What You Don't Know...

People can get you caught up. It's not right. It's not fair. It is true. Other people can unexpectedly thrust trouble upon you. There will be situations in your life that you would never be able to foresee... situations in which you've done your best to make the right choices and stay clean but someone else drags you in their dirt. It's times like these that our best judgment doesn't cut it. Instead of our good judgment, we need God judgment. What's the difference? The difference is that God's line of vision is by far greater than ours. So he can weigh and work through situations far better than we can. In Genesis 20, the Bible tells about King Abimalech. He was a King who was minding his own business when a man named Abraham and his sister Sarah entered his kingdom. King Abimalech took Sarah with the intent of making her a wife. Nothing was wrong with what Abimalech had done, to his knowledge. But God knew better. God knew that Abraham and Sarah were not only half brother-sister, they were also (as the custom allowed in those times) husband and wife. Furthermore God knew that Abraham was a prophet and for Abimalech to touch Abraham's wife would cost Abimalech and his people their lives. How unfair. Abimalech had no way of knowing that Abraham had withheld the important information that they were husband and wife from him. He saw a woman he wanted in his kingdom and his best judgment was to go and get her from her brother and make her his wife. Strangely, it so happened that all the while Sarah was with Abimalech, he never touched her. Then one night he had a dream from God that warned him that he had taken a prophet's wife and if he didn't send her back that was going to be the end of him. God said because of the integrity of Abimalech, he kept Abimalech from committing the sin of sleeping with another man's wife. Abimalech took heed to the dream and sent Sarah back to Abraham. Abimalech's God-judgment overrode his good judgment. It saved his life. Staying connected with God is important. Always try to keep a receptive spirit so you can recognize when God is sharing some insight with you. It will help you avoid getting caught in other people's pitfalls that you would never be able to foresee. There are countless things going on everyday that could directly affect us that we don't know about. There is nothing going on that God doesn't know about. Keep the line to your inside connection open, because what you don't know can hurt you.

Prayer: Lord give us the wisdom to call on you and a heart/spirit that is receptive to your voice. Reveal to us things that are hidden from us that we need to know. Please safeguard us in all situations.

Becoming

Sometimes in the process of developing our faith and spirituality, we feel uncertain and awkard.  In an effort to keep ourselves from a fall, we take our first step in faith and then try to run as fast as we can, even though we're just getting the hang of walking.  Then when the tumble comes, as it most often does, we feel too frustrated to make another attempt.  We have a lot to learn.  Yes, in the twinkling of an eye, we can become Christians by just acknowledging with our heart and mouth that Jesus is our Lord and Savior.  Yet becoming Christ-like is not so instantaneous.  Becoming Christ-like is a life journey.  It takes time.  So keep walking and working towards making inner changes and don't allow anyone, including yourself, to belittle your efforts.  More importantly, when attempts to overcome flaws don't go as well as planned, don't hide from God out of shame. Go to Him. In sincere prayer acknowledge your weaknesses and ask for help. God knows us.  He knows where we will fail.  He knows he could do a much better job with our lives than we can.  But God is such a gentleman.  He never forces himself on anyone and will only step in with permission. So let God know that you are letting him in.  Then give it time.  Others may not think much of us as we proceed on our growth journey because they only value the finished product.  We, though, should see ourselves as God sees us;  as the start of art. Every step of progress is God's stroke of genius. He enjoys the picture as it develops and so should you.  Look forward to what you will become and embrace the time of becoming.

Next Exit Frustration?

You’re doing it again aren’t you? You are trying to work it out for yourself, fumbling around with it inside your head, and wrestling with the problem.   On the inside  (and maybe even on the outside) you fight to fix or figure the thing out.  After all, God did bless us with the ability to problem solve. Shouldn’t we use it?  Yes, as best we can, we should.  But when a situation gets you to the point of frustration, just stop. I'm not saying that we should never get frustrated. Believe it or not, frustration is an emotion that was given to us by God. He didn’t mean for us to ever remain in it, though. It is supposed to be an early indicator.  Frustration is intended to alert us that we forgot to involve God.  We are relying on ourselves when we should be relying on God.  That is what is causes the struggle.  It doesn’t have to be so hard.  We have help.  We have wisdom shared with us in the Bible that can provide enlightenment for any situation.  We should have Godly confidants in our lives that we can call up and trust to give us insightful counsel. We also have prayer.  We can tell God about it and let him know that we want to hear from him about it and that we invite him to handle things.  When we deal with overwhelming situations without God, it’s like driving a car that is seriously in need of an alignment.  You may struggle through it , but it could have been much easier. Sometimes driving without proper alignment can make a bad situation worse or even cause a fatal accident.  So take care of those things you can take care of.  Handle those things you can handle.  But when it gets to be more than you can bear and the frustration alarm starts to sound, put your car in park and turn the wheel back over to God.

Prayer:  Lord help us to remember that you are in control and you fight for us.  Help us to be still and know that you are God.

The Intent of The Test

What's the answer? Better than that, what's the question? Remember the days of being in a classroom sitting face to face with a test that could make or break you? How well you answered, how well you recalled and applied what's been taught would determine whether or not you would move on or be held back. Assessments can be critical. There was a time when I thought exams were given so the teacher would know who was dumb and who was smart, or who to pass or fail. So if I passed a test...great. If I failed a test, oh well, on to the next one. Now I know better. 15 years of being an elementary school teacher has taught me the intent of the test. When I give a test, I pretty much know who will and will not pass before I ever hand that test out. How could that be? Because I know my students well and because when I introduce and overview lessons with them, I am already taking into account each child's response. When I walk the class and interact with the kids, I'm surveying strengths and weaknesses. It's not by accident when I question a child although they never raised their hand to be called on. If a child gets invited to my round table for a one one one session, it's for a reason. So when the set time comes and the district pacing guide requires us to move on to the next objective and I have to assess, likely the assessment will tell me what I already know. Little Johnny will need some more one on one time with this skill. Little Susie knows the content better than I do. So then why test? Good question. The test verifies for the student his/her strengths or weaknesses. When a student gets something right, they need to know that their thinking was on point. When a student gets something wrong, they need to know that they got it wrong and more importantly, they need to know how to change their thinking. So I tell my students all the time, it doesn't mean anything to know you got a 100, 90, or 50 unless you pay attention to how you were thinking and listen for how your thinking needs to change. That's where the power of the assessment lies. That F that you made on exam could be a life catapulting F if you pay attention to the results of that test and listen to the instructor on how to change your thinking. Wow. I know that's a long prelude to the point, but stay with me I'm at the home stretch. As Christians, we are very familiar with the idea of God testing us. The confusion I think comes in on our understanding of the intent of the test. The prevalent misunderstanding is that God gives us tests to see how well we will handle them. That just doesn't make sense, though. The God we serve is the beginning and the end. This is the same God that knew us before we were ever formed in our mothers' wombs. Why would such a God need a test to show Him what we are going to do?  He already knows us better than we know ourselves. No, that's not the intent of His tests. God assesses us for us to get a  better picture of ourselves. When he puts us in trying situations, it gives us a snapshot of our own growth or lack thereof. If we pass His tests, great! If we don't pass the tests, it could still be great if we pay close attention to the Instructor and learn how to change our thinking. We all have areas in our lives that we are tired of being held back in: careers, finances, diet, relationships, etc. The only way to finally be promoted is to stop focusing on the fact that we keep getting it wrong and start seeking out insight on WHY we're getting it wrong? What do we need to do differently? God is our teacher. He already knows we need more one on one time at His roundtable, but He needs us to know it too. That way we'll be more attentive students when he tells us where our thinking went wrong. You know that teacher you had? The teacher who always said, "Failure is not an option." Well God's got that teacher beat. He already has your cap and gown waiting in the wings for you. Listen to him. Learn from him. He is compelling you to pass. It's graduation time.

Prayer: Lord, you know us down to the very number of hairs on our heads. Help us to know ourselves as you know us and help us to get to know you better each day. You have already established a purpose for each of us and our contentment is contigent upon fulfilling our purpose. So we pray that you will keep strengthening  and compelling us to be good students. Give us eyes that see, ears that hear, and hearts that understand. May we study to be approved in your sight.