Category Archives: Thoughts From Scripture

Content Even When in Need?

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How can I be content when in need?

In the USA, we’ve just celebrated Thanksgiving. Deliberately set for the time just after harvest, the holiday traditionally called for joy and thankfulness when provisions for the next year had been safely gathered in.

Though not everyone farms or gardens these days, we still use this time to remind ourselves just how blessed we are. Those who know the Lord, and even some who don’t, thank God for what He has given.

But I’ve learned from farming friends and history that not all harvests are created equal. One can do everything possible to raise a crop, but one can’t make anything grow. Bad weather, drought, insect invasion, or plant disease can diminish, if not totally wipe out a crop.

Some Thanksgiving seasons find us overflowing with burdens rather than blessings.

What then?

It’s relatively easy to thank God in times of health and plenty. But in times of want, illness, or sorrow, are we exempt from thanking God?

I think of Philippians 4:11-12, where Paul says, “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.”

Content in all things? Even in hunger or need?

Why would God allow His children to suffer need?

To convict of sin. Often in the Old Testament, when Israel looked to idols or other countries for help instead of God, God allowed them to suffer need. This wasn’t vindictive or petty. In love, God had to let them see that other sources they looked to were useless and powerless. This doesn’t mean every trial or need comes because one has sinned. But trials provide a good opportunity to see if any sin is hindering God from answering our prayers.

To sanctify and humble us. Paul said his thorn in 2 Corinthians 12 was given “to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations” given to him.

To help us grow. In John 15, Jesus said He was the vine, his Father the vinedresser, and we’re the branches. Then He said, “Every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (verse 2). I’m not good with plants, but I have discovered the truth of this principle. Many plants don’t grow as they should if they’re not cut back at times.Trimming the branches helps the plants grow not only more healthy, but more blooms. So when God removes something from our lives, we grow in ways we would not have without that pruning.

To bring us to maturity. James i:2-4 says, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

To turn our hearts to what is most important. At the end of Israel’s years in the wilderness, God told them, “You shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” (Deuteronomy 8:2-3).

As a testimony that we don’t serve Him just for His blessings. That’s what Satan accused Job of: that Job only served God because God had blessed him so much. Take away his blessings, Satan urged, and Job will curse You (Job 1). Job went through a rough time and questioned God, but he didn’t turn away from Him in faithlessness.

Elisabeth Elliot wrote in her September/October 1984 newsletter (which was later published in Keep a Quiet Heart), “It had to be proved to Satan, in Job’s case, that there is such a thing as obedient faith which does not depend on receiving only benefits. Jesus had to show the world that He loved the Father and would, no matter what happened, do exactly what He said. The servant is not greater than his Lord. When we cry ‘Why, Lord?’ we should ask instead, ‘Why not, Lord? Shall I not follow my Master in suffering as in everything else?’ Does our faith depend on having every prayer answered as we think it should be answered, or does it rest rather on the character of a sovereign Lord?”

She goes on to say, “Genuine faith is–the kind of faith that overcomes the world because it trusts and obeys, no matter what the circumstances. The world does not want to be told. The world must be shown.”

You might think, “Okay, I can see why God might allow us to suffer need sometimes. But how can I be content even then? I have a hard enough time being content even when everything is going well.”

In the Philippians 2 passage mentioned earlier, where Paul speaks of being content in every situation, whether in plenty or need, he follows that statement with a verse that we take out of context and apply to everything else: “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

I’ve found it amusing when two Christian ball teams claim Philippians 1:13 as they compete against each other. They’re thinking of it in terms of winning. But one team will need His strength to lose well.

In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, Paul shares that he prayed three times for God to remove his “thorn in the flesh,” whatever that actually entailed. But God did not remove the difficulty. Instead, he promised, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness” (NKJV).

Paul’s response? He didn’t whine, “That’s not fair.” He didn’t get angry. He said, “Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Perhaps that’s the main reason God sometimes lets us suffer need: to cause us to rely on Him.

This doesn’t mean we never seek help or take measures to deal with our needs. But we realize God is the giver of all good gifts. We can’t do anything without Him. He’s promised to meet all our needs. We don’t have to worry and fret: we can rest in His care and timing.

One time I experienced these things was minor in the grand scheme of things, but major at the time. I was getting ready to leave for a writer’s conference and prayed for a good night’s sleep. I wasn’t consciously nervous, at least not like I had been the first time I went. But I only got about an hour’s sleep all night. I tossed, turned, went to the couch, tried all my usual tricks like listening to soft music, prayed and prayed and prayed. Yet sleep wouldn’t come.

I got up around 4:30 and took a shower. I had a three-hour drive ahead of me, but knew it wasn’t safe to get behind the week in the state I was in. I had asked the Lord to search my heart for anything amiss and to help me know if this was His way of telling me not to go. I decided to try to take a nap in my desk chair and asked God to multiply my sleep like the loaves and fishes so it would be enough.

I woke up and headed out. I missed the opening session, but it wasn’t critical, and I had a wonderful time at the conference.

However, I was still confused, and even hurt, to tell the truth, that God had not answered my prayer for a good night’s sleep.

Over the next few days, some of these principles came to mind and helped. Then I realized God had answered my prayer—just not in the way I expected. The sleep I got was sufficient for my needs, even though it normally would not have been.

I’m still not sure why God allowed things to happen just that way. All I know is, sometimes He brings us to the end of ourselves so that all we can do is lay our need before Him. When we look to Him alone, He gives us the strength and grace we need.

Philippians 4:11b-13

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Happy Thanksgiving

“To give thanks is not the same as ‘feeling thankful.’
To give thanks in the midst of pain and problems is to take a step of faith based on the command of 1 Thessalonians 5:18: God tells us to give thanks in all circumstances
(not just those we can handle or feel on top of).
For what things can you give thanks, even while you’re hurting?“

Joni Eareckson Tada,
A Thankful Heart in a World of Hurt

Though the world is full of trouble, and we have trials and problems,
God has given us much to be thankful for.
He is with those who believe on Him
and promises to give us everything we need.
He blesses us beyond measure.

Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving.

A Thanksgiving Lifestyle

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A Thanksgiving Lifestyle

I was talking with a friend recently about how, with all God’s blessings and all we have to be thankful for, we should be overflowing with gratitude.

Instead, we often have to “make” ourselves stop and think about thankfulness.

Oh, sometimes we’re spontaneously inspired to praise God when we see a beautiful sunset, or when someone does something unexpected for us. We love that Thanksgiving gives us an opportunity to focus on our blessings. Some even post on blogs or social media something they are grateful for every day in November.

Those are all good practices.

But what about the rest of the year? How can we overcome the distraction of everyday cares and duties to be intentionally thankful?

Here are a few ideas:

Read the Bible regularly. Not only will we see multitudes of things to be thankful for, but we’ll see examples of how people thanked God. The admonition to “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” in Colossians 3:16-17 is sandwiched between verses telling us to be thankful, suggesting a connection.

Some years ago I did a Thanksgiving Bible Study that turned out to be a big blessing. Just looking up a few verses with “thanks” or “thanksgiving” in a concordance will inspire us.

The psalmists talk about their problems, confusion, and pain, but the psalms are threaded through with hope and praise. The last several psalms especially focus on praising the Lord in just about every manner possible.

Psalm 145 is one of many that shares the two main categories of things we praise God for: who He is, and what He has done. The first seven verses say:

I will extol you, my God and King,
    and bless your name forever and ever.
2 Every day I will bless you
    and praise your name forever and ever.
3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
    and his greatness is unsearchable.

4 One generation shall commend your works to another,
    and shall declare your mighty acts.
5 On the glorious splendor of your majesty,
    and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
6 They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds,
    and I will declare your greatness.
7 They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness
    and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

Pray. We can ask God to open our hearts to see the ways He has blessed us and help us not to just mention them rotely, but to be truly thankful. It helps, also, to turn psalms or thanksgiving passages into prayer.

Some incorporate a regular time for giving thanks in their prayer time. Some use the acronym A.C.T.S.:

A: Adoration, praise
C: Confession of sin
T: Thanksgiving
S: Supplication, or requests

Say thank you to God immediately.We’re taught from an early age to say thank you when someone gives to us or does for us. Why not do that with God in real time all through the day?

Thank you for this good parking space!

Thank you for helping me see that unadvertised markdown on pork chops at the store.

Thank you for helping that difficult conversation go well.

What beautiful tiny flowers by the sidewalk. Thank you for creating them and putting them here for me to see. What artistry You put even in a small gathering of blooms.

We don’t have to wait untll our official prayer time to mention these things. We’d likely forget most of them then. But we can keep up a running conversation with God all through the day.

Recall blessings as you fall asleep. I used to listen to music as I fell asleep. More recently, I set my audiobook timer. But as Bing Crosby crooned in the movie White Christmas, we can “Count your blessings instead of sheep.” I don’t know if the songwriter had the psalms in mind, but David wrote, “My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy” (Psalm 63:5-7).

Start a gratitude journal. Some like to keep a running record of what they are thankful for. This has two advantages. Writing them down helps reinforce them in our minds, and we’re blessed again when we later peruse our written records.

Recount your Ebenezers, In 1 Samuel 7, Samuel set up a stone to commemorate the Lord’s help, calling it an “Ebenezer,” which means “stone of help.” Some years ago I was encouraged to make a list of those special times in life when I especially saw God’s hand at work. As we tell stories of God’s faithfulness and blessings, we encourage ourselves and others.

Set times for thanksgiving. Some families make time on Thanksgiving Day for everyone to share something they are thankful about. Why not do this at intervals through the year?

Use music. Elisabeth Elliot wrote in On Asking God Why: “When I stumble out of bed in the morning, put on a robe, and go into my study, words do not spring spontaneously to my lips–other than words like, ‘Lord, here I am again to talk to you. It’s cold. I’m not feeling terribly spiritual….’ Who can go on and on like that morning after morning, and who can bear to listen to it day after day?”

She goes on to say that two things helped her. One was the book of psalms. She writes of David: “He found expression for praise far beyond my poor powers, so I use his and am lifted out of myself, up into heights of adoration, even though I’m still the same ordinary woman alone in the same little room.” The other help was hymns. She cites a few and writes, “By putting into words things on earth for which we thank him, we are training ourselves to be ever more aware of such things as we live our lives. It is easy otherwise to be oblivious of the thousand evidences of his care.”

Many hymns contain thanksgiving, but they also have phrases that could be turned into prayers of thanks.

Here are a couple of my favorites:

“Thanks to God for My Redeemer” sung by the Sacred Music Services‘ men’s chorus.

“My Heart is Filled with Thankfulness” (written by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend. I don’t know the folks in the video, but I like this version).

What about when we don’t really feel thankful?

Thanksgiving isn’t a feeling; it’s an action. We can give God thanks whether we feel thankful or not. Usually, once we do, the feelings come.

And usually, once we start looking for things to thank God for, it’s hard to stop.

How about you? Do any of these practices resonate with you? Do you have other ways to be intentionally thankful through the year?

Psalm 92:1-2

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

When You’re Not the Chosen One

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When you're not the chosen one

We probably all know what it’s like not to be chosen in some way.

Some of us were always among the last chosen for any kind of physical game. Others were chosen last for the spelling bee.

We might not have been chosen for cheerleader, class president, or homecoming queen. Perhaps the person we liked in college chose someone else.

As adults we might not get the expected promotion or desired assignment.

As writers, we watch others get agents or contracts or win contests while we don’t seem to be making any progress.

I thought of this in the contrasting reactions of Esau and Jonathan in the Bible. In the normal scheme of things, each would have succeeded his father as leader. But God chose someone else instead.

Esau was the oldest son in his family, a position of privilege and honor in Bible times. Yet before he and his twin brother, Jacob, were even born, God said “the older shall serve the younger” (Genesis 25:23). Neither of them were ideal sons, but this pronouncement was made before they had done anything.

What was Esau’s response when Jacob received the birthright and blessing that would normally have gone to Esau? He hated Jacob and planned to kill him after their father died. (Genesis 27:41). Granted, Jacob obtained those things by deception and manipulation rather than waiting for God’s timing. But Esau had shown by his previous actions where his values were.

Jonathan was the oldest son of Israel’s first king, Saul. God rejected Saul due to his disobedience (1 Samuel 15). Jonathan could have ranted and raved that it wasn’t his fault that his father disobeyed God. Jonathan had good character and a good reputation. Why not make him king instead of his father?

But Jonathan didn’t grouse and complain and whine. He protected David from the machinations of Saul.

Years later, David had his own “not chosen” moment.

David wanted to build a temple where people could worship God. Nathan, the prophet of God, thought that was a good idea.

But that night, God told Nathan that David was not to build the temple. One of his sons, Solomon, would. God had other things, great things in store for David.

Did David sulk? No, he responded in humility, thankfulness, and love. Then he did everything in his power to help and prepare Solomon.

What are some things we can learn from not being the chosen one?

Sometimes not being chosen has nothing to do with merit. Jonathan was a fine, godly young man. But God had chosen David to be the next king.

But sometimes not being chosen does result from one’s actions. Saul lost his kingship because of disobedience. He still could have repented and gotten right with God, even if he was never reinstated as king. But he didn’t. Others in Scripture were removed from their positions for disobedience as well.

God sets up one and puts down another (Psalm 75:6-7). Sometimes we’ve prayed hard and long for election results that did not go the way we thought they would. All we know is that God has the big picture in mind.

God gives gifts and abilities. Though I probably could have worked hard and improved in playing some athletic game, if I had wanted to, I would never have been a star athlete. My gifts were elsewhere.

One of my favorite passages tells how God gifted different people to do various kinds of work on the tabernacle, even down to those who worked with metal, wood, weaving, and embroidery. The New Testament lists different spiritual gifts God distributes to Christians. One of those passages is 1 Corinthians 12, where Paul goes on to compare the church to a body, where it would be strange if we were all eyes or hands. We need different parts of the body to perform their function.

God has a plan for us. He may have chosen someone else for the particular opportunity we had in mind. But that doesn’t mean we’re on the bench. We need to seek His will for us and serve in the capacity He brings before us.

We can help and support the chosen one. Just as Jonathan helped David and David helped Solomon, we can aid the person chosen to do what we wanted to do.

One of our former pastors said he viewed his position as that of Elisha, who “poured water on the hands of Elijah” (2 Kings 3:11). That phrase conveys service and attending to the needs of another. This associate pastor wanted to serve and help the senior pastor as much as he could.

We can be content in God’s will and calling. In the book On Asking God Why, Elisabeth Elliot tells of a time when missionary Amy Carmichael was to attend a missions conference with a dear friend, nicknamed Twin. But when she saw the list of assigned seats for dinner, Twin was to be seated next to another friend, Mina. Amy wrote to her family:

Well, I was very glad that dear Mina should have Twin, and I don’t think I grudged her to her one little bit, and yet at the bottom of my heart there was just a touch of disappointment, for I had almost fancied I had somebody of my very own again, and there was a little ache somewhere. I could not rejoice in it. . .I longed, yes longed, to be glad, to be filled with such a wealth of unselfish love that I should be far gladder to see those two together than I should have been to have had Twin to myself. And while I was asking for it, it came. For the very first time I felt a rush, a real joy in it, His joy, a thing one cannot pump up or imitate or force in any way. . .Half-unconsciously, perhaps, I had been saying, ‘Thou and Twin are enough for me’–one so soon clings to the gift instead of only to the Giver.

It’s all about God’s glory and purposes. When Israel was going to fight against the Midianites who were oppressing them, God told Gideon his army was too big (Judges 7). They would be proud and attribute their win to their own abilities. God told Gideon to tell everyone who was afraid to go home: 22,000 did, leaving 10,000 still ready to fight. God said that was still too many. He sent them all to some nearby water to get a drink. Some of the men bent down and lapped the water like a dog. Others knelt down and cupped the water into their hands to drink. I’ve heard many sermons where the preacher read between the lines and proposed all kinds of reasons why God chose one group over the other. But that’s just speculation. The Bible doesn’t give us God’s reasoning. Personally, I think God just chose whichever group was the smallest. The 300 who lapped went on and won a miraculous victory that showcased God’s power, not their own.

Amy Carmichael’s original ministry in India involved evangelizing women. God used her remarkably in that capacity. Then she learned that little girls were being sold into temple prostitution.  Elisabeth Elliot writes that Amy “prayed that God would enable her to find a way to rescue some of them, even though not one had ever been known to escape. Several years later, God began to answer that prayer…and in a few years Amy Carmichael was Amma (“Mother”) to a rapidly growing Indian family that, by the late 1940s, numbered about 900.” Amy struggled a bit with the fact that this ministry to girls (which later included boys) was quite different from what she had been doing. She was even criticized in some corners. But she felt that teaching, training, protecting, and taking care of children was only a different ministry, not  lesser one.

Elisabeth Elliot wrote this about jobs, but it’s true for positions and ministries and opportunities as well:

This job has been given to me to do. Therefore, it is a gift. Therefore, it is a privilege. Therefore, it is an offering I may make to God. Therefore, it is to be done gladly, if it is done for Him. Here, not somewhere else, I may learn God’s way. In this job, not in some other, God looks for faithfulness.

In a sense, we’re all chosen. We may not have gotten what we originally wanted. But for those who trust in Christ’s saving work on the cross to atone for their sins, “we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). Whether we serve out in front or in obscurity, in a desired or unwanted position, with people who love us or people who try us, we can serve God by His grace, for His honor and glory.

Ephesians 2:10

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

My Nest Is Empty, but My Heart Is Full

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I’m not sure I like the term “empty nest” as a description of life when children grow up and leave home.

Have you ever seen a used empty nest?

Some type of little brown birds used to build a nest every year on top of the corner post of the porch. We could watch their life cycle from our front door: the parents building the nest, the mother sitting, the babies growing and straining their beaks toward the food brought by the parents.

Finally, the parent birds would fly to a nearby bush and call for the babies to come. The babies didn’t move from the nest at first. But eventually, one by one, they flew off.

When we were sure they weren’t coming back, we’d take the nest down and brush away the debris of broken twigs and bird droppings from the post. The nest itself was a mess, as four or five baby birds lived there for weeks without a designated spot for relieving themselves.

Mother bird and I share similarities of raising a flock who have successfully gone on to live independently as adults. But that tattered, speckled, messy weaving of twigs doesn’t match up with how I envision my home or life after grown children leave.

As my oldest sons approached adulthood, I wasn’t sure how I’d cope when they left home. I always felt being a wife and mother were my main responsibilities and priorities. How could such an intense relationship with daily interaction abruptly change? How could I suddenly flip a switch from full-time mother to a “retired” one?

Actually, it wasn’t such a sudden switch after all. From the time we first teach them to feed and dress themselves and become responsible, we show them how to start operating independently of us. As they learn to drive, become involved in youth group or music lessons or a part-time job, they spend more and more time away from us. They go to camp and then youth group mission trips. When they go away to college, they take first steps towards adult living while coming home for breaks. (Even though mine commuted to college while living at home, they spent their days and evenings away.)

So by the time kids leave home, they and their parents have had some experience being separated.

Still, that initial move away from home is hard. My middle son left first, getting married a couple of months after college graduation. It didn’t hit me until he started bringing home boxes to pack his stuff in. When I got teary, he made a sign that said “Sewing Room” and put it on his door.

Even though he didn’t live under our roof after marriage, he and his wife lived just a few minutes away, and we saw them frequently.

Then we found out that we were going to be the ones moving away when my husband’s job transferred him to TN.

My oldest lived at home for a while after graduation, not sure what his next steps should be. But when we found we were moving, he decided it was time to step out. He had several friends in RI, and one of them offered him a job.

So it felt like our “nest” emptied by two-thirds all at once, as we left my middle son and his wife in SC, and our oldest went to RI, and we moved to TN.

That was agonizingly hard for all of us.

My youngest son moved with us, finished high school, and attended college locally. He lived at home for a few more years, but moved out a couple of years ago. He’s not far away, thankfully, though he’s talking about (and I am praying against) possibly moving to Washington state or Canada.

So my “nest” has been officially empty for a few years now. Here are some thoughts that helped the transition.

Though our children don’t live at home any more, I have not stopped being a mother.

I miss the everyday hearing how their day went and knowing what they’re up to. But I’m abundantly thankful for texts, emails, and FaceTime.

Sometimes they ask advice, and I try to refrain from offering any unless asked.

We still see each other frequently.

I still pray for them, sometimes I think even more intensely.

Though wifing and mothering were my first priorities, they weren’t exclusive. How much to be involved in other things was always a struggle as my children were growing up. But I felt service, both within church and to individual people, was important. I wanted to serve, but I also wanted them to see service was a normal part of Christian life.

I also wanted them to see that hobbies and friendships with others outside the home were healthy.

I had things to look forward to when my kids moved out. Though I missed them, I enjoyed turning one of their bedrooms into a sewing/craft room. Not only was that fun, but it helped so much to have a place for all my materials, to work on projects, and to leave them out.

I look forward to writing more.

I enjoy being able to pick up and and go somewhere with my husband without concerns about babysitters or teenagers at home.

I could “mother” others. Titus 2 specifically instructs older women to teach and encourage younger women. Sometimes that happens via a formal mentoring situation; most often it happens through friendships and “doing life” together. Though we might not consider ourselves “older women” when the nest first empties, we’re older than someone and can encourage them along the way.

Phyllis Le Peau followed Jesus’ admonition “to feed the hungry, care for widows, and visit those in prison.” She found ways to serve in each of those areas.

My mother-in-law’s hospice chaplain had taken on that as well as a jail ministry in retirement years.

An older lady in our church took it upon herself to visit my mother-in-law a couple of times a month in assisted living. When we moved and my mother-in-law lived with us, one lady in the church wrote regular newsy notes.

Though physical issues may arise and strength may wane as we get older, there are still a number of ways older women can serve others.

I think older women are some of the best at what someone called the “ministry of the pew”–showing an interest and talking with others. At every church we visited in the last year and a half, there was always an older woman who went beyond “We’re glad to have you with us” to make us feel especially welcome.

God’s grace is sufficient for every need at hand. God will enable us to transition to the empty nest years when they arrive—not three years before. He is always with those who believe on Him. He created the family structure such that our children grow up, “leave father and mother,” and serve Him as adults. We can trust Him for our children as they leave the nest, and for ourselves as we serve Him in different ways.

I loved being a full-time mother. But God doesn’t want me to live with regret and longing for the past. He has something for me at each new stage of life.

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

What Are You Stirred Up About?

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What are you stirred up about?

It’s easy to get whipped into anger and indignation these days. With social media, we hear people’s conflicting opinions more than we used to. News outlets keep the injustices of the world constantly before our eyes.

Some time ago, I noticed the harmful effect of stirred-up women in Acts 13:50. In the KJV this passage says: “But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts.” Some other translations use the word “stirred”; some say “incited.”

In this chapter, Paul and Barnabas had come to Antioch and shared the gospel, and many believed. “But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him,” verse 45 (ESV). Then by verse 50 the Jews stirred up others to expel the preachers.

I know the passage refers to men as well, but it struck me both as a woman reader and as someone who has seen the results of getting stirred up woman both in others and in myself.

I looked up the Greek word translated as “stirred” or “Incited” in this verse and found it is only used here. So I looked up other verses using the English word “stir.” An interesting study!

One can be stirred up in a bad way (all references are from the ESV unless otherwise noted):

  • All day long they injure my cause; all their thoughts are against me for evil. They stir up strife, they lurk; they watch my steps, as they have waited for my life (Psalm 56:5-6).
  • Deliver me from those who work evil, and save me from bloodthirsty men. For behold, they lie in wait for my life; fierce men stir up strife against me. For no transgression or sin of mine, O Lord, for no fault of mine, they run and make ready (Psalm 59:2-3).
  • Deliver me, O Lord, from evil men; preserve me from violent men, who plan evil things in their heart and stir up wars continually (Psalm 140:1-2).
  • Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses (Proverbs 10:12).
  • A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger (Proverbs 15:1).
  • A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention (Proverbs 17:18).
  • A greedy man stirs up strife, but the one who trusts in the Lord will be enriched (Proverbs 28:25).
  • A man of wrath stirs up strife, and one given to anger causes much transgression (Proverbs 29:22).
  • And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him [Jesus] and seized him and brought him before the council (Acts 6:12).
  •  Then all the city was stirred up, and the people ran together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut. And as they were seeking to kill him, word came to the tribune of the cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion (Acts 21:30-31). (There are several passages in Acts about people being stirred up after the apostles preached.)
  • As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned (Titus 3:10-11).

Or one can be stirred up in a good way:

  • And they came, everyone whose heart stirred him, and everyone whose spirit moved him, and brought the Lord‘s contribution to be used for the tent of meeting, and for all its service, and for the holy garments (Exodus 35:21).
  • And every skillful woman spun with her hands, and they all brought what they had spun in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. All the women whose hearts stirred them to use their skill spun the goats’ hair [for the tabernacle] (Exodus 35:25-26).
  • And Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and every craftsman in whose mind the Lord had put skill, everyone whose heart stirred him up to come to do the work (Exodus 36:2).
  • Then rose up the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem (Ezra 1:5).
  • Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near (Hebrews 10:23-25).
  • Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands (2 Timothy 1:6, KJV).
  • Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities [in verses 3-11], though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder…(2 Peter 1:13).
  • This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles (2 Peter 3:1-2).

Furthermore, “stirring” can be done by God, by ourselves, by other people, and by situations.

Sometimes we need stirring. Hosea speaks of sinful people “like a heated oven
whose baker ceases to stir the fire” (7:4b). A fire that’s not stirred might go out. Food that isn’t stirred while cooking will heat unevenly.

But sometimes we’re stirred up to the point of getting out of hand. Whipping cream is supposed to be stirred into a frenzy, but not scrambled eggs or vegetable soup. We can be rightly stirred up about an issue and handle it wrongly.

So when I feel “stirred up,” I need to ask myself:

What is stirring me up? Is this from God, from myself, from others?

What emotions are stirred up? Anger, spite, selfishness, jealousy? Or love and compassion?

Am I being stirred up to a mindless, destructive frenzy or to purposeful usefulness?

What am I stirred up to do? Lash out? Exact vengeance? Harm? Put someone in their place? Use my gifts to help others? Serve? Love?

I think of Amy Carmichael, stirred to compassion and action when a young Indian girl came to her care, rescued from being sold into prostitution at a temple in India. Amy eventually directed the building of an entire compound to house and teach both boys and girls.

Or William Wilberforce and Hannah More, who not only prayed against the evil of slavery but were stirred up to fight against it.

When I first read of the stirred-up women in Acts13, I only saw the danger. Their stirring led to the persecution of God’s messengers.

But after this study, I see being stirred up not just as a danger, but as a power for good or evil. Self examination in the light of God’s Word will help me understand whether that stirring is something I need to yield to or to confess and repent of.

(Revised from the archives)

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

Are You Troubled?

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Are you troubled?

Trouble seems to surround us sometimes.

Moses wrote, “The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away” (Psalm 90:10).

World events show just how quickly a skirmish can turn into a war, an illness can lead to a pandemic, problems with the supply chain have a ripple effect.

Then we have personal troubles: finances, illnesses, job, relationships.

And some troubles seem minor in the grand scheme of things, but loom large at the time.

Sometimes, in the midst of trouble, God seems far away. Job wished he could have a one-on-one meeting with God (which eventually happened, though the exchange didn’t go as Job envisioned it.). Many of the psalmists said things like “Why, O Lord, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” (Psalm 10:1).

But God is not far away.

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1).

When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him (Psalm 91:15).

Most of the psalmists worked their way back to that reality before they ended. They didn’t contradict themselves or each other, but, like us, they needed to reorient their thoughts from how things felt to eternal truth.

God invites us to “call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me” (Psalm 50:15).

Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help (Psalm 22:11).

The troubles of my heart are enlarged; bring me out of my distresses. Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins (Psalm 25:17-18).

He hides, protects us in trouble.

For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock (Psalm 27:5).

You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance (Psalm 32:7).

He’s our stronghold in trouble.

The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him (Nahum 1:7).

The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; he is their stronghold in the time of trouble. (Psalm 37:39).

He delivers us out of trouble.

This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. . . .When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles (Psalm 34:6, 17).

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress (Psalm 107:6).

We need to keep our focus on Him:

But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:41-41).

Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me (John 14:1).

Since He is with us in trouble and helps, protects, strengthens, and delivers, we can have peace.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid (John 14:27).

And we can praise and glorify Him.

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble (Psalm 107:2).

Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me (Psalm 50:15).

May we always know God’s presence, protection, and peace in trouble.

May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble. Psalm 20:1

(This post was inspired by the Daily Light on the Daily Path reading for October 11.)

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

How do we share God with a world that doesn’t want to hear?

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How can we share God with a world that doesn't want to hear

Our ladies’ Bible study is going through 1 John. John circles through several different themes throughout His letter.

One of those themes concerns false teachers and the unwillingness of the world to hear God’s truth.

  • Chapter 4 warns us about false prophets and tells us to “test the spirits to see whether they are from God.”
  • In chapter 3, verse 13, John said, “Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you.”
  • Then in 4:1-6, John says the people who follow the “spirit of the antichrist” will not listen to us.

Back in his gospel, John recorded Jesus as saying, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours” (15:18-20).

It’s helpful to take a moment to consider the Bible’s different uses of the word “world”:

There’s the physical world: “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear” (Hebrews 11:3, KJV).

There’s the world of people. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

Then there’s the world system that sets itself against God. “I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world” (John 17:14). This system is led by “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2). It’s this meaning of “world” that is indicated in John 2, where he tells us “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:15-17).

What do we do when the world desperately needs the gospel, but doesn’t want to hear it?

My initial reaction is to pull back and not bother them.

But what does Paul say in Romans 1:16? “ For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” The gospel itself has power to open people’s eyes. to convict them of their need.

Psalm 119:130 says, “The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.”

God’s Word is powerful.

We don’t share God’s truth like a club, beating people over the head with it. But we share it in faith and love, planting and watering seeds, trusting God to bring them to fruition.

When I was in college, God brought to our church a new family who quickly became my “spiritual family.” I’ve written before of Mrs. C., who became a mentor to me long before that word became so popular. Mr. C. told one time of taking a girl home from an activity when he was a young man. The girl was a Christian and tried to talk to him about the Lord. He blew up at her. But just after dropping her off, he thought, “What was she talking about, anyway?” Though he reacted negatively, God used what this girl said to spark an interest which eventually led to his salvation. I don’t know if she ever knew that. She probably thought the encounter was a failure.

Of course, there are times to pull back. Peter tells wives of unbelieving husbands, “be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct” (1 Peter 3:1-2). He goes on to encourage them to “let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious” (verse 4).

We can’t nag people into the kingdom. But our lives can demonstrate His beauty and grace.

We also share His truth with our love. “No one has ever seen God,” John writes (1 John 4:12). So how do we show them an invisible God? He goes on to say, “if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” Jesus said, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).

How do we share God with a world that doesn’t want to hear?

We share His Word, kindly and graciously, as He gives opportunity, trusting Him to shed light in the hearer’s heart.

We demonstrate a godly character.

And we show His love.

That’s what Jesus did, isn’t it? “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). He loved us before we were ready to hear, when we still wanted to cling to our sins instead of turning to Him. He patiently kept drawing us, though we spurned Him so many times, until He finally won us over. “I drew them with gentle cords, With bands of love” (Hosea 11:4, NKJV).

Sharing God’s truth may bring a negative reaction at first, as Mr. C. blew up at His companion, as people have persecuted God’s representatives through the centuries, as they mistreated and killed Jesus Himself. But even while Jesus was being tortured and murdered, His death was atoning for His persecutors.

If people persist in not believing God, eventually He will leave them alone. C. S. Lewis has said, “There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, ‘All right, then, have it your way.'”

But while we can, as much as we can, let’s share His light.

The entrance of God's Word gives light and understanding

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

When You Can’t Set Everything Right

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When You Can't Set Everything Right

Long before the Enneagram or the Meyers-Briggs personality classifications, I learned of the four spiritual temperaments: choleric, sanguine, phlegmatic, and melancholic. Everything I read indicated I was melancholic.

Melancholics aren’t sad, as the name sounds. But they tend to be quiet, introspective, and perfectionistic. That last trait can cause them a great deal of trouble. One, because they’ll never be perfect, this side of heaven. Two, because no one and nothing else will ever be, either.

One preacher crystallized the melancholic personality for me by saying they want everything to be right.

Well, you might say, what’s wrong with that? Don’t we all want things to be right?

One problem is with the concept of right: right according to whom?

Some things just seem common sense to me, and I wonder that others don’t see them that way. For instance, my local grocery store places the snack-sized fruit cups on a completely different row than the applesauce fruit cups. Why not put all the fruit cups and canned fruit on the same aisle? They also put the oatmeal on a different aisle than the boxed breakfast cereal. I’m ashamed to confess I have wasted a lot of frustration over things like that.

But sometimes someone else’s ideas of right make just as much sense to them as mine do to me, like ways to load the dishwasher, fold towels, or refill the toilet paper roll.

So those of us with a highly developed sense of “right” need to learn humility and forbearance. Others may have reasons for what they do that we don’t know. Who are we to insist everything be done our way? Stewing over little things that aren’t according to our preferences just raises our blood pressure and makes us grumpy.

But sometimes right really does matter significantly. You wouldn’t want your brain surgeon or accountant to be unconcerned whether they’re doing their procedures right.

My husband and I have battled frustration with products and services when someone’s carelessness resulted in great problems. No, they weren’t of brain surgery level importance, but they took hours on the phone to rectify.

We need perspective to know when something not right should be let go or insisted upon.

And we need grace and wisdom to convey the need for the level of rightness, not because it’s our own opinion, but because of the consequences if things aren’t done a certain way.

We also want to set things right when hard things happen to our loved ones. But we can’t. We can only try to comfort and offer aid. God has reasons for allowing hard things, and we have to let His purposes work out. In this case, He is doing what’s best, even if it’s hard to understand and experience.”Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25, KJV). But “though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; for he does not afflict from his heart or grieve the children of men” (Lamentations 3:32-33).

Then there are major national and world-level scenarios that are far beyond our scope of influence. I rarely watch the news any more because it leaves me angry, frustrated, and/or sad. I listen to news headlines on the radio. And of course, you can’t scroll social media without picking up on what’s going on in the world.

We’re not alone in these concerns. The psalmists and prophets in the Bible often lamented and spoke out against the injustices and oppression in their time. They called on God to set things right.

The world at large won’t be fully “right” until Jesus comes again to rule and reign. Just one place where this is promised is Jeremiah 23:5: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.”

Does that mean we keep our heads down and just endure til He returns?

No. We can pray for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, as He taught in “the Lord’s prayer.”

We can speak up at appropriate times and ways. We can let our “light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

We can tell others of His righteousness and how they can be right with Him and each other.

Like the old story about the child who was trying to save starfish on the beach by throwing them back in the water. A man told him, “You can’t possibly save them all.” “No, said the boy, “but I can save this one.”

We can’t set everything right. Only God can do that. But we can be instruments in His hand.

Just and right is God. Deuteronomy 32:4

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)