When Expectancy becomes Expectation

Good morning! This edition of the Monday Morning Encouragement is coming to you a few days late, but I’m sure you might find this just as encouraging on a Wednesday morning.

Over the past few days I have been finishing out a series of prayer retreats that I started last year. The purpose of this retreat was to spend an extended amount of time in silence and solitude in the presence of God.

As I entered into this time, my mind was preoccupied with the many things that are on the horizon. There are things that I have been praying through and listening for God’s responses on for some period of time now. I found myself wanting to go farther with God, but feeling like I was at a bit of a standstill.

During the retreat the Lord revealed something profound to me. I was allowing my sense of expectancy to become something else…an expectation. This shift was creating impatience within me for the things of God. I had to be reminded of the following truth:

Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NASB)
There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven—

God has my journey mapped out. He knows what is ahead of me and, just as importantly, He knows the molding, shaping and equipping that are necessary in my life if I am to successfully navigate the road ahead. I sometimes forget that “wait” and “no” are not the same words; however, my impatience leads me to treat one like the other.

This week you may be feeling like you are also in a standstill. Remember that God has already determined the point of movement and transition in your life. Ask Him to give you a contented spirit, even when the delays seem never ending. In due time, you’ll look back and realize that the end result was well worth the wait.

Until next Monday, may God’s richest blessings be yours this week.

Carl

Don't Forget the Cheese

Good morning! I hope you had a great weekend.

This weekend our church came together to serve another church. The church we were assisting has a ministry to the homeless and less fortunate in our area. Every Sunday this church meets under a large tent in a vacant lot and serves up Biblical truth, followed by a warm meal.

This weekend it was our turn to prepare the meal, so our leadership decided that these folks were probably sick of spaghetti, so we decided to make chili dogs. Today after church we started our cooking. Hot dogs were boiled, chili was made and the lemonade was made. One of the things that no chili dog should be without is shredded cheese. We purchased a 5 pound bag, but we were also concerned we would forget to take it out of the refrigerator before we left.

To prevent such a catastrophe from happening, my co-pastor’s wife made a sign with a drawing that said “cheese,” and hung it on the garage door. I laughed and commented that I would probably walk past the sign. She explained that it was hung at eye level for just such a reason.

I tell you this story today for two reasons. The first reason is that she dared me to write a Monday Morning Encouragement using the story of the cheese (this one’s for you Kim). Secondarily, there is a great truth in this story as well.

Romans 15:15 (NASB)
15 But I have written very boldly to you on some points, so as to remind you again, because of the grace that was given me from God…

One of the common traits we all have as people is the tendency to quickly forget things that are not right in front of us. We have all heard the saying: “Out of sight, out of mind.” As God moves powerfully in our lives we celebrate, but within a few days, weeks or months the distance of the divine has faded from view. Before long we are no longer affected by the memory of His work, unless we make an effort to remember.

Many of the Old Testament festivals and offerings were established for just such a purpose. Each memorial reminded the people of God working in their lives throughout time. These reminders were the building blocks of present and future faith. If we don’t set up reminders in our own lives, we too will be quick to forget and our faith will lack the strength for today’s challenges.

This week I encourage you to spend some time developing your own reminders. Take a good look at them; reflect on the events and circumstances that surrounded those times of your life. On a regular basis revisit those reminders and draw strength from them. Your walk of faith is incomplete without them (just like a chili dog with no cheese).

Until next Monday may God’s richest blessings be yours this week.

Carl

Into the Fire

Good morning! I hope you had a great weekend.

There are times in life that we find ourselves captive to our circumstances. We can see the peril ahead of us, but deliverance doesn’t come. Maybe you’ve been there, praying for a way out, but instead you find yourself headed straight towards the thing that is going to ruin your life.

The Biblical account of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego fits this profile:

Daniel 3:19-27 (NASB)
19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with wrath, and his facial expression was altered toward Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. He answered by giving orders to heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated.
20 And he commanded certain valiant warriors who were in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, in order to cast them into the furnace of blazing fire.
21 Then these men were tied up in their trousers, their coats, their caps and their other clothes, and were cast into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire.
22 For this reason, because the king’s command was urgent and the furnace had been made extremely hot, the flame of the fire slew those men who carried up Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego.
23 But these three men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, fell into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire still tied up.
24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astounded and stood up in haste; he responded and said to his high officials, “Was it not three men we cast bound into the midst of the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “Certainly, O king.”
25 He answered and said, “Look! I see four men loosed and walking about in the midst of the fire without harm, and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods!”
26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the furnace of blazing fire; he responded and said, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, come out, you servants of the Most High God, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego came out of the midst of the fire.
27 And the satraps, the prefects, the governors and the king’s high officials gathered around and saw in regard to these men that the fire had no effect on the bodies of these men nor was the hair of their head singed, nor were their trousers damaged, nor had the smell of fire even come upon them.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego knew that staying faithful meant they would have to refuse the King Nebuchadnezzar’s command to worship an idol. They also knew the consequence of refusing this command could be death.

Once these three men made their choice to stand firm, they found themselves with no options but to follow the course of that decision. They were bound up and thrown into a blazing furnace…a punishment that surely meant the end of their lives. Something miraculous happened at that furnace. Unlike their captors, they survived the heat of the furnace and once inside were no longer bound, but free to move around. It was also in the midst of these flames that they found their deliverer. He met them at their point of need and brought them through what seemed liked certain destruction. God even went a step further…no singed hair, no charred clothing and not even the smell of smoke.

There are times that God chooses not deliver us before the uncomfortable situations of life, but instead He allows us to enter into the flames of refinement. It is in those flames that we find ourselves set free and accompanied by the very presence of God Himself.

Today you may be wondering why God isn’t removing you from your circumstances. I want to encourage you to begin looking around in those circumstances for the presence of God. Once you see Him, you will experience freedom in the flames and you will come out on the other side without a hint of char or smoke.

Until next Monday, may God’s richest blessings be yours this week.

Carl