May 14, 2024

Blessings and battles. 

I’ve heard from more than one teacher that life isn’t about being in a season of great blessing or real battles. Life in this world, following Jesus, is most often parallel tracks that we experience simultaneously: blessings and battles ongoing, together.

The verse that speaks to this came to mind today. It is a reminder that those who follow Christ and sacrifice to participate fully in his kingdom are promised to receive back 100-fold of what was given up in this life now, and the gift of eternal life with God to come… with a little side note: alongside trials and persecution.

Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. Mark 10:29-30 ESV

Recently that feels as if it’s pulling to extremes for me as I experience incredible gifts of extravagant grace that can only be explained by a God who lavishes rich love on his children- and then at the very same time an ongoing track of speed bumps, challenges, and one problem after another cropping up like a real life whack-a-mole game I remember from childhood. Funny, writing that line makes me wonder why I’m not having more fun whacking at these ridiculous issues that keep sprouting around me. 

Why am I not finding joy in this? In part I’m sure it has to do with perspective. 

If I look at Jesus and the eternal perspective, nothing that’s cropping up in the whack-a-mole game around me has lasting significance. I see an image of myself like a child who thinks that whacking the moles in the arcade game is a very serious pursuit even after the coins run out and I leave the arcade. If I were a parent of that child, I’d help them sort out what is real and what actually matters. The next person who puts coins into that machine is going to see those moles crop up and on and on… have fun testing your response time and reflexes, but don’t take it too seriously.

When I open my Bible (app) in the morning to read the final chapter of Malachi about the day to come when the arrogant people will be judged, burned and scorched to ash, and those who turn to the LORD will dance like spring colts in a field seeing the dawn of righteousness and healing- bursting with new life and energy… things around me shift.

I noticed my tendency to assume that I am the spring filly dancing in the new field under the dawn of righteousness- and all the people around me who make my life more difficult are obviously the arrogant wicked who need to be burned to a crisp! Clearly. 

As the revelation dawned that once again I am seeing the people who create speed bumps and potholes in what I am certain is my well-deserved straight path before me I remember the sons of thunder from Luke 9:54 (“Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”) I imagine Jesus shaking his head at them, and at me, wondering when will you get it?

Then I remember another moment in the recorded life of Jesus in the short time before he was headed to the cross.

And he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise Lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves.” Luke 22:25-26 ESV

Andy Stanley is a gifted speaker, and there are a few things that I’ve heard him say that stay with me and guide key moments of my life.  I can hear him repeating these five words to sear them into my mind: But Not So With You. Then I went one connection further this morning and landed at the sermon on the mount where Jesus laid out how we are to participate in the Kingdom of God, which apparently is now at hand. 

You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Matthew 5:43-46 ESV

As I head into a new day that will unquestionably surface many challenges, and people who somehow don’t fall in line perfectly with all of my good and just plans for everything I set my mind to… a revelation comes to mind: the very people who are making me slightly crazy are not the people I am supposed to be asking God to obliterate so that I can move more efficiently through my destiny. Probably they are the very people Jesus is asking me to love and pray for. 

This would be impossible, at least for me. In light of the things Jesus reminded through his recorded time here, I’m encouraged to take him up on the offer to try impossible things (like blessing those who make my life more challenging), with his help. 

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? … But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Matthew 6:25-27, 33 ESV

To wrap up this morning I consider these final thoughts:

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:26-28 ESV

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:4-7 ESV

While my mind is still fresh and the moles have yet to spring up I choose to at least begin a new day with this perspective:

Heavenly Father, thank you for the myriad of extravagant blessings I see pouring into my life. Thank you for these reminders of how much you love me! Let me not forget to recognize them and enjoy them fully even while the challenges parallel alongside them. Thank you for the opportunity to practice becoming more like you when you send (or allow) people into my life that make things complicated or difficult because without these people who can feel like an enemy or in the least a persecutor, I wouldn’t get to choose to pray for and bless them as you’ve asked me to. Give me the vision to see them as people with their own journeys that you love and want to bless through me. Help remind me to choose patience when things become sticky. Grant me the grace to not give up when I really want to throw in the towel and walk away from the mess that begins to form around me. Let my reasonableness be seen by the people around me, and with it a sense of joy even in trials. As for the challenges and the problems that need to be solved as I go, I want to have the perspective that it’s just a big life game of whack-a-mole, and I can have joy in the knowledge that you have a solution to every problem I face and I can sharpen my reflexes and not get so hung up on all the problems that seem to crop up. I can thank you for more responsibility and learn to grow in leadership with each decision and get even more creative in my thinking toward problem solving. When I forget, call me back to asking for you wisdom and vision as I navigate. And last, when things do not go the way I envisioned, give me the humility to ask you what is really happening and remember that you are in control of the outcomes and I can only give my best to the process and then respond in the way I see you lead. When I fail to walk the path you’ve set, help me get back quickly and walk with you- allowing you to carry the burden of running the universe and enjoying our time together!