Real Life Stories

Have you ever watched sandpipers at the beach? I love watching these small birds  that hang out along the ocean’s edge. They will go as close to the water as possible, using their long bill to dig in the mud for edible treasures but as soon as a wave comes they run away from the surf as quickly as their strong legs will carry them. On the occasion that the wave can’t be outrun, the smart bird will take flight at the very last possible second. They don’t want to be overcome by a wave. Apparently, wet feet are okay, but they have no interest in getting completely wet. We can be a bit like this, too, sometimes, can’t we? We don’t mind getting our feet a bit wet, but we aren’t ready to give 100%. We run away from the shore for many reasons but one big reason is because of fear.

For instance, sometimes God will give me this awesome opportunity to share the Gospel with someone.  And instead of sharing the Truth directly and with love, I tiptoe around the edge of the shore and then, when I get too worried about offending someone and “losing their friendship”,  I get scared and run away– just like the sandpiper.

Or how about with our kids? Sometimes we know we shouldn’t let them do something or watch something or listen to something. But they let us know that ALL their friends are doing it, watching it, or listening to it.  And we get scared that they will hate us or tell their friends mean things about us so, instead of standing our ground, we turn and run away from the conflict. Because of fear.

Or maybe God is calling us to take on a new ministry or reach out to a neighbor who is hurting or change our career or to use a talent that will stretch us. We think about it. We go online and investigate it. We daydream about it.  And then the fear takes over and we run away. We make the decision to stay in our comfort zone. Because we are scared.

Sometimes circumstances are such that  it is not prudent to share the Gospel. Sometimes we need to pick our battles with our kids. And sometimes it is not God leading us into a new adventure but our feelings and emotions getting the best of us. It is important to be reading God’s Word, praying, and seeking His will.  But if we truly believe that God has granted us an amazing opportunity to share the Gospel with our unsaved friend or acquaintance or if we know we should stand up for what’s right with our kids or He is leading us to venture onto a path into the unknown, well, then we need to face our fears and get our whole body into the ocean!

Psalm 31:24; Galatians 6:9; Joshua 1:9

It was a beautiful, hot, summer evening. We were traveling on an interstate highway in the middle of nowhere. Tree-covered mountains were around us on all sides. As we were driving along we passed other cars and trucks intent on getting wherever it was they were going.  And then–quite suddenly–we were completely alone. There was not another vehicle anywhere before us or behind us or beside us. We were the only car on this stretch of highway.

For a brief–very brief–moment I panicked.

Had we missed a sign that says the highway is closed? Surely, at this time of day, people should be traveling on the highway? I reined in my thoughts almost before I had them, they were that ridiculous. But as I pondered on my momentary panic, I realized that sometimes we do this in our Christian lives, as well.

We are trying hard to obey God’s Word in a certain area and, yet, when we look around us, we feel so alone, because none of our Christian brothers and sisters seem to be obeying God in this area. We question ourselves–is this really a conviction from God’s Word or just a tradition or opinion? Should I be making myself or my kids hold to this standard when it seems like we are completely and utterly alone in doing so?

Being alone is not a fun place to be. It is easier for some than for others. But when it comes right down to it, we all would rather be a part of the crowd. We’d rather not stand out for things such as what we are not wearing, what we are not watching, where we are not going, and what we are not listening to.

We’d rather just melt into the crowd and allow our kids to do the same. It is so much easier to just follow the crowd and allow ourselves or our kids to wear that immodest bathing suit or listen to that obscene band; to play that violent X-box game or go to that R-rated movie.

But let me encourage you to stay on the lonely road. It will be worth it. Your kids will thank you someday (as long as you give them a good discussion about basing your rules on God’s Word alone; don’t just lay down legalistic laws without reasons). Don’t lower your standards.

I Timothy 6:12 tells us to–^“Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”

Let’s fight the good fight and stand for truth together! But in those moments when you feel alone, keep standing! You will never be sorry!

P.S.  I have made many mistakes in this area–caving in instead of standing–as I am sure many of you have. We need to be very careful not to judge others, but instead encourage and edify one another, gently admonishing and always loving each other.

This weekend, while sitting by the campfire, I spotted a shiny millipede in the grass.  It was winding its way to who knows where?  As I watched it going wherever it was going with seemingly great purpose, it would sometimes disappear beneath the grass.  I would watch for it to pop up in some other place.  Sometimes I could see just part of its hard-shelled body.  As I observed this tiny creature from my vantage point of the camping chair, I got to thinking that my view of the millipede is a little bit like our view of God.  Sometimes we can see Him at work in our lives in obvious, amazing ways.  Other times it is not so clear.   We are not sure.  And then other times, He seems to disappear altogether.  No matter how much we pray or read our Bibles, we just don’t have a “feeling” of closeness to Him (I am certainly glad that my salvation does not depend upon my feelings!)

But just like the millipede is always there in the grass, whether I can see him or not, so God is always there.  I don’t have to see Him at work or have a particular “feeling”.  If I am a true believer, God is with me.  Always.  God’s Word makes that clear.  One example of this is in Psalm 23:4:

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

God is always with us…when we can see Him at work in our lives…and when we can’t.

I have a couple of rocking chairs on my porch. They look nice and sturdy. In fact,  I just repainted them, so they look quite inviting for anyone with a cup of coffee in their hand as they prepare to watch the sunset.  But if you sit on the one, it will be a big disappointment. The one rocker is broken and while it looks perfect, the piece on the bottom is actually completely severed and broken. It needs glued and we just haven’t gotten around to that. But we can put it together in such a way that you can’t really tell…until you sit on it.

“So what?” you may ask. This rocker got me to thinking about how we view others. I wonder if we don’t often view those around us and their behaviors with a certain judging spirit, totally unaware of what is hurting, insecure, or broken on the inside. If someone is behaving in a certain way, there is usually an internal reason for doing so.  Perhaps they never felt loved or accepted by their father. Perhaps they are watching a loved one as they battle fiercely with cancer or some other dreaded disease. Perhaps they are wrapped up in a lawsuit that threatens their livelihood or maybe their daughter just had an abortion. Could it be that they suffered abuse at the hands of an uncle or were bullied as a child? The list goes on and on.

While the past is never an excuse for sin, and sin does need to be confronted, it is never a reason not to love someone, especially a Christian brother or sister. In I John 3:10 it says we are not of God if we do not love our brother. We will do far more good with love than with hate.  Judging people without love and with a spirit of arrogance is not of God (Proverbs 6:17).

We are to judge (John 7:24), but only with a proper heart attitude and a heart full of love. Judgment that is only based on God’s standards of righteousness–not our own. Knowing that, but for the grace of God, go I and being fully aware of our own sinful hearts. We are to love and care for one another, especially our Christian brothers and sisters. We should actually be broken-hearted because they are offending Almighty God, instead of feeling prideful because of how “holy” we are compared to THEM.

That rocker looks different than it really is. Just as people are often different on the inside than they appear on the outside. Now, I am not saying we are never to determine what kind of fruit someone is producing in their life. We are to discern between good and evil and we are to walk in the way of righteousness.We are to choose our friends wisely and we are to confront our brother or sister when sin is present. But sitting in our homes or at the restaurant having conversations about others and their “sin” is not right. It is gossip. And God hates it. Aah, how easy it is to fail in this area. And, oh, how so many of us Christians (myself included) forget that this is sin, plain and simple.