“You only have I chosen...” (Amos 3:2).
I had a friend who was the manager of a high-rise for senior citizens. Some days she got very discouraged and told me she would like to give it all up and get a job where she hears a thank-you now and then, and she's not on call twenty-four hours a day. When she talked this way I thought of how God chooses specific people for certain jobs because they have talents which He has given them for those very responsibilities.
Jeannie was so perfect for her position because she was blessed with the arts of listening to and patience for these older people. Unfortunately, her job was a thankless one; people constantly came in to tell her their griefs, not their gratitude. But it was so obvious that she was where she was supposed to be.
When she was particularly discouraged, I would share with her Hebrews 12:3: "Consider Him who endured such opposition...so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." We are human and we want to hear a word of gratitude once in a while, especially when we have gone beyond the second and third mile. But it keeps us from stumbling if we remember that Jesus went on--anyway.
Prayer: Dear Father, thank You for choosing--and preparing--us for life and Your purposes.
"Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap" (Ecclesiastes 11:4); ("If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done" TLB.)
If we wait until we are sure our kindness won't be ridiculed and that it will accomplish what we intended, we won't be kind; if we don't give needed money to another person until we know what the person will do with it, and we know the history of the individual who is to receive it, we will never give it; if we wait for someone to be worthy of our love, we will never be his or her friend; and if we want to be sure that our donation for a project will not be mismanaged and that it will bring forth the good we intend, then we will never get around to donating. In the secular world we are content to act on possibilities, so why not in the world of religion and ethics?
We are to be prospective, not prostrate, about our duties. Jesus tells us we are to have forethought: "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it?" (Luke 14:28). This is common sense. But we are not to think something to extinction because we haven't all the resources at hand right then. If we concentrate too much on the trial and the black cloud, then we won't act now on what later will bring a harvest of sunrises and rainbows and surprises. Sometimes there comes a moment when we must forge ahead in faith that "[our] strength will equal [our] days" (Deuteronomy 33:25).
The clouds are beyond our reach; what we have before us is attainable. There is a comfortable median between the extremes of optimism and pessimism; it is called realism, and faith is a comfortable fundamental of this fact. Instead of worrying about successes others have and we don't have, let us be ever so grateful for God's cornucopia of blessings that we already have and that we enjoy every day!
"Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy" (Hebrews 12:14).
Here we are told to live in harmony with all people, not just those we choose. The world demands satisfaction for insults; God demands harmony. The malignant person is unable to be objective and he fastens on to a particular person who he feels has wounded him. The beneficent person lets go and lets God take care of justice because God has promised justification as well as sanctification for those who finally understand that this is the least we owe to Him and to our brothers and sisters.
The peaceful person is impartial and independent of others' opinions. He looks through neither a rose- nor black- nor bleak-colored telescope to enlarge others' faults or a microscope to diminish their virtues, but clear glasses for a transparent and objective vision. This fortunate person understands that "for now we see through a glass, darkly" (1 Corinthians 13:12).
The peaceful person also understands that we are not all made of the same emotional matter, and it does not matter. God made us this way for many reasons, not the least of which is to teach us how to get along with others. We are not the umpires of empires, and thank God we don't need to be.
Life is much easier, too, when we let God take care of all the emotional matters for us. Enmities make enemies. If we keep in mind that someone we perceive as our enemy is God's good friend, we may be less likely to harbor negative emotions about him or her. Jesus died for all peoples; for that reason alone, we do well to willingly love them. The new earth will be peopled with all sizes and shapes and varieties; it is a verity that it won't be our differences that keep us out but our divisions.
"Of all the birds the dove is the most easily alarmed and put to flight at hearing a shot fired. Remember that the Holy Spirit is compared to a dove; and if you begin to shoot at each other, the Heavenly Dove will take wing and instantly leave you. The Holy Spirit is one of love and peace, not of tumult and confusion. He cannot live among the smoke and noise of fired shots: if you would grieve the Holy Spirit and compel Him to retire, you have only to commence firing at one another, and He will instantly depart" (Anonymous).
“My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have struck hands in pledge for another, if you have been trapped by what you said, ensnared by the words of your mouth” (Proverbs 6:1-2).
Herod is a perfect instance of being ensnared by what he said: "...The daughter of Herodias...pleased Herod so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked" (Matthew 14:6,7). Herod was trapped by what he promised, and he regretted it later: "The king was distressed but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted..." (v.9). Because of a foolish oath made by a proud man, John lost his life. It would have been a far less sin if Herod had broken his promise.
We should not promise what we cannot deliver. The Bible covers every occasion for every age, and this verse surely applies to credit cards. It is too easy to pull out our credit card when we want something (mea culpa!). We are putting up security for ourselves every time we go beyond our means with an innocent looking piece of plastic, so it's best to cut it up and out if we are constantly tempted with this particular snare. And we surely are drowning when we borrow from one credit card to pay on another one!
Accumulating bills and obligations do control us so that, in our worry, we can serve neither God nor others. "...But the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful" (Mark 4:19). It is wisdom to keep a rein on both finances and obligations before they get a reign on us. We can live and die entangled in the cares of this world because we haven't been prudent. We also bring reproach upon religion if we live and die in others' debt.
This verse also applies to appeals. Others ask us to do things for them that are beyond our time and means but, because we want them to like us, we have a difficult time saying no. It isn't fair to them or us to say yes, and then be resentful. In a way, we have been dishonest when we take on more than we can possibly do or pay.
As for thinking we are doing others a favor by always doing for them, to quote an oldie, it is far better to teach someone how to fish than to be constantly supplying the fish for him/her. We don't help others by making them dependent on us. Every age has its prodigals who would just as soon sit by and take everything you give. Prudence dictates just when we must quit pouring time and money down another's bottomless pit.
Does this mean we can never become surety, or bail, for another? "If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me...I will pay it back..." (Philemon 18,19). Martin Luther said of these verses: "Even as Christ did for us with God the Father, thus Paul also does for Onesimus with Philemon." Of course there will be instances when our help will be needed. What is condemned is entanglement to the point of incapacitation. "You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men" (1 Corinthians 7:23).
Neither a borrower nor a lender be;
For loan oft loses both itself and friend.
Shakespeare, Hamlet, 1.3:75.
"Your beauty. . .should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight" (1 Peter 3:3,4).
“How shall we become lovely? By loving Him who is ever lovely" (Augustine); "Some glances of real beauty may be seen in their faces, who dwell in true meekness. There is a harmony in the sound of that voice to which Divine love gives utterance, and some appearance of right order in their temper and conduct whose passions are regulated" (John Woolman).
The Christian woman's true make-up, her character, is one of nurture, calm, and service. These are the ornaments that shine more brightly as we get older. Christian character should become exquisite with age. The Christian spirit is a tempered spirit, not a spirit of temper. It is tempered with the heavenly alloy of Christ-like refinement, disposition and habits. It is only by ardently beholding Christ that we can "make-up" such a character.
A story is told of a girl who was ugly. She became the target of cruel remarks from her classmates and she became bitter and vindictive. One day her French teacher asked her, "What is wrong, little one?" "I am so ugly," the girl cried. The teacher took her to her room and handed the sad little girl a round and brown thing that looked as ugly as the girl. She told the girl to plant and water it carefully. In time a golden Japanese lily grew out of that ugly thing. The little girl then realized that beauty and fragrance are inside; that she, ugly on the outside, could share her inner loveliness and balm, and no one would even notice what had so bothered her.
As the adage reminds us, beauty is only skin-deep; the radiance of character lies in our depth. “The King's daughter is all glorious within" (Psalm 45:13 NAS).
"My master will not have on his conscience the staggering burden. . .of having avenged himself" (1 Samuel 25:31).
We don't need to avenge ourselves; God will do it for us. Here we have an instance of a wise and holy lady who knew how to gently warn a great man that he would be ill-advised to retaliate in kind. Here Abigail exhibits foresight so that David may be spared the painful memories that hindsight would bring to a man of his moral sensitivity.
There are times in all our lives when a prevailing grace becomes a preventing grace; when a friend will remind us that it isn't our nature to say or do what, in a momentary indignation, we would so like to say or do. The wisdom is in recognizing what our friend has done for us. David did; he realized what this perceptive wife of Nabal did for him and he exclaimed, "Praise be to the Lord, the God is Israel, who has sent you today to meet me. May you be blessed for your good judgment. . ." (v.32,33).
Abigail tenderly cut to the quick of the problem while David was impressionable. Had David committed the sin of getting even, he no doubt would have been pardoned, for ". . .her husband. . .was surly and mean in his dealings" (v.3). Abigail stated, "He is such a wicked man that no one can talk to him" (v.17b). But the question arises: which is better, a pardoned or a prevented sin? In David's case of prevented sin, a family was spared, as well as David's conscience and future reputation.
The consequences for others and ourselves is immeasurable and incomprehensible. The only law we can rely on are God's laws when dealing with our feelings about what has happened to us: "Blessed are the peacemakers" (Matthew 5:9) and "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:21).
"At this they were seized with astonishment. Full of awe, they gave praise to God, saying, `We have seen incredible things today!'" (Luke 5:26).
What awesome things we have not seen and heard because we take so much for granted. When one of our sons called us long-distance and told us he had been in an accident, it was at that moment I realized how very much I cherish him. But why does it take such gut-tearing news for us to realize this? Can't we praise our God and treasure our loved ones now, at this very moment? Why did I have to hear this terrible news before I thanked God for the miracle of this child?
We need to remember that miracles are always here! We see and hear stirring things every day. Nature is filled with visual and auditory delights, and our homes are havens of delight and security. We hear sobs, too, for these also are the compensations of life, strange as that sounds.
In this verse these people saw Jesus tell a lame man to get up and go on with life, and they were amazed. Is it any less amazing that He tells us to get up and go about our daily duties--and while doing so, to see and hear His daily miracles?
Thank You, Jesus, for the many small and big miracles in our lives!
