Knowing that nothing is wasted or an accident with God there must be good reasons for this challenging season of cold temperatures, gray skies, and dead plants.  I could go on and on about the roots going deep during the winter season, and that nothing can be resurrected unless it tastes death, (those are pretty good points) but the truth is, winter just happens.  Trying to define the reasons and even benefits involved in various seasons can be an exercise in futility.  Searching for the ‘why’ can be frustrating.  How much better to just rest in the fact that God has appointed seasons for the earth and for His people.  You are God…I trust You!

O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in You! (Psalms 84:12)

But God in His infinite wisdom and grace gives us ‘opportunities’ to discover our true beliefs!  That’s how I choose to identify the fiery trials that come into my life…opportunities; opportunities to discover God and His provision in the midst of unruly, fiery circumstances.  It’s not a matter of ‘if’ we will walk through fiery trials but ‘when’ we walk through the fiery trials!  But the Word of the Lord is sure….

When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you. Isaiah 43:2

We ‘think’ we know what we believe and Who we trust…the fire will reveal all things…you can’t fake it in the fire!  We will discover a strength beyond ourselves, a grace beyond understanding and a fireproof garment that keeps us from being consumed!

p.s. – When in the fire, we are not alone!

Daniel 3:24-25  “Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.”  “Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”   He’s right there with us!!!

“… weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” (Psalm 30:5)

How long is a night? Good question, difficult answer.  Our initial response to this question might be that ‘a night’ is about 7 or 8 hours long based on our understanding of a night. But therein is the rub, if you will.  Our understanding and our perception rarely aligns with what God is really saying to us.  He uses familiar images and nuances to communicate with our linear thinking but always beckons us to step out of this one-dimensional thinking and gain insight into His heart.  I have pondered this scripture for sometime now and have come to believe that perhaps it is more of a proclamation of faith rather than a statement of fact!  It’s not the length of the night that matters but rather the response of the morning.  We are time constrained and He is not.  We are formula motivated and He is not.  We think in black and white, He does not.

A night is as long as He determines but the response of the morning is our opportunity to demonstrate rejoicing without understanding, worshiping without answers, and hope without evidence.  We trust in His ultimate mercy…which by the way, is new every morning!  “…His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning…” (Lam. 2:23)

The length of our night is up to Him, the response of the morning is up to us!

“…with my spirit within me will I seek you early…” (Isaiah 26:9)

It’s a familiar and somewhat humorous statement, yet embedded within the simple phrase is a rescuing truth.  The traumas of life and life experiences plummet us, many times, to the brink of a cliff….sometimes ‘over’ the cliff!  The metaphorical rope we are hanging onto seems to be, at times, tangled and somewhat unreliable; I don’t know about you, but I get tired of tying more knots at the end of my rope! Feelings of a reluctant, struggling, mountain climber comes to mind as we flail dangling from our twisted, tangled, fraying rope trying desperately to tie just one more knot in an already knotty situation.  But our rope, unlike the climber’s rope, has some supernatural knots, if you will, already tied into its weaved essence!  Hanging precariously from the end of our rope gives way to a clear, uncluttered view of knot-like handles already prepared for our dangling experience.  These knots or handles if you will, may vary from person to person or dangling situations but the assurance of rescue is firm.

Hang on, hang on, the rope will not break.  Look for the knots of courage, hope, patience, perseverance, fearlessness, and faith!  He’s at the other end of the rope and when you feel His tug, hold onto the rope, grasp the knots and scale back up the side of the cliff.

Eph 6:13, The Message – “Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet.” (not dangling over a cliff)

• C.S. Lewis was fond of saying that, “…people need more to be reminded than to be instructed.”

If we would be honest, we must admit that we are a bundle of paradoxes….

• we believe and we doubt
• we hope and we get discouraged
• we love and we hate
• we feel bad about feeling good
• and feel guilty about not feeling guilty.

Here we are…a multitude who so wants to be faithful, who at times get defeated, soiled by life, and bested by trials, wearing bloodied garments of life’s tribulations, but through it all we cling to the constancy and steadfastness of our faith

Our steadfast faith is firmly established in these timeless truths…

#1.  His grace redeems…

God’s grace empowers us to forgive the unforgivable, love the unlovable and face the unthinkable. Oh the wonder of His grace divine…that’s why John Newton, in his hymn, called it… Amazing grace….

• Jesus said, “My grace is sufficient, (or enough) for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

• Don’t fear your weaknesses…He said His grace is enough and His power is made perfect (or works best) when we are weak in our own strength…

It has been said that, “The one thing we owe absolutely to God is never to be afraid of anything.”

#2.  His power resurrects…

God reveals Who He is by what He creates….His resurrection power is seen in His creation. 

• The Psalmist announces… “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”

• Hebrews says, “He sustains the universe by the mighty power of his command.”

 God’s power is the ‘how’ of creation whereas His love is the ‘why.’ 

The 3^rd truth that needs to be firmly established in us is:

#3.  His love never relents…

Paul’s cry in Romans… “Who can separate us from the love of God?”

 He answers himself…(this encouraged me, now I know even the Apostle Paul talked to himself)

…I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow–not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. (Romans 8:38)

• A distinguished theologian was asked what the greatest theological truth was he had realized…His reply…Jesus loves me this I know for the bible tells me so…

Over 100 years ago in the Deep South, a phrase so common in our Christian culture today, ‘born again’ was seldom or never used. Rather the phrase used to describe the breakthrough into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ was……..“I was seized by the power of a great affection.”

The words of this grand old hymn express God’s love so clearly:

• “O the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast, unmeasured, boundless, free! Rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me!”

His grace redeems…His power resurrects…His love is relentless

What the world is looking for is someone daring enough to be different, humble enough to make mistakes, wild enough to be burned in a fire of love, and real enough to make others realize their phoniness.

• The legacy has been given to us…the task is yet unfinished.

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever.       Amen.

Have someone in your life, that while lending a compassionate ear to your pain, can also put a humorous light on it.  This helps us from taking ourselves too seriously.  Everybody has some pain, everybody could write their own country/western song, and maybe even sing it themselves.  I know you have heard the funny suggestion that if you play a country/western song backwards… you can get your car back, your girl back, your boyfriend back, your job back, and ole yeller back!

Life is hard, losing something valuable is harder, getting it back may be impossible but go ahead and write the song.

Winston Churchill said, “Success is never final; failure is never fatal.  It is courage that counts.” But more importantly…

Jesus Said, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” -John 16:33

It gets a little lighter…a little brighter…slowly life comes back into focus…maybe just for a day but it is real. Despair, it will visit again I know but next time…next time, I will remember. I will remember the bright day, the day where a sense of well being was mine. I’ll remind myself of the night I put my head on the pillow and realized I had not been overcome that day with tears…”I didn’t cry today” I whisper to myself with a sense of satisfaction and also a little fear. Am I just getting hardened or am I really sensing His grace and intervention? “This is a long haul” I remind myself and smile at my naivety of years gone by.

In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer. - A. Camus

Escapism is a mental exercise that we have all, at one time or another, considered a viable option…for those of us who have traveled that route, we ultimately realize it is not!  Escape fantasies have performed three act plays in our minds almost to the point of reality; visualizing the destruction of  ‘the enemy’ is a favorite scene stealer.  With the thought that the removal of the ‘thing’ will bring us peace at last, our attention and energy are focused and depleted on the wrong goal.  Enemies will continue to come and go but the Word of God stands forever faithful in our midst.

The plan of the Lord is not always the ‘removal’ of the thing but rather ‘provision’ in spite of the thing!  No Psalm better emphasizes this truth than David’s Psalm, number 23.

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

This Psalm reminds me that regardless of life’s circumstances, like…. walking through the valley of the shadow of death…

He is my Shepherd, He leads, He restores, He removes fear, He is with me, He comforts, He anoints, and the truth that speaks to me today the most; He prepares a table for me in the presence of my enemies!!! He doesn’t have to remove ‘the thing’…He is not intimidated by ‘the thing’…His provision for me is in the very midst of my enemies!

You serve me a six-course dinner right in front of my enemies. You revive my drooping head; my cup brims with blessing. (The Message)

Remember the old song we use to sing at church family covered dishes?  “Come and dine,” the Master calleth, “Come and dine”; You may feast at Jesus’ table all the time; He Who fed the multitude, turned the water into wine, to the hungry calleth now, “Come and dine.”

The enemies of 2010 may try to follow you in to 2011…not to worry…your table is prepared … ‘come and dine!’

“Funny,” I reminisced, 40 years ago on my wedding day I awoke with a similar plague on my skin.  I thought my world was over…drama queen would have been a mild description for what followed.  Crying, begging God to intervene in this most tragic event, searching through tubs of make-up looking for the magic marker that would do the trick and visualizing a disgusted groom turning from me in angst at what he saw.  My world was teetering on implosion.

Fast-forward (literally) to 40 years later…running late as usual for church this morning caused me to have to pull out the ‘magic pouch’ of make-up I keep in my purse and begin the daily ritual of  ‘making the best of what is’ while being driven to church.  In my attempt to cover the intruder I couldn’t help but notice that along with that pimple were also wrinkles around the eyes and shadows of aging creeping across my face.  I said out loud, “pimples and wrinkles, now that’s not fair!” And that was it, no more drama, no making deals with God if He would just please remove this thing, no fears of rejection, just a sense of moving on with the ebb and flow of life….not passivity just a calm acceptance of what is.

Life does have its way of helping put things in perspective, mellowing does occur when we are not even aware, peace that passes former understanding prevails and what was a tragedy in years gone by is just a simple reminder that life has evolved.  What, at one time, we think we cannot handle or bear, gives way to a deep-seated assurance of God in our midst in spite of…well, everything! These temporary things, big or small, are working something far greater in us than we can now see. It’s the eternal not the temporary that counts!

Remember the simple little prayer that we use to pray over our meals as kids?  “God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for our food, Amen!”  That’s where I am at today; determined to find thankfulness in the morsels of life that we take for granted and only miss when they are removed.  Don’t wait for something to slip out of your life before you realize the value.

“Blessed be God, Who has not turned away my prayer, nor His mercy from me!” (Psalm 66:20)