life matters a whole lot less than what we do with the circumstances we are faced with. Don’t get me wrong; there is value in self-examination (2nd Corinthians 13:5) . Self-examination and an honest assessment of our actions and reactions is the only thing that will keep us from repeating the same stupid mistakes over and over again.

 However.

It’s what we do when we don’t know what to do that determines our character and ultimately it’s our character that determines our destiny (please pardon the trite, overused platitude).

 Again, I do not know everything there is to know about this or any other subject. However, I do have more experience than I care to admit with not knowing what to do in a particular situation (don’t ask). So today I want to share a few tips for maneuvering through the morass of what to do when you don’t know what to do.

 First…

 Don’t get stuck in a muddle of misery and self-pity–

 Personal blows such as a job loss, personal rejection, business failure, or a divorce are horrendous, life-altering, episodes that really do warrant a legitimate grieving process. It’s crucial that we allow ourselves be sad or angry when we experience a big hurt or loss, it’s also crucial we don’t get stuck in feelings of sadness or self-pity. At some point we have to heal from the hurt, take risks again and find a new normal (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8).  

 Do something good–

 Anytime we make a big mistake or suffer through a hurtful situation it’s tempting to isolate ourselves and just kind of wait around for circumstances to change and for good things to come our way. Sadly, good things rarely just happen. Good things typically transpire because we are doing good things (Ephesians 2:10, Galatians 6:7). So turn off the phone, laptop and T.V and and go interact with humanity. Volunteer in a soup kitchen, get to know a lonely neighbor, or help out at your church. It may not change your circumstances but it will make you feel better about life (Matthew 6:12).

 Don’t blame God–

 Trust me, it’s not His fault. He is in fact, the one who cares most about you and your situation (Psalm 40:1, 1st Peter 1:3-9). You need Him now more than ever.

 Forgive the jerks that hurt you–

 Lack of forgiveness keeps us trapped in a never-ending cycle of bitterness that makes it almost impossible to see a way out of our current circumstances. The only way to break the cycle is to let go of resentments and forgive (Acts 3:19, Matthew 6:12-15). Forgiveness is beautiful because it frees us up to see the future that God has prepared for us.

 There is one other thing I am staunchly persuaded is true. I am sure God never allows anything, no matter how painful or futile it may feel to us, into our life without a greater purpose (Romans 8: 18, Romans 8:28, Philippians 2:13 ). Sometimes when we don’t know what to do, God just wants us to take a little time get to know Him better. When that task is accomplished, then He will show us what to do.