Monday Morning Memo: Giving Our All

I shared with you a couple weeks ago about our nine year old pug, Olive.  She had a personality like no other and was my constant companion.  I used the words “had” and “was” because, unfortunately, she had to be put to sleep last week. 

To say that was difficult to do is an understatement.  When we have had to do this in years past with other dogs, I have always made my husband take them to the veterinarian; I just couldn’t do it myself.  But this time, Dan wasn’t home, so the deed fell to me.  I decided I needed to be an adult and do it myself.  Olive had been by my side for the last nine years, so I knew I needed to be by her side in the end.

I was the one that made the decision to have this done.  Her quality of life had deteriorated and it had been hard to see her in that condition.  I knew I had to love her enough to do what was best for her even if it was one of the hardest things I had ever done. 

Life isn’t always fun, is it?  All of us have situations and problems arise that force us to make decisions that cause us hurt and pain.  Sometimes it’s not what we want, but we know that it is best for those that we love.   Of course, any sacrifice that we have to make pales to the One who demonstrated the ultimate sacrifice because He loved us more than we can imagine.

I cannot comprehend God’s love for you and for me.  He loves us so much that He was willing to send his Son to be sacrificed for our sins.  He had to watch his Son jeered, beaten, spit on and hung on a cross.   He had to watch his precious Son experience pain and suffering beyond our human comprehension.  He did this because of His love for us and His desire for us to spend eternity with Him.

The other unbelievable part to this story is that God’s Son, Jesus, willingly allowed himself to be sacrificed.  He knew that He was going to have to lay down His life, so that we could have our sins forgiven.  That my friend is love like no other.  

Yes, all of us have times when we have to make very difficult decisions.  I think many times the decisions aren’t easy to make because they involve our will compared to God’s will.  We know what God wants us to do, but we would rather take the easier route and do what we want to do.  If we are honest, it’s because we don’t want to have to sacrifice at all.  We don’t like to feel uncomfortable.  We don’t like to be pushed out of our comfort zone and we really don’t want to have to put someone else’s needs above our own.

As we approach Good Friday, I think it is important for each of us to think about what we are willing to sacrifice for God’s glory.  Are we willing to allow Him to have complete control?  Are we willing to do whatever He asks of us, even if it isn’t what we want to do?  I sure hope so.  Hopefully, knowing of the ultimate sacrifices that have been given for us, we will be prepared to give are all.   

“So give yourselves completely to God. Stand against the devil,

and the devil will run from you. 

Come near to God, and God will come near to you.

You sinners, clean sin out of your lives. You who are trying to follow God

and the world at the same time, make your thinking pure. Be sad, cry, and weep!

Change your laughter into crying and your joy into sadness. 

Humble yourself in the Lord’s presence, and he will honor you.”

James 4:7-10 (NCV)

Monday Morning Memo: When Jesus is Silent

Well I heard those words again last week.  If I had a dollar for every time I have heard them…I would be quite wealthy.  I didn’t want to hear them, I prayed that I wouldn’t hear them…but I did. 

The words were ones that I have heard for many years from various doctors.  Each one had their own variation of words, but they all had the same meaning.  Yes, once again I heard a doctor say last Friday that in all of his years of practicing medicine, no other patient’s body has reacted the way mine did to a diagnostic test.  No one.  This doctor, like all the others, is stumped.  He just sat there shaking his head, knowing I was in a lot of pain, but didn’t know why.

I’ll be honest; I had a pretty frank discussion with my Jesus on the drive home.  It went something like this:  “Come on Jesus.  Am I asking too much to just want some answers?  Couldn’t just once, when something goes haywire in my body, there be a simple answer?  Couldn’t just once I hear the words, ‘Oh yes, that is common and all we need to do is this simple thing and the pain will go away’?  Am I really asking too much?  What do you want me to do?”

Do you know what I heard?  Silence.  Complete.dead.silence.  Not only did I not get answers from the doctor, neither did I get answers from my Jesus.  He didn’t write anything in the sky (which was probably good since I was driving).  There was no burning bush.  He didn’t have a song play on the radio that spoke to my soul.  He didn’t even whisper in my ear.  I heard nothing.

I’m sure you’ve been there.  I’m sure there have been times in your life where your situation just didn’t make sense and when you questioned Jesus…He was silent.  It would be so much easier if He would just text us the answers and we could just go on with our lives.  But for some reason, we hear nothing.

A woman said to me recently, “I just don’t understand why you have to endure so much pain, since you are a Christian woman.”  Oh if life was always that easy.  If just being a Christian woman or man would guarantee that we never had pain or difficulties, it might be much easier to win more people for Christ!  Unfortunately, being a Christian doesn’t mean we will always be problem free, but it does guarantee that we will always have Someone to walk with us…even when that Someone is silent.

As I’ve thought about this over the weekend, I’ve come to realize that even when Jesus is silent…He isn’t absent.  Psalm 23:4 says, “Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me.  Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.”  Jesus never leaves me and so I am always in His presence. 

I’ve also been thinking that maybe when Jesus is silent, it’s because He knows I’m not ready to hear what He has to say.  Maybe He knows I’m not mature enough in Him to handle His wisdom.  Maybe He’s waiting to see how passionate I am to hear Him speak.  How fervently will I pray?  How devoted will I be at reading His Word to learn more about Him and His ways?

And maybe…just maybe…when Jesus is silent, He really isn’t, it’s just that I’m not listening.  I had someone ask me the other day how I was doing and before I could even answer, this person said “Good” and then just kept talking.  Maybe that is me with Jesus.  Maybe I’m so obsessed with telling Him what I think He should do, I don’t hear Him when He speaks.

Lately, I’ve had a lot more questions than answers, but I know I need to put my trust in my Jesus.  I’m trying hard to remember that just because He is quiet doesn’t mean He is absent, and He already knows what my tomorrow will bring.  I may continually stump my doctors, but thank goodness I never stump my Jesus!

Monday Morning Memo: WDJD?

I have written before about our nine year old black pug, Olive.  To say she has a quirky personality is an understatement.  She is a very needy dog who isn’t happy unless I am home and holding her.

Olive has been almost completely deaf for quite some time, so we have to yell at her so she can hear us.  To add to the “fun” of caring for her, she now has developed cataracts on both eyes and is almost completely blind.  So now we have a deaf, blind, very needy dog that runs into walls, chairs, people and anything else that gets in her way.

Recently, I was explaining to our three-year-old grandson, Elias, about Olive and the fact that she can’t see him anymore.  Without skipping a beat, Elias said, “Oh, so she is blind.  Well you know Grandma, you could just spit on your hand, pick up some dirt from the ground and rub it on her eyes and she could see!”  I stared in amazement.  Then I asked him who had done that before and he said, “Jesus!  You see there was this blind man who came to him and so Jesus just put that stuff on his eyes and he could see!”

To this young precious boy, the answer was simple.  Just do what Jesus did.  For many years we have heard WWJD aka “What would Jesus do?”  I’ve been thinking that maybe we should change it to WDJD aka “What did Jesus do?”, and then simply follow and do what He did.  The problem is we often believe that only Jesus can see miracles happen and our faith just isn’t strong enough to step out and ask for the impossible.

Check out these verses:  2 Timothy 1:7, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”   Philippians 4:13, “For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”  Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.  And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere – in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”    2 Corinthians 12:9, “Each time he said, ‘My grace is all you need.  My power works best in weakness.’  So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.”  I could go on and on listing verses.

God’s power is available to us but we have to be willing to step out and use it.  I just wonder how many miracles we have missed out on experiencing, because we quit praying.  How many times has God been ready to bless us with an amazing, miraculous answer, but we didn’t believe it was possible so we didn’t even ask.  We have to get to the place in our life where we know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that ALL things are possible with God and then put into action what we believe to be true.

Have you been praying for something, but are ready to give up?   Do you sense God leading you to do something that seems impossible, but fear is holding you back?  Ask yourself today, what did Jesus do?  Nothing held Him back and nothing was impossible. On your own…it may seem daunting…but with Him you can do it!  He is able to give you whatever is needed to accomplish the impossible.  Mark 10:27 says, “Jesus looked at them intently and said, ‘Humanly speaking, it is impossible.  But not with God.  Everything is possible with God.’”  Don’t turn a blind eye to what He wants to accomplish.  Open your eyes, step out, and claim His power over your situation today.  I have a feeling that you may just be blown away by what you see Him do through you for His honor and glory! 

Monday Morning Memo: Miracle Prunes?

I don’t pay a lot of attention to commercials on television.  Normally, my mind is wandering during the breaks and even if I pay attention to what is on the screen, there is a good chance I couldn’t tell you afterwards what product they were pitching.  But the other evening I was listening and what I heard made me laugh.

You may have seen this commercial also.  There are two women sitting and a third woman joins them.  They tell this woman how good she looks and she says that she feels good and then pulls a bag of prunes out of her purse.  Now, I have nothing against prunes, but I can’t say I’ve ever had anyone pull them out of their purse as a reason for feeling good.  But who knew?  Maybe I’ve been missing out all these years!

Oh if only life was always that easy.  If only there was just one thing that I could keep in my purse or pocket that would solve all my problems.   Have a health issue?   Pull out the miracle product.  Have a marital problem?  Pull out the miracle product.  Have a problem at work with a boss or coworker?  Pull out the miracle product.  Ahhhh…just think how much easier life would be.

Of course, many people do resort to something that they believe is their miracle cure.  Drugs…alcohol…food…affairs…excessive sleep.  Anything that can at least temporarily “numb” us so we don’t have to face our problems.  Unfortunately though, those types of escapes don’t solve anything, in fact they usually make matters worse. 

While there isn’t a miracle cure to cover all of our problems, there is a miracle performing God who is just waiting for us to turn to Him.  I can’t imagine how much it must sadden Him to watch us resort to lots of other “crutches” to make it through each day.  He loved us so much that He sent His son to die for us, but yet we don’t trust Him enough to let Him handle our problems.  We fail to remember that God’s plan is perfect, even when it makes no sense to us.  He knows our tomorrow, so He knows what is perfect for us today to prepare us for what is on the horizon.

What or whom are you putting your trust in today?  I hope it is in the One who created you and loves you more than you can imagine.  God’s Word, the Bible, is filled with answers to life’s toughest problems so why not take time to read it today.  Trust me.  While prunes might make you feel better for the moment…putting your faith and trust in the Almighty God will help you feel better all the way into eternity!

“I pray that God, the source of hope,

will fill you completely with joy and peace

because you trust in him.

Then you will overflow with confident hope

through the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Romans 15:13